The Yankees’ injury situation in May began to settle down. Only four players were added to the injured – Aaron Judge, Jose Trevino, Ian Hamilton and Oswald Peraza. And whilst it is never going to be easy to lose Judge, in particular, it must be noted that three of these players bounced back at the end of the 10 days that their period on the injured list required. Hamilton will be out for longer.

At the same time, many players were heading for rehab assignments and moving closer to a return. These included Luis Severino, Josh Donaldson, Tommy Kahnle, and Ben Rortvedt.

Perhaps even more significantly the Yankees finally gave up on the wretched tenure of Aaron Hicks, accepting that clearing a space on the roster was more important than worrying how much of his contract they were still going to be liable for. They designated him for assignment on the 20th of the month – and when he cleared waivers without any notable interest, they released him a week later. Hicks signed for Baltimore by the end of the month.

In a parallel move, the Yankees traded with the Boston Red Sox, giving up minor leaguer Diego Hernandez and acquiring Greg Allen. Allen had previously played for the Bronx Bombers in 2020.

Let’s see who were the most helpful bats and gloves to have around…

Name/Pos	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Aaron Judge of	21	76	23	26	5	0	12	25	20	25	1	.342	.474	.882	1.356
Oswald Peraza 3b	2	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.333	.333	.333	.666
Anthony Rizzo 1b	25	101	17	33	3	0	6	19	8	27	0	.327	.382	.535	.917
Ben Rortvedt c	5	7	2	2	1	0	0	0	2	2	0	.286	.444	.429	.873
Gleyber Torres 2b/ss	29	119	22	34	5	0	5	15	8	14	0	.286	.331	.454	.785
Harrison Bader cf	26	90	14	24	0	2	6	19	3	13	6	.267	.295	.511	.806
Isiah Kiner-Falefa if/cf	22	65	10	17	4	1	3	12	3	10	2	.262	.304	.492	.796
Willie Calhoun dh/rf	21	67	10	17	5	0	3	9	9	6	0	.254	.342	.463	.805
Aaron Hicks lf	11	25	5	6	2	0	1	4	3	7	0	.240	.321	.440	.761
Kyle Higashioka c	20	46	4	11	5	0	1	8	4	16	0	.239	.300	.413	.713
DJ LeMahieu if	26	101	10	24	3	0	3	10	8	25	0	.238	.294	.356	.650
Greg Allen of	9	13	5	3	0	1	1	1	0	6	1	.236	.286	.615	.901
Jake Bauers lf	23	56	7	12	3	0	3	7	10	24	1	.214	.324	.429	.753
Oswaldo Cabrera of/if	25	69	10	13	2	0	2	8	6	14	1	.188	.260	.304	.564
Anthony Volpe ss	29	109	12	19	2	1	6	16	5	37	5	.174	.216	.376	.592
Jose Trevino c	15	41	6	7	0	0	1	3	5	6	0	.171	.261	.244	.506
Franchy Cordero of	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Name/Pos	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS

Catchers

With Jose Trevino unavailable for a dozen days, the Yankees finally called up Ben Rortvedt who has been recovering from injury since he was signed before the 2022 season. This meant the Yankees were able to contrast and compare their three most senior catchers in a matter of days.

Let’s have a look for ourselves… with Trevino’s bat not being what it was last year, the small sample of at bats that Rortvedt was given suggests that he is the best hitter of the three unless Trevino improves after his injury.

With Trevino out, Higashioka made most appearances on the month and his tendency to be a doubles and homers specialist continues. This month, his numbers in the doubles column improved to 5, which is the same as the number of singles he hit.

Trevino leads the way defensively, and this meant that when he was available again, it was not a difficult decision to restore the status quo and send Rortvedt back to Scranton (Triple-A) where he will await his next opportunity.

Infielders

Anthony Rizzo continued on the roll he had begun in March and April with his strong form continuing into May. He hit .327 with 9 extra base hits, and he is everything the Yankees need in the first base role. A little more patience at the plate, a few more walks, and he will be the complete model.

DJ LeMahieu is Rizzo’s backup at first base and also gives the Yankees’ due duty at the other two base positions. However, May was not a good month for LeMahieu. While still strong defensively, his hitting on the month slumped to .238 with only 6 extra base hits, and a quarter of his at-bats resulting in strikeouts.

At 2nd base, Gleyber Torres continues to show his value, with .286 and 10 extra base hits. By contrast, Anthony Volpe, who has replaced players like Torres and Isiah Kiner-Falefa at shortstop, is doing quite well defensively, but his offensive performance must be testing the Yankees’ patience. However, they seem determined to roll with the punches. This month, he managed just three singles. This resulted in a mere .174 batting average, despite his commendable nine extra base hits.

With LeMahieu still taking up the majority of time at third base in Donaldson’s continuing absence, a little time there has gone to Kiner-Falefa (more on him in a moment), and also to Oswald Peraza when he is fit. In the little time Peraza has in the line-up, he is doing well. And when at Scranton, he is showing fine form with the bat.

Outfielders

When fit, Aaron Judge is the lynchpin of this outfield, as always. This month, he led in runs, home runs, RBIs, walks, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging average, and on base plus slugging (OPS). This despite being out of the line-up for a third of the month. The Yankees need his presence very much.

Harrison Bader, the key centrefielder, started the month on the injured list. He also ended the month on the injured list. Between those times, he did very well. He hit .267 with two triples and six homers, but he didn’t produce any doubles. He is fast on the basepaths. He doesn’t walk much, but his strikeouts are not too prevalent either.

Jake Bauers, who was promoted from Scranton at the end of April, has become an increasingly important of the Yankees’ roster, especially since the departure of Aaron Hicks. Whilst spending most of his time in leftfield, he has also played a little at 1st base and rightfield. His defensive work is not the best, but he has added some power to the lineup.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa was almost entirely inexperienced in the outfield before Spring Training, but he has hit the ground running, and is contributing in all three outfield roles. He hit .262 with 8 extra basehits in May. That will do nicely, sir.

Oswaldo Cabrera has played in all four infield roles, and both corners of the outfield. His versatility is a plus, but his batting has been weak, but in the Yankees’ situation they have found a lineup place for him most everyday.

Greg Allen is small, compact, and speedy, and after his acquisition he gave the Yankees another tactical option. They could play him in the outfield (obviously), but he was also an excellent option as a pinch runner.

Franchy Cordero returned to the Bronx again, but his role was limited to one plate appearance which resulted in one strikeout. Hmm…

Designated Hitter

With Giancarlo Stanton out all month, the burden as a designated hitter (and also pinch hitter) fell to Willie Calhoun whose 8 extra base hits was an helpful contribution. He can also play a little outfield – mostly in right. But this may be the Yankees’ problem, they have a lot of players who can play a little in the outfield – but not that many they would want to depend on everyday. They have a hole in leftfield particularly.