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Although the Yankees are entering the new week fresh off a tough home series in which they lost two out of three to the Red Sox, fans probably would have been happy if you told them on Opening Day that New York would be in first place in the AL East by multiple games with the calendar fully flipped to June. They might be surprised that the Rays and the Blue Jays are the teams closer to the Yanks than the Red Sox and especially the Orioles, regardless, they’re in the catbird seat.
Aaron Judge having yet another MVP-caliber season has been vital to this start, as has free-agent signing Max Fried truly stepping in for the injured Gerrit Cole as the unquestioned ace. Four surprises in particular have also been key.
The Yankees signed Paul Goldschmidt to bring first base back to respectability after cratering with a past-his-prime Anthony Rizzo the past couple years, but posting his best numbers at age 37 since his NL MVP-winning 2022? That’s exceeding expectations. The same could be said of lefty starter Carlos Rodón, who has been electric and leads the majors in H/9 (5.3) while also recording 103 K’s, a 2.87 ERA, and a 0.945 WHIP. Is he finally living up to the billing of the six-year megadeal he signed with the Yanks prior to 2023, or is this just a hot streak?
Then there’s the matter of two players who have never produced like they have thus far in 2025. Ben Rice didn’t have much of a resume in the first place since he only broke into the majors last year and never had Top-100 prospect credentials or anything like that. The 2021 draft pick had 244 games of minor-league experience and it’s not like he’d played much above high school either, as COVID nixed both his 2020 and 2021 seasons at Dartmouth. But Rice has really done excellent work to bulk up this offseason and hold down the DH position in Giancarlo Stanton’s absence, posting a 129 OPS+ with 12 homers in 218 PA. The 28-year-old Trent Grisham, however, had 623 MLB games on his resume across six seasons with a 94 OPS+. The Yankees expected him to be a fourth outfielder again, but with 13 homers and a 130 OPS+ in 56 games, he’s forced the issue. Only his 2020 campaign with San Diego featured anything close to this, and that similarly came in a reduced game total due to the shortened season.
It’s likely that more than one of these players will cool off significantly as sample sizes increase and the league adjusts. But who are you most worried about? Vote in the poll below and we’ll check out the results later this week.