Yankees made the wrong simple rotation switch before next Red Sox series at Fenway

The New York Yankees entered their weekend series against the Boston Red Sox at a pitching disadvantage, with enemy Walker Buehler and ace Garrett Crochet going in the first two contests against mismatches in Will Warren and Ryan Yarbrough. Somehow, the Yankees flipped the narrative by taking it to Buehler early in an ambush. Could Yarbrough follow suit and continue to slay dragons after beating Yoshinobu Yamamoto and leading the Yankees to a W against Jacob deGrom?

Eh ... nope. Boston's lefty-mashing lineup took advantage of Yarbrough's lack of command and took it to him, flipping the series and fueling a rubber match win against Carlos Rodón. Yarbrough's a phenomenal story, and has already done more than enough for these Yankees. He might get his mojo back soon. But expecting him to do so against the Red Sox (a team that just proved they're built to frustrate him) in Fenway Park — a ballpark built to kill soft-tossing lefties — seems like a misstep.

Yarbrough (of course!) was also lined up to start next Friday's opener in Beantown against Crochet once again. After losing the weekend series, and with an off day to work with on Monday, it seemed logical the Yankees would find a way to use him on the road against the Royals and try something different next time around.

Instead, the Yankees did make a rotation switch ... but kept Yarbrough in the mix. Max Fried will stay on regular rest and will start Tuesday against super rookie Noah Cameron, lining him up to start the Sunday afternoon finale in Boston. That means the Yankees will run out Yarbrough-Rodón-Fried ... but wouldn't Warren-Rodón-Fried have been a better idea?

Yankees insert Max Fried into weekend rotation vs. Red Sox, but should've removed Ryan Yarbrough

Again, incredibly grateful for Yarbrough's contributions. Again, even if this is the end — we don't think it is — he's been a massively impactful positive on this surprising Yankees season.

But the man is tailor-made to struggle at Fenway, and after Boston took Round 1 emphatically, the Yankees are now again counting on him in a tone-setting game against Crochet, who will be better this time, fired up by the home crowd.

Outside of hoping Crochet has too much juice flowing through his veins and struggles with command early, while Yarbrough stays startlingly calm, there isn't much reason for belief here. Yarbrough, in 10 games at Fenway Park over the course of his career, sports a 7.11 ERA. The Yankees were wise to adjust here, but they still should've gone one step further.