You could feel the breeze all the way in the upper deck.
It wasn’t the wind coming off the Harlem River; it was the collective force of the bottom third of the lineup swinging through air. While having Aaron Judge at the top of the card is the ultimate security blanket, the New York Yankees are playing a dangerous game of Russian Roulette with the bottom half of their order.
Brian Cashman finally said the quiet part out loud recently, admitting that the bottom three hitters struck out way too much in 2025.
He is right. It isn’t just a “concern.” It is a structural failure that turns rallies into funerals.
The Shortstop Dilemma
We need to have an honest conversation about Anthony Volpe. The 24-year-old has the glove, the speed, and the local kid narrative that marketing departments dream about. But the offensive production has been stuck in neutral for three years. We keep waiting for the breakout, yet his ceiling so far has been an 87 wRC+. That means on his best day, he is still significantly below league average.
Last season was particularly rough:
- Batting Average: .212
- On-Base Percentage: .272
- Strikeout Rate: 25.2%
For a player whose scouting report once screamed “bat-to-ball skills,” watching him strike out a quarter of the time is maddening. He isn’t a slugger who justifies the whiffs with 40 homers. He is supposed to be the guy who puts pressure on the defense, but you can’t pressure anyone when you are walking back to the dugout.
The Whiff Machine at Third
Then you have Ryan McMahon. The Yankees acquired him to stabilize the defense, and he did exactly that. He is a legitimate wall at third base. But offensively, his profile is terrifying.
The 30-year-old struck out at a 32.3% clip last season. When he joined the Yankees for the final stretch, that number ballooned to 33.5%. That is borderline unplayable. We are talking about a guy who fails to put the ball in play one out of every three times he steps in the box. Sure, he runs into 20 home runs a year, and the defense is elite, but that level of emptiness at the plate kills innings.
The Yankees are hoping he can make the necessary changes to improve his contact rate while maintaining his power.
A Step Back Behind the Plate
The trifecta of frustration completes with Austin Wells. The 26-year-old catcher was supposed to be an offensive upgrade, but his sophomore slump was severe. He hit just .219 with a .275 on-base percentage. Like his infield counterparts, he struck out way too much, posting a 26.3% K-rate.
When you stack Volpe, McMahon, and Wells back-to-back-to-back, you are essentially giving opposing pitchers a free inning. Even the backup plan, Jose Caballero, whiffs 26.5% of the time. There is no contact hitter to break up the monotony. There is no one to simply move a runner over.
The New York Yankees need to prioritize a high-contact infielder this winter. It sounds boring. It isn’t a splashy signing that sells jerseys. But watching this lineup stall out because the bottom third can’t touch a baseball is agonizing. If they run this same group back out there in 2026 without legitimate competition, they are asking for the exact same result.