The "New" Strat-o-Matic Yankees (2025 Season Cards)

by Paul Semendinger

March 6, 2026

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The new Strat-o-Matic cards representing the 2025 season arrived in the mail yesterday. It is always a great joy to get the new cards. I have been ordering these every year (by and large) since 1982.

In my opinion, Strat-o-Matic is the greatest and most realistic (and fun) baseball board game. I have played thousands of games of Strat-o-Matic, I am sure, over the course of my lifetime.

I always love getting the new cards and seeing the player ratings. As I have done every year here, I'll share some of the highlights with some explanations:

Fielding Ratings

In short, a player's defensive rating is broken into three areas: (1) His range, (2) His propensity for making errors, (3) and the strength of his arm (for outfielders and catchers).

A 1 rating for range is the best a player can get. A 5 is the worst. In this, one would assume that a 3 is average, and I guess it is, but the way the game plays, the following seems to be a better representation of how these ratings work:

1 - Exceptional

2 - Very Good

3 - Okay, but below average

4 - Bad

5 - The Worst

Here then are how Strat-o-Matic rated some of the Yankees from last season (along with some of my quick thoughts):

• Trent Grisham = 2 (centerfield). This is a little better than I thought he'd get considering he seemed to lose a step last year.

  
  

• Anthony Volpe = 2 (shortstop). This also surprised me. I thought he'd be a 3, at best.

  
  

• Cody Bellinger = 1 (left field), 2 (right field), 3 (center field). I thought he'd be a 2 in CF.

  
  

• Aaron Judge = 2 (right field) (Very accurate, I'd say. It's best that Judge not play centerfield any longer.)

  
  

• Jazz Chisholm = 4 (third base), 2 (second base). I agree. You don't want him playing third.

  
  

• Jasson Dominguez = 4 (left field)

• Giancarlo Stanton = 5 (left and right fields)

Arm Strength

A zero here is average. Any player with a + (plus) for arm adds "points" to a runner trying to take an extra base, or for a catcher, trying to steal a base. The higher the plus number, the weaker the arm. A - (minus) takes away running "points" and this signifies a strong arm. The higher the minus number, the stronger the arm.

• Aaron Judge +1 - this is the first time he has a weak arm... it's accurate for last year.

  
  

• Cody Bellinger -3 (That is a very strong arm.)

  
  

• Austin Wells -1

  
  

• J.C. Escarra +2

  
  

Error Ratings

In short, the lower the number here, the better, but the numbers vary greatly from position to position. I'll provide a general summary:

• Most of the Yankees have very low "e-ratings." (Meaning they'll make few errors)

• Anthony Volpe and Jazz Chisholm will make slightly more than average. (It seems Volpe's card is better than he performed last year)

• Giancarlo Stanton would make a lot of errors.

  
  

Running Ratings

The fastest runners rank as a 1-17. Think Rickey Henderson. A 1-10 runner is slow. Anything under 1-10 is very slow. The lower, the slower.

• Anthony Volpe: 1-15 (last year he was 1-16)

  
  

• Jazz Chisholm: 1-16

• Jose Caballero: 1-17

  
  

• Aaron Judge: 1-13

  
  

• Jason Dominguez: 1-15

• Cody Bellinger: 1-15

  
  

• Trent Grisham: 1-11

  
  

• Giancarlo Stanton: 1-8 (I have never seen a slower running rating. Many players over the years have been a 1-8. Still, as I watched Stanton last year, I thought they should make him even slower.)

Pitching

In the game, pitching is a bit more nuanced and it's more difficult to easily explain the pitcher cards, but here are some general thoughts:

• Max Fried will be an ace. Left-handed batters will struggle against him. When lefties get hits off him, though, the hits will mostly be for extra bases. He's good for at least 6 innings a start.

• Carlos Rodon will be good, but not quite as good as Fried. He's also good for six innings.

• Luis Gil, Will Warren, and Cam Schlittler are "five and fly" starters

• In the old days, a relief pitcher like Sparky Lyle or Goose Gossage would be strong for three innings. Mariano Rivera was usually good for two innings. The bulk of the bullpen from 2025 tires out after one inning.

For accuracy and fun, I cannot recommend any baseball board game higher than Strat-o-Matic.