RAB’s Midseason Grades for the 2024 Yankees

At 58-40, the Yankees entered the All-Star one game back in the AL East, 5.5 games up on a Wild Card spot, and with baseball’s fourth best record and second best run differential (+106). Improbable, really. The Yankees went 4-14 from June 19th to July 9th, literally the worst record in baseball during that time, yet they’re still very much in the division race. Shoutout to the Orioles for not taking advantage of the Yankees’ skid.

“We’ve been through some rough, rough stretches, which we acknowledge,” Aaron Boone told Bryan Hoch after Sunday’s loss. “It’s all right there in front of us. We’ve got the pen. We get to write this amazing script, and that’s because we put ourselves in this position.”

Here’s where the Yankees rank in all the stuff that matters through the traditional first half of the season:

• Runs scored per game: 4.98 (1st in MLB)

• Runs allowed per game: 3.90 (5th)

• AVG: .247 (11th)

• OBP: .329 (4th)

• SLG: .426 (4th)

• wRC+: 116 (2nd)

• ERA: 3.56 (4th)

• ERA+: 116 (4th)

• FIP: 4.11 (17th)

• DRS: +34 (6th)

• OAA: +12 (7th)

• SP WAR: +8.6 (7th)

• RP WAR: +2.8 (15th)

• Position player WAR: +17.0 (6th)

The bullpen is leakier than it has been in several years, some starting pitchers are trending down, and the position player group are top heavy. The peerless Aaron Judge and Juan Soto have combined for +11.4 WAR, so the rest of the position players are at +5.6 WAR. Judge and Soto give the offense a very high ceiling and also a very high floor. The Yankees need others to pick up the pace in the second half.

With the intro out of the way, here is my midseason report card for all 49 members of the 2024 Yankees, some of whom didn't even appear in a game. The players are listed alphabetically within each grade tier.

Incomplete

Incomplete is often the coward’s way out, though sometimes it is the only reasonable choice. Here are the guys who have spent time with the Yankees, but not enough to really contribute one way or the other.

LHRP Clayton Andrews: The Yankees picked up Andrews in a minor Spring Training trade with the Brewers and he had two stints with the big league team (May 20-22 and June 18-19). He appeared in just one game, which was somewhat memorable. On May 21st, Andrews was brought in to face the Mariners’ 3-4-5 hitters with the Yankees down one run in the eighth. He gave up a first pitch left-on-left homer to Luke Raley, giving Seattle insurance, then he plunked Cal Raleigh and struck out Mitch Haniger before getting pulled. Using Andrews there was odd, not that he had any say in when he entered the game. The Yankees DFAed him twice (April 8th and June 20th). Andrews cleared waivers the first time and elected free agency the second time. He’s currently a free agent. Assuming he doesn’t return, Andrews finishes with a 27.00 ERA and 45.17 FIP in one-third of an inning as a Yankee.

RHRP Clayton Beeter: Beeter lost the No. 5 starter competition to Luis Gil in Spring Training but made the Opening Day roster anyway. He was the long reliever as Gil continued to get built up, though his only appearance was a quick three-pitch inning on March 29th, in the second game of the season (video). Three pitches with a hit allowed! As best I can tell, Beeter was the first Yankee with a three-pitch inning since Mariano Rivera against the Cardinals in 2003. The Yankees sent him down the next day and Beeter threw 32 innings with a 2.53 ERA (3.12 FIP) with Triple-A Scranton before his shoulder began to ache in May. It sounds like the injury may be season-ending. Bummer.

RHRP Phil Bickford: The Yankees signed Bickford to a minor league contract in April and briefly tried to make him a thing in June, with Matt Blake citing his funky arm angle and fastball rise as a reason they believed he could contribute to a bullpen short on strikeouts. Instead, Bickford allowed nine runs in five innings in his five appearances. He was on the big league roster for nine days and is currently back with Triple-A Scranton after being DFAed, electing free agency, and signing a new minor league deal.

1B J.D. Davis: The state of the Yankees is such that a player who was DFAed by the bad-on-purpose Athletics was hitting cleanup in pinstripes eight days later. Brought in to provide some thump against lefties after Giancarlo Stanton got hurt, Davis went 1-for-13 (.077) with six strikeouts in five games before landing on the injured list with, uh, the stomach flu. That’s a new one. It looks like Davis will return after the All-Star break.

RHRP Yoendrys Gómez: YoGo has made three appearances with the Yankees this year and the first two were really good. The third not so much. Gómez struck out all three Padres he faced on May 24th, then he held the Braves scoreless for 4.2 innings after Carlos Rodón got rocked on June 21st (video). Five days after that, the Mets tagged Gómez for five runs in two innings. He needed 63 pitches to get six outs. Gómez has an unsightly 5.87 ERA (6.95 FIP) in 7.2 big league innings, but 5.2 of those 7.2 innings were really good. He’s sporting a 4.20 ERA (5.10 FIP) with the RailRiders in Scranton.

