April 24th, 2026: Red Sox Series, Fried, Schlittler, Chisholm, Alternate Jerseys, Mailbag
When the owners shut down the sport in a few months and claim a salary cap is the only way to get competitive balance, the MLBPA should show them Mets and Phillies highlights. They have the second and fifth highest payrolls in baseball, respectively, and they’re at the bottom of the standings after having the two longest losing streaks in baseball this year. The Blue Jays haven’t looked so hot either. They have the fourth highest payroll. It is a long season, but the Mets and Phillies have dug the kinda holes that, historically, teams have been unable to climb out of, and reach the postseason (caveat: there weren’t three Wild Card spots for most of baseball history). Anyway, here is today’s post.
1. Weekday thoughts. I can’t remember a Yankees vs. Red Sox series with that little juice. I get that half the Red Sox lineup is DOA before they even get to the plate and a bad offense will suck the life out of a building quick, but geez. It’s Yankees vs. Red Sox! They met in the postseason last year! Says a lot about the Red Sox and the state of the franchise that they didn't sell out two of the three games in a Yankees series.
The Yankees were one stinkin’ strike away from their third straight shutout Wednesday night, something they’ve done only four times in franchise history and not since June 6-8, 1962. They have two sets of back-to-back shutouts already this year though, and 10 in the Matt Blake era (2020-26). They had 10 from 2001-19. That’s not all Blake, obviously, but the pitching has been pretty darn good lately.
The three-game sweep was the Yankees’ first in Boston since Sept. 24-26, 2021. It was the first time they swept three games in Boston while allowing no more than three runs since Aug. 31st to Sept. 2nd, 2001. That was the Mike Mussina near perfect game series. A six-game winning streak makes for a great week. Here are a few thoughts on the Red Sox series.
Fried from the stretch
Sensational performance for Max Fried against an admittedly punchless Red Sox lineup: 8 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 9 K on 100 pitches (video). Fried gives off lefty Mussina vibes with the breadth of his arsenal (he threw seven different pitches Wednesday and got whiffs on five of them), the ability to seemingly invent things on the mound, his low-key personality, and even his fielding. Just a dominant start in Boston.
I’ve mentioned a few times that Fried’s command has been off since Day 1 of Spring Training, particularly with his cutter and four-seamer. He walked Willson Contreras in the first inning and the light-hitting Andruw Monasterio to lead off the second, and 10 of the 11 pitches he threw them were either a cutter or four-seamer. Most missed above the zone, which has been the norm for Fried in 2026. His heaters:
For whatever reason Fried’s fastball location has been off, and it was again early Wednesday. He recovered excellently in the second inning and struck out three straight to escape the jam after the Red Sox put runners on second and third with no outs. From there, Fried cruised. He retired 21 of the final 23 batters he faced. That happened after Fried scrapped his windup and pitched exclusively out of the stretch.
“I came in and Matt (Blake) was like, ‘Hey, it’s not working. When are you gonna cut it out?’ And I was like, ‘You’re right. I just gotta cut it and figure it out,’” Fried said (video). “For whatever reason this year I’ve walked a ton of guys in the windup and I haven’t walked anyone in the stretch. You’ve got to suck up your pride and just say, whatever’s working, that’s what you’ve got to go and do.”
Fried’s not exaggerating. He’s walked 10 guys with the bases empty (i.e. full windup) this year and zero with men on base and after going from the stretch full-time Wednesday. His zone rate with his cutter and four-seamer jumped about 10% from the first and second innings to the third through eighth. The windup has been giving him trouble, so he pitched from the stretch, and dominated the rest of the game.
Does that mean Fried should only pitch from the stretch? That’s for him to decide. If he thinks the stretch is best, go for it. If he wants to get his windup right because it’s April and this is when you try to fix problems rather than hide them, that works too. Fried and the Yankees have at least identified the problem. Mechanically, his windup is out of whack. He made an in-game adjustment and pitched well Wednesday, which is not as easy as he made it look.
“I definitely felt more like myself tonight,” Fried told Bryan Hoch. “I worked really well with Austin (Wells). He made some really great calls and some good stops. And then some really good defense as well, being able to pick me up and know that I can just be on the attack.”
