After the Yankees had their 11-game winning streak snapped Wednesday night in Toronto, they acknowledged the challenge the Blue Jays presented.
“We know we’ve got to play well to beat them,” manager Aaron Boone said after the 2-1 loss. “Anytime you play these guys, you expect a challenge.”
That’s something they might not be able to say about most of their upcoming opponents.
Outside of a two-game set against the Blue Jays in The Bronx, the Yankees won’t face another team with a winning record again until they visit the Rays on May 26 for a four-game series.
Following their day off Thursday, the Yankees will host the Rangers, who entered Thursday a disappointing 10-14 despite having made two big splashes in the offseason. Texas signed a pair of infielders who some saw as potential fits for the Yankees: Corey Seager and Marcus Semien.
The early results haven’t been good for Texas.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa scores as Aaron Judge celebrates on April 8, 2022. EPASeager has been fine, but has taken him time to find his power stroke since leaving the Dodgers.
The 28-year-old, who signed a 10-year, $325 million deal to join the Rangers, enters the series with a slugging percentage of .398, far off his career mark of .500.
He homered in three straight games at the end of April, but still has just five extra-base hits in 102 plate appearances.
Perhaps Seager’s biggest moment as a Ranger came when Angels manager Joe Maddon decided to intentionally walk him with the bases loaded last month.
Scouts are confident Seager will find his form as he gets more comfortable in his new surroundings.
Semien’s struggles have been more worrisome.
After signing a seven-year, $175 million deal to go from Toronto to Texas, Semien is still looking for his first homer of the year. He hit 45 a year ago with the Blue Jays.
And only 11 players have an OPS lower than Semien’s .494 mark.
The 31-year-old got off to a rough start last year with the Blue Jays as well, and didn’t heat up until May. No doubt, the Rangers are hoping that’s the case again this season.
The Yankees avoided the free-agent shortstop market, opting instead to trade for Isiah Kiner-Falefa after he was dealt from the Rangers to the Twins.
Kiner-Falefa has provided a steady glove at shortstop, allowing Gleyber Torres to move back to second base, and has been solid at the plate.
His early success has taken some of the spotlight off Oswald Peraza at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and Anthony Volpe at Double-A Somerset, whom the Yankees expect to vie for spots on their major league roster within the next year or two.
After the Rangers series, the Yankees will host the Blue Jays for a pair of games before a trip to Chicago to face the White Sox, who were considered the favorites in the AL Central, but have so far been outplayed by the Twins.
The Yankees then will remain on the road at last-place Baltimore again before the White Sox and Orioles both come to The Bronx.
So it’s no surprise the Yankees seemed confident that even though their streak came to an end on Wednesday night, another might not be far behind.
“We’ll start it back up again,” Aaron Hicks said of the team’s mentality heading into Friday. “That’s pretty much all you can do. We had a good stretch and we know we’re capable of winning that many games [in a row] again.”
As Aaron Judge pointed out, though, the Yankees haven’t proven anything yet, even with their early success.
“It’s only 11 games,” Judge said of the winning streak. “We’ve got more work to do.”