RHRP Jonathan Loáisiga: Boy do the Yankees miss Loáisiga. He wasn’t gonna fix the bullpen’s strikeout issue, strikeouts aren't his thing, but he’s way better than most of the relievers the Yankees have cycled through this year. Loáisiga threw four scoreless innings across three appearances. He felt a twinge in his elbow on April 3rd, in the seventh game of the season, and that was it. Loáisiga tore his UCL and had the internal brace procedure soon thereafter. His season is over, and possibly his Yankees career as well (he’ll be a free agent this winter). The Yankees handled Loáisiga very carefully in Spring Training, opting to get him most of his work in controlled simulated games rather than Grapefruit League games, and he still blew out. What a bummer.

LHRP Josh Maciejewski: An organizational swingman prior to 2024, the 28-year-old Maciejewski has made three appearances with the Yankees and each time he closed out a blowout win: April 8th vs. Marlins (7-0 win), June 30th Blue Jays (8-1 win), and July 6th vs. Red Sox (14-4 win). In those three games the 2018 tenth round pick threw four scoreless innings, retiring 12 of 14 batters faced, including five via strikeout. He had a four-pitch inning in his MLB debut. That’s not Clayton Beeter good, but it is pretty good.

LHRP Anthony Misiewicz: The Yankees had a week in June in which they shuttled in a new reliever or two every single day. Misiewicz was among them. He got into one game, loading the bases but still throwing a scoreless inning against the Orioles on June 19th. The Yankees sent Misiewicz, who is still on the 40-man roster, down the next day. He has a 3.86 ERA (3.47 FIP) with Triple-A Scranton.

RHRP Cody Morris: Acquired from the Guardians in the Estevan Florial trade over the winter, Morris had two stints with the big league team (April 19-26 and May 30th to June 1st), and never did get into a game. I do remember seeing him warm up in the bullpen once though. Morris, who I ranked as the No. 28 prospect in the system before the season, has a 4.25 ERA (4.58 FIP) in 36 Triple-A innings this year. The Yankees DFAed him this past weekend to open a 40-man roster for Scott Effross, who was activated off the 60-day injured list (and then optioned to Scranton).

C Carlos Narváez: Jose Trevino’s quad injury earned Narváez a call up this past weekend, though it is not his first stint in the big leagues! He was with the Yankees from April 29th to May 2nd, when Alex Verdugo was on the paternity list. Those games were also in Baltimore, so Camden Yards is all Narváez knows. He has yet to appear in a big league game, but he’ll make his MLB debut soon enough. Narváez has hit a solid .269/.386/.443 (117 wRC+) in Triple-A this year.

IF Oswald Peraza: Peraza spent one day (June 23rd) on the big league roster and I'm not even sure you can call it a full day. The timestamps on the press releases are 9:58am ET for the call up and 5:04pm ET for the send down. Peraza was called up to fill out the roster the day between Giancarlo Stanton's injury and the J.D. Davis trade. He missed the start of the season with a Spring Training shoulder injury and is hitting, uh, .210/.325/.251 (59 wRC+) in his third full season in Triple-A. That ain't great.

PR Kevin Smith: Yes, Smith’s position is pinch-runner. That’s all he did as a Yankee. He had two stints on the MLB roster (April 13-18 and May 25-28) and he pinch-ran twice. That's all. On April 14th, Smith pinch-ran for Giancarlo Stanton in the tenth inning in Cleveland, then was thrown out at home on this annoyingly memorable 3-2-3 double play. On May 26th, he pinch-ran for Anthony Rizzo in the ninth inning in San Diego, but the next two batters made outs and Smith never advanced. The utility infielder has spent most of the season with Triple-A Scranton, where he’s hit .252/.308/.342 (68 wRC+).

OF Taylor Trammell: Ahem, that’s best Yankees hitter of 2024 Taylor Trammell to you. Set the minimum to one plate appearance and Trammel leads the team in AVG (1.000), OBP (1.000), SLG (1.000), OPS (2.000), and wRC+ (430). Trammel went 1-for-1 with a walk in two plate appearances as a Yankee. He appeared in five games overall (four times as a pinch-runner and once when he replaced Giancarlo Stanton for defense after Stanton pinch-hit for Trent Grisham). The Yankees claimed Trammell off waivers from the Dodgers on April 18th and he was on the active roster until May 4th. They DFAed him, he cleared waivers, and he’s currently slashing .253/.367/.437 (110 wRC+) with Triple-A Scranton.

LHRP Tanner Tully: Tully was the first phantom Yankee of 2024. He was called up to replace Clayton Beeter on March 30th and spent two days on the active big league roster. The Yankees then DFAed him, and eventually he returned to the RailRiders. Tully never did appear in a game with the Yankees but he was indeed called up and on the roster. I’m not sure any player has ever been more deserving of an “incomplete.”

IF Jorbit Vivas: Another phantom Yankee, Vivas spent this past weekend on the big league roster (he was called up Friday after J.D. Davis landed on the injured list), though he did not appear in a game. After a broken orbital bone delayed the start of his season, Vivas is hitting .258/.404/.424 (122 wRC+) in Triple-A, and has been getting better as he’s gotten further away from the injury. He may not have played this past weekend, but I bet we see him again before the season lets out.

