{"id":601278,"date":"2026-03-02T08:18:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T08:18:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/601278\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T08:18:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T08:18:22","slug":"yankees-trent-grisham-vows-to-be-better-after-taking-2025-defensive-woes-personally-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/601278\/","title":{"rendered":"Yankees\u2019 Trent Grisham vows to be better after taking 2025 defensive woes \u2018personally\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"An<\/p>\n

An image collage containing 2 images, Image 1 shows New York Yankees player Trent Grisham catches a fly ball during a baseball game, Image 2 shows Trent Grisham looks on during spring training at George M. Steinbrenner Field on February 25, 2026 in Tampa, Florida. <\/p>\n

CLEARWATER, Fla. \u2014 The best offensive season of Trent Grisham\u2019s career was also his worst defensively.<\/p>\n

The end result was Grisham accepting the qualifying offer and coming back to the Yankees with a chance to prove that not only was his offensive breakout not a fluke, but also that there is more in the tank defensively that he did not show consistently enough last season because of a lingering hamstring issue.<\/p>\n

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While Grisham\u2019s biggest impact last season came with the bat, when he slugged 34 home runs and took over everyday duties in center field, he did not play up to his track record as a two-time Gold Glover, the most recent one coming in 2022.<\/p>\n

The 29-year-old is typically not big on looking at defensive metrics \u2014 in part because he did not usually have to worry about them when they were strong \u2014 but he acknowledged on Sunday that he likes to know where he stands among center fielders when there is enough data by the middle of the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I knew I was down towards the bottom of that list last year, so I kind of took that personally this offseason,\u201d said Grisham, whose minus-11 defensive runs saved were fourth lowest among qualified center fielders. \u201cI definitely wanted to get better and get back to how I was when I was younger.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Trent<\/p>\n

Trent Grisham looks on during spring training at George M. Steinbrenner Field on February 25, 2026 in Tampa, Florida. Getty Images<\/p>\n

A big part of that, the Yankees believe, is getting healthier.<\/p>\n

Grisham came into camp last season with a hamstring strain but was able to start the season on time. Then, after he came back from the paternity list in late April, he said he had \u201ca little ankle thing that I was dealing with.\u201d Then on June 30 in Toronto, Grisham left a game early after getting his cleat stuck on the turf while making a running attempt on a sinking liner \u2014 \u201cprobably another [hamstring] strain,\u201d he said, but he returned to the lineup a few days later and played through it.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe not quite 100 percent, but it wasn\u2019t really about that,\u201d Grisham said after making a diving catch and going 0-for-2 in a 5-3 win over the Phillies at BayCare Ballpark. \u201cIt was about wanting to be out there playing. I felt like I could do a pretty good job out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The offense did not take much of a hit, as Grisham continued to deliver some big hits, but his defense took a step back \u2014 in part because he had trouble stepping back.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, that was the main factor last year, the [physical] limitations,\u201d outfield coach Luis Rojas said. \u201cI think a lot of balls, specifically straight back really hurt him, because he had to drop step and then push really hard on those hamstrings. Those were the ones where he was a tad slower than in the past and he couldn\u2019t get to some baseballs and it crushed his metrics.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Trent<\/p>\n

Trent Grisham #12 of the New York Yankees makes a catch on a fly ball from Dylan Moore #25 of the Philadelphia Phillies during the third inning of the spring training baseball game at BayCare Ballpark on March 1, 2026 Getty Images<\/p>\n

Grisham came into camp this year feeling healthy and, according to Rojas, said, \u201cI\u2019m going to show everyone that I\u2019m fast,\u201d perhaps only somewhat jokingly.<\/p>\n

The Yankees do not necessarily need Grisham to be as fast as he was earlier in his career \u2014 which helped him record 10 DRS in 2022 \u2014 but just enough to be able to play the level of defense he is capable of, matching his strong offensive production.<\/p>\n

\"Trent<\/p>\n

Trent Grisham runs to first during the first inning of a spring training game against the New York Mets at George M. Steinbrenner Field on February 22, 2026 in Tampa, Florida. Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t go into this offseason and overstress on the defensive side of the ball,\u201d Grisham said. \u201cIt was more mentally and putting a chip back on my shoulder to get that edge again. It\u2019s more of a personal thing than anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, if Grisham is looking for chips, he can also find one in the questions about whether he can actually repeat his breakout offensive season from 2025. The Yankees clearly believe he can \u2014 pointing to the strong underlying metrics that suggest it was not a fluke \u2014 which is why they made him the $22.025 million qualifying offer.<\/p>\n

Grisham said Sunday he took the full 12 days he was allotted to decide to accept the offer, a decision he called \u201cweighty.\u201d He might have been able to make more money overall in a multiyear deal had he declined it, especially since he would have been the second-best center fielder on the free agent market behind teammate Cody Bellinger, but ultimately opted to return.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, I want to win baseball games,\u201d Grisham said. \u201cI think that\u2019s how you get the best out of yourself. I want to win. \u2026 That was just my priority.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An image collage containing 2 images, Image 1 shows New York Yankees player Trent Grisham catches a fly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":601279,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2376],"tags":[5,1365,116,4,1690,61,62,2548,2547,40,21980,282,122,142],"class_list":{"0":"post-601278","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-yankees","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-cody-bellinger","10":"tag-dylan-moore","11":"tag-mlb","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-mets","14":"tag-new-york-yankees","15":"tag-newyork","16":"tag-newyorkyankees","17":"tag-phillies","18":"tag-qualifying-offer","19":"tag-toronto","20":"tag-trent-grisham","21":"tag-yankees"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116158603061569712","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=601278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601278\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/601279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=601278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=601278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=601278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}