My Early May Take on the Yankees

by Cary Greene

May 8, 2026

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Now that we’re more than 37 games into the season at the time of this writing and the Yankees roster has begun to gel, there’s a few things to like and a couple of concerns have emerged as well. Also, a future strategy has perhaps come into focus. Let’s take a look at what’s to like first.

What’s to Like

Are my eyes deceiving me or is Lou Gehrig playing first base for the Yankees right now? Ben Rice has started the season red hot and he’s been ripping literally everything to right field. Rice is even mauling left-handed pitching these days and his StatCast page is probably on par with what Lou Gehrig’s page would have looked like, if StatCast had existed in Gehrig’s era.

If Rice continues doing what advanced metrics say he is likely to maintain, it may in fact be time to pencil young Master Rice in as the American League’s starting first baseman at this year’s All Star game. Presently, Rice is easily the most productive first baseman in MLB and for that matter, he’s actually been the most productive player!

Thankfully, Cashman didn’t trade Rice away last offseason and word on the street was that there were many rival GM’s who were interested in trading for him. Rice’s StatCast page says it’s all real folks, so stay tuned, let's see what he can accomplish this season.

Besides the play of Gherig, er, Rice - Cody Bellinger and of course, Aaron Judge (the modern day Babe Ruth) have been helping Rice shoulder the burden offensively. Bellinger has started the season hitting even better than he did last year for the Yankees, contradicting every major, publicly available projection service thus far. No doubt, there’s a very long way to go before the season is over, as we’re basically only a month and change into things, but Bellinger’s hot start has done wonders for the Yankees offense.

With Babe Ruth, er, Aaron Judge starting to come around, things are getting very interesting in the Bronx. Finally, the meat of the Yankees lineup is close to being a modern day version of the Yankees 1927 Murderer's Row and I have to say, it’s been pretty fun to watch.

Featuring Earle Combs in center field, Mark Koenig at shortstop, Babe Ruth in right field, Lou Gherig at first base, Bob Meusel in left field and Tony Lazzari at second base, the Yankees once fielded an offensive juggernaut the likes of which had never before been seen in MLB. Are the 2026 Yankees six-deep though? Probably not, but they do have Judge, Bellinger, Rice and Stanton all the heart of the lineup. What they’re missing though, for starters, is a leadoff hitter like Hall of Famer Earle Combs who, in 1927, slashed .356/.414/.511 with a .925 OPS. Functioning as a true table setter, Combs scored 137 runs that year.

I’ve long believed that the Yankee blueprint is to have left-hand power-hitting corner infielders and outfielders, a terrific all around center fielder, a stout rotation and a couple of really good relievers. With the roster constructed as it currently is, the Yankees aren’t far off from the Yankee blueprint of season’s past and folks, if executed properly, the Yankee blueprint is a true force to be reckoned with.

Caba-who?

One thing I might be able to toot my horn very loudly about is that Jose Caballero is doing exactly what I said he would do to start the season. Toot-Toot (LOL). There were many here on SSTN (even some of the very heaviest of hitters) who didn’t feel Caby’s defense was strong enough for him to hold down the shortstop position while Anthony Volpe was in the process of rehabbing. Yet, Caballero thus far is second to only the incomparable Bobby Whitt Jr with +6 DRS and Caby is +3 OAA as well. May we all agree, he’s a lot better defensively than many here thought he was prior to this season?

With Caby fielding so well that he’s been MLB’s second best defensive shortstop to start the season, there’s been a ton to like about the spark he’s provided the Yankees as he’s impacted games not only with his glove, but with his legs and his bat as well. Caby has been playable against right-handed pitching this season, though he still feasts far more heartily against left-handed pitching.

Perhaps the Yankees made a truly excellent baseball decision, for once, when they optioned Volpe down to Scranton? This pivotal decision showcases the Yankees sense of urgency to win now and personally, I love the decision. Not only have I been enjoying watching Caby play shortstop for the Yankees, but I think Volpe can benefit from some extended time. Also, the Yankees may start playing Volpe at third base and second base while he’s getting reps and this reveals a surprisingly excellent future plan that the Yankees are cooking up.

A Surprising Plan is Taking Shape

With Jazz Chisholm and Ryan McMahon both playing their way off the team, the Yankees might inject their infield with youthful support at some point this season. If Caby continues to capitalize on the opportunity the Yankees gave him to be their starting shortstop, the Yankees might at some point replace both Chisholm and McMahon, with Volpe and who knows…perhaps George Lombard Jr will also be tossed into the fray as well?

Personally, I’d love to see an infield of Lombard Jr at third base or shortstop, Caby at third base or shortstop, Volpe at second base and Rice at first base. I think that would be pretty freaking cool actually! It might just work too. We’re several months, at least, away from such a rash maneuver, but there’s a real chance that a plan like this might work out.

What’s Not to Like

Simply put, the Yankees don’t have Earle Combs at the top of their lineup, but they do have Trent Grisham and I’ll acknowledge, he’s off to a very poor start. It's true, I may be Grisham’s biggest supporter here on SSTN, but he’s sporting a .695 OPS so far this season. Is there reason to be concerned? Nope. At least, not if you believe in StatCast. His advanced metrics show that though he’s been hitting the ball with plenty of authority, he’s been very unlucky so far this season.