Grade F

The worst of the worst. The players who have been so bad that they should have to personally apologize to us for having to watch them play.

LHRP Victor González: Acquired in an offseason trade that sent 2021 first round pick Trey Sweeney to the Dodgers (the Yankees also received Jorbit Vivas in the deal), González was pegged as Wandy Peralta’s replacement as the weak contact/ground ball lefty in the bullpen. He certainly got grounders (55.7%), but the weak contact wasn’t there, and none of the other stuff was good either:

• K%: 11.3% (23.2% from 2021-23)

• BB%: 12.4% (8.4% from 2021-23)

• Swinging strike rate: 7.5% (12.8% from 2021-23)

• Exit velocity: 89.3 mph (84.9 mph from 2021-23)

• Barrel rate: 7.1% (4.9% from 2021-23) 

• Hard-hit rate: 44.3% (30.7% from 2021-23)

González was infrequently used (he appeared in only five games from May 9th through June 5th, for example), which probably didn’t help his performance, but if he had performed better, he would have been used more. The Yankees eventually had enough and DFAed González on June 21st. He cleared waivers, which says a lot about what other teams think of him, and is currently with Triple-A Scranton. Things aren’t going much better for González down there: 3.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 4 K.

3B DJ LeMahieu: Is there anything positive to say about LeMahieu’s season? He fouled a pitch into his foot in Spring Training and broke a bone, and that’s just bad luck. LeMahieu returned on May 28th and stepped right in as the everyday third baseman, and he’s hitting .188/.284/.214 (52 wRC+) in 135 plate appearances. The most plate appearances without a home run this season:

1. Nicky Lopez: 285 PA
2. Tim Anderson: 241 PA (recently DFAed)
3. Emmanuel Rivera: 173 PA
4. Kyle Farmer: 151 PA
5. Garrett Hampson: 140 PA
6. DJ LeMahieu: 135 PA

LeMahieu also seems to have lost a step in the field – if it’s hit more than one step away in either direction, it’s getting by him – so what does he bring to the table other than professionalism and a track record? It could be that LeMahieu just needs more time to get right after the injury, but he does have 135 plate appearances. It’s not like he just got back last week. The 2024 LeMahieu experience has been rough.

1B Anthony Rizzo: For all intents and purposes, the plan this season was to add Juan Soto to Aaron Judge, upgrade left field, and get a few bounce backs from players already on the roster. Rizzo was in that last group after the concussion derailed his 2023. Everyone involved said Rizzo was doing well at the end of last year and that he would have played if the Yankees were in the race, but still. We didn’t know what we would get until he was back on the field.

Turns out the Yankees weren’t gonna get much from Rizzo. He had a nice April, slashing .258/.321/.417 (112 wRC+) and even winning an AL Player of the Week at one point. Once the calendar flipped to May, Rizzo’s production went in the tank: .194/.263/.278 (58 wRC+) in 160 plate appearances before an awkward collision at first base broke his arm and sent him to the injured list on June 16th. Rizzo can not be activated off the 60-day injured list until Friday, Aug. 16th. Who knows what he’ll provide when he returns.

Also, because the .223/.289/.341 (82 wRC+) season line isn’t bad enough – Rizzo ranks 19th among 19 full-time first baseman in wRC+ (min. 250 PA) – Rizzo was uncharacteristically bad at first base. He had balls pop out of his glove, he went after ground balls he should have let the pitcher or second baseman field, etc. Considering he said the concussion hurt his depth perception last year, yeah, it was worrisome. Rizzo and the Yankees insist he is healthy, but they also said that last year when he played through the concussion for two months.

The Yankees mismanaged Rizzo’s concussion recovery last season, clearly, and it’s possible that affected his performance this season. We don’t know that for certain, but it sure seems possible. Perhaps I should have cut Rizzo some slack then and nudged him up to a D. Bottom line though, he’s had a terrible season. An 82 wRC+ and -0.5 WAR first baseman is the stuff Fs are made of.

RHRP Dennis Santana: There was a period in Spring Training where Santana looked like the next bullpen find, thanks in large part to a new cutter. He began the season in Triple-A, got called up on April 5th, and then proceeded to pitch more or less like Dennis Santana: 6.28 ERA (3.85 FIP) in 36.2 innings after entering 2024 with a career 5.17 ERA (4.26 FIP). Santana appeared in 23 games with the Yankees and allowed multiple runs in seven of them. The Pirates claimed him off waivers on June 11th, absolving the Yankees of the rest of Santana’s contract (not that he's making a big salary). He’s allowed eight runs in 11.1 innings with Pittsburgh.

