Yankees' Division Hopes Rest on Finally Toppling Blue Jays This Weekend

The Blue Jays dismantled the Yankees throughout the 2025 MLB season. In wrestling terms, the Bronx Bombers were the jobbers to their northern brethren.

It culminated in a beatdown on their home court at the Rogers Center, where the Jays began the American League Division Series by torching the Yankees' pitching staff from the rotation to every inch of their bullpen.

The Jays ultimately outscored the Yankees in that series 34-19. Everybody touched them up, from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to Ernie Clement. The 2025 season eventually ended in the Bronx, with Guerrero smoking cigars and espousing David Ortiz's patented "Yankees lose" catchphrase, which he had coined from the moment he became a Fox analyst.

A year later, the Yankees want a different end to their season. If they're going to do that, they can start by finally beating the Blue Jays this weekend at Rogers Centre, which proved to be a house of horrors last year. They went 5-8 against their American League East rivals last season and, on their home turf, faced a medley of blown leads and ugly errors, which manager Aaron Boone attributed to their home turf.

New York was such a mess against Toronto that it prompted its now-retired broadcaster, Buck Martinez, to mock the Yankees during a game.

"The Yankees, they're not a good team," Martinez expressed, according to Yahoo.com's Matt Sullivan. "I don't care what their record is. They have a lot of wild pitches, they make a lot of mistakes in the field, and they don't run the bases very well. If they don't hit home runs, they don't have a chance to win."

Toronto Blue Jays color commentator Buck Martinez — Retired Blue Jays commentator Buck Martinez disrespected the Yankees last year. | Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images

Boone eventually lamented that before the ALDS. It achieved nothing, and his team was squashed pretty handily.

Why beating the Blue Jays is important to taking the AL East

If there is one thing the Yankees hopefully learned from last year, it's that taking the AL East should be paramount to achieving their ultimate goal: winning a World Series. As it stands, New York is tied with Tampa Bay for the division lead as of Friday morning.

The quest for a 28th championship will now roll through the Rogers Centre in their first three-game set against the Jays, and they'll need to do better than the 5-8 record from last season. The AL East foes have already clashed—albeit at Yankee Stadium—for four games in May, splitting the series two games apiece.

One thing the Yankees will need to do is play crisp defense and be better than the minus-7 outs above average they posted last year. They'll also need better games from their starting rotation and to avoid the mess that Max Fried and Carlos Rodón found themselves in during the ALDS. For now, Fried can't avenge himself, but everybody else will have to step up.

On paper, the Yankees are a better team than they showed last season. That goes on the defensive front and on the pitching side. Their rotation is one of the best in the sport and has clearly upgraded from 2025's ERA of 3.91, which was 14th in baseball last year. This season, they have a 3.27 ERA, the best in the American League and second-best overall in MLB.

Cam Schlittler pitches. — The Yankees' starting rotation gives them a clear advantage heading into this weekend's series vs. the Blue Jays. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The Yankees' defense is also much better than it was last year. Granted, while they aren't making as many sloppy mistakes as they did last year, they do have a minus-2 OAA on the season.

Taking the series in Toronto can go a long way in putting those ghosts from 2025 away, especially if winning the AL East is a season-long goal. Hopefully, the Yankees can put those Martinez words to rest as well, the way they did to a Guardians broadcast that mocked Jazz Chisholm Jr. and felt his wrath thereafter.

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