New York Yankees 2026 Preview: Can They Win It All This Year?
The New York Yankees are likely to start the 2026 season slowly, but when their injured pitchers come back, they might have the best starting pitching rotation in baseball. As we know, offense wins games, and defense, in this case, pitching, wins championships.
When Carlos Rodon returns from offseason elbow surgery, and both Gerrit Cole and Clarke Schmidt return from having Tommy John Surgery, the Yankees could have the best starting rotation. However, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. How many games do you think the New York Yankees will win this year?
New York Yankees Pitching
The pitching for the New York Yankees is going to be very interesting this season. Rodon could be back from having elbow surgery in May. June will bring Cole to the Yankees’ starting rotation. Maybe September should bring Schmidt to the starting rotation. They will join Max Fried and Luis Gil in the New York Yankees starting rotation. Youngsters Will Warren, Elmer Rodriguez, and Carlos Lagrange will hold down spots in the starting rotation until the injuries come back.
The bullpen should be good with Closer David Bednar being set up by fireballer Camillo Doval and Fernando Cruz. Tim Hill will pitch in the middle innings, as could Jake Bird, Ryan Yarbrough, and Ryan Weathers.
New York Yankees Hitting
Those New York Yankees pitchers will be throwing to one of the best framers of pitchers in baseball, Austin Wells. He is, however, an average hitter. His primary backup will be JC Escarra, who is an even worse hitter. Ben Rice, who can mash and is primed to hit 40 home runs, can catch. However, he is expected to be the primary first baseman. The Yankees signed aging Paul Goldschmidt to back Rice up at first base.
Second base will be manned by 30/30 guy Jazz Chisholm Jr. Shortstop will be manned by Jose Caballero, until Anthony Volpe returns from shoulder surgery. Ryan McMahon is playing third base. The slick fielding third baseman can platoon with the versatile Ahmed Rosario.
In the outfield, they have the best hitter on the planet in Aaron Judge. He has driven in 23.1% of the New York Yankees runs over the last four seasons. In centerfield, they re-signed Cody Bellinger, who had a great year last season. Trent Grisham is also back after having an unprecedented season. He might be primed to have a regression. That does not leave room for “The Martian,” Jasson Dominguez, who lost the trust of the Yankees’ leadership last year and barely played down the stretch.
The designated hitter is Giancarlo Stanton. The fragile 36-year-old has elite bat speed, but struggles to play the field. He is injury-prone and has not played a full season in eight years.
Parting Shots
The Yankees hope the reinforcements in the starting rotation will give them their 28th World Series championship. They have not won the World Series in the last 16 years, and fans demand better from Manager Aaron Boone and General Manager Brian Cashman.
The jury is out on whether the club will win the World Series, but it is pretty assured that this team will make the playoffs. 90+ wins and a wild-card birth will likely save the jobs of Cashman and Boone.
