Perspectives: Weak Up The Middle
- Paul Semendinger
- May 16
- 3 min read
by Paul Semendinger
May 16, 2026
***
In the offseason, many fans decried the fact that the Yankees did a whole lot of nothing (except wait very very very patiently for Cody Bellinger to re-sign with them).
Many fans pointed to the fact that the Yankees were not very strong up the middle. In fact, many pointed out that this was a concern.
In 2026, to date, it has been. That concern has been justified.
Austin Wells is hitting .173. Fans were told and sold on his promise as a hitter, He has now played almost 300 games as a Major Leaguer. His lifetime batting average is .219. Wells' lifetime OPS+ is a substandard 94. In his second full season last year, Wells batted only .219. He was a 0.1 WAR player.
Being concerned about Wells' hitting long before this season started was sound and logical and based on facts. To date, he has never been a good hitter. And he still is not.
This season Trent Grisham is batting .169. Some Yankees fans were seduced by the mirage of a season Grisham had last year. Other fans were able to point out that baseball history is replete with players who had one big outlier season that did not coincide with that player's career norms. More often than not, the player having the outlier season reverts to his previous norms. (The back of the baseball card doesn't often lie over an extended period of time.)
One might remember Matt Carpenter. In 2022, Carpenter had a miraculous run for the Yankees. He hit 15 home runs in 47 games and batted .305. It was special and fun. But that hot streak defied his previous two seasons when he failed to even hit .200. There was a collection of fans who wanted the Yankees to bring back Carpenter for 2023. (I was not one of them.) In 2023, Carpenter hit .176. His career was over the next year. Over those last two seasons, he "earned" -0.4 WAR.
Trent Grisham had a "Carpenter-Like" season in 2025. But that season was in contrast to who the player really was (and is). Grisham failed to bat even .200 in 2022, 2023, and 2024. It seemed more than likely that Grisham would become that player again in 2026. And, to date, he has been.
Jazz Chisholm is a gifted player with a tremendous set of skills. This year, he is batting .217. He has already struck out 50 times. 50! He is on pace to whiff about 185 times this season. He has hit all of four homers.
Last season, Chisholm put it all together, setting a career high 4.2 WAR. (He had never before had even a 3.0 WAR season.) There was a strong likelihood that he would refer to career norms, or worse in 2026. (As one regresses back to the mean, that sometimes means real regression - meaning playing below the career norms.) And that is exactly what is happening in 2026.
Fans who were concerned about the production from Grisham, Wells, and Chisholm were looking at the careers of those players logically. It made perfect sense to be concerned about those players.
To date, that concern has been more than justified.
The final, up-the-middle player that fans are, and have been, concerned about is Anthony Volpe. Volpe has also never hit as a big leaguer, outside some small periods that some look at and hope indicate that he can perform over a longer stretch of time. Volpe is such a poor hitter over his career that he hasn't even had a 90 OPS+ season. A 90 OPS+ season is bad. Volpe hasn't even been that "good."
The fact that these players have not performed is not a surprise to many. It was easy to see this coming. It was right there in front of us.
Now, to be fair, it's only mid-May. This can all change. All or some of these players might turn it around. But, until they do, I will remain skeptical. And, I do not believe they will. Their careers indicate that they will not.
The Yankees will not be a World Series winner with such poor production across these four positions. Adding to this concern is the fact that their third baseman, Ryan McMahon, has also never hit in the Majors. He has never had a 100 OPS+ season. Not once. Ever.
A team cannot win a championship if five of the batting order spots are filled with players who don't (or can't) hit.
If fans (and writers) could see this clearly, the fact that the decision-makers on the Yankees could not is very troubling.
I'm witholding judgment on Jazz.
The kids, specifically Cabrera and Peraza, complained about the hitting coaching in 2023. That year Hal fired HC Dillon Lawson, but 3 years later, Lawson's hand-picked assistant is still here. The coach that changed Spencer Jones into a strikeout machine in 2024, is now the other AHC here.
Please name me one hitter the Yankees have made better since 2018? I can't. Why can FOX & MLBN point out what's wrong with Volpe but the Yankees have dine squat about to try to fix it?
The only answer I can come up with is; The Brian Cashman Way of Coaching hitting simply does not work. At what point is either Hal to be sick of it, or Cashman admit h…
This is perfect representation of the obvious being right in front of us ..... you see it, I see it and I wonder what the front office will do about it? All 4 need to be replaced, and I only see Chisholm traded at the deadline.
very reasonable analysis
the 2026 Yankee team is not getting anything close to sufficient offensive production from the position players in the middle of the diamond.
the season, however, is still young, the weather not yet hot.
it's also very reasonable to understand that team has managed to survive the shortfall
and has managed, to this point, to tally some runs. they've scored more of them than any other AL team.
it's also true that, given the excellence and depth of the Yankee pitching, they have a decent shot at getting to the World Series, despite the offense's unevenness.
I would doubt that they would prevail without better hitting from the guys playing the traditionally defense-first positions.
the difference between…