Not adding on
I have a very mild complaint: The Yankees haven’t done a good enough job adding on and putting games away this season. They certainly did it against the Royals last weekend, but they took a 4-0 lead in the third inning Wednesday, and nursed it to the end. They had runners on base in the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth innings Tuesday, but added just one run. Same thing Thursday. Opportunities to add insurance, but no insurance added.
This may not be the perfect way to measure this, but these were the Yankees’ numbers when they held a lead this season entering play Thursday:
AVG: .205 (28th in MLB; MLB average: .249)
OBP: .326 (18th in MLB; MLB average: .332)
SLG: .349 (28th in MLB; MLB average: .404)
OPS+: 85 (22nd in MLB)
The Yankees have taken 430 plate appearances with a lead this season, second most in baseball, and that’s great. Their 252 plate appearances when trailing* are the fewest. That’s also great. The Yankees have been on the right side of the ledger more often than not. But there have been opportunities to really bust the game open these first four weeks, and the Yankees haven’t done it as often as I’d like.
* The Yankees are 20th in AVG (.226), 19th in OBP (.313), 7th in SLG (.414), and 9th in OPS+ (110) when behind this season.
Again, this is a mild complaint. The Yankees have taken the lead no later than the third inning in seven of their last 10 games, and in one of the two games they didn’t, they took the lead in the fourth. They’ve done a great job playing from ahead. A little more adding onto those early leads and putting games to bed would be nice. They’ve let teams hang around a bit too often for my liking.
Miscellany
As if Game 3 of the Wild Card Series didn’t clinch it, Cam Schlittler is officially a Red Sox Killer: 8 IP 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 5 K, 1 HR on 96 pitches (video) on Thursday. He retired 16 of the final 18 batters he faced and needed only 58 pitches to do it. Fried and Schlittler are the first Yankees to go eight innings in back-to-back games since Nestor Cortes and Jameson Taillon against the Rays from May 26-27, 2022 … Jazz Chisholm Jr. finally got on the board with his first homer Thursday (video). Wrapped it around the Pesky Pole. He singled his next time up too. Hopefully this gets him going because the Yankees really need more from the bottom of the lineup. Chisholm bunted for a hit against a rookie righty earlier in the series, which tells you how he’s feeling at the plate … I wouldn’t say he dominated, but 6.1 scoreless innings is 6.1 scoreless innings for Luis Gil (video). He threw his new sinker 19 times, the most in his three MLB starts this year. In the tiny sample, the sinker has a 71.4 GB% and 82.2 mph average exit velocity. That’ll work. May it last … Nice series for the Amed Rosario/Ryan McMahon platoon other than Rosario’s throwing error Thursday (oh, is that all?). Rosario homered Wednesday and drove in four runs. McMahon came in for defense late and made several splendid plays (video). The Yankees won’t see another lefty starter for a while. I’m curious to see how much Rosario plays during this upcoming stretch … And finally, Brent Headrick’s appearance Wednesday was his 15th in 24 team games. He’s the first pitcher to do 15 in 24 since Tyler Rogers with the 2021 Giants, and the first Yankee to do it since Scott Proctor pitched 15 times in the team’s first 23 games in 2007. Headrick’s been really good, and the Yankees had a bunch of off-days early on, but boy, that is a lot of work.
Injury updates and roster news
Anthony Volpe (shoulder) moved his rehab up to Scranton this week. He is 2-for-7 with a home run with the RailRiders, and is 6-for-18 (.333) through six rehab games overall. The homer was part of back-to-back shots with Jasson Domínguez (videos), who also had two doubles off lefties in that game. Volpe will play a full nine innings at shortstop for the first time today. He’s getting closer … Gerrit Cole (elbow) made his second rehab start Thursday: 4.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 1 HR on 52 pitches with High-A Hudson Valley. He’ll do it again in a few days as long as everything feels the way it should … Carlos Rodón (elbow, hamstring) will start a rehab assignment with Hudson Valley today. Why the Yankees sent Volpe to Scranton and Cole/Rodón to Hudson Valley, I have no idea, nor do I think it’s particularly important … And finally, Ryan Weathers was placed on the paternity list Wednesday. Jake Bird came up to take his spot, so it's a nine-man bullpen at the moment. The paternity list is three days max. Weathers will make his next start as scheduled.
