Checking In On Hitters Who Accepted Qualifying Offers
Out of 13 players who received the qualifying offer this winter, four chose to accept. There were two hitters in that group: Trent Grisham and Gleyber Torres. Grisham was coming off a career-best year with the Yankees, in which he hit 34 home runs and tallied a 129 wRC+ even as his defense regressed. Meanwhile, Torres posted a 113 wRC+ for the Tigers in 2025 and earned his third career All-Star nomination, rebounding nicely from an underwhelming final year in New York. In the end, both opted to remain with their clubs, locking in a $22.025MM salary for 2026 and setting themselves up for a return trip to free agency after the season.
Today, we’ll take a look at how Grisham and Torres have performed in 2026 and whether they will live up to their qualifying offers.
Yankees: Trent Grisham
Grisham was a below-average hitter from 2022-24, as he struggled to make enough contact or take advantage of his power. He continued to provide value as a center fielder, earning 11 Defensive Runs Saved and 22 Outs Above Average in that three-year span. That made Grisham’s performance in 2025 all the more surprising. For the first time in a full season, he was a well above average hitter, while his defense regressed from being an asset to a liability (-11 DRS and -2 OAA). There were reasons to believe Grisham’s offense could stick. Behind the surface-level numbers, he posted career-highs in average exit velocity (91.1 MPH) and hard-hit rate (46.4%), in addition to cutting back slightly on strikeouts. If he could repeat as an above-average hitter, he would be a top center fielder in the game, even if his defense didn’t fully recover.
The early returns in 2026 have been underwhelming. Grisham’s .155/.297/.320 line through 118 plate appearances amounts to just a 79 wRC+ He is walking more and striking out less than 20% of the time, but his contact and power are lagging behind last year’s numbers. The Yankees aren’t sounding the alarm, though. As ugly as that batting average is, Grisham also been incredibly unlucky. He is batting just .151 on balls in play, which is more than 100 points below his career .259 mark. His expected batting average (.220) and expected slugging (.430) are also significantly higher than his actual numbers, so it’s likely that Grisham will improve as he gets more reps.
Beyond his output, the Yankees are also happy just to have continuity in their outfield. Jasson Dominguez was merely fine at the plate last year, though his defense remains a question mark long-term. He started this year in the minors and only returned for a few games before landing on the injured list. Otherwise, the trio of Cody Bellinger, Grisham, and Aaron Judge was one of the league’s best outfield trios last year, so it made sense to run it back. The club is hoping for more out of Grisham this year than what he’s provided so far, but the underlying metrics point to at least average offense as the season goes on. All things considered, the 2026 version of Grisham might be a solid center fielder, if not the force he was last year.
Tigers: Gleyber Torres
Torres improved his strikeout and walk rates from 2024 to 2025, while his power remained roughly the same. The incremental improvements brought his wRC+ from 105 to 113, making Torres one of the better hitting second basemen in the Majors. Defensively, Torres’ -4 DRS and -4 OAA at second base were in line with expectations, as he’s always been a below-average fielder. His defense will be a larger concern as he ages, but on a one-year, $15MM prove-it deal, the Tigers could afford it given Torres’ value on offense.
The jump from $15MM to $22.025MM wasn’t as drastic as Grisham’s salary increase (+$17.025MM) for the Yankees. From that lens, Torres was better positioned to provide value for the Tigers if he simply repeated last year’s output. So far in 2026, he has been slightly above average, but a step down from his 2025 numbers. To his credit, Torres is walking at a 17.6% clip and only striking out 15.5% of the time. However, that’s been undone by a drop in power. His isolated slugging is sitting at .070, a steep decline from last year’s mark of .132. Torres gets on base at a .380 clip, which mitigates the power drop somewhat, but he also doesn’t make enough contact to fully overcome it.
This performance isn’t entirely unexpected when viewed in context with Torres’ second-half numbers from 2025. After hitting over 40% better than average in May and June, he was roughly average in July (102 wRC+), then below average in August (94 wRC+) and September/October (82 wRC+). Torres was playing through pain and underwent surgery for a sports hernia in October, which partly explains the second-half decline. His average exit velocity is down to just 83.3 MPH in 2026, so it’s possible Torres is still dealing with the effects of a disrupted offseason and will need longer to get going. For now, he is getting on base enough to remain above average, and the club will bank on a full return to form the further away he gets from the surgery.
