New York Yankees – March 4-1.

New York Yankees – April 16-10

At the end of March, they were in a tie for first place in the American League. By the end of April, they had opened a lead of 1.5 games.

In the short period in March, their batters were doing extremely well, but through April the bats were quieter and they were more dependent on their pitchers.

Let’s look at which batters helped out most.

First in March:

Name/Pos	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Giancarlo Stanton dh	5	20	2	10	2	0	1	4	0	4	0	.500	.500	.750	1.250
Ben Rice 1b	4	14	4	5	2	0	0	3	3	3	0	.357	.471	.500	.971
Cody Bellinger lf	5	18	4	6	0	1	0	0	3	3	1	.333	.429	.444	.873
Trent Grisham cf	5	17	2	4	1	1	0	2	2	3	1	.235	.316	.412	.728
Jose Caballero if	5	18	1	4	0	0	0	1	1	5	1	.222	.263	.222	.485
Jazz Chisholm jr 2b	5	19	1	4	1	0	0	0	0	7	2	.211	.250	.263	.513
Paul Goldschmidt 1b	1	5	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.200	.200	.400	.600
Austin Wells c	4	13	1	2	0	0	0	0	1	5	0	.154	.214	.154	.368
Aaron Judge rf	5	20	2	3	0	0	2	3	1	10	0	.150	.190	.450	.640
Ryan McMahon 3b	5	14	1	1	0	0	0	2	2	7	0	.071	.188	.071	.259
J.C. Escarra c	1	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Randal Grichuk ph/of	2	2	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

And then in April:

Name/Pos	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Ben Rice 1b/dh/c	26	84	22	27	6	0	10	20	18	28	1	.321	.438	.750	1.188
Amed Rosario if	18	54	7	15	1	1	4	12	4	10	0	.278	.322	.556	.878
Jose Caballero if/of	25	87	11	24	5	0	3	10	3	20	11	.276	.323	.437	.760
Aaron Judge rf/dh	26	91	23	25	5	0	10	17	20	27	5	.275	.416	.659	1.075
Cody Bellinger lf	25	90	14	20	4	0	3	15	15	15	2	.222	.327	.367	.694
J.C. Escarra c	9	27	3	6	2	1	0	5	1	9	0	.222	.250	.370	.620
Austin Wells c	20	57	5	12	1	0	3	5	15	10	0	.211	.370	.386	.756
Randal Grichuk of/dh	14	29	8	6	4	0	0	2	1	10	0	.207	.226	.345	.571
Jazz Chisholm 2b	25	90	19	18	4	0	3	9	11	28	7	.200	.287	.344	.631
Ryan McMahon 3b	24	58	5	11	0	0	2	5	8	20	0	.190	.288	.293	.581
Giancarlo Stanton dh	19	70	6	13	4	0	2	10	6	25	1	.186	.250	.329	.579
Paul Goldschmidt 1b/dh	9	23	5	4	3	0	1	4	4	8	0	.174	.321	.435	.756
Trent Grisham cf	25	76	13	10	0	0	4	14	18	18	0	.132	.295	.289	.584
Jasson Dominguez lf/dh	3	9	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	.111	.200	.111	.311
Paul Blackburn ph/rp/sp	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Max Schuemann if/of	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	.000	.500	.000	.500
Name/Pos	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS

Catchers:

The Yankees had decided not to continue to use Ben Rice as their second choice catcher. This left them with perhaps a stronger pairing defensively, but the batting figures were woeful. In March, they used Austin Wells in 4 games and J.C. Escarra in 1. Escarra went hitless, Wells batted .154. You might think these poor figures were down to the small sample, but it was not really so. In April, things were little better. Wells batted .211 and Escarra little better at .222.

With no indication that they are inclined to change things around and move Rice back to the tools of ignorance – Rice is strongest on the roster in the batting – and there aren’t many obvious choices waiting to be called up at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (Triple A), it is unclear what there next step will be.

One major thing we need to recognise is that whilst Wells’ batting average is not much lower than last season, last year the Yankees saw him as someone who could produce the vital clutch hits. There is far less of that to his game in 2026.