Last season, Trent Grisham became the Yankees leadoff hitter and he managed to score 87 runs while having a career year at the plate. While he was no Earle Combs, Grisham proved to be the Yankees best option to serve as the leadoff hitter. Many moons ago, during the 2021 offseason, Cleveland traded Francisco Lindor to the Mets. I mention this because he scored 117 runs last season and had Cashman been more aggressive, I still believe he could have landed Lindor. It was a missed opportunity to say the least, but here we are. The year is 2026 and the Yankees are still content to let Trent Grisham serve as the team’s leadoff hitter.

Grisham has been in the top 9% of the league in Hard-Hit Percentage, so I’ll leave it at that. StatCast is right and everyone who thinks the Yankees shouldn’t have extended him the Qualifying Offer is wrong! <grinning> If only it were that simple! The reason the Yankees haven’t benched Grisham is tied into his metrics, which say that Grish is every bit as good with the bat this season as he was last year. Also and believe it or not, 108 at-bats isn’t yet a very big sample size. There is plenty of time for Grisham to begin performing a lot better offensively.

Defensively, the now healthy Grisham is providing minimally below average defense for the Yankees in center field. Providing his bat comes around, the Yankees can and will live with him as their starting center fielder against right-handed pitching.

Can’t Say I Didn’t Call This Too

In rather predictable fashion, Giancarlo Stanton quietly went on the Disabled List (retroactive to April 25th) in the month of April. Nothing he does at this point in his Yankees tenure will cease to amaze me. I do hate to point this out, but I beat a very loud drum this past offseason for the Yankees to sign Miguel Andujar, as insurance for not if - but when - Stanton would become unable to play due a myriad of possible injuries which we all knew were just waiting to happen – and they have! How on earth could an offseason plan be made that relies heavily on Giancarlo Stanton to stay healthy? Certainly doing so is yet another clear example of Steinbrenner not wanting to spend to make shrewd, key moves that would turn the Yankees into a true juggernaut - a team capable of finally ending the championship drought that has been wilting the franchise for so long.

Our old friend, Miggy, is presently raking for the Padres, to the tune of a .305/.377/.436 slash line to accompany a 130 wRC+ and an overly lucky .357 wOBA. Hal Steinbrenner failed to plan for the likelihood that Stanton would likely be unavailable for pieces, potentially very large pieces, of the 2026 season and so here we are. Instead, Steinbrenner had Cashman scour MLB’s scrap heap for the Randal Grichuk’s of the world and the middle of the Yankees lineup has featured Jazz Chisholm and his motley 80 wRC+ over the first part of the season. Though Jazz did blast a key home run off of Jacob deGrom the other night, I call this poor planning on the Yankees part and Hal Steinbrenner is the one who let it happen - due to his unwillingness to spend.

And Then There’s the Bullpen

Perhaps the most obvious needs that the Yankees had this offseason were at the back end of their bullpen. Camilo Doval, Jake Bird haven’t exactly formed a reliable bridge between the middle and late-innings so far this season for the Yankees. Meanwhile, the closer I hoped Steinbrenner would go for this offseason,  Robert Suarez, is completely dominating for the Braves so far this season.

This past offseason, the Yankees didn’t truly just “run it back.” They actually lost more than they added due to Steinbrenner’s unwillingness to spend the coin that was required to best position the Yankees to win a championship. Most fans understood the logic, recognizing that the Yankees had a very deep supply of Minor League pitching available, so why spend big to replace departed relievers like Devin Williams and Luke Weaver?

There’s no denying that David Bednar is a pretty good closer, though he’s starting to remind of David “Houdini” Robertson’s time with the Yankees, where he routinely walked a tightrope as he pitched in and out of self-created jams. This offseason, Stenbrenner passed up a chance to bring in a flamethrowing, lock down closer like Suarez, which would have solidified the Yankees ability to slam the door on opposing lineups in the later innings of games.

Perhaps the Yankees can begin to turn to some of their internal options to help what so far has been a very middling, eleventh ranked bullpen.

Candidates to make immediate impacts range from Kevin Castro to a few of the current Yankees starters who are likely to be bumped out of the rotation when the likes of Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon are reinstated. David Weathers seems like a rather obvious choice, as a bullpen role would serve to limit his innings and also give him a chance to pitch multiple innings when situations call for it. Looming in the distance is Carlos Lagrange also, but his control has been atrocious (5.5 BB/9) so far this year for Scranton. He clearly needs more time to find the strike zone if he’s going to be effective at the MLB level.

There has been a lot of speculation that Lagrange is better suited to become a reliever, in fact he’s even been compared to former Yankees 8th-inning shut down man Dellin Betances. Remembering back to where Betances was at the same stage that Lagrange is at now, he was working on his control. In order to make the jump to MLB, Lagrange will need to improve his ability to locate his pitches.

