Even Aaron Boone's disaster vs Blue Jays can't shield these Yankees from fan outrage

Two things can be true: The New York Yankees are atop the AL East with 48 wins, and the New York Yankees are the most agonizing baseball team to watch. That was encapsulated on Monday night in their 5-4 series-opening loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.

But nothing was worse than the performances Anthony Volpe and Mark Leiter Jr. put forth. And fans have had it up HERE (picture me overextending my arm six feet over my head) with them. Will the Yankees make the proper disciplinary measures? Absolutely not. But we can dream.

Also, can Aaron Boone be disciplined? Asking for a friend who is wondering how somebody can mismanage a stretch this long with a supposed World Series contender.

At the very least, something has to be done about Leiter Jr. at the trade deadline. He's hardly suitable as the last guy in the bullpen, let alone as a reliever called upon to stop the bleeding or escape a jam, which he was tasked with on Monday night.

Boone called upon Leiter Jr. in the sixth after Carlos Rodón allowed a leadoff double with the Yankees up 3-1. Within seconds, the right-hander unraveled, allowing three earned runs on three hits. He is not feared by hitters. When his splitter is off, he's completely ineffective. He serves as a version of batting practice for most MLB hitters at this point, regardless of what his numbers say.

All of this, by the way, was made possible by Volpe, who made two of the most ill-advised throws in the same inning that you'd rarely see from a starting shortstop.

Yankees' incomprehensible loss to Blue Jays sums up frustrating stretch in 2025

Admittedly, Volpe put Leiter in an even worse situation by making a ridiculous throwing error on the infield single the right-hander allowed to the first batter. That allowed the runner to reach second base, putting two guys in scoring position. Three batters later, Volpe allowed a runner on second to take third by attempting to throw out Ernie Clement on an infield single. The throw never should've been made as Clement was safe by three steps.

Your shortstop and Gold Glover are supposed to be limiting runs and preventing the opposition from taking the extra base. Volpe continues to make mistakes on a weekly basis that put the Yankees in a tough position.

But Boone takes the cake here. Not only did he call on Leiter Jr. to relieve Rodón, but then ushered in Jonathan Loaisiga to reliever Leiter. All of these decisions led to the Blue Jays tallying their five runs and winning the game. And if you were going to remove Rodón at the first sign of trouble because he was over 90 pitches, then why did he start the inning?

Then you have the late-game decisions on offense. For whatever reason, the Yankees' hottest hitter in Jazz Chisholm, laid down the team's third sacrifice bunt OF THE SEASON to move Aaron Judge over to second base in the top of the eighth. Spoiler alert: the Yankees didn't bring Judge, the game-tying run, to the plate and lost by a run. The hottest hitter? Bunting??? Even if it was Chisholm's rogue choice, he should have been explicitly told not to do that before stepping into the batter's box.

And finally, there was the top of the ninth, with the bottom of the order up. JC Escarra popped up after a nine-pitch at-bat, but Boone opted to let DJ LeMahieu hit instead of bringing Paul Goldschmidt into the game. LeMahieu struck out, Jasson Dominguez singled, and then Cody Bellinger popped out to end it.

Is this loss the end of the Yankees season as we know it? No. But this has to stop. The slop some of these relievers are throwing is unacceptable. The starting shortstop can't be giving away runs. The manager can't make four bad decisions in a matter of four innings. Win tomorrow.