Another American League East showdown is set to take place at Rogers Center. Barely three weeks ago, the Toronto Blue Jays handed a brutal sweep to the New York Yankees in a four-game series. Now, for round two of AL East intensity, the Yankees will fly to Toronto for a three-game series spanning from Monday to Wednesday. The Yankees would like to take this series as an opportunity to reclaim their lost division lead.

However, at the worst time possible, the Yankees’ $5.5 million investment has massively let the team down. The Yankees eventually pulled off the comeback win against the Atlanta Braves. But more than that, the two who drew the most scrutiny after the game were Will Warren and Jonathan Loaisiga.

In a recent Locked On Yankees ’podcast, Brian McKeon pointed out, “He was not good. He gave you five earn runs, three walks. Really was all over the place. 78 pitches into the fourth inning. You just you can’t have that.” He said after Warren’s Saturday outing against the Atlanta Braves.

Warren surrendered five earned runs across only 3.2 innings. He had to make an early exit post this poor performance. At the dugout, the cameras also caught Warren punching the dugout roof in frustration.

Overall, in Warren’s 2025 season, he has held a 4.91 ERA in 22 games. He also struck out 117 batters across 99 innings. However, his Saturday outing is more talked about right now than his promising strikeout count.

Meanwhile, Brian McKeon also pointed out Jonathan Loáisiga, “Jonathan Losagia, who has been a major problem, but we have to acknowledge that at this point. We’ve given him time since coming off the IL or coming back from that major injury to figure out.” Back in June last week, Loaisiga was out for a while due to illness. After coming back, he’s not shown the best of his game. McKeon further added, “It’s a borderline problem at this point. He has not been able to figure it out.”

“His velocity seems fine and there are certain times where he looks really good and then he’ll just throw a really crappy pitch out of nowhere.” Loaisiga has clearly been slumping. Even last week, his poor pitching contributed to the Yankees’ 5-2 loss to the Cubs. And in the upcoming series against the Blue Jays, the Yankees can’t afford another sweep.

The Yankees clearly require some pitching help, and they will address it at this trade deadline.

Yankees to target this $18 million pitcher to fill in pitching woes

It’s almost unbelievable that the Yankees have spent the entire season without Gerrit Cole. He won’t be back until 2026 as he’s recovering from an elbow surgery.

Similarly, Clarke Schmidt is also out with an elbow injury. And with bullpen struggles and limited pitching rotation depth, the Athletic’s Brendan Kuty has shared an interesting trade proposal that will help the Yankees.

According to him, the Yankees should acquire Diamondbacks’ pitcher Merrill Kelly at the trade deadline. Kelly is currently sitting with the last year of his contract. The Diamondbacks are strongly appearing to be the sellers. On the other hand, the Yankees and Brian Cashman are supposedly the buyers who are eyeing elite pitchers.

Kelly’s addition could be a win-win for the Yankees and Diamondbacks. He’s a reliable right-hander and can definitely be a legit difference-maker in the rotation.