2B Gleyber Torres: Is the big weekend in Baltimore (4-for-8 with a double and three walks) a sign Gleyber is finally – finally – getting on track at the plate? I hope so, but Torres has teased us a few times this season, and at the end of the day, a .231/.307/.347 (90 wRC+) slash line with mistake prone defense is F worthy in my book. Gleyber is only 27, he hit .273/.347/.453 (123 wRC+) with all sorts of positive plate discipline trends last year, and he’ll be a free agent after the season. It was reasonable to expect him to have a productive year, if not a career year. Instead, he’s doing this, and at one point he spent two straight games on the bench for a mental reset. I really hope this past weekend in Baltimore was a sign Torres is getting on track. The Yankees badly need him. To date though, Gleyber gets an F.

Grade D

The players who have been bad – very bad – but not so bad that they earned a failing grade. They need to do some extra credit in the second half to raise their GPA.

3B Jon Berti: The Yankees have an annoying offseason tendency of ignoring their bench until Spring Training. This year they waited until the end of camp – until after DJ LeMahieu broke his foot – to pick up Berti in a three-team trade with the Rays and Marlins. Groin and calf injuries, as well as Oswaldo Cabrera’s hot start, have limited Berti to 17 games, and in those 17 games he hit .273/.322/.327 (90 wRC+) with a homer. The small sample size numbers say his glove has been fine at third. At the end of the day, we’re talking about a 34-year-old speed guy who’s already suffered two lower body leg injuries, and was unable to push Cabrera out of a starting spot in May. The Yankees traded for a utility player right before Opening Day and they’ve spent the season having to find a way to fill-in for that utility player.

RHRP Nick Burdi: Did you know Burdi has only thrown 9.2 innings this season? I would've guessed more. Maybe I should have tossed him in with the incompletes. In those 9.2 innings Burdi allowed only two runs, but he also walked nine, hit two batters, and uncorked three wild pitches. Control is not his strong suit. Neither is staying healthy. Burdi’s spent most of the season sidelined by a hip issue (two separate injured list stints). He recently suffered a supposedly minor setback, so it’s unclear when he’ll return.

UTIL Oswaldo Cabrera: Remember that series in Houston? Waldo went 7-for-16 (.438) with a homer and 6 RBI (video). He was great. In the 70 games since, Cabrera has hit .222/.273/.298 (64 wRC+), which almost exactly matches last year’s .211/.275/.299 (60 wRC+) effort. Cabrera has a Gio Urshela thing going on defensively. He looks good according to the eye test, but the metrics don’t love him. Oswaldo pretty much is what he is. He’s a light-hitting utility guy whose value is largely tied up in his ability to play everywhere, not that he’ll win Gold Gloves. I think Cabrera is the Yankees’ best option at third base, though that has more to do with DJ LeMahieu looking cooked than it does Cabrera deserving more playing time.

RHSP Gerrit Cole: The Yankees weathered Cole’s injury as well as anyone could have reasonably expected. They didn’t miss him, remarkably. This is Gerrit Cole though, and the Yankees are going to need him to pitch and pitch well to get where they want to go. In five starts since returning, he’s looked Cole like twice, not very good twice, and so-so once:

• June 19th vs. Orioles: 4 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 5 K, 0 HR

• June 25th at Mets: 4 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 4 BB, 0 K, 4 HR

• June 30th at Blue Jays: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 6 K, 0 HR

• July 6th vs. Red Sox: 4.1 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 8 K, 1 HR

• July 12th at Orioles: 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 7 K, 0 HR

Friday’s start in Baltimore was a grind early, but the last few innings were as good as Cole’s looked since returning from the nerve inflammation in his elbow. He’s rounding into form. It’s taken longer than I think he and the Yankees hoped, but Cole’s getting there. Ultimately, missing 2.5 months and having a 5.40 ERA (5.14 FIP) isn’t good. I thought about giving Cole a C, but I think his season to date has been D worthy, especially since the shouldered the blame for the injury because he "got a little too hot a little too quick" in Spring Training.

LHRP Caleb Ferguson: There were things to like about Ferguson when the Yankees acquired him from the Dodgers over the winter, but boy, this one ain’t working out. Ferguson owns a 5.28 ERA (4.02 FIP) with solid strikeout (27.1%) and ground ball (45.1%) rates, and he’s in negative WPA territory (-0.36). Lefties have a .375 OBP against him and righties have a .488 SLG against him. In 14 of his 36 appearances Ferguson has either allowed a run of his own, or allowed an inherited runner to score. Scrap heap signing Tim Hill has jumped Ferguson on the lefty bullpen depth chart. Does he deserve an F? That feels a little harsh, but Ferguson certainly hasn't been good.

RHRP Ian Hamilton: Last year’s bullpen revelation started the season very well, most notably striking out four in 2.2 perfect innings of relief in Arizona on April 3rd (video). It has been a steady backslide since then though, with Hamilton being scored on in nine of his next 24 appearances. He missed seven days with COVID and has been out with a lat strain since June 18th. The season numbers aren’t good: 4.55 ERA (3.30 FIP), 22.1 K%, 10.3 BB%, 43.8 GB%. The slambio has not been as effective in Year 2.

