That’s right, your New York Yankees are the hottest team in baseball, staring 6-1 after defeating the Miami Marlins 8-2 on Friday. The Yankees had a total of six hits in the game, but their patience and baserunning were the difference.
Aggressive Approach
The Yankees in years past have not been one of the teams that stole a lot of bases. That identity has shifted. After acquiring Jose Caballero from the Rays at the 2025 trade deadline, the Yankees stolen base totals went up. Pairing Caballero with Jazz Chisholm Jr. was a lethal combination on the basepaths.
Being able to run on pitchers and catchers adds another layer of fear for the Yankees lineup. They already have the likes of Aaron Judge, Ben Rice, and Giancarlo Stanton, who could turn on any pitch and hit it out. Now, they have role players who can get on base and wreak havoc.
“The defense has been clean, but the way we’ve run the bases—being smart but ultra-aggressive—has been the foundation of these early wins.” Manager Aaron Boone said after the Yankees stole five bases and attempted more off Marlins pitching. “I love the hunger. You see it in the way they’re turning singles into doubles and constantly looking to put pressure on the pitcher’s delivery.”
The defense has been really good, which also helps the pitching staff deliver with ease. You know things are going well when you make this insane catch in a game that was virtually over.
This angle of Cody Bellinger’s catch is wild 😮
Still trying to figure out how he caught this baseball 🤯 https://t.co/Y2QbAoXy8Z pic.twitter.com/EeXRVQaV5k
— MLB (@MLB) April 3, 2026
Aggressive defense and aggressive baserunning. It all goes together. The Yankees are stealing more bases right now because they are comfortable. We saw last June when the team was scuffling, the aggressiveness in baserunning go away a bit and the team play it safer. That should not be the way the team goes about things in 2026.
Speed in the lineup
It’s fun to watch. It’s fun to see the Yankees play fundemental baseball. It was not just Caballero and Chisholm stealing bases. Judge stole a base and Trent Grisham was also aggressive on the basepath. On a single off the bat of Judge, Grisham went first to third, where he was tagged out after he came off the bag after initially being safe.
After review, Trent Grisham was called out at third for losing contact with the base pic.twitter.com/froE33CQ5c
— Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) April 3, 2026
Playing aggressive baseball makes this team much better. In the game Friday, the impact of Chisholm and Caballero stealing bases on runs scored was huge. It can’t be denied that the threat, and in effect running, had an effect on the performance of Eury Perez, who could not find the strike zone at times, mostly with people on base.
The Yankees are playing a new brand of baseball in 2026, and part of it is adding more speed to the lineup. When Anthony Volpe returns from his injury, we could see even more speed in the Yankees lineup.
(Top Image Credit: Julian Leshay Guadalupe/NorthJersey.com /
USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
