Three Things to Know About the ’25 Yankees

Three things you need to know about the 2025 Yankees:

1. We’re more than halfway through the season; they’re tied for first place and are at a 90-win pace. That’s better than most people expected and is certainly nothing to be angry about.
2. They are nowhere near as good as folks thought they were on May 29^th when they were 35-20 and running away with the AL East.
3. They are nowhere near as bad as folks think they are now that they’ve gone 13-17 since.

More specifically…

The hitters over the past 30 games haven’t been elevating the ball to the pull side – this is something they were very good at during the 35-20 stretch. They are still drawing walks and still hit the ball harder than average team wide, so I expect the offense to even out – which is to say it’s a “good” lineup, but not “great”.

The starting pitching went from great over the first 55 games to good over the past 30. They’ve regressed a little in most areas, but they’ve also been on the wrong end of fortune lately, as over the last 30 games they’ve yielded the 5^th lowest exit velocity, but the third highest BABIP. This will even out – the rotation is good and nothing to worry about.

However,

The bullpen has been getting slammed lately. Over the last 30 games, Yankees relievers are 20^th in MLB in xFIP and have yielded the 6^th highest exit velocity league wide, with barrel and hard-hit percentages both on the wrong side of average as well. Overall, the bullpen has been pretty good in ’25 so I’m hoping the recent stretch is just a case of fatigue (five relievers have thrown over 30 innings so far) or mid-season slump.

If there’s a concern, it’s defense. Due to the still unexplainable plan of entering the season without a third baseman on the roster, the team has a second baseman playing third, and a monument playing second base. Combine that with Anthony Volpe and Trent Grisham – who’ve always been good defensively – not being particularly good this year at premium positions, and you have what should have been a strength is now currently a circus.

As the deadline approaches, most teams need a big bat or a big arm – the Yankees need someone who can play third base. Put Jazz back at second, send DJ to a farm upstate, and hope Volpe and Grisham return to defensive form, and your run prevention just got much better.

Did I miss something? Let me know in the comments, or yell at me on the “My Baseball Page” on Blue Sky.

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