Making Hay: Yankees 11, Orioles 3

About Yesterday Afternoon: Making Hay. Yankees 11- Orioles 3

By Tim Kabel

May 4, 2026

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The Yankees are on a tremendous roll. They have won 13 of their last 15 games. Their record is 23-11 and they are 12 games over .500 for the first time this season. They are the first and only team in the American League with 23 wins. Only the Atlanta Braves have more wins with 25, and they get to play the Mets more often than the Yankees do.

Right now, the Orioles are not very good. This was their 4th straight loss and their 12th loss in the last 18 games. Right now, the Yankees are playing teams that are either not very good or are not playing well. In some cases, it has been both. The Yankees are doing what they need to do. They are making hay when the sun shines as the old expression goes. They are taking advantage of the schedule. That is what championship teams do. Now, we have all seen the Yankees do this before and we have all seen Boone-Swoons. For right now, let's focus on the positives.

Jasson Dominguez played his fifth game since being recalled from Scranton yesterday. He was 3-5 with a home run, 2 doubles, and 3 RBI. The two doubles came as a right-handed hitter. In the 8th inning, Dominguez had extra base hits from both sides of the plate in the same inning. Remember, Dominguez hit well last season for the Yankees and was asked to work on his defense in left field and his right-handed hitting in the minors this season. For the most part he has been a DH since his return from the minors, but his right-handed hitting has clearly improved. Cutting Randal Grichuk loose does not seem to be seem a mistake. The fact that Grichuk is off the roster removes the temptation of having him pinch hit for Dominguez from Aaron Boone. I suppose Boone could always use Amed Rosario, but he needs him to pinch hit for Ryan McMahon. Remember, Dominguez is a natural right-handed hitter who became a switch hitter. It was the lack of repetition and at bats that caused him to struggle last year. He has reportedly been concentrating on it and that work seems to have paid off.

Ben Rice tied Aaron Judge for the team lead in home runs with 12 in the first inning. He doubled in the third inning and scored on Aaron Judge’s 13th home run. Apparently, Judge does not like being tied for the team lead in home runs. That is a good thing. Rice soon left the game after bruising his hand fielding a pickoff throw from Max Fried. X-rays were negative and Rice is listed as day-to-day. As John Sterling used to say, “aren't we all?”

Ryan McMahon had three hits yesterday which finally raised his batting average to .200. One of the hits was really an error but we and McMahon will take what we can get.  The only starter who went hitless was Trent Grisham, who is now banning .162 for the season.

Max Fried had an off day, allowing 3 runs in 5.1 innings. He struck out 6 and walked 3. Still, he kept the Yankees in a position to win the game, which they did. Fernando Cruz, Brent Headrick, and David Bednar pitched 3.2 innings of scoreless relief.

It was a tremendous win for the Yankees. They won the series against the Orioles. With one more game tonight, they will be looking for the sweep. However, the most important development for the Yankees did not occur on the field.

For weeks we had been hearing Aaron Boone tell us that Anthony Volpe would be coming back to play shortstop for the Yankees this weekend. Earlier this week that became “we'll see." Well, “we'll see” became not at all.

Volpe finished his minor league rehabilitation stint and has been optioned to Scranton. Volpe is not being handed the starting shortstop job. That is major news. It's the right move. It's the move that makes sense. That is what is surprising about it. I suspect that this move is more of a Brian Cashman decision than it is an Aaron Boone decision. In other words, if the Yankees returned Volpe to the Major League roster but stated that Jose Caballero would be the starter, at least for the time being, it would have only taken Boone two or three days to hand the keys to Volpe. We've seen it before. So, sending Volpe to the minors is akin to cutting Randal Grichuk. It removes the temptation from Boone.

This also leads us to several questions. How long will it last? What will Volpe’s role be? What other ramifications does this have? I suspect that as long as Caballero continues to play the way he has, playing stellar defense and leading the league in stolen bases along with providing more offense than one would suspect and certainly more offense than Volpe delivered, he will remain the starting shortstop. There would be no reason to remove Caballero unless Volpe tears up AAA. I don't know that he will do that.

There is another issue here. George Lombard, Jr. was already promoted to Scranton this week. I haven't read or heard that he was demoted, nor would there be any reason to do so. Aaron Boone stated that Volpe would be playing shortstop at Scranton and would not become a utility player. That means that Lombard will most likely play third base at Scranton. If Lombard is productive in that role, we could reach a point later this season when he comes to the majors, not to replace Caballero, but to replace Ryan McMahon. By the end of this season, we could see Lombard and Caballero replacing McMahon and Volpe. I know we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves, but it is something to think about.

The point is that the Yankees are now making moves that are based on common sense and logic. Jasson Dominguez deserves to be on this team more than Randal Grichuk does. We will see what happens when Giancarlo Stanton returns. We don't know when that will be but remember, he is a notoriously slow healer. If Dominguez continues to hit playing DH and occasionally in the outfield, that will require the Yankees to make some decisions down the road. Do the Yankees really need to have both Giancarlo Stanton and Paul Goldschmidt on the roster? No, they don't. However, Goldschmidt has the ability to play first base in case Ben Rice is injured or needs a day off. Stanton cannot do that.

We will see what happens, but the important thing is that the Yankees are winning consistently. They are also making sound baseball decisions and playing the people who should be playing. Let's hope this continues.

A Few Tidbits: 

·       Aaron Judge hit his 13th home run, which tied him for the Major League lead with Munetaka Murakami of the Chicago White Sox. Many of us advocated for the Yankees to sign Murakami. I realize he would be a butcher at third base compared to Ryan McMahon, but I believe if Murakami stopped playing today, he would end the season with more home runs than McMahon will have all season.

·       Baltimore rookie Trey Gibson made his Major League debut, becoming the first starting pitcher to make his Major League debut for the Orioles at Yankee Stadium since the team moved from St. Louis during the 1953 season. My friend Roger attended that game, having recently retired after a long and distinguished career in state service. 

·       Aaron Judge and Ben Rice have combined for 25 home runs so far this season. That is more than the team total for the Marlins, Red Sox, Brewers, and Giants. It is one fewer than the Mets’ total.

·       Spencer Jones had 2 home runs and 5 RBI yesterday for Scranton. One of the home runs left his bat at over 117 miles an hour. He is now batting .261 with 10 home runs and 37 RBI. He also has 7 stolen bases. Many people say that he strikes out too much. Perhaps that is true but if his batting average is 100 points higher than Trent Grisham’s and he has twice as many home runs and more than double the number of RBI, does it really matter? Is it possible that in a month or so when Grisham can be traded, he will be, and that Jones will be recalled? Yes, I would imagine it is. If the Yankees don't plan to do that, then they should trade Jones because it doesn't make sense to have him sitting in Scranton leading the minor leagues in RBI and walloping home runs with great regularity if there is no plan to bring him to the Majors.

The Yankees will go for a sweep tonight when they face the Orioles at 7:05 PM at Yankee Stadium.  Cam Schlittler, (4-1, 1.51 ERA) will face Shane Baz, (1-2, 4.50 ERA).