Photo courtesy of Vincent Carchietta, Imagn Images
AL East Notes: Volpe, Caballero, Crochet, Gray, Berrios
Sunday is the final day of Anthony Volpe‘s 20-day minor league rehabilitation period, and Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including The Athletic’s Brendan Kuty) that Volpe will remain at Double-A Somerset for the entirety of the 20-man window, and “then we’ll kind of reevaluate where we are.” Once the rehab period is up, the Yankees must either reinstate Volpe to the active roster or option the shortstop to Triple-A.
As Volpe finishes up his recovery from October shoulder surgery, it can’t be ignored that the Yankees haven’t really missed him at shortstop. Jose Caballero has delivered strong defense at the position, speed (a league-best 12 stolen bases), and a .266/.310/.422 slash line over 116 plate appearances. The offensive numbers translate to an above-average 105 wRC+, which is significantly better than the 85 wRC+ Volpe has posted over 1886 PA in three seasons in the Bronx. While the Yankees didn’t make a bigger addition over the offseason to officially bump Volpe out of the starting shortstop role, Caballero might’ve simply pipped Volpe out of the job, leaving Volpe in something of an uncertain state within the organization.
Some other items from the AL East….
- An MRI on Garrett Crochet‘s left shoulder revealed only inflammation, Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy told MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo and other reporters. Crochet won’t start throwing until at least Monday, as the southpaw will work on shoulder-strengthening exercises over the weekend. While Tracy said there’s “no timetable on” when Crochet could be back in Boston’s rotation, it remains possible the left-hander may still miss only the minimum 15 days on the IL, though obviously the team won’t rush their ace until he is fully ready.
- In other Red Sox rotation news, Sonny Gray threw a three-inning live batting practice session on Friday, in what could be the last step before his activation from the 15-day IL. Gray hasn’t pitched since April 20 due to a hamstring strain, but the injury is seemingly minor enough that Gray could be back in Boston’s rotation as early as Wednesday.
- Jose Berrios will make his fourth rehab start on Sunday with Triple-A Buffalo, Blue Jays manager John Schneider told reporters (including Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling). It is possible this may be Berrios’ final tune-up, as the right-hander tossed 70 pitches in his previous outing on April 28, and felt good after throwing a bullpen session yesterday. A stress fracture in his right elbow has kept Berrios from pitching in the majors this season, and he also dealt with biceps tendon inflammation late in 2025 that kept him from participating in the Jays’ playoff run.
Randal Grichuk Elects Free Agency
The Yankees announced that outfielder Randal Grichuk has elected free agency in lieu of accepting an outright assignment. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment earlier this week.
Grichuk, 34, signed a minor league deal with the Yankees in the offseason. That deal came with a $2.5MM salary if he got added to the roster, which he did, cracking the Opening Day squad. He is a right-handed hitter and has traditionally been better against lefties. The Yanks were hoping he could be a nice complement to their lefty-heavy lineup. Unfortunately, he has hit just .227/.261/.364 against southpaws this year. That line leads to a 71 wRC+, indicating he has been 29% below average in that split. He hit .194/.212/.323 overall.
That performance got him bumped into DFA limbo and none of the 29 other teams wanted to claim his contract off waivers. Players with at least five years of big league service time can reject outright assignments while keeping their salary commitments in tact. The Yankees will remain on the hook for the remainder of that $2.5MM. Another club could now sign Grichuk and would only have to pay him the prorated portion of the $780K league minimum for any time spent on the roster. That amount would be subtracted from what the Yankees pay.
Grichuk’s recent form isn’t much to garner interest. Last year’s .228/.273/.401 line was better than this year’s but still subpar, translating to a wRC+ of 82. Defensively, Grichuk is essentially a corner-only guy now. He has lots of center field experience but has just two innings at that position since the end of the 2023 season.
He’s not too far removed from being a useful complementary player. With the Diamondbacks in 2024, he slashed .291/.348/.528 for a 139 wRC+. Roughly two thirds of his plate appearances were against southpaws but he had above-average results against pitchers of either handedness. That led to him securing a $5MM guarantee for 2025 but, as mentