{"id":659950,"date":"2026-04-03T01:30:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T01:30:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/659950\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T01:30:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T01:30:21","slug":"how-yankees-key-2026-questions-have-been-answered-so-far","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/659950\/","title":{"rendered":"How Yankees’ key 2026 questions have been answered so far"},"content":{"rendered":"

One week \u2014 and one West Coast trip \u2014 into the season, the Yankees return to The Bronx for today\u2019s home opener with a few things fairly clear: Their rotation \u2014 even without the injured Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rod\u00f3n and Clarke Schmidt \u2014 appears formidable. And Ben Rice could be the left-handed offensive force they\u2019ve been searching for.<\/p>\n

For a team that was surrounded by the phrase \u201cRunning it back,\u2019\u2019 things are off to a promising start.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a look at the key questions entering the season and how they have unfolded through the first six games, leaving the Yankees 5-1.<\/p>\n

Can Rice handle first base?\u00a0<\/p>\n

After starting 41 games at first for the Yankees in 2024, Rice was in the lineup there 46 times last season. But the Yankees made clear they are all in on him at the spot this season, with Paul Goldschmidt expected to be limited to starts against left-handers, and even then, Rice should get more at-bats versus lefties in \u201926.<\/p>\n

The power has never been in question for Rice, but the Yankees were looking for more consistency.<\/p>\n

\"BenBen Rice fields a throw during the Yankees\u2019 win over the Mariners on March 31, 2026 in Seattle. Getty Images<\/p>\n

So far, Rice has provided it.<\/p>\n

His walk rate has jumped and strikeouts dropped, and as one AL scout noted, Rice hasn\u2019t hit the ball in the air much this season.<\/p>\n

While Rice hit into some bad luck in \u201925, as his expected numbers were higher than the ones he posted \u2014 which is why the Yankees were optimistic for more growth at the plate \u2014 he\u2019s making up for at least some of that misfortune in the early part of this year.<\/p>\n

Where there remains disagreement is on defense.<\/p>\n

Rice showed improvement at first base last year and has again this season \u2014 especially in decision-making \u2014 but his footwork can be clunky.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d be more worried about his glove if I didn\u2019t think he could be such a threat at the plate, but he keeps getting better,\u2019\u2019 the scout said. \u201cAnd I think he can at least be average defensively. If he\u2019s hitting like he\u2019s been the past year or so, you\u2019ll live with some hiccups on defense.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for hitting lefties, Rice has just three plate appearances against them through his first five games \u2014 with Goldschmidt starting the only game with a lefty starter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Good start\u00a0<\/p>\n

Through six games, four Yankees starters have combined to allow just two earned runs.<\/p>\n

At some point, Cole and Rod\u00f3n will join the rotation alongside Max Fried and Cam Schlittler<\/a>. As good as that foursome is, it could leave Will Warren, Ryan Weathers and Clarke Schmidt all available as the fifth starter later in the season if everyone stays healthy.<\/p>\n

And the Yankees are high on a handful of their top pitching prospects, with Carlos Lagrange and Elmer Rodr\u00edguez potentially knocking on the door at some point, perhaps in bullpen roles.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"NewMax Fried throws a pitch during the seventh inning of the Yankees\u2019 Opening Day win over the Giants. Charles Wenzelberg\/New York Post<\/p>\n

Bullpen\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Yankees have been waiting for the 2023 version of Camilo Doval and would like him to get there as the primary setup man for David Bednar. He\u2019s displayed a nasty sinker, but ran into his first trouble of the season in Wednesday\u2019s win in Seattle after three straight impressive outings to start the year.<\/p>\n

Jake Bird might turn into a weapon, but a National League scout said he\u2019d be surprised if Bednar, Bird and Doval remain in their current roles throughout the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like his guts, but Bednar in a big spot would still make me nervous,\u2019\u2019 the scout said.<\/p>\n

Left side of the infield\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ryan McMahon arrived from Colorado at last year\u2019s trade deadline with a tremendous glove and too many strikeouts. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGo beyond the box score with the Bombers\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Yankees by Greg Joyce, exclusively on Sports+.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Not much has changed, even after offseason changes to his swing.<\/p>\n

McMahon is 1-for-15 with two walks and seven strikeouts. If the rest of the lineup clicks, they could afford below-average offense at third, but they\u2019ll need more from McMahon, regardless.<\/p>\n

And Jos\u00e9 Caballero, as well as Amed Rosario, certainly appear better suited to utility roles, as the Yankees wait for Anthony Volpe to get back from offseason shoulder surgery.<\/p>\n

Until that happens \u2014 and Volpe shows his defensive issues from last season are gone \u2014 expect questions to remain about the left side of the infield.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One week \u2014 and one West Coast trip \u2014 into the season, the Yankees return to The Bronx…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":659951,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2376],"tags":[5,4,1690,62,2548,2547,185,142],"class_list":{"0":"post-659950","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-mlb","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-yankees","12":"tag-newyork","13":"tag-newyorkyankees","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-yankees"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116338193079054081","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659950","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=659950"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659950\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/659951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=659950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=659950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=659950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}