In May, the Yankees won 16 and lost 12. This was a slight decline on their April perrformance and with the Tampa Bay Rays really hitting their stride the Yankees went from 1.5 games ahead in the American League East to 1.5 games behind. The division was tied by May 9. They then drifted out to five and a half games behind by the 22nd.

They then won 6 of the next 7 games and closed that gap.

The batting performances were sharper than they had been in the April, but the starting pitchers were not as good. The bullpen was much better.

Let’s look first at how the individual batters fared:

Name/Pos	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Max Schuemann if/of	12	16	7	5	3	0	0	3	6	5	2	.313	.500	.500	1.000
Cody Bellinger lf	28	102	19	31	9	2	5	23	20	15	2	.304	.415	.578	.993
Amed Rosario if	11	31	6	9	2	0	2	7	2	8	0	.290	.324	.548	.872
Paul Goldschmidt 1b/dh	24	83	13	24	2	1	5	15	9	16	0	.289	.372	.618	.990
Ben Rice 1b/dh/c	24	98	18	28	6	2	7	21	8	21	1	.286	.346	.602	.946
Jazz Chisholm 2b	26	96	12	27	5	1	3	10	11	28	5	.281	.352	.448	.800
Trent Grisham cf	27	95	18	25	8	0	3	15	14	19	3	.263	.355	.442	.797
Anthony Volpe ss	13	43	9	11	3	0	1	8	9	12	4	.256	.385	.395	.780
Jose Caballero if/of	19	55	8	14	3	0	1	4	5	7	2	.255	.328	.364	.692
Ryan McMahon 3b	25	78	10	19	4	0	4	12	2	25	3	.244	.263	.449	.712
Aaron Judge rf/dh	28	103	18	25	5	0	5	18	21	35	0	.243	.368	.437	.805
Jasson Dominguez lf/dh	6	21	3	5	2	0	1	4	1	2	0	.238	.273	.476	.749
J.C. Escarra c	11	28	2	5	1	0	0	2	4	3	0	.179	.273	.214	.487
Spencer Jones of	10	24	0	4	0	0	0	2	3	12	1	.167	.259	.167	.426
Austin Wells c	20	65	9	10	0	0	1	2	7	26	0	.154	.236	.200	.436
Name/Pos	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS

Catchers

When we consider the above table and see that the Yankees’ two catchers are both in the bottom three of the list, as we look at it by batting average in May, it is clear what one of the probems is.

In the month. Austin Wells only put together 10 hits, and Wells who has been in the past vital in clutch situations achieved only one extra base hit in those ten (a home run). J.C. Escarra‘s time behind the plate was consequently increased , but he too could only hit a weak .179 and one extra base hit.

Something will have to change in the team’s catching identity in June.

Infielders

Ben Rice continued to power the team offensively as Aaron Judge slowed. Rice played in 24 of the 28 games this month with Paul Goldschmidt alongside him taking up some of the time at first base. Rice had 7 homers amongst his 15 extra base hits. There was virtually nothing in it, between the two in terms of batting average. Goldschmidt was .289 in May, and Rice .286. Goldschmidt who is less of a power hitter, still managed to bring 8 extra base hits into the mix. He also led Rice in OPS (.990 to .946) and was coming into a real purple patch as the month drew towards its close.

At second base, Jazz Chisholm had a much stronger month. His self-prophesised 50 home runs still looks very, very far away. He added only 3 more homers in May. He achieved 5 stolen bases and so it would seem that the season will need to be extended if he is going to meet that 50-50 prediction. In total, though, there were 9 extra base hits and a rise on the month to a .281 batting average.

In April, third baseman Ryan McMahon had batted a wretched .190 (up from .071 in March), and tis month’s .244 with 8 extra base hits brings a huge sigh of relief. However, it must be noted that this writer would not be disappointed to see either him or Chisholm (or both) leave for new pastures at the traing deadline.

The original plan was that Anthony Volpe would, at the end of his minor league rehabillitation, be slotted straight back into the shortstop role. On one hand though Volpe struggled in the minors and Amed Rosario and Jose Caballero both performed strongly and are more versatile in fielding roles than Volpe. So, instead Mr Volpe was designated to Scranton until the 12th of the month. On the month, Rosario batted .290, Caballero batted . 255, and Volpe .256. Each had 4 extra base hits and a conundrum is developing.

Max Schuemann who like Rosario and Caballero, can fulfil multiple defensive positions, played less at bats than any of the other three, but batted .313 across 16 at-bats. Conundrum indeed. What does the future hold for the younger Volpe. Will his long-term future be in the Bronx or elsewhere.

Outfielders

The Yankees outfield is assumed to be Cody Bellinger (left) – Trent Grisham (center) – Aaron Judge (right).

But Grisham has started slowly (.132 in April), Judge is slowing (.243 in May) and only Bellinger is doing what we might expect (leading the team in hits, extra bases, and, amongst those who play everyday, batting average in May).

Judge, obviously, is not going anywhere, but we always worry about underlying and undiagnosed injuries.

Grisham needs to continue to improve.

Also in the mix are Spencer Jones and Jasson Dominguez. Jones has been back and forth from the minors. The same is true for Dominguez, but he also spent time this month on the Injured List. When we consider that Dominguez has only batted .238 (3 extra base hits) and Jones only .167 (with no extra base hits)., then there are no obvious solutions here.

Designated Hitters

With Giancarlo Stanton being on the injured list, there is no obvious choice for designated hitter. Goldschmidt and Rice alternate in this role and first base. Whoever else is surplus to requirement in the outfield positions, usually lands here. There’s no obvious solution to this role either, especially now it’s a 162 game a season role.