RHRP Ron Marinaccio: The opportunity has been there. There’s been a revolving door in the bullpen and the Yankees sorely lack swing-and-miss relievers. Marinaccio has been up and down twice (April 13th to May 10th and June 8-21), and while the 2.84 ERA is shiny, he’s walked nine, hit three, and given up three homers in 19 innings. He’s appeared in 13 games and has had only four 1-2-3 innings (two in the same game). Marinaccio allowed a run in three of his four June appearances and that was it. The Yankees sent him back to Triple-A Scranton. Ron, my guy, at some point you need to string together a few good outings in a row to force them to keep you around.

LHSP Carlos Rodón: New year, new Carlos, or so we were told. Rodón showed up to Spring Training in better shape and showing more velocity than he did at any point in 2023, but it hasn’t mattered. His season has closely mirrored the team’s. Rodón started very well – unsustainably well given the underlying numbers – and has since crashed back to Earth. The gap has closed:

Give Rodón credit for taking the ball every fifth day. He hasn’t always been able to do that in his career. The downside is the 4.63 ERA (4.68 FIP) and a 1.68 HR/9 that is second highest among 68 qualified starters. Also, Rodón spent almost a month saying he needed to change up his pitch mix before actually doing it this past Sunday. It took him way too long to make an adjustment he obviously knew he had to make. Maybe a D is harsh, but can you really give Rodón a C? I can’t.

LF Alex Verdugo: Yankees fans are the latest to love Verdugo when he first joins the team, then be sick of him after a longer look. We’re getting the crash course version. Dodgers fans and Red Sox fans went through the same thing over a period of several years. Verdugo started so well, and over the last two months he’s been pretty close to a zero. The enduring image of the first half:

That play aside, Verdugo is a strong defensive left fielder, the best the Yankees have had since peak Brett Gardner (not that the bar was set high the last few years), but this is yet another year with a below average bat in left. Verdugo’s power hasn’t played up in Yankee Stadium (four homers at home, six on the road) and launch angle data says he’s hitting too many routine fly balls and not enough line drives.

All told, Verdugo is slashing .235/.292/.378 (90 wRC+) with strong contact skills (6.4% swinging strike rate), but it’s .223/.263/.352 (73 wRC+) in close to 300 plate appearances since May 1st, and his defense is backsliding too. Remember when YES showed all those graphics in April about Verdugo leading all outfielders with +8 DRS? Now it’s +4 DRS. Maybe Verdugo deserves a C because he was so good in April, but he’s been a D player for the majority of 2024. I mean, he's a corner outfielder with a 90 wRC+. Let's not overthink this.

Grade C

A good ol’ C. Can’t be too upset by it, can’t be too thrilled with it. The lifeblood of those who strive to do just enough to get by. Here are the Yankees who are doing alright at doing alright.

RHRP Jake Cousins: Cousins has been sneaky good with the Yankees! Granted, he’s only thrown 12.1 innings because he’s spent most of the season in Triple-A, but in those 12.1 innings he has a 1.46 ERA (3.00 FIP) with a 35.3 K%. He gave up two runs in his Yankees debut in Arizona on April 2nd, and he’s given up only two runs in nine appearances since. The Yankees got Cousins in a cash trade from the White Sox not long after Opening Day. I can’t go higher than a C because it is only 12.1 innings, but Cousins has been a nifty little pickup.

OF Trent Grisham: I am sympathetic because after being an everyday player from 2020-23, Grisham stepped into a greatly reduced role with the Yankees. He appeared in only 21 of the team’s first 63 games (14 starts) and didn’t perform when he was in the lineup. Once Giancarlo Stanton got hurt, Grisham’s playing time increased, and he’s been fantastic: .294/.351/.490 (133 wRC+) in 57 plate appearances since Stanton’s injury. He can put a mistake in the seats and he’s an excellent defender. Is a C generous for a .195/.301/.389 (97 wRC+) season slash line? Yeah, probably, even with the great center field defense. I’m okay with nudging Grisham up from a D to a C because he’s stepped up the last few weeks.

LHRP Tim Hill: Signed after being cut loose by the very bad White Sox, Hill quickly jumped Caleb Ferguson on the lefty reliever depth chart. The ground ball specialist (70.0% with the Yankees) has a 2.03 ERA (3.54 FIP) in 13.1 innings with the Yankees, and he’s given up three runs in his last eight appearances after giving up three runs in his first appearance in pinstripes. Like Cousins, Hill’s been a nice little pickup after the White Sox deemed him expendable. It’s only 13.1 innings, so I can’t go higher than a C, but a C for Hill is a win as far as I’m concerned. He’s been better than expected.

RHRP Clay Holmes: Holmes has allowed runs in six of his last 10 appearances and blown three of his last five save chances, and that’s more than enough to knock him down to C after what was a B bordering on A start to the season. He's firmly in negative WPA territory (-0.74). Holmes has a 2.77 ERA (2.73 FIP) with his usually stellar 67.2 GB%, but I swear, it feels like the highest 2.77 ERA in history. Believe it or not, Holmes is running a tidy 5.9 BB% this season – he walked two batters Sunday after walking two batters in his previous 18 games and 17.2 innings – but the .299 BABIP on ground balls is killing him (.215 BABIP on grounders from 2022-23). If he weren’t running a 24.1 K%, his lowest as a Yankee, ground balls finding holes wouldn’t be such a problem. Even if the Yankees remove Holmes from the closer’s role, he has to be better, period. They need him.

RHRP Tommy Kahnle: Mr. TightPants missed the start of the season as he finished his recovery from last year’s shoulder issue, and since returning, he’s pitching to a 2.53 ERA (5.23 FIP) with underlying numbers right in line with last year: 27.5 K%, 11.3 BB%, and 54.2 GB%. Kahnle has also surrendered four homers in his 18.1 innings, which is a very bad 1.96 HR/9, but I can’t imagine he’ll continue along with a 36.4% HR/FB (!) rate. That’s just not gonna happen. That said, the 1.96 HR/9 has happened, and it bumped Kahnle down to a C from what has otherwise been a borderline B showing. Maybe Kahnle does deserve a D. I’m not sure it’s worth debating this for more than a few seconds.

RHSP Marcus Stroman: On the surface, a 3.51 ERA (117 ERA+) and 5.5 innings per start is B worthy. Stroman is trending down though (5.30 ERA with a .270/.370/.467 opponent’s line since June 1st), and he is no longer a lock to give the Yankees even five innings. The under-the-hood numbers are worrisome: 17.4 K%, 10.5 BB%, 50.0 GB%, 1.29 HR/9, 5.11 FIP, 4.33 xFIP, 4.85 DRA. Almost all career worsts. I guess the good news is Stroman’s downward velocity trend has halted:

Stroman’s stuff isn’t good enough to challenge hitters in the zone anymore, hence all the walks and long counts and long innings. He’s a unique pitcher, he’s outperformed the underlying numbers basically every year of his career, but the velocity decline means his margin of error is shrinking. Stroman was a B early on (maybe even an A for a bit) and has been a D lately, so I’m splitting the middle and giving him a C.

SS Anthony Volpe: Let’s remember back to March and early April, when Volpe looked like a completely new hitter. He slashed .209/.283/.382 (84 wRC+) with 21 homers as a pull and lift hitter a year ago, then early this season Volpe was spraying the ball all over the field and racking up hits. He went 8-for-14 (.571) in his first four games and 21-for-55 (.382) in his first 15 games. But, since then:

• .223/.269/.335 (72 wRC+) in his last 82 games.

• .234/.274/.353 (78 wRC+) since May 1st.

• .194/.222/.276 (39 wRC+) since June 1st.

• .242/.293/.358 (86 wRC+) in 76 games as the leadoff hitter.

Volpe carried a .245/.300/.366 (91 wRC+) slash line into the All-Star break. He hasn’t hit a home run since May 16th and he’s walked only 10 times in the 53 games since his last homer. Volpe doesn’t walk and doesn’t hit homers. His approach these days is to throw the bat at the ball, put in the play, and ride the BABIP wave. Some guys can make a living that way, like Luis Arraez or peak Jeff McNeil. Volpe hasn’t shown he can though, mostly because he doesn’t have the truly elite contact skills of those two (21.1 K%).

It’s not all bad though. Volpe is a hell of a defensive shortstop (+5 DRS and +10 OAA), Sunday’s backbreaking error aside. He enters the All-Star break tenth among full-time shortstops with +2.2 WAR. For all intents and purposes, Volpe is a light-hitting glove guy. We’re short on evidence he will be a good big leaguer hitter. If anything, he’s going backwards at the plate. Yuck. (The Yankees have to get this kid a helmet that fits. He’s your handpicked franchise shortstop! Protect him!)

Grade B

The Yankees as a team probably deserve a B, no? The last few weeks have been terrible, don’t get me wrong, but the first two months or so were excellent, and they still have the fourth best record and second best run differential at the All-Star break. I think a B is appropriate for the team as a whole. As for the individual players who earned a B with their performance, let’s get to them now.

LHSP Nestor Cortes: There are two Nestors: Home Nestor and Road Nestor. Home Nestor is an ace. One of the best pitchers in baseball. Road Nestor stinks. You’d think the opposite would be true, that Cortes would be more effective away from Yankee Stadium, but nope. The numbers:

• Home: 1.81 ERA (2.73 FIP) with 27.0 K%, 2.9 BB%, 0.84 HR/9 in 64.2 IP (10 starts)

• Road:  6.04 ERA (4.96 FIP) with 19.8 K%, 6.6 BB%, 1.78 HR/9 in 50.2 IP (10 starts)

Just looking at teams Cortes has faced multiple times, he threw six scoreless innings against the Orioles at home and gave up four runs in six innings against the Orioles on the road. He threw seven scoreless innings against the Rays at home and gave up nine runs in 9.2 innings in two starts against the Rays on the road. Make it make sense! It’s been more than half a season of this, not 2-3 starts.

