{"id":678365,"date":"2026-04-18T12:49:06","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T12:49:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/678365\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T12:49:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T12:49:06","slug":"why-the-ny-yankees-are-100-committed-to-trent-grisham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/678365\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the NY Yankees are 100% committed to Trent Grisham"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New York Yankees<\/a> beat the Kansas City Royals 4-2 on Friday night, and Ryan McMahon\u2019s opposite-field home run in the eighth inning ended up being the difference. It was exactly the kind of moment the Yankees have been waiting for from their third baseman all season, and it came at the right time. The win was good. The Grisham situation remains complicated.<\/p>\n

Grisham went 0-for-4 and committed an error in center field on a ball that bounced off his palm in the sixth inning, which handed the Royals a run they had no business scoring. <\/p>\n

Fortunately, it didn\u2019t end up on the wrong side of the ledger. But as a player who is supposed to be the leadoff man for a team with World Series ambitions, going hitless and making a costly defensive mistake in the same game is not what the Yankees need from that roster spot right now.<\/p>\n

What the Numbers Actually Show<\/p>\n

Here is the thing about Grisham, though. He\u2019s hitting .145\/.303\/.290 on the year, and while that batting average is legitimately difficult to defend, everything underneath it suggests he\u2019s playing considerably better baseball than that surface line indicates. His Statcast numbers<\/a> rank him in the 94th percentile or better in hard-hit rate, chase rate, and walk rate. He is doing the things a leadoff hitter is supposed to do at an elite level. He\u2019s getting on base through walks when the hits aren\u2019t falling. He\u2019s laying off bad pitches at one of the best rates in baseball. He\u2019s making hard contact when he does swing.<\/p>\n

\"MLB:Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The problem is the bat speed, which has regressed noticeably this season and is limiting his ability to get to pitches he should be driving. When bat speed drops, hitters tend to get late on fastballs and foul off pitches they used to punish. That\u2019s a big part of why the hard contact hasn\u2019t been converting into hits at the rate you\u2019d expect given how well he\u2019s controlling the zone. It\u2019s something to watch over the next few weeks because if it doesn\u2019t recover, the unlucky narrative starts carrying less weight.<\/p>\n

That said, the walk rate and plate discipline metrics are elite enough that a turnaround is almost certain at some point. A hitter with a 94th percentile hard-hit rate who is also walking at that clip is not a broken player. He\u2019s a player going through one of the worst stretches of variance in baseball right now, and variance corrects itself. The Yankees know that, which is why they haven\u2019t considered moving him out of the leadoff spot despite weeks of disappointing results.<\/p>\n

Why the Yankees Are Right to Ride It Out<\/p>\n

Grisham\u2019s underlying profile is too good to abandon him in mid-April. The metrics say he\u2019s doing almost everything right. The results say something different. When those two things are this far apart, you trust the metrics because they reflect actual skill while the results reflect a mix of skill and luck, and right now the luck has been historically bad.<\/p>\n

Not to mention, the Yankees don\u2019t have a clear alternative at the top of the order who is performing better and making the decision obvious. Their options at the leadoff spot right now are limited, and Grisham\u2019s combination of plate discipline and on-base skills still makes him the best fit for that role even in a cold stretch.<\/p>\n

The error on Friday was the more concerning thing if it becomes a trend. His defense in center is usually a strength, and one ugly play doesn\u2019t define that. But the Yankees need him to be the player his metrics say he is, and they\u2019re going to have to keep believing that version is coming until the results catch up.<\/p>\n

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