Up next
Six days in Texas. First up: The Astros, who are 10-16 with an MLB worst 5.81 ERA and an MLB worst 13.6 BB%. Their 5.12 FIP and 4.50 xERA are merely bad rather than worst in the game. Here’s what’s coming up this weekend:
Friday at Astros: RHP Will Warren vs. RHP Lance McCullers Jr. (8pm ET on YES)
Saturday at Astros: LHP Ryan Weathers vs. RHP Mike Burrows (7pm ET on YES)
Sunday at Astros: RHP Luis Gil vs. RHP Spencer Arrighetti (2pm ET on YES)
Monday at Rangers: TBA vs. TBA (8pm ET on YES)
(Monday’s TBAs line up to be Fried and Jack Leiter.)
The Yankees have won nine of their last 10 games at what is now called Daikin Park. That dates back to Domínguez’s debut game on Sept. 1st, 2023. The Astros have been pretty bad overall this year, though they’re 7-6 with a +6 run differential at home. That’s not great, but it is way better than their 3-10 record and -19 run differential on the road.
Yordan Alvarez is hitting .347/.466/.779 (223 wRC+) with an MLB leading 11 home runs. 11 homers and 11 strikeouts. Yordan is the scariest hitter in baseball, in my opinion. It’s a surprise when that guy doesn’t hit a ball 470 feet. The Astros are averaging 5.27 runs per game, fifth most in baseball. They can put points on the board. Their pitching has just been so, so bad.
Also, the injuries. The Astros are without their No. 1 starter (Hunter Brown), No. 3 starter (Cristian Javier), No. 4 starter (Tatsuya Imai), starting shortstop (Jeremy Peña), backup shortstop (Aaron Boone’s nephew-in-law Nick Allen), starting center fielder (Jake Meyers), backup center fielder (Taylor Trammell), closer (Josh Hader), and a few others. The injuries have taken a toll.
2. On alternate jerseys. According to Brendan Kuty (subs. req’d), unidentified players approached the brain trust about wearing alternate jerseys at some point. Specifically, they pitched wearing the navy blue Spring Training/batting practice jerseys that say NEW YORK across the chest during some road games. No decision has been made. I assume Hal Steinbrenner has the final say.
“I’m all about tradition, but we’ve got (the Starr Insurance) patch on our sleeves,” Aaron Judge told Bryan Hoch. “… I think we'll always wear the pinstripes at home. I don't think that'll change. We’ve changed our road jersey other years. So I guess if we wear the blues, we’ll wear the blues on the road.”
I’m in favor of adding an alternate jersey and/or a City Connect, though I fear the Yankees would botch the hell out of the latter. A navy blue jersey with the top hot logo seems simple enough for an alternate. The Yankees can wear it on Sunday road getaway days, something like that. Maybe they should go retro and wear New York Highlanders throwbacks? I think that would be kinda cool, honestly.
“I think we should do that too,” Giancarlo Stanton told Hoch about a City Connect jersey. “There’s a lot of tradition here. The most iconic jersey there is in sports, pretty much. But that doesn’t mean that every once in a while you can’t change something up.”
The navy blue NEW YORK jerseys are pretty boring, though maybe the players think those jerseys have the best chance of getting okayed? They exist already, we know what they look like, and they’re readily available. Leave the home pinstripes, of course. They’re iconic and should be worn for every home game. The road jersey is whatever to me. Change it up. Who cares.
(MLB approved the Spring Training/BP jersey for in-game use prior to last season, per Gary Phillips. If the Yankees decide to use them, they can do it right away. It’s up to Hal to say yes.)
To his credit, Hal has been open to veering away from traditions/rules. The facial hair policy went away last year. They removed the white lettering outline from the road jerseys two years ago. And of course the Yankees added the Starr Insurance patch. The pinstripes are for sale. Nothing is off-limits now. If the Yankees can make money off it, they’ll do it, and any public outcry will fall on deaf ears.
I’m in favor of an alternate jersey but I also want something new and original, not the Spring Training jersey in regular season games. It’s hard to think of a less inspired choice, really. The Yankees had a mascot once. They can do an alternate jersey. The sun will still come up in the morning. We’ll see whether Hal and the Yankees go through with it.
