The Yankees settled into their groove right from the beginning of the season this time out. By the end of March, they were 4-0 and in first place in the American League East.

By the end of April, they had slipped back to 2nd in the division, but only by one game behind the Baltimore Orioles.

Let’s see who led the team in the various offensive statistical categories. Firstly for March:

Name/Pos	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Juan Soto rf	4	17	2	9	1	0	1	4	3	2	0	.529	.600	.765	1.365
Oswaldo Cabrera 3b/if/of	4	16	3	7	1	0	2	6	1	6	0	.438	.471	.875	1.346
Anthony Volpe ss	3	10	3	4	1	0	1	2	4	3	0	.400	.571	.800	1.371
Anthony Rizzo 1b	4	15	2	4	1	0	0	1	2	5	0	.267	.389	.333	.722
Austin Wells c	2	6	3	2	0	0	0	0	3	1	0	.333	.556	.333	.889
Jon Berti 3b	1	4	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	.250	.250	.250	.500
Giancarlo Stanton dh	3	14	2	3	1	0	1	1	0	6	0	.214	.214	.500	.714
Alex Verdugo lf	4	15	1	3	0	0	0	1	1	2	0	.200	.235	.200	.435
Jose Trevino c	2	7	1	1	0	0	0	1	1	2	0	.143	.250	.143	.393
Gleyber Torres 2b	4	15	3	2	0	0	0	0	3	4	1	.133	.316	.133	.449
Aaron Judge of/dh	4	16	1	2	1	0	0	1	2	6	0	.125	.211	.188	.399
Trent Grisham cf	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	.000	.250	.000	.250
Jahmai Jones if/of	1	0	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

And then for April:

Name/Pos	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Taylor Trammell of	4	1	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1.000	1.000	1.000	2.000
Jose Trevino c	14	43	7	13	0	0	2	10	4	5	0	.302	.354	.442	.796
Juan Soto rf	27	100	20	29	5	0	7	21	22	16	2	.290	.411	.550	.961
Alex Verdugo lf	25	86	16	24	6	0	4	12	14	8	1	.279	.379	.488	.867
Anthony Volpe ss	27	108	17	28	3	1	2	11	10	24	7	.259	.333	.361	.694
Anthony Rizzo 1b	27	105	13	27	3	0	5	14	6	24	0	.257	.310	.429	.739
Jahmai Jones lf/of	7	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	.250	.250	.250	.500
Giancarlo Stanton dh	24	85	13	20	4	0	6	15	9	28	0	.235	.309	.459	.768
Gleyber Torres 2b	27	103	11	24	4	0	0	6	8	29	2	.233	.292	.272	.564
Aaron Judge of/dh	27	100	11	22	5	0	6	17	21	32	1	.220	.361	.450	.811
Oswaldo Cabrera 3b	23	84	11	18	3	0	1	10	5	12	1	.214	.256	.286	.542
Jon Berti 3b	5	15	2	3	0	0	0	0	1	4	0	.200	.250	.200	.450
Austin Wells c	17	45	4	8	2	0	1	3	9	8	1	.178	.304	.289	.593
Trent Grisham cf	10	19	1	2	0	0	1	3	4	4	0	.105	.261	.263	.524
Kevin Smith ph/if	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	BB	K	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS

Catchers:

The Yankees’ catcher situation has changed notably since last season. Last year, with Jose Trevino injured in July, Kyle Higashioka was pushed to the forefront where he batted .236. Ben Rortvedt was capable defensively, but struggled with the bat producing a mere .118 in 32 appearances. Towards the end of the year, another young option was promoted from Scranton (AAA), in the shape of the moustachioed Austin Wells. Wells was only marginally better than Rortvedt, hitting .229 in 19 games.

The Yankees seemed to have an abundance of catchers who were good behind the plate, but with Trevino out, there was nothing at the plate. Things were going to change.

In December with Trevino expected to be ready for the 2024 season, Higashioka was included as one of the pieces headed to the West Coast to join the San Diego Padres in exchange for Juan Soto. Higashioka has become the Padres first choice catcher, but his batting performance has weakened further and this looks like a smart move as Soto is producing MVP like figures for New York in the first month and a bit.

Also on his way out was Ben Rortvedt who was traded to Tampa Bay, and is massively improved in his new home.

In March, as you can see above, Wells got off to a very good start, hitting well and with patience at the plate. Meanwhile, Trevino was struggling to settle back into his normal mechanics only came up with 1 hit in 7 at bats.

In April, the story was reversed with Trevino back to the norm with a .302 batting average and a couple of homers. Meanwhile, Wells slumped to .178 on the month, but at least did produce three extra base hits.

One other catcher who appeared on the roster was Carlos Narvaez who was called up on the 29th of April as, new outfielder, Alex Verdugo went on paternity leave. Narvaez has not yet appeared in a game. Narvaez who originates from Venezuela has spent his whole career in the Yankees’ minor league system.

Infielders

Last season’s most oft used infield lineup consisted of Anthony Rizzo at first base (99 games), Gleyber Torres at 2B (158 games), Anthony Volpe at ss (the rookie with 159 games), and DJ LeMahieu (136 games across several positions).

Amongst other who made contributions (positively or negatively) were Josh Donaldson (who was released), and Isiah Kiner-Falefa (who became a free agent, signed for Toronto and has been used somewhere in the lineup on most days this season).

