ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — This was a series for those who yearn for 1960s baseball.
The Tampa Bay Rays dropped six bunts across three games against the New York Yankees, and five of them were executed to perfection. Tampa’s small ball led to a sweep of the Yankees in their first series versus an American League East opponent this season.
“A lot of that, we have to make a play,” Yankees captain Aaron Judge said of the Rays’ bunts. “That’s what it comes down to. If they’re going to bunt and give you a free out, you’ve got to come up and make the play.”
After Sunday’s 5-4 defeat to the Rays, the Yankees have lost five straight games. Panic has started to set in among the fan base. Judge did not want to expound on his worries over this stretch of baseball.
“I’m not gonna sit here and talk about all the things that concern me,” he said.
Judge might not want to get into the Yankees’ early-season concerns, but we will. As a reminder, there are 147 games left in the regular season. A concern right now might not be one by the end of the year, but that doesn’t mean it’s worth ignoring. Let’s rank four of the Yankees’ concerns, from least to most concerning.
4. The lineup overall
It would be a stunner if the Yankees finished with the 25th-best OPS in MLB, but that’s where they find themselves.
The main issue is they haven’t been able to slug. Yankees manager Aaron Boone believes the weather has been a factor in their lack of home runs. In their opening series in the Bronx, it was bitterly cold, as it was in Seattle to end the opening road trip. But there was perfect weather in San Francisco, and the Rays play indoors, so that doesn’t explain it all.
The Yankees just haven’t been able to get their usual contact quality. Giancarlo Stanton has been productive to start the season, but he has only one home run. So does Cody Bellinger. Judge has four home runs, but his timing has been a tick off. Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Trent Grisham have no home runs. For what it’s worth, Boone said he has not weighed drastically changing the batting order just yet.
This is the same offense that ended the 2025 season, and those Yankees finished first in home runs and wRC+. It’s too early to think this offense won’t end up as the best or one of the best in the sport by season’s end.
“Last year is last year,” Boone said. “We got to go do it. Last year’s over with. This is a new group, a new opportunity. We got to go make the most of it. I have a lot of confidence in those guys in there because of some of the things they’ve done and what I know they are and who they are. It’s tough when you’re going through it, but you’ve got to fight through it. Once we get it going offensively, I feel like we will take off again.”
3. Luis Gil’s turn in the rotation
How can the Yankees feel confident when Luis Gil’s command is what it is? Gil kept the Yankees in Friday’s game by allowing three runs over four innings, but there weren’t any positives to take from his season debut.
His chase, whiff, strikeout and walk rates were all well below average. If a pitcher isn’t striking batters out and not getting them to swing-and-miss consistently, his ceiling is low. There wasn’t much to look forward to after Gil’s outing, and that’s been the case since the 2024 season.
Gil was not in the rotation to begin the season, and if he can’t rediscover that 2024 version of himself before Carlos Rodón returns, he might be on the outside looking in again.
With the depth of the rotation, it’s hard to put Gil higher on this list. Help is on the way, and as long as the rotation stays healthy, the Yankees won’t need Gil to start for them.
2. Bottom third of the order
Ryan McMahon is batting .114 — 4-for-35 with four singles — to start the season. (Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)
It may be hard to believe with how much agita the Yankees’ bottom third of the order caused fans last year, but they ended the 2025 season tied for the fifth-best production in baseball among those trios.
This season, only the Chicago White Sox are getting less offense than the Yankees from their bottom of the order. It would be surprising if that remained the case for the entire season, but it’s notable and it’s part of why the offense on the whole has been down to start.
In Sunday’s series finale, the Yankees started 7-8-9 hitters with .000, .097 and .156 batting averages. Those three spots in the order finished 5-for-36 in this series and are now a combined 21-for-156 (.135) to begin the year.
The biggest issue is third baseman Ryan McMahon and his lack of productivity. This season, McMahon has four hits, all of them singles. He’s looked overmatched.
In the ninth inning Sunday, the Rays intentionally walked Austin Wells, who would have been the go-ahead run, so they could pitch to McMahon. On the first pitch of his at-bat, McMahon hit a weak grounder to end the game.
Boone feels McMahon is getting unnecessary flak. The manager pointed out that he hit a 106.7 mph lineout and got a single on Sunday.
“Personally, I don’t care,” McMahon said when asked if he had confidence with his at-bats Sunday. “Give me something that helps the team. I don’t care how it looks.”
More is expected out of the seventh-highest-paid player on the team, and he’s been a disappointment.
1. Why is this lineup so passive?
The Yankees entered Sunday with the lowest swing percentage by any team since the 2012 Minnesota Twins, who were 30 games under .500 that season. The Yankees, almost certainly, won’t be that dreadful, but the lack of swinging is an early concern through 15 games.
Part of that is their identity. The Yankees have seen the most pitches in baseball in back-to-back seasons, and they were tied for the MLB lead in pitches per plate appearance last season. To begin this season, the Yankees, to a fault, are being too passive.
They entered Sunday with the 10th-most pitches seen in the strike zone, and yet they ranked third-to-last in swinging at said pitches. For an offense built around hitting strikes hard, they’re not doing that enough.
Getting walks and not chasing pitches out of the strike zone continue to be strengths for the Yankees, but those skills won’t be maximized if the players are watching hittable strikes go into the catcher’s glove.
“I haven’t sensed that yet,” Boone said about the passivity of his offense. “We just haven’t hit the way we’re capable of as a group yet.”
