The Yankees have had a great month in May. They went 17-9 and some of their offensive players were amongst the strong reasons that it went this well. Aaron Judge, Paul Goldschmidt, and Cody Bellinger were at the forefront.

Jason Dominguez and Anthony Volpe also put in above average performances.

Let’s survey those strong performances – first in statistical overview and then in text:

Name/Pos	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Aaron Judge of/dh	26	99	25	36	8	1	11	18	17	27	1	.364	.453	.798	1.251
Paul Goldschmidt 1b	26	92	21	29	5	1	4	15	9	10	3	.315	.382	.522	.904
Cody Bellinger of	24	96	15	29	5	1	5	16	11	13	1	.302	.370	.531	.901
J.C. Escarra c/if	12	24	1	7	2	0	0	3	4	2	1	.292	.379	.375	.754
Jasson Dominguez of	22	68	12	18	3	0	4	12	13	21	4	,265	.369	.485	.854
Anthony Volpe ss	25	91	11	22	7	2	1	14	10	25	4	.242	.308	.396	.704
Ben Rice 1b/c/dh	23	74	8	17	7	0	3	10	4	17	0	.230	.293	.466	.739
Trent Grisham cf/dh	25	89	13	20	2	1	5	11	15	23	0	.225	.337	.438	.775
Austin Wells c	22	68	10	14	3	0	4	15	7	21	3	.206	.288	.426	.714
Pablo Reyes if/of	10	10	1	2	1	0	0	0	0	4	0	.200	.200	.300	.500
DJ LeMahieu if	14	41	2	7	0	0	1	3	5	11	0	.171	.261	.244	.505
Jorbit Vivas 3b	22	45	6	7	2	0	1	4	4	11	0	.156	.255	.267	.522
Oswald Peraza if	23	50	6	6	3	0	2	5	6	15	0	.120	.228	.300	.528
Oswaldo Cabrera lf/of	9	28	4	3	2	0	0	3	4	5	0	.107	.212	.179	.391
Yerry De Los Santos p	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Tyler Matzek p	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, in truth, have 3 catchers. But in another respect they have less than two. Let me explain:

If we look at the Yankees’ catcher in order of batting average, then the leader this month is J.C. Escarra (by now we all know the fairy story behind his rise to the major leagues). This month, he hit .292, but with only 2 extra base hits (both doubles). He was also only given 24 at bats. In terms of those who can play catcher, Ben Rice comes next in batting average in May. He hit .230 and was given a much more substantial number of plate appearances than Escarra. He is also much more of a power hitter (7 doubles, 3 home runs). However, most of his appearances are at designated hitter and first base, not catcher. This is despite the fact that in the minors, his first and primary position was at catcher. Some would doubt whether defensively, he is major league ready as a catcher. I am borderline on that issue.

This then leaves Austin Wells. He has nearly 3 times the amunt of at bats has a catcher than his two colleagues put together. Wells, however, batted only .206 in May (14 in 68). He has 7 extra base hits (3 doubles, 4 home runs). However, because of the huge percentage of the time he is spending behind the plate, he is getting increasingly banged up – and I forsee time on the injured list in his future unless something is changed. Wells is taking a huge role defensively, but he is being given precious little back up.

It is a much bigger percentage than when he was sharing time with Jose Trevino. This means that despite the loveliness of the Escarra story, the Yankees will need to bring in a new backup catcher, who can handle a higher percentage of the time in this role – or find more confidence in J.C. or Ben Rice.

Infielders

Paul Goldschmidt continues as the first choice first base man with the aforementioned Rice acting as the main substitute. Last year, Anthony Rizzo was the incumbent in this role. He struggled with injuries and his batting average neared a career low. Bringing in 37 year old Goldschmidt would not have been everybody’s solution, but it seems to have worked out well. His power hitting is not what it once was (however 10 extra base hits on the month is quite respectable) but his May batting average of .315 is very, very good indeed and is far better than the Yankees could have expected.

Second base and third base continue to be an untidy mess. In the middle of the month, the Yankees activated DJ LeMahieu after a rehab period. Second base is going to be his primary role. There are rumours that working out at third base contributed to his vulnerability to injury and certainly his range does not seem good enough for that role. In May, he hit .171 with a homer, which is not what the Yankees’ need from him.

Around the same time that LeMahieu was added to the roster, Oswaldo Cabrera was headed in the other direction. He fractured his left ankle trying to make it into base in a contactless play. An injury like that mean we are unlikely (very unlikely) to see him again in 2025. Prior to that he was batting .107 in May with only two doubles showing in the slugging column.

On and off the bench? At the beginning of the month, the Yankees brought Jorbit Vivas up from Scranton (Triple-A). Defensively, that decision looks premature. Offensively, he has hit .156 with 3 extra base hits. Not much positive to report.

In addition. there is little postive to say about either Pablo Reyes or Oswald Peraza. Both are adequate defensively but not more than that. In May, Reyes hit .200 with a double. In the same period, Oswald Peraza has more power to show on the month (3 doubles, 2 home runs) , but his batting average is amongst the lowest of those still on the roster at the end of the month. In May, he hit just .120.

At shortstop, the much negatively criticised Anthony Volpe is in my view holding his own. He batted .242 in May with 10 extra base hits (mostly doubles) and continues to be speedy on the bases.

Outfielders

Meanwhile, the outfield continues to be immaculate.

It seems to be ridiculous that at the end of May, we might be still talking about the possibility of Aaron Judge making .400 in 2025, but there he sits on .398 after 57 games. A month ago, he was batting .427 so there is still a considerable drop to take into account but that .400 is not impossible. In the same period, he has hit 11 homers (amongst 20 extra base hite total on the month), so his performance is truly outstanding.

Meanwhile, Cody Bellinger has given a huge boost the the Yankees. By the end of April, he wasn’t really carrying the weight that the New York team had hoped for – showing only a .204 batting average. In May, he hit .302 to raise his season average to .253. On the month, he also added in 10 extra base hits – tied for second on the team after Judge.

Jasson Dominguez as previously mentioned is performing at an above average level with the bat and his work in leftfield is much improved on last season’s standard. His .265 in May is an important part of the offense.

Trent Grisham is still doing okay but his batting average has dropped off from .292 to .255. This is a consequence of him hitting only .225 in May. The balancing factor is his truly outstanding defensive work. No need to think of upgrading here. There are greater needs.

Designated Hitters

With Giancarlo Stanton still missing due to injury, there is still no regular DH in New York. They can rotate the outfielders. They can use Ben Rice in yet another position. Paul Goldschmidt can contribute some games here (although that usually means that Rice has to fill yet another role). It also provides some playing time for those who are often bench players.

There are not a lot of positives to be said whilst Giancarlo is out of operation. They need an upgrade to fill in for him whilst he is gone for extended periods like this.