Prior to the season, the Yankees announced that DJ LeMahieu would be the everyday third baseman. However, LeMahieu picked up an injury during spring training and hasn’t yet played. Consequently, Oswaldo Cabrera who played both in the infield and the outfield in 2023, has played most games at 3rd, whilst also seeing time in other infield positions. In March he had 3 games at 3rd base and 1 game at shortstop. Jon Berti was acquired from the Miami Marlins, having played 133 games for the Marlins in 2023. Minor Leaguer John Cruz, a centrefielder who is expected to play at single-A this season went in the opposite direction, making this, on the face of it, a very good short term trade for the Yankees.

Cabrera hit .438 in March, but then hit something of a slump in April with a batting average of only .214. Cabrera has hit 4 doubles and 3 home runs. Berti achieved one hit on his debut, but then he too produced only .200 in April – spending a lot of the month on the injured list. He went on the injured list on the 13th of April, retroactive to the 11th. Jahmai Jones, who was claimed off waivers from the Milwaukee Brewers, has been used in both the outfield and the infield and has not set the world alight, but he is a useful pawn to have around.

The Yankees were convinced that first baseman, Anthony Rizzo could bounce back after his injury problems in the second half of 2023. And they have been proved right. The first month of the season has never been Rizzo’s strongest, so for him to produce .267 in March and .257 in April is a good beginning. 4 doubles and 5 home runs enhance this, suggesting that May will be a very good month for him indeed.

On the other side of the coin, Gleyber Torres has really struggled across his first 31 games. He has 6 doubles, but no home runs. If LeMahieu returns and with others performing better, he will need to look to his laurels.

Shortstop Anthony Volpe has been massively proved from his offensive performance of 2023. His rookie year, he was great with the glove, and on the bases, but weak and poor with the bat (.209). I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had struggled in Spring Training if he had lost his everyday role. However, Spring Training saw a very different Volpe. He was accomplished and ready for the start of the season. In April, he has slowed a little (.259), but he was so far ahead of 2023.

In addition, Kevin Smith who has usually been a third baseman or shortstop appeared in the lineup on April 14, in the loss against the Cleveland Guardians. He came in as a pinchrunner and then moved to the designated hitter role. He didn’t appear in the field and didn’t bat. He had been called up the day before from Scranton, and a few days later was designated for assignment. He, then, accepted an outright assignment, back to Scranton.

Oswald Peraza, who saw some time at third base in the latter part of 2023, strained his shoulder in Spring Training and is still rehabbing in the minors.

Outfielders

In 2023, the Yankees had to use a broad range of outfielders – partially because of injuries, partially because of underperforming big names. In a very surprising move, the New York team placed, centrefielder Harrison Bader on waivers. Bader was claimed by the Cincinnati Reds. This meant that the Yankees had space to bring up promising youngster, Jasson Dominguez who did well until he injured himself towards the end of the season, and he has yet to return.

Another September call-up was Everson Pereira who saw quite a number of games in leftfield, with the aforementioned Oswaldo Cabrera finishing out the season in a roving utility role. This year Pereira didn’t make the cut out of spring training and is doing reasonably well in Scranton (AAA).

Obviously the big news in September was the return from injury of Aaron Judge and his gradual return to his usual form. Also, the off-season strengthening concentrated on the outfield with Juan Soto coming in from San Diego with Kyle Higashoka, and pitchers Michael King, Randy Vasquez, and Jhony Brito going in the opposite direction. The makeweight was minor leaguer Drew Thorpe also becoming a Padre. The Yankees gained another outfielder in the form of Trent Grisham in the same deal.

The Yankees outfield which had seemed cobbled together in 2023 with Jake Bauers, Billy McKinney, Franchy Cordero and Greg Allen filling the gaps, was now if anything was beginning to look overcrowded, for a few days before the Soto-Grisham trade, the Yankees had gained Alex Verdugo from Boston with relief pitcher Greg Weissert, and minor league pitchers Richard Fitts and Nicholas Judice going to join the Red Sox and their farm system.

It was very clear that not only was the Yankees’ outfield going to look very different, but its bullpen too!

And so the season so far? Well, Juan Soto playing in rightfield has been quickest out of the blocks. He had a 1.365 OPS in March, and quieted to a still team leading (amongst the regulars) .961 OPS in April. During that time, he also has team leading stats in doubles (6 – tied with Verdugo and Judge), and home runs (8).

Aaron Judge has moved over to centrefield, but it is with his bat that he is still adjusting. His power hitting improved in April after a slow start, but his batting average was only .125 in March and a mere .220 in April.

Alex Verdugo, working in leftfield, stormed to .279 with 10 extra base hits in April, after a quiet time of it in the first few days of the season.

Trent Grisham was mainly brought into be a late innings defensive replacement, but he needs to do much more with the bat if he is to have a future with the club. His combined March and April figures have seen him hit 2 for 22. Not enough.

Bit players? Not many, but one temporary addition that the Yankees could do well to keep around is Taylor Trammell. They claimed this guy off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers on the 18th of April. So far, he has appeared in four games, achieving a hit and a walk, which in terms of a guy available on the bench is someone who is good to be able to call on.

Designated Hitters

The only player really worthy of note in this category is Giancarlo Stanton and whilst he is not setting the world ablaze, there are two positives – he has stayed fit, and he is hitting for power. Across the weeks of the season to the end of April, he has 12 extra base hits. He still can’t run, despite having lost weight, so getting past first base on as many hits as possible is essential.