Cortes pitched better at home than on the road from 2021-23 as well, though the split wasn’t nearly this extreme. Put it all together and so far Nestor has a 3.67 ERA (112 ERA+) with a 3.71 FIP in 115.1 innings, 15th most in baseball. Why does Nestor get a B while Stroman gets a C even though Stroman has the ERA edge (3.51 vs. 3.67)? Because Cortes has thrown 10.1 more innings and put 15 fewer runners on base, plus his underlying numbers are way better.

UTIL Jahmai Jones: Jones has appeared in 29 games (nine starts) and received 43 plate appearances, so putting him with the incompletes would be justifiable, but the guy has been on the active roster all year. He made the Opening Day roster and hasn’t missed any time with injury! Jones is essentially a dugout hype man and occasional platoon DH. And you know what? He’s hitting .263/.333/.421 (117 wRC+). Jones barely plays, and when he does play, he contributes. I know I’ve said “why is Jones starting at DH???” only to watch him get a big hit a few hours later on multiple occasions. Jones plays so infrequently that the Yankees essentially have a 25-man roster, but that's not on him. He doesn't choose when he plays. When he has played, he’s performed. Props.

RHSP Cody Poteet: An easy to overlook signing in January, Poteet looked interesting enough in Spring Training, and he gave the Yankees four solid starts before hitting the injured list with a triceps issue last month. He made a spot start during a doubleheader in Cleveland in April, then three more starts after Clarke Schmidt went down. Poteet’s numbers: 2.14 ERA (4.31 FIP) in 21 innings in those four starts. By the standards of No. 7 starters (Luis Gil is essential No. 6), that’s pretty darn good. More than I expected out of Poteet, even in limited time.

1B Ben Rice: Rice was in Double-A on June 8th and in the Bronx on June 18th, and hitting leadoff for the Yankees on July 4th. On July 6th, Rice became the first Yankees rookie ever (!) with a three-homer game (video). Since then he is 3-for-28 (.107) with 12 strikeouts, albeit with a home run Sunday that would have gone down as the biggest moment of the season (video) if not for the failings of his teammates. Rice has been expanding the zone lately, which is not his M.O. These are the big leagues, the pitchers are gonna force you to tighten things up and adjust. I'm sure he will in time. Rice’s slash line: .228/.315/.494 (126 wRC+) with 22.8 K% and 12.0 BB% in 92 plate appearances. I think that’s enough for a B. Not the biggest sample, but it is comfortably above average, and Rice has a signature moment (should be two). You can’t say that about too many Yankees this year.

RHSP Clarke Schmidt: Before going down with a lat injury in late May, Schmidt was enjoying a legitimate breakout season, one in which he was doing a much better job of missing bats and limiting hard contact. Thirty-eight pitchers threw at least 150 innings last year and have thrown at least 60 innings this year. Here are the biggest strikeout and hard-hit rate improvements:

Strikeout Rate
1. Dane Dunning: +6.4% (19.4% to 25.8%)
2. Sonny Gray: +6.0% (24.3% to 30.3%)
3. Clarke Schmidt: +5.6% (21.5% to 27.1%)
4. Dylan Cease: +4.6% (27.3% to 31.9%)
5. Brady Singer: +3.7% (18.9% to 22.6%)

Hard-Hit Rate
1. Hunter Brown: -12.2% (44.0% to 31.8%)
2. Brady Singer: -7.5% (48.4% to 40.9%)
3. Logan Gilbert: -7.4% (44.6% to 37.2%)
4. Clarke Schmidt: -6.6% (41.0% to 34.4%)
5. George Kirby: -6.0% (40.9% to 34.9%)

Overall, Schmidt has a 2.52 ERA (164 OPS+) with a 3.53 FIP and 3.70 xERA. The Yankees don’t let Schmidt go through the lineup a third time often (and when they have, they usually regret it), yet he’s averaged 5.5 innings per start, and only once in 11 starts did he fail to get through five. Schmidt’s not a workhorse, but he is fairly reliable. The Yankees have missed him. He’ll be back sometime next month, I hope.

DH Giancarlo Stanton: Does Stanton deserve an A? The .302 OBP is an eyesore, but the .246/.302/.492 (124 wRC+) slash line makes him one of the most productive DHs in the league, and it wasn’t until this past weekend that he fell out of the AL’s top 10 in homers. Giancarlo’s also been money in big spots:

• Runners on: .259/.338/.500 (138 wRC+)

• Runners in scoring position: .292/.363/.583 (166 wRC+)

• High leverage: .318/.400/.682 (202 wRC+)

I’m not saying Stanton has a special clutch gene. I’m just acknowledging that when those opportunities have presented themselves this season, he’s cashed in. Maybe it won’t last once he returns, but it has happened to date, and that’s what we’re here to grade.

Stanton has not played since June 22nd because of yet another lower body soft tissue injury (this time a hamstring), which dings him a bit, plus he’s a negative baserunner the Yankees don’t want to put in the field. Giancarlo has been really good this season relative to his role. Way better than I expected. I think a B is fair given the injury and total lack of value outside his bat.

