BALTIMORE — The New York Yankees made major-league history in Tuesday night’s game against the Baltimore Orioles. Manager Aaron Boone cautioned reporters before Wednesday’s matchup that it meant nothing for a club’s success in the following game. Boone’s comment was prescient. The Yankees lost 5-4 Wednesday night, and they dropped two of three to the Orioles, who are in last place in the American League East.
The AL East, usually baseball’s best division, has been mediocre. The Yankees (18-13) and Boston Red Sox (17-15) are the only two clubs over .500. All five clubs in the division have obvious flaws that could cost them a title when the season ends.
“Imperfect,” Boone said of his assessment of the AL East. “It still feels like anyone’s division a month in. I know the Orioles are off to a really tough start, but we also know what they’re capable of as they get more and more healthy. They’re going to be there. We got a peek at Tampa. I think they can really pitch. We haven’t seen Boston yet, but I think they’re a really well-rounded club now. Toronto can pitch and they have some star power there. It still feels wide-open, still feels a little imperfect.”
Entering May, the Yankees have the third-best record in the AL, behind the Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners. It’s still too early to draw sweeping conclusions about how good the Yankees can be come season’s end, but here are a few things we’ve learned after the first month of the season.
An unexpected power surge?
We knew Aaron Judge would hit many home runs in 2025 as long as he stayed healthy. Through the first month, that’s exactly what he’s done. He’s tied for the MLB lead with 10 homers. There was some thought the offense might take a step back in 2025 after it lost Juan Soto in free agency to the New York Mets, but that has not happened. The Yankees set a franchise record with 53 home runs through April.
They’ve received an unexpected power surge from center fielder Trent Grisham, who was seen as a possible non-tender candidate in the offseason. The Yankees paid him just $5 million, and he was mostly seen as an afterthought heading into the year. He’s looking like a bargain in his final season before free agency. Grisham has eight home runs and is now hitting in the top third of the Yankees’ lineup. Ben Rice, whom we’ll get to below, has eight home runs. Jazz Chisholm Jr. has seven. The power production from not just Judge but everyone else is a key reason why the Yankees have the best offense in the sport.
426-ft No-Doubter. #AllRise 🫡 pic.twitter.com/YfSv71SRDJ
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 30, 2025
“Did I think we’d be hitting them at this level at this point? I don’t know,” Boone said. “But, then again, I don’t really go in looking at it as having expectations of certain things. … Hopefully, it is something that we continue to do well. I do think we have a number of guys capable of changing the game.”
With the starting pitching being hit-or-miss on most nights, it’s the offense that has carried them. It helps when Judge continues being an otherworldly hitter. He exited April batting .427 with a video game-esque 263 wRC+.
“He’s like a great 3-point shooter at the plate right now,” Boone said. “It’s remarkable, obviously. I always say we’re running out of superlatives or things to say about it.”
An ace in place of the ace
The Yankees are 6-0 when Max Fried starts and 12-13 when he doesn’t pitch. Does it concern Boone that his team is under .500 when the other four starters are pitching?
“We’re gonna be really good,” Boone said. “Not surprising we’re that good when our ace starts and is pitching as well as he is. We got a really good club. We got to keep getting better, and I’m confident we will.”
Fried is pitching like an early American League Cy Young Award contender with a 1.19 ERA in his first month after signing a $218 million contract. Boone said before Wednesday’s game that Fried has been better than advertised, and they’ve needed that with Gerrit Cole out for the year after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
Carlos Rodón has pitched like a co-ace in his past three outings. He was perfect through five innings Tuesday and entered that outing with back-to-back scoreless appearances. Rodón receives lots of flak from the fan base for his inconsistency, but he’s been quite good dating back to last season’s All-Star break. Sure, there are inconsistent and uneven starts, but that’s the case for most starters. He deserves more respect.
