Yankees Star Calls Out Team After Historic Sweep Prompts Honest Reflection

The Yankees arrived in Miami on Thursday night looking like a team ready to turn a corner. They had won four of their last five games, fueled by a jolt of confidence from a bold trade deadline. There was a sense, however fleeting, that the momentum was finally shifting in the Bronx. But by Sunday evening, that optimism was buried beneath the LoanDepot Park.

Well, the Marlins completed a clean sweep of the Yanks for the first time in franchise history, flipping the script and sending the once-proud Bombers tumbling to third place in the AL East. So, what began as a weekend of promise ended as a sobering reminder of just how fragile the season had become for the Yankees.

For the Marlins, though, the sweep was historic. But for the Yankees, it was humiliating. The Yankees catcher Ben Rice later emerged as an unlikely voice of accountability, calling on his teammates to wake up and play with a sense of urgency before the season slips completely out of reach.

“I wouldn’t say there’s concern, but I would say, I think a little sense of urgency would be good for us going forward. Just to continue to do what we can to win ballgames. And that’s gonna do all the little things. It’s gonna be, hopefully, we sync up pitching and hitting. That’s it,” Rice said after the Yankees’ loss. He further added, “No, I wouldn’t say that we lack a sense of urgency. But I would say, as we continue to move deeper into the season here, in this playoff race, we’re gonna have to pick it up eventually.“

The Yankees have slipped to third in the AL East and now head to Texas to face a Rangers team that’s trying to shove them out of an increasingly shaky wild-card spot. Well, Aaron Judge could be back in the lineup as soon as Tuesday night after dealing with a strained flexor, but one big bat alone won’t fix what’s wrong in the Bronx.

The next is Luis Gil. His return from the injured list let the Yankees trade for bullpen help, but they didn’t add a starter. And that leaves a thin rotation with almost no room for mistakes or injuries. If someone else goes down, Ryan Yarbrough is next in line, and he’s still working his way back from an oblique issue.

The Yankees are still close enough to make a run, but the clock is ticking. And from here on, every series matters. Unless this team finds its spark, cleans up its execution, and gets real contributions from its new faces, their October chances are fading fast. So, the sense of urgency from Rice is totally understandable.

Ben Rice’s call is echoing in the Yankees’ clubhouse

It seems Rice’s teammates are rallying behind him as well. “I don’t think there’s an answer, but ultimately, we just have to play better. You know, for me, got to wake up tomorrow and go out there and, you know, for myself, I’ve got to be better as well,” Cody Bellinger said, supporting the call by Rice.

So yes, the Yankees’ clubhouse knows the urgency, but the problem lies deeper. It’s mainly coming out of their bullpen.

The Yankees were incredibly active at the trade deadline, loading up their roster with three new relievers and three position players in the past week. These new acquisitions joined a bullpen that already featured Devin Williams, Luke Weaver, Tim Hill, and holdovers like JT Brubaker and Brent Headrick.

But the revamped bullpen immediately ran into trouble in the second game against the Marlins. The trio of fresh arms, Jake Bird, David Bednar, and Camilo Doval, combined to give up seven runs on nine hits in just 2 ⅓ innings. The outcome? Even though the Yankees scored 12 runs, they still lost, marking the first time they’d dropped a road game while scoring that many runs since 1940.

Now the trade deadline is gone, and October is looming. They need a spark, and that could come with Aaron Judge’s return from injury. Will the Yankees bounce back? What do you think?