Infielders

The combination of making Ben Rice less of a catcher and more of an everyday first baseman, and also re-signing Paul Goldschmidt did at first seem to be a bit of a head-scratcher – but in reality it is working out just fine. Rice started steadily in the first 5 games, but with less power than might have been expected. On the one day of those five he sat on the bench whilst Goldschmidt was in the starting line-up, Goldschmidt added a little spice with a double and showed that he is going to be the stronger defensively.

In April, while Goldschmidt was quieter with the bat (4 extra base hits, .174), Rice exploded. 10 home runs, 6 doubles, 20 RBIs, and a .321 batting average. So much better than the Yankees were expecting.

Second base belongs to Jazz Chisholm Jr who is his own worst enemy. He has an ego the size of a planet. In 2025, he was the one to declare that the Yankees were going to win the World Series. They didn’t. Prior to the 2026 season, he said that he expected to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases this season. That seemed rather extravagant and rather unlikely and so it seems it was. In March, he had 2 stolen bases and no home runs, in April, he hit his first 3 homers and added 7 stolen bases. His batting average was .211 and fell to .200 in the games in April. He talks a better game than he plays.

Third base? Still the territory that sees Ryan McMahon primarily at that hot corner. Unfortunately, his batting leaves even more to be desired than Chisholm. In March, across 14 at bats, he hit .071. In April, it was .190 in 58 at bats. There were 2 extra base hits over the totality of this (both home runs), but really nothing else to make me feel positive.

With Anthony Volpe rehabbing at Scranton and Somerset Patriots, the shortstop role went to Jose Caballero, who they had brought in at the 2025 trade deadline from Tampa Bay. Caballero started quietly, but then in April, he hit .276. He also hit 8 extra base hits in April. Volpe, when fit, will need to start well on his return to squeeze out Caballero.

Coming in off the bench were Amed Rosario and latterly Max Schuemann. Neither player played in March, but when Rosario started to appear in April, he quickly hit his stride. He hit .278 with 6 extra base hits. He is not the best from a defensive point of view, but he is a real asset offensively. Schuemann joined the roster on April 28th and started quietly in the one appearance he made (a substitute appearance, replacing Jasson Dominguez).

Outfielders

Cody Bellinger, after the Yankees had re-signed him in the off-season, was very effective in leftfield. Randal Grichuk was also used there, but mainly as a pinch-hitter and late inning defensive replacement. Bellinger hit .333 with a triple in March, and he built on this with 7 extra base hits in April, but his monthly batting average fell away to .222. Grichuk appeared in two games in March, but went hitless in the 2 at-bats. In April, he played in 14 games and did slightly better with .207 and 4 doubles. However, when Giancarlo Stanton went on the injured list retroactive to April 25th and recalled Jasson Dominuez on the 27th, Grichuk proved to be the odd man amount, being designated for assignment on the 29th. After clearing waivers, he chose free agency and signed on wth the Chicago White Sox.

In centerfield, Trent Grisham was a player that a lot of Yankee fans had lot of questions about. 2024 was not a good year for him. 2025 was an exceptional year. Spring training in 2026 was dismal. Which Grisham would appear at the Stadium this year?

In March, Grisham hit .235 with 2 extra base hits. Despite 4 home runs, April was very, very poor. He hit .132 with 10 hits in 76 at-bats.

Aaron Judge started poorly in March, with only .150 and 2 home runs. However, he regained his footing in April with a .275 batting average and 15 extra base hits (10 homers). By the end of April, he was leading the team in home runs narrowly ahead of Ben Rice.

Designated hitters

Giancarlo Stanton started much better than he has in recent years. While exhibiting less power, he still managed to accumulate 10 hits in his first 20 at-bats. But after that he faded in April, batting only .186.and in the later part of the month as previously mentioned he went on the injured list with a right calf strain. Add this to the existing problems with his hands and arms, things do not look pretty.

Jasson Dominguez who had failed to make the opening day roster, was brought in to fill Stanton’s Designated Hitter role. On the 29th, he made his first appearance in the outfield, but his defensive work still looks below par. His April batting average of .111 speaks for itself.