Has The Yankee Vibe Swung Positive?

All in With John Jastremski

Throughout most of the 2025 season, there was a narrative surrounding the Yankees that really played according to script.

They were the Bronx Bullies.

The Yankees dominated sub .500 competition, scored a ton of runs and won by a whole lot against those type of teams.

When the Yankees went up in weight class against the best teams that the sport has to offer, they flopped.

The narrative could not have been more obvious in watching the matchups in the first four months of the year against the Blue Jays and the Red Sox.

The Yankees could not beat either team and it’s why they found themselves in a position where they were chasing the division as opposed to leading the division.

Thankfully, in 2025, winning your division in Major League Baseball is not the be all, end all with three additional Wild Card teams.

When entering September, the Yankees were in prime position to be a part of the Wild Card trio, but could they change the narrative regarding their performance against top competition?

After a two week stretch that featured four series with the Astros, Blue Jays, Tigers and Red Sox, the Yankees handled themselves quite nicely.

In the 12 games against the four best teams in the American League, the Yankees won 3 of the 4 series and finished with a record of 7-5.

Not only is the record encouraging, but the brand of baseball fits the eye test of a contender.

The Yankees played much cleaner baseball as opposed to what I saw earlier in the season.

They put together great at bats with runners in scoring position.

They stole bases and took advantage of other teams’ mistakes.

The starting rotation appears to be solidified with Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, Luis Gil and Cam Schlittler.

Also, the exhausting Anthony Volpe conversation has been put aside with the Yankees wisely playing Jose Cabarello as their shortstop.

The 2025 Yankees are far from perfect.

They struggle to win when they don’t homer and their bullpen still has a considerable amount of questions.

That said, the Yankees are a part of a wide open American League and quite frankly a wide open sport in 2025.

Have they answered enough of the summer questions to make you feel a little better heading into October?

The answer, for me, is yes – but with a disclaimer.

The progress will not be officially graded until this team plays in the postseason.

That said, you would certainly rather have a positive progress report than a negative one heading into the Final Exam…

You can listen to my podcast New York, New York on The Ringer Podcast Network on Spotify/Apple Podcasts every Sunday & Thursday. You can watch me nightly on Honda Sports Nite following Mets postgame on SNY.

  John Jastremski, Sports, yankees