Mailbag Questions of the Week
Paul asks: Every time Judge and Stanton homer in the same game, we get the stat of how many times they've done it and the Yankees' record in those games and it drives me insane. Of course they have a good record in those games, they had at least 2 HR! So my question is this: what is the record of every team with 2+ HR and how do the Judge/Stanton Yankees compare?
Including the postseason, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton have gone deep in the same game 61 times, most recently in the final game of the Angels series last week. The Yankees are 53-8 in those 61 games. That’s an .869 winning percentage. Here are the league winning percentages when a team homers multiple times since the mound was lowered in 1969:
Best season: .741 in 1992
Worst season: .664 in 1998
Last season: .699
Average season: .700
History says you’ll win 70% of the time when you hit at least two homers in a game. The Yankees are well above that when Judge and Stanton homer. That has at least something to do with the Yankees being a very good team with other very good players. You'd expect them to have a better than average winning percentage out of the gate anyway. (The Yankees have a .583 winning percentage in the Judge/Stanton era.)
Since the Judge/Stanton era began in 2018, the Yankees have a .772 winning percentage in all multiple homer games, and a .760 winning percentage in multiple homer games that are not Judge and Stanton games (that includes games in which one homers but not the other). That sorta aligns with their overall winning percentage, no? 83 points better than average in all games. 72 points better in multiple homer games that aren’t Judge and Stanton games.
The .869 winning percentage probably has to do with a) it being 61 games spread across 8+ years, so not a big sample, and b) Judge and Stanton are middle of the order guys who hit behind good leadoff hitters, so they’re not just poking solo homers. The Yankees are getting 3-4 runs on their two homers more often than not, and even more than that on a few occasions I’m sure. That’s just an educated guess though.
So yes, the winning percentage when Judge and Stanton homer in the same game is way higher than the league average in multiple homer games. It’s not quite as impressive as the stat often gets presented though. It’s an .869 winning percentage vs. a .700 league average, not .869 vs. like a .550 league average or something. Hit at least two homers and you’ll win often. News at 11.
Stephen asks: Munetaka Murakami is doing some weird things elite power and terrible contact rate. How does he compare with Spencer Jones and could this be a model for his success at the next level?
Murakami’s a fascinating player. Going into Thursday’s game, he was hitting .256/.404/.622 (178 wRC+) with 10 home runs, but also a 30.8 K% and a 29.8% in-zone whiff rate. He’s making contact with only 70% of his swings in the zone! Yet he’s still slugging .622. Since 2021, the only qualified hitter to have a 30% in-zone whiff rate in a full season is Joey Gallo 2021 (30.6% in 2021). Only 19 others are over 26%.
(Mike Petriello noted Murakami is the 52nd player to run a .600 SLG and 30 K% in a calendar month. Forget doing this for a full season. It’s not often this happens for a single month.)
Murakami makes his contact middle and middle-in, and his power has mostly shown up in the middle of the strike zone so far (it’s super early, of course). Basically, he’s crushing mistakes, and that’s fine. You’re supposed to crush mistakes and you can have a long career doing that. Here are the heat maps:
There were concerns about Murakami’s swing-and-miss tendencies and he hasn’t proven anyone wrong yet, right? He’s swinging and missing a ton, including in the strike zone, but the power is so immense (and the 20.2 BB% so high) that it’s working. I hate April because everything is a small sample, but we do have to see how this holds up for another few weeks. Murakami’s working with a razor thin margin.
This is more or less the model for Spencer Jones. He’s going to whiff and strike out a ton, it’s unavoidable, but can he punish enough mistakes to make it work? Jones has a big defensive edge over Murakami, who has looked clunky at first base, so he doesn’t need to be as productive at the plate to be a net positive. The thing is, Jones is making less contact in Triple-A than Murakami is in the big leagues:
Murakami in-zone whiff rate in MLB: 29.8%
Jones in-zone whiff rate in Triple-A: 34.4% from 2025-26
Think about the extreme high whiff/big power guys we’ve seen the last few years. Gallo, Javy Báez, Miguel Sanó, Luke Voit, Mike Zunino … those dudes all made more contact in MLB than Jones is in Triple-A. Some of them (Báez, Gallo, Zunino) had elite defensive value at their peak too. Also, those guys fell off a cliff suddenly and harshly. There was no gentle decline. A point came and they were just done.