Pitchers who struggle with command at the MLB level don’t seem to last very long. I see the Yankees wanting to continue to give Lagrange time as a starter while he’s in Scranton, pitching lots of innings will give him maximum reps to refine his ability to locate his pitches. Could the Yankees promote Lagrange to their bullpen? Yes. But it seems like a risky move, especially when there are so many other options that make sense.

No doubt, the Yankees will need to keep a few of their better pitching prospects stretched out, in order to provide the Yankees with “read now” rotational depth. For this reason, prospects like Elmer Rodriguez and Brendan Beck will likely remain in starting roles until much later in the season, at which point the Yankees may call them up and have them pitch out of the bullpen.

How Do We All Really Feel?

On one hand, the Yankees presently have the fourth best offense in MLB, but last season the Yankees rocked the best offense in baseball. The Cubs, Braves and Dodgers have all been markedly better offensively than the Yankees so far this season. This season, the Yankees currently rank 15th in hits, but they lead the League in Home runs with 60 and they’re second in walks with 165. It’s been a walk, a home run or bust approach so far for the Yankees. Something the Yankees aren’t doing is leaving an inordinate number of runners stranded - the Yankees have left the fifth-fewest (234) runners on base thus far. This stat is also reflected by the Yankees ranking second in RBI’s, with 188.

One thing the Yankees are doing is scoring plenty of runs, just like they did last season, so is there really all that much to complain about? Not really, but I do think the Yankees offense still needs two more contact oriented right-handed bats that do more than just hit singles. Refusing to even show interest in Miguel Andujar this past offseason was a big mistake on Cashman’s and Steinbrenner’s part(s). The Yankees also chose not to address third base, which could wind up being a bit of a mistake.

Ripple effects from Steinbrenner’s unwillingness to put the best possible roster together were felt at the hot corner for sure. Ryan McMahon owns an 81 wRC+ and a 76 OPS+, so no matter how we evaluate his offensive performance, he’s way below League Average. Did the Yankees brass not see this coming? Apparently not. Unlike Grisham’s StatCast page, which shows he’s clearly been unlucky, McMahon’s page shows he’s just not a good offensive player.

Many wanted the Yankees to sign Bo Bichette to play third base - instead of seeing the team sign Cody Bellinger. I chalk most of that up due to a malaise similar to cabin fever, which was likely caused by how long it took for Bellinger to finally accept a contract this past offseason. At some point, many Yankees fans of sound mind began to mentally fatigue and wilt as the duration of time took its toll. <snickering> Perhaps the Yankees dodged a bullet here, as Bichette owns a 66 wRC+ and a 67 OPS+, meaning he’s been notably worse than even McMahon has. Hard to imagine right? Couldn’t be happening for a more deserving team though - I with the Mets much more continued awfulness. We can only hope that Juan Soto is loving his time in last place with the Mets!

Where the Yankees did miss out was in not pursuing Kazuma Okamoto, who is beginning to adjust nicely to American baseball. Okamoto’s bat is real, as evidenced by his 126 wRC+ and he ranks in the 78th percentile in StatCast’s Batting Run Value. My offseason plan for the Yankees included allocating money for Okamoto, but obviously the Yankees chose to stick with McMahon.

Would the Yankees offense be even better if Hal Steinbrenner had the foresight to put Suarez, Andujar and Okamoto in pinstripes? Yes, of course, but doing so would have ballooned the Yankees payroll to levels that Hal Steinbrenner was uncomfortable with. In my estimation, not making these key three moves – all of which I wrote about incessantly this offseason – has left the Yankees in what has become a familiar position. The desire not to spend, will leave the Yankees needing to make trades at the Deadline this year and this will further degrade the Yankees farm system, which is now ranked 26th by MLB.com!

With Cashman at the helm, the Yankees may soon have the worst farm system in MLB. What choice does Cashman have? He’s under pressure to win now and yet, due to Steinbrenner’s desire not to spend, Cashman is forced to keep gutting the farm system in order to fix the roster problems that a little spending could have prevented. I don’t envy the position Steinbrenner puts Cashman in every year. Of course, as evidenced by the Mets, spending alone doesn’t guarantee success, so here we are. I’m curious to read each of your takes on how you feel about the Yankees this season. We’re in early May. Most teams are figuring out what they have in-house and what they may need at this year’s Deadline. The Yankees will no doubt be buyers this year.

You now know how I’m feeling - I’m not convinced this Yankees team has what it takes. It seems like every year, there’s a “Boone Swoon,” so it’s just a matter of time. There’s no way the Yankees can sustain a .694 winning percentage. The standings in the American League East are absolutely in wild disarray right now. I’m stunned. Kudos to the Rays for playing so well. In true Rays fashion, they’re all about run prevention and they’re winning gobs of close games as they stick right on the Yankees shoulder coming into the first turn!

This past offseason, I wanted Cashman to attempt a trade for Drew Rassumussen. He’s combined with Nick Martinez and Shane McClanahan to give the Rays a formidable front 3 in their rotation. Meanwhile, the Jays and Red Sox are a winning streak away from hopping right back into the mix, but wow, did they start off the season poorly. They’re both too good to keep playing this way, aren’t they? Someone needs to pinch me, is this real? It’s wonderful! But will it last?

So how are you feeling?