C Jose Trevino: The inability to throw out base stealers, especially recently, is a problem. Many (most?) of Trevino’s throws don’t even make it to second base on the fly. It’s a free base whenever another team wants it. The rest of his game is really good though! Trevino is hitting .244/.303/.411 (103 wRC+) with eight homers, three fewer than his career high set in 2022, and Statcast says he’s the best framer and third best blocker in the game. The league average catcher is hitting .236/.300/.381 (92 wRC+) this year and Trevino is comfortably above that, plus he’s elite at the non-throwing aspects of catching. The throwing issues are enough to knock Trevino down from an A to a B, but he’s been rock solid all year. Easy B for me.

C Austin Wells: The catcher timeshare with Jose Trevino worked nicely in the first half. I debated giving Wells a C, because his .216/.309/.377 (98 wRC+) line is south of what I expected coming into the season, but that’s a me problem, not a Wells problem. The fact of the matter is that 98 wRC+ is above the 92 wRC+ catcher average, and Wells is doing it as a rookie. Also, he’s been so good behind the plate! Surprisingly so. His defensive numbers:

• FanGraphs framing: +2.3 runs

• Statcast framing: +5 runs

• Statcast blocking: +3 runs

• Defensive runs saved: +8

The Yankees have sheltered Wells against lefties (only 25 plate appearances vs. LHP), though Trevino’s quad injury means Wells could see more time against southpaws. Either way, I think Wells has done enough these last few weeks to pull himself out of C territory and into a B. I thought he’d hit more than he has, but he has hit well for a rookie catcher. Can’t say I saw Wells being this good behind the plate though. Nice glove for a bat-first catcher, eh?

Grade A

The best of the best. I’m not gonna lie, there are more As than I expected, but I don’t think I’m being overly generous with anyone here.

RHSP Luis Gil: There was a little three-start hiccup a few weeks ago, otherwise my goodness, how good has Gil been this season? He stepped into the rotation when Gerrit Cole got hurt and performed like Cole. Saturday’s gem in Baltimore (6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 7 K) gives Gil a 3.17 ERA (3.62 FIP) with a 28.2 K% in 102.1 innings. He’s made 19 starts. Gil was tasked with helping the Yankee stay afloat while Cole was sidelined and he went above and beyond. Those 102.1 innings aren’t too far behind his previous career high (109.2 innings in 2022). Navigating the rest of the season and making sure Gil is able to contribute in the postseason is an important task the rest of the way. For now, Gil gets an A.

CF Aaron Judge: Despite spotting the rest of the league the month of April, Judge enters the All-Star break leading baseball in homers (34), RBI (84), OBP (.433), SLG (.679), OPS (1.112), wRC+ (207), total bases (233), extra-base hits (59), and both versions of WAR (+6.3 FanGraphs and +6.4 Baseball Reference), among other things. His May and June were the stuff of legends – .384/.496/.892 (275 wRC+) – and his 34 home runs are the most in Yankees history before the All-Star break. April was bad, relatively speaking, and Judge had a little 10 or so game slump recently, but no matter. He’s been incredible and is again the best hitter in baseball, and arguably the best all around player. Easy A.

RF Juan Soto: The generational Juan Soto. Brian Cashman called him a “transformative” presence after the trade and that has proven to be true. Soto took a .295/.426/.558 (179 wRC+) line and 23 homers into the All-Star break, and he of course leads baseball in walks (79) and walk rate (18.5%). Only 70 strikeouts too (16.4 K%). Soto is third in wRC+ behind Aaron Judge (207) and Shohei Ohtani (179), and is top six in baseball in both versions of WAR (+5.5 FanGraphs and +5.0 Baseball Reference). There have been a few injury scares (forearm inflammation last month, the hand discomfort he’s still managing), but otherwise all is well. Soto has been even better than I hoped. This guy needs to retire in pinstripes.

RHRP Michael Tonkin: Michael Tonkin! From easy to overlook waiver claim on April 25th to high leverage stalwart. Tonkin took the loss in his first appearance as a Yankee (remember the extra innings mess in Milwaukee?) but has been fantastic since, pitching to a 1.47 ERA (3.00 FIP) with 25.9 K% and 45.7 GB% in 36.2 innings in pinstripes. The Yankees tweaked his pitch mix a bit and it’s worked wonderfully. Will it last? Who knows. We’re only looking at what everyone has done to date, and to date, Tonkin has been no worse than the Yankees’ second best reliever in 2024. Maybe an A is a bit overboard. I think it’s deserved.

RHRP Luke Weaver: This season’s bullpen revelation. Armed with a new delivery, a changeup that is diving more than ever, and a little more velocity thanks to the move to the bullpen, Weaver has been one of the best relievers in the game this season. His numbers: 2.47 ERA (3.40 FIP) with 27.5 K% and 6.2 BB% in 54.2 innings spread across 36 appearances. Weaver ranks third among non-closer relievers with +1.97 WPA, and he’s gotten four or more outs in 24 of his 36 appearances. Twelve times he’s thrown at least two full innings. Weaver is the new Mike King, basically. He’s been outstanding. Now go get Weaver some new bullpen pals so he doesn’t have to keep doing it all himself the rest of the year, Yankees.