What Murakami is doing is the model for Jones, and to do that, he will need to improve his contact rates to get to where Murakami is now. Murakami is a fun player, he’s hit some absolute bombs (like this one), but this is not the most stable profile. If nothing else, he’s showing it can work in the big leagues for at least a few weeks. Getting a few good weeks out of Jones would be a win in my book.
Michael asks: Sean Murphy for righty catcher? The Braves have Drake Baldwin now and probably want to dump the contract.
He would have to come cheap and/or subsidized. Murphy, 31, is on a rehab assignment right now after having hip surgery last September, which is a pretty big deal for a catcher. He’s hit .189/.296/.361 (85 wRC+) with 26.9 K% since his monster first half in 2023 (.306/.400/.599 and 167 wRC+). Murphy has a .181/.309/.415 (101 wRC+) line against lefties during that time, and he’s a splendid defender …
… so if you’re willing to look the other way on AVG, you can see how he’d make sense for the Yankees. A good defensive catcher who can give you league average OBP and SLG against lefties would pair nicely with Austin Wells. You can live with that guy hitting eighth or ninth. The biggest issue is the contract. Murphy is owed $15M annually from 2026-28, with a $15M club option (no buyout) for 2029.
Good backup catcher money is $7M to $8M a year. Would the Braves really eat $7M to $8M a year from 2026-28 to move Murphy? Maybe they would, but they paid Murphy and Travis d’Arnaud close to $20M a year combined from 2023-24, so they’re okay paying big to have two quality catchers. Baldwin won’t hit arbitration until 2028. They’re paying Baldwin/Murphy less than they paid d’Arnaud/Murphy.
The low AVG is an eyesore and the hip surgery is a real concern that could cut into his defense, but yeah, Murphy has appeal as a righty complement to Wells. I have a hard time believing Hal Steinbrenner would okay paying $15M a year for a platoon catcher, so this comes down to a) getting the Braves to eat money, and b) agreeing to a trade package. It may not be pretty, but Murphy would fill the role.
Ray asks: Is there a possible trade packaging Gil and Escarra for bullpen help and a right handed hitting backup catcher? Or what would each fetch in their own to fill those holes (understanding trades of any significance this early in the season don’t often happen)
I would try Luis Gil in the bullpen before trading him for a reliever. There’s a chance his stuff plays up in the bullpen and he's an MFer even with the control issues (think peak Aroldis Chapman). I do like J.C. Escarra’s skill set as a backup catcher (he’s got a sneaky good contact/exit velocity blend). I just wish he was a right-handed hitter. Austin Wells and a righty Escarra would be an awesome platoon.
One team really stands out as a potential Gil/Escarra trade partner: Padres. The Athletics need rotation help and a lefty backup catcher would work, but they don’t have a reliever or a good righty hitting backup to trade. The Astros need rotation help and have room for a lefty hitting backup catcher. Their bullpen is a mess though, and they don’t have an appealing backup catcher to send back.
The Padres, meanwhile, have a loaded bullpen and two okay to good righty hitting catchers in Freddy Fermin and Luis Campusano. Campusano is 27 and has much more offensive upside, and is under team control through 2028. Fermin turns 31 next month and is a classic no bat/great glove backup type. He’s under team control through 2029. They’ve been in close to a 50/50 playing time split this year.
Reliever-wise, Jeremiah Estrada (currently out with elbow tendinitis) is under control through 2029 and has high leverage chops. I like David Morgan and Bradgley Rodríguez, two of my Offseason Plan guys. San Diego is so short on starters that they just signed Lucas Giolito off the scrap heap. Their rotation depth chart is:
1. RHP Nick Pivetta (out long-term with a flexor strain)2. RHP Mike King3. RHP Randy Vásquez 4. RHP Joe Musgrove (Tommy John surgery rehab hit a snag in Spring Training)5. RHP Griffin Canning (on a rehab assignment for an Achilles tear)6. RHP Walker Buehler7. RHP Germán Márquez8. RHP Lucas Giolito9. RHP Matt Waldron10. LHP JP Sears (7.56 ERA and 5.74 FIP in Triple-A)11. RHP Triston McKenzie (11.57 ERA and 9.73 FIP in Triple-A)
Vásquez looks like he’s taken a step forward this year and become a legit full-time rotation guy. Buehler and Márquez have been okay so far. Not amazing, but not horrible either. You can’t expect that to continue at this point in their careers though. Canning is getting blasted during his rehab (but it is only rehab) and there’s just no depth unless he and Musgrove come back soon, stay healthy, and pitch well. It’s a lot to ask.