Where the Yankees need more is in Will Warren’s and Carlos Carrasco’s starts. Both pitchers have ERAs over 5.00. It’s hard to string together winning streaks when the Yankees have zero idea what to expect when either takes the mound.
The plan for Ben Rice
Through the first month of the season, Rice has a higher OPS than Shohei Ohtani. If you somehow bet that would be the case at the end of April, congratulations because you’ve made yourself a little fortune.
Rice’s OPS is .958, and he’s now consistently hitting in the top half of the Yankees’ lineup. We’re still weeks and possibly well over a month away before questions start coming on how they’ll fit Rice in the lineup because he will be a man without an established position. The Yankees have not made it known whether Giancarlo Stanton is close to starting a rehab assignment, but he’s begun taking batting practice outdoors. When he returns, it’s expected that Stanton will take over as the designated hitter.
Rice, Rice, Baby. pic.twitter.com/OttPEyRsVT
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 29, 2025
That means the Yankees would have to figure out how to get Rice consistent at-bats if he’s continuing to hit as he has. Those conversations are already happening behind the scenes. Catching coordinator Tanner Swanson has been pushing Boone to get Rice more reps behind the plate. He believes Rice could start for at least 10 MLB teams. He also believes that with more game reps, his defense would become more advanced. There were questions about Austin Wells’ defense when he made his MLB debut, and now he’s considered an above-average defender. Swanson also believes Rice’s bat is “too advanced” to ever send him back down to Triple A.
He’s right. There are ways to get Rice in the lineup even if everyone is healthy whenever Stanton returns. He could catch at least two times a week, if they trust his defense. He could start at first base at least twice a week; Paul Goldschmidt’s wRC+ versus right-handed pitchers was 86 entering Wednesday’s game. He could also DH twice a week, as Stanton won’t play every day.
No matter what the Yankees decide to do, if Rice continues being a top-10 hitter, he needs to play.
Jasson Domínguez from the right side
With the Yankees trailing 5–3 in the top of the sixth and runners on the corners with two outs, Domínguez stepped to the plate from the right side to face Orioles reliever Keegan Akin. Jasson Domínguez did not get the job done for the Yankees; he struck out looking on a hanging slider. It was one of three sliders Domínguez received in the at-bat that were poorly located from Akin, and yet Domínguez could not do damage.
In his career, Domínguez is now 6-for-62 as a right-handed hitter. He has zero home runs and three doubles, one of which came earlier this season against the Kansas City Royals. Domínguez’s biggest hit of the season came in that at-bat, which saw him clear the bases and lead a Yankees win. But in most of his plate appearances from the right side, the rookie isn’t having much success. Boone believes the 22-year-old will eventually be a good hitter from his weaker side.
“I think it’s inexperience,” Boone said. “He just hasn’t played a ton of baseball for a 22-year-old. That really shows up on the right side, where you’re obviously getting less at-bats. I think he has the makings to be good over there, while acknowledging it’s been a struggle there, too, and you’re trying to find it at the big-league level. The good thing about this year, I feel like he’s shown signs of really controlling the zone from that side. There’s been some swing-and-miss there. He’s got a couple of really big hits from that side, too. It’s one of those things you got to keep working on and be a little patient with a young player.”
Boone is right that one of the positives from Domínguez on the right side is his walk rate. Across 72 plate appearances, Domínguez has walked 10 times, good for a 13.9 percent walk rate, which would rank 30th in MLB this season.
But that’s about the only positive Domínguez has, hitting right-handed. His bat speed is slower, his hard-hit percentage is worse and his strikeout rate is pushing 35 percent. His numbers in the minors from the right side weren’t much better. Domínguez had a .510 OPS as a righty last season and a .696 in 2023.
If the Yankees believe in Domínguez’s viability from the right side, the only way he can get better is by getting more in-game reps. From what he’s shown in the majors and the past two seasons in the minors, it just might be a while before he is at least an average bat from the right side.
(Photo of Aaron Judge working out Wednesday: Greg Fiume / Getty Images)