For the last two months, the Yankees have been below .500 in win percentage each month. In August they have begun to turn that around. They lost the first five games in August and then went two-two in the next four. From there, they really picked up, and on the whole month, they went 16-12 which means they were 14-5 after August 10th.

Most of the improvement can’t be attributed to the new signings that they brought in or around the trading so we must think in terms of the return of Giancarlo Stanton, a career best season for Trent Grisham and continued good form from Cody Bellinger.

Sadly, Aaron Judge was still not playing his best game.

So, here are the runners and riders for August. The statistics and the commentary.

…who did well and who continued to struggle…

Name/Pos	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Amed Rosario if	9	17	0	6	2	0	0	1	0	2	0	.353	.353	.471	.824
Giancarlo Stanton dh/of	23	62	13	21	3	0	9	23	10	20	0	.339	.431	.823	1.254
Ben Rice c/1b/dh	26	92	11	26	4	1	6	16	12	24	0	.283	.362	.543	.905
Cody Bellinger of	27	105	13	28	3	0	6	20	10	15	2	.267	.325	.467	.792
Paul Goldschmidt 1b	23	67	11	17	6	0	2	5	2	15	0	.254	.271	.433	.704
Jose Caballero if/of	22	36	8	9	1	0	2	5	7	7	7	.250	.364	.444	.808
Trent Grisham cf	28	103	21	25	0	0	10	17	20	25	3	.243	.371	.534	.905
Aaron Judge dh/of	24	83	20	20	4	0	6	12	24	23	3	.241	.417	.506	.923
Jasson Dominguez of	20	55	6	13	1	0	1	9	4	16	5	.236	.288	.309	.597
Jazz Chisholm Jr 2b	27	92	21	20	2	1	8	18	18	30	11	.217	.339	.522	.861
Austin Wells c	19	55	10	11	1	0	4	5	3	19	0	.200	.241	.436	.677
Anthony Volpe ss	27	94	11	18	6	1	3	12	5	26	4	.191	.230	.372	.602
Ryan McMahon 3b	26	78	10	13	4	0	2	7	10	29	0	.167	.267	.295	.562
J.C. Escarra c	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Austin Slater of	2	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Name/Pos	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS

Catchers

It is now very much the case that the catchers’ tandem is Austin Wells and Ben Rice. Because Rice can also find a spot at first base or designated hitter, Wells is still the main man despite his lack of offensive form. He is a valuable defensive player and a clutch hitter, providing home runs in a timely fashion. He batted only .200 in August and there must be significant questions about his longterm future in the pinstripes.

Meanwhile, Rice had a great month hitting .283 in 92 at-bats. He contributed 4 doubles, 6 home runs and 12 walks. With a good spring training, he could be the first choice Yankees’ catcher for 2026.

J.C. Escarra has obviously had his day and only appeared in one game in August, spending most of his month at Scranton (Triple-A).

Infielders

In the rest of the infield, things were a little more complicated. Rice took his portion of the games at first base leaving Paul Goldschmidt appearing in 23 games. In his 67 at-bats, Goldschmidt hit .254. No longer a home run threat, he hit only 2 and but he also added in 6 doubles. He is good in the field, but it would seem unrealistic to think that the Yankees would be looking to bring him back in 2026. His age is not in his favour and, as mentioned, he can no longer be regarded as a power hitter.

Jazz Chisholm Jr has now completed the transistion to the everyday second baseman with the release of DJ LeMahieu clearing the way. Chisholm is temperamental and his form in the field and with the bat has peeks and troughs. In August, he hit 2 doubles, 1 triple and 8 home runs. He led the team, on the month, in stolen bases with 11. Despite all of this, all commendable, he batted only .217. The OPS of .861 tells the fuller story.

At shortstop, Anthony Volpe remains the resident name but there must be questions about for how much longer – although Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone affirm him far more than the fans do. He makes way too many fielding errors and misdirected plays and this month he batted only .191 albeit with 10 extra base hits.

Third base was a mess until just before the trading deadline. The Yankees then brought in Ryan McMahon from Colorado, who has given them at least an everyday face. In August, he batted only .167 with 6 extra base hits and will need to improve majorly if he still hopes to be in the locker room in the Bronx next year.

Bench players? Two new faces. Amed Rosario can fill most or all of the infield roles but is been giving limited opportunities by Boone. Despite being solid in the field and batting .353 with a couple of extra base hits in August, he has only appeared in 9 games and only had 17 at bats. I don’t smell a lot of trust there.

The other guy is Jose Caballero who came over from the Tampa Bay Rays. He is fast and mischievious on the basepaths. He stole base 7 times in his limited opportunities in August. The Yankees say they used to hate him as a player when he was on other teams, now they love him and the new asset he brings. He can play both infield and outfield, although he made a fielding error in his first game as a substitute in right field. In August, he batted .250 and added 3 extra base hits to spice the pot. He seems to be a great acquisition.

Outfield

With Aaron Judge being mostly limited to playing designated hitter because of injury, the Yankees needed Cody Bellinger to step up and take a big portion of the responsibility and weight. He is doing just that! In August, he has batted .267 with a .792 OPS. He batted 20 RBIs with 3 doubles and 6 homers. The Yankees must make every effort to keep him on the roster next year. His dad, Clay Bellinger who won a World Series with the Yankees, loves that he is here. They should lean on that family influence to keep him around. He started slow, but since then has been one of the Yankees’ best players.

I didn’t really understand the Yankees keeping Trent Grisham around, after the weak season he had in 2024. He has proved me wrong. In August, he batted .243 with a team leading (on the month) 10 home runs. Just as important, he is outstanding in centerfield. He is having a career year and the Yankees should go the extra mile to keep him around for 2026 – that wasn’t what I was saying a year ago.

Jasson Dominguez has not developed the way that the Yankees hoped. Sometimes, he still seems perplexed in leftfield with the roll or flight of the ball, and his .236 with 2 extra base hits in August is simply not good enough. He will be a real conundrum for the Yankees after the season is done, especially with Spencer Jones looking almost ready for promotion to the majors from Scranton.

Austin Slater came in from the Chicago White Sox, played in a couple of games, didn’t hit, got injured… mmm…

Designated Hitters

With the injury to Aaron Judge preventing him from playing right field and the return to fitness of Giancarlo Stanton, the Yankees were left with the riddle to solve. They couldn’t play them both at DH but didn’t really want to play either of them in the field.

Over the month, Giancarlo Stanton fared the best. In fact, he probably fared better than anyone on the team. He appeared in 23 games for 62 at bats. He gathered 21 hits in 62 plate appearances. In this, he had 12 extra base hits with 9 home runs – which is his vital contribution because if he gets a single then he chokes up the basepaths. He is so slow.

Judge struggled in many ways and he struggled to his worst month of the year. Maybe, the Yankees brought him back too soon. Maybe playing designated hitter just doesn’t suit him. Let’s face it, he was still better than most. He was better than Volpe, Dominguez, McMahon and others. You can make up the rest of the list. He still batted .241 with 10 extra base hits (6 homers). His OPS was still .923 – team leading amongst the regular players in August.

There really is only one Aaron Judge…