Gil is not the Rookie of the Year version of himself anymore but he’s under control through 2028, and the Padres are running Buehler and Márquez out there every fifth day. I can see how the current version of Gil would appeal to the Padres. Swapping a reliever for Gil could make sense on their end, and if swapping backup catchers is what it takes to push it across the finish line, would that really be a dealbreaker?
Estrada’s injury (which is said to be minor) complicates things, otherwise I’d float Gil and Escarra for Campusano and Estrada. The Trade Values site says it’s an underpay ($14.2M vs. $18.1M), but that’s just one algorithm. It says an Estrada and Fermin package is even more lopsided ($14.2M vs. $35.2M), which seems crazy. How valuable are four years of a soon-to-be 31-year-old backup, exactly?
I’d try Gil in the bullpen before trading him. I’m also not sure the Yankees should move him until they’re 100% sure Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón are coming back and will be effective, not that I think a Gil trade is imminent or anything. This is the kinda trade I would seek for a Gil/Escarra package though. Multiple years of a late-inning reliever and righty hitting back with some offensive ability.
Adam asks: Would Ben Rice merit consideration for a lineup built from current MLB players with the sole objective of maximizing the chances of winning a single game today?
Merit consideration? Yes. Be my pick? No. I would go with Vlad Guerrero Jr. at first base. Vlad Jr. has a very special blend of contact and hard-hit ability (even though he mutes his power output by hitting so many ground balls), and I think he’s a better defender than Rice too. One game, for all the marbles, I’d take Guerrero at first base. I’d probably trust Freddie Freeman over Rice right now too.
Lynn asks: Who do you think will be sent down or DFA’d to make room for Volpe when he returns? I’ve heard speculation that Grichuk will be released but I think the better move is to release Goldschmidt. I really like Goldy but he’s strictly a first baseman and offers no versatility. Plus, Bellinger can play first if needed. I’ve also heard speculation about sending Escarra down and using Rice as the backup catcher but I’m opposed to that idea because catchers take such a beating and Rice is so valuable. Just curious, is it possible for the Yanks to make Goldy a coach and then bring him back as a player if he is ever needed?
Two weeks ago I said I would cut Randal Grichuk if he doesn’t show anything by the end of the Red Sox series, and he’s 5-for-16 (.313) with three doubles and two strikeouts since then. So, he’s showing something. The Yankees haven’t given us any indication they will use Ben Rice behind the plate, so J.C. Escarra has to stay. Amed Rosario’s not going anywhere. José Caballero most likely not either.
That leaves Paul Goldschmidt, who is 3-for-24 (.125) in limited action and is no longer starting against every lefty. The Yankees just saw five straight lefties and Goldschmidt started against two of them. They’ve seen eight lefties in the last 10 games and Goldschmidt started against four of the eight. He doesn’t offer any versatility nor is he a pinch-running option. He’s a very limited player for the Yankees.
Based on that, yes, Goldschmidt should be the one to go when Anthony Volpe returns. I’m just not sure the Yankees will go through with it. They love the guy and Goldschmidt reportedly took less money to come back, plus I don’t think the Yankees gave him a guaranteed contract just to cut him a month into the season. Grichuk was at least a last-minute minor league signing, you know?
Right now, I think Grichuk will go for Volpe, but Volpe is still 10-14 days away and these things have a way of working themselves out, so let’s circle back in 10-14 days. Given his limited usefulness and playing time, yeah, Goldschmidt should be the one to go. Cody Bellinger is a capable backup first baseman and Grichuk would give the Yankees a proper backup outfielder (i.e. not Caballero or Rosario).
As for making Goldschmidt a coach and then activating him as a player if need arises, sure, the Yankees can do that. I’m not sure there’s ever been a player > coach > player move in a single season, but a couple guys retired as players, went into coaching, and came back as players. Luis Sojo did it with the 2003 Yankees. Daniel Bard and Gabe Kapler also came back as players after coaching for a bit.
If Goldschmidt is cool with that, it would be ideal. Keep him around as a coach/veteran presence and have the option to add him to the active roster, if needed. The Yankees could work with him to find a trade if he wants to continue playing. (The Giants badly need an actual first baseman.) We’ll see. I’d bet on Grichuk going when Volpe returns. There’s still some time for this question to answer itself.
Ari asks: So your post today about setting lineups ended by saying "Just put your best guy in the leadoff spot." Would you mind explaining why you think this, rather than simply wanting the guy with the highest OBP in the leadoff spot?
Well, there is a lot of overlap between best hitter and highest OBP. Last year only 10 teams had different OBP and OPS+ leaders when I set the minimum to 400 plate appearances …
Dodgers: Shohei Ohtani (182 OPS+) and Will Smith (.404 OBP)
Cubs: Michael Busch (148 OPS+) and Kyle Tucker (.377 OBP)
Diamondbacks: Ketel Marte (145 OPS+) and Geraldo Perdomo (.389 OBP)
Twins: Byron Buxton (137 OPS+) and Ryan Jeffers (.356 OBP)
Royals: Bobby Witt Jr. (137 OPS+) and Maikel Garcia (.351 OBP)
Rockies: Hunter Goodman (122 OPS+) and Tyler Freeman (.354 OBP)
Brewers: Brice Turang (121 OPS+) and Isaac Collins (.368 OBP)
Tigers: Riley Greene (120 OPS+) and Gleyber Torres (.358 OBP)
Reds: Elly De La Cruz (109 OPS+) and TJ Friedl (.364 OBP)
White Sox: Andrew Benintendi (104 OPS+) and Edgar Quero (.333 OBP)
… and in several cases the difference was a few points of OBP or OPS+. There wasn’t a ton of daylight between Marte and Perdomo, or Garcia or Witt. At least last season, best OBP and highest OPS+ was the same guy for two-thirds of the league, including the Yankees.
There has been a ton of research showing that as long as you don’t do something obviously stupid like hit your top guy near the bottom of the order, the difference between the best and worst lineup construction is small over the course of 162 games. League-wide, each lineup spot gets 16-18 more plate appearances than the spot behind it over 162 games, so the leadoff guy gets 16-18 more than the No. 2 hitter, etc.
Me wanting Aaron Judge or Ben Rice in the leadoff spot boils down to getting them the most at-bats over the course of the long season, and also upping the odds they get one additional at-bat in the ninth inning that night. That’s really all it is. I don’t have a good analytical defense of this. I just want to get my best guys to bat most often, even if they might bat with a couple fewer men on base overall.
Mike asks: Stanton has to be one of the longest tenured MLB players by now, right? Who debuted before him that is still playing?
Time flies, eh? I remember when a young slugger named Mike Stanton debuted for the Marlins and hit a grand slam for his first MLB homer (video). Big G is indeed one of the longest tenured MLB players now. He’s the second longest tenured position player behind one of his former Yankees teammates, in fact. Here are the longest tenured players by debut date:
1. Justin Verlander: July 4th, 20052. Max Scherzer: April 29th, 20083. Andrew McCutchen: June 4th, 20094. Carlos Carrasco: Sept. 1st, 20095. Craig Kimbrel: May 7th, 20106. Giancarlo Stanton: June 8th, 20107. Carlos Santana: June 11th, 20108. Kenley Jansen: July 24th, 20109. Chris Sale: Aug. 6th, 201010. Aroldis Chapman: Aug. 31st, 2010
That only includes players who have appeared in a big league game this season (the Braves called up Carrasco earlier this week and he made his 2026 debut yesterday). Freddie Freeman just missed the cut – he debuted the day after Chapman. We started RAB in 2007 and now we’re a year or two (or three) away from there being no players who debuted in 2010 in MLB. Old, I am.
(Send your questions for Friday's mailbag to RABmailbag at gmail dot com. The random Yankee series is on hiatus, but feel free to send in requests for if/when it returns.)