The Yankees are off to a hot start in 2026, going 5-1 on their opening road trip. The story of the first six games will be how dominant their pitching has been to begin the season, which is true. A footnote to open the season is how their offense has not been as dominant as expected. It will get better as the season progresses, with regulars in the lineup getting into grooves and possibly a move to the minors to get offensive health.
Rice, Stanton off to Hot Starts
The two hottest hitters in the Yankees lineup have been Ben Rice and Giancarlo Stanton. Rice has been on base what feels like all season so far, and his at-bat qualities have been great. For the first time since the arrival of Aaron Judge, it really feels like the Yankees have developed a very high-quality offensive player who could receive MVP votes. Rice had one of the biggest hits of the game on Wednesday in retrospect with a solo home run in the top of the ninth. This took away some of the stress in the bottom of the ninth that saw David Bednar bend and not break.
RICE WITH SOME NICE INSURANCE pic.twitter.com/gODGPfZ0ck
— The 4 to the 7 Podcast (@4tothe7pod) April 1, 2026
Stanton has begun his season with five straight multi-hit games. He becomes the fourth Yankees player with multiple hits in each of the team’s first 5 games of a season. Stanton is getting on base, showing some aggressive baserunning, and looking great early. With Stanton locked in and healthy, he is helping to carry this offense with some of the supporting cast not showing up so far.
STANTON IS ON FIRE TO START 2026! pic.twitter.com/J2C12fmqrs
— The 4 to the 7 Podcast (@4tothe7pod) April 1, 2026
Aaron Judge’s Slow Start
It seems like an annual thing at this point. Judge is off to another slow start in 2026. He will be fine. Judge has struck out 11 times in 24 at-bats, his worst mark to start the season. It could be due to the WBC workload, or it could be the constant off days to start the year when he can’t get into a rhythm. He will get better.
Throughout the Seattle series, his at-bats have not been great. Wednesday, however, his at bats were a bit more encouraging. He was driving the ball to the outfield, falling just a tick short of getting out of the ballpark. With more reps, Judge will go on a tear. You can only keep a player as good as Judge down for so long.
Judge is just giving the rest of the league a head start, like he did in 2024.
ABS Success
The Yankees have been the best in baseball at using the ABS, which has helped their offense. On offense, they have gone 8/10 on challenges, including five straight successful ones on Monday night. They have gained 0.5 runs on the season by using the ABS, which is the most in baseball. The Yankees are being aggressive using the ABS, which is good to see. We saw Friday how an at-bat can flip by tapping the helmet, and the Yankees have been strategic with their challenges.
As the season goes on, the ABS will help them score more runs on offense because of how savvy the hitters are with knowing the strike zone.
(Top Image Credit: John Froschauer-Imagn Images)
