BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – APRIL 29: A view of the New York Yankees logo on a ball bag before the game against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on April 29, 2025 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images)
Getty Images
The New York Yankees are heading into a rivalry series on a high note, completing a sweep of the Kansas City Royals with a win on Sunday.
As they travel to Fenway Park for their first game of the year against the historic rival Boston Red Sox, the Yankees sit atop the American League East division and have enjoyed a strong start with some reinforcement expected soon.
“Through 22 games, Yankees starters have a 2.98 ERA — third-best in the majors. They have struck out 133, the second-most in the majors,” Brendan Kuty wrote for The Athletic. “They have done it without Max Fried looking particularly dominant, and with (Carlos) Rodón, (Gerrit) Cole and Clarke Schmidt all on the injured list.”
New York Yankees Likely To Cut Veteran Slugger For Anthony Volpe Return
With Rodon and Cole expected to return to the rotation soon, it appears that the Yankees will build on the strength of their pitching. And the team can also expect some reinforcement for the infield as another key player works back from an injury.
“(Anthony) Volpe, who played last week with Double-A Somerset and will play this week with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, could be ready by this weekend, creating a roster dilemma,” Mark W. Sanchez wrote for the New York Post.
Though Volpe struggled on defense and at the plate last year, the Yankees seem to have a big-league roster spot waiting for him once he’s healthy enough to claim it. Ultimately, that could mean that one of several players gets pushed off the roster to make room for him, assuming another injury doesn’t pop up.
The potential candidates appear to be backup catcher JC Escarra, utility infielder Jose Caballero or bench bat Paul Goldschmidt. But most likely, the Yankees will be cutting veteran slugger Randal Grichuk, who seems aware of the looming possibility.
“With Volpe coming back — it’s something you think about,” Grichuk said on Sunday, per Sanchez. “You’re not not thinking about it. You just got to hope that, if it doesn’t all work out here — and hopefully it does — somebody else is interested due to the fact that they see the underlying stuff, not the baseball-card numbers.”
New York Yankees Veteran Sends 4-Word Response On Likely Cut
Grichuk has slashed just .100/.136/.200 in 20 at-bats with the Yankees this season, but he can point to a long career in the big leagues if he’s looking for a new team in the near future. In 13 years spent with seven different teams, he has slugged more than 200 total homers and holds a career .761 OPS.
But ultimately, he seems to understand why he is set to be cut from the Yankees’ big-league roster and could be moving on from the organization after a very short stint once Volpe comes back.
“You need to produce,” Grichuk added, per Sanchez.