Here we go… Harrison Bader, Lou Trivino, Tommy Kahnle, Carlos Rodon, Luis Gil, Frankie Montas, Scott Effross, Luis Severino, Ben Rortvedt, Jonathan Loaisiga, Giancarlo Stanton, and Josh Donaldson.

This is the shortlist of players that the Yankees had to place on the injured list through March and April in 2023. It is fair to say it left them with a much weakened team.

That they managed to come through to the end of April with a record of 15-14 was no mean achievement. But a 3 game losing streak against the Texas Rangers at the close of the month meant that they were 4th in the division table, albeit that the American League East is by the far the strongest of the divisions.

Let’s see who led the charge that at least kept the Yankees’ heads above that .500 line. First table presents the stats for the one game that fell in March, the second table shows April. Our comments cover the whole of the period.

Name/Pos	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	K	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Aaron Judge of/dh	1	4	1	2	0	0	1	2	0	0	2	.500	.500	1.250	1.750
Gleyber Torres if	1	3	2	1	0	0	1	2	1	1	0	.333	.500	1.333	1.833
Jose Trevino c	1	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.333	.333	.333	.666
Josh Donaldson 3b/dh	1	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.250	.250	.250	.500
DJ LeMahieu if	1	4	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	.250	.250	.250	.500
Anthony Rizzo 1b	1	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.250	.250	.250	.500
Gianocarlo Stanton of/dh	1	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.250	.250	.250	.500
Oswaldo Cabrera of/if	1	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	.000	.000	.000	.000
Estevan Florial of	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Anthony Volpe ss	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	.000	.333	.000	.333
Name/Pos	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	K	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS

Name /Pos	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	K	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Anthony Rizzo 1b	27	99	13	28	5	0	5	13	0	10	25	.283	.374	.485	.859
Giancarlo Stanton of/dh	12	48	7	13	3	0	4	11	0	2	10	.271	.300	.583	.883
Aaron Judge of/dh	25	88	17	22	5	0	5	12	2	14	33	.250	.346	.477	.823
DJ LeMahieu if	24	84	13	21	6	1	3	10	0	8	25	.250	.326	.452	.778
Gleyber Torres if	27	91	13	22	3	1	3	8	4	16	16	.242	.352	.396	.748
Willie Calhoun dh/of	12	38	2	9	1	0	0	3	0	2	8	.237	.268	.263	.531
Jose Trevino c	16	56	4	13	2	0	2	8	0	2	7	.232	.259	.375	.634
Anthony Volpe ss	28	90	11	20	3	1	2	8	7	15	30	.222	.333	.344	.677
Oswaldo Cabrera of/if	24	81	8	17	4	0	1	7	4	4	15	.210	.244	.296	.540
Isiah Kiner-Falefa if/of	20	50	4	10	0	0	0	2	3	3	8	.200	.245	.200	.445
Kyle Higashioka c	12	41	4	8	0	0	2	6	0	2	15	.195	.233	.341	.574
Oswald Peraza 3b	10	29	4	5	1	0	0	3	1	3	6	.172	.314	.207	.521
Aaron Hicks lf/cf	17	44	4	7	0	0	0	1	0	4	13	.159	.229	.159	.388
Franchy Cordero of	18	53	6	8	1	0	4	11	0	2	20	.151	.182	.396	.578
Josh Donaldson 3b/dh	4	12	1	1	0	0	1	1	0	1	4	.083	.154	.333	.487
Jake Bauers of	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Name/Pos	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	K	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS

Catchers

Jose Trevino, in these early days, didn’t look quite the player he did last year. He seemed to have lost an edge both offensively and defensively. This was a problem. Kyle Higashioka did look the player he had seemed last year. This was also a problem.

Higashioka has always done well producing doubles and homers, but the task of hitting a single sometimes seems to elude him. This year, the doubles column is empty through March and April. Trevino did an excellent job last year at framing pitches, hitting for average, and hitting for power. He is down in all those regards this year, and looks far more like the player that the Yankees thought they were getting when they signed him to cover for Ben Rortvedt, who was injured by the end of Spring Training. Rortvedt is still working his way to fitness at Scranton (Triple A) by the end of April. What the Yankees will do if he ever becomes available must be a talking point at this stage…

Infielders

Anthony Rizzo is continuing to look an excellent choice and fit for the Yankees at first base. In April, he led the team in hits, batting average (BA), on-base percentage (OBP), and runs batted in (RBIs). He was joint leader with Aaron Judge in home runs.

Gleyber Torres continues to hold his own at second base. He is patient at the plate, hits with some power, and is available to play every day.

At shortstop the Yankees have Anthony Volpe, the youngster who did enough in Spring Training to win a place on the roster and the every day role in that position. Defensively it is not going too badly. Offensively he is struggling with the bat, but when he gets on base he brings speed, and he leads the way in stolen bases, meaning that the Yankees have another means to hurt their opponents.

When Josh Donaldson was put on the injured list on April 8th with a right hamstring strain, it meant that the Yankees could look at other options at the third base corner. Donaldson was really struggling with the bat and his fielding wasn’t what it once was. Whether this is because he was carrying an injury or just because things are in decline for him is something only time will tell. Oswaldo Cabrera spent a little time at third (we will come to him in a minute), but the main contributor was DJ LeMahieu. Le Mahieu also played a few days at second base and designated hitter (as would have been expected), but this injury situation transferred the vast majority of his efforts to the hot corner. LeMahieu definitely benefits from knowing that he is going to be in the same role every day, but that is something that he has seldom been able to count on since he became a Yankee. His season so far has brought him a .250 average with 10 extra base hits (leading the team in doubles) and his fielding is well above par.

Oswald Peraza also saw a little time in the infield but made little impact.

Outfielders

Giancarlo Stanton played 5 of his first thirteen games in the outfield, and 8 at designated hitter. Wise observers saw that his power stroke was there, but they worried that using him in the outfield would result in one of the injuries that Stanton is notorious for. Sure enough, a left hamstring strain meant that April did not see game 14. Will it come in May?? He batted .271 with 7 extra base hits in April, but please, please, please make him the everyday designated hitter (DH) on his return…

Aaron Judge did not keep pace with his 2022 self in March/April, but he did very nicely. He led the team in runs scored, with 10 extra base hits, and all the suggestions are that his season can only get better as he warms up.

With Harrison Bader once again unavailable, this meant that the Yankees had to shuffle things around in the outfield. They relied overmuch on Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Oswaldo Cabrera, and Franchy Cordero. Each of these hovered around the Mendoza line, whilst being makeshift defensively. Cordero looked for a little while like he might be the best fit as he came up with 4 home runs in quick succession. When that ground to a halt and with little evidence of a reasonable average being maintained, he was demoted by the end of the month, with his role been given to Jake Bauers.

However, the major thing which makes the Yankees lightweight in outfielder production from the plate, was the continuing under-performance of Aaron Hicks who hit .159 with no extra base hits. Hicks is a real problem for the Yankees – large contract with a few years to run. It’s not looking good.

Designated Hitter

Willie Calhoun was called up from the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders on April 8th. He has played a few games in the outfield, but it is really not his forte. As a designated hitter, it is difficult to think he has a long term future with the Yankees, but until Stanton is healed he will do for now.