Good afternoon everyone, it’s time to dive back into the mailbag and answer some of your questions. Remember to send in your questions for our weekly call by e-mail to pinstripealleyblog [at] gmail [dot] com.
DanYankees asks: Hurt feelings not withstanding, does it make sense to give Lombard some looks at short as well as third, while giving Volpe some looks at second?
It doesn’t, for two main reasons. First and foremost, George Lombard Jr. was just promoted to Double-A for the first time in his professional career this week, and he’s going to need plenty of time to get adjusted to upper-level pitchers in the minors. Lombard is on an absolute tear this year, hitting for a .983 OPS in 24 games for High-A Hudson Valley, but it’s also the first time he’s showcased the promise in his bat after a subpar 2024 season offensively. Double-A pitching is far closer to MLB-caliber since some arms get bumped straight to the majors from there and will thus be a legitimate challenge. The Yankees play it nice and slow with their new top prospect in the organization with Jasson Domínguez graduating, but perhaps in 2026 we can have a legitimate conversation about him breaking through.
The other side of this is Volpe, whose struggles relate solely to his performance at the plate. Even with an occasional lapse or two, Volpe’s defense remains one of the best in the game at the position, so moving him off of shortstop isn’t going to be that helpful, if at all. What the answer is to fixing his lengthy stretches of ineptitude with the bat, I don’t know, but I don’t think that the effort he’s putting into his glovework is holding him back here.
OLDY MOLDY asks: Is there a realistic solution to the starting pitching woes? Do they have the pieces to swing a trade?
There undoubtedly will be, it’s just a question of how expensive it will be to get rotation help and how much they can commit to a single issue when there are several places they likely need to address by the deadline. Third base will be a question mark unless DJ LeMahieu wins a remarkable battle against Father Time, and the bullpen will need some additional support with the ups and downs that they’ve face already. Oh, and the rotation likely needs multiple arms depending on how soon and how effective Luis Gil will be when he returns.
So, is it a doomed scenario? Will the Yankees have to rely on their own talent in the end? No, it’s just going to take time to play out the market, which is a detriment to a team with obvious needs so early into the year. The clear sellers will be in no rush to take the first offer that comes their way, and the field will likely be muddied still by the time June and July rolls around causing most of the other potential sellers to have one foot in and one foot out on pulling the trigger for a fire sale.
Lombard will almost certainly be in the untouchable category this year (barring something crazy, never say never after all), but the Yankees have a host of other prospects that are in the High-A to Double-A stage who won’t be contributing to this postseason run — but they could be great pieces for a rebuilding franchise. Guys like Roderick Arias, Brock Selvidge, and Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz could all be high-value targets for other teams, covering a range of prospects with former luster that have fallen on hard times to fast risers that could be flipped at the right time. The quantity over quality offer won’t get them the star of the market, but it should still suffice to get one or two key pieces, and it’s what the Yankees will tempt teams with.
jmack175 asks: Is Trent Grisham the real deal? What do his advanced batted ball analytics say? I’d like to believe we stole a guy in the Soto deal with a way higher ceiling than anyone thought, and he’s starting to round into form.
I’ll recommend Sam’s recent article on Grisham’s improvements compared to his career numbers for a longer form answer, but let’s look into where he stands across the league shall we? There’s a whole lot of red in Grisham’s Statcast page, where he’s showcasing elite barrel percentage and exit velocity (83rd and 88th percentile) leading to a 93rd percentile xwOBA and 94th percentile xSLG.
It’s wild to believe he was a throw-in to a blockbuster trade a year ago, but just like Ben Rice has shown incredible promise in his expected stats and delivered this year, Grisham is also turning a major corner in his career. Is he going to stay on pace for a 50-homer season? That remains to be seen, but he’s certainly opened eyes and more than earned a place in the regular starting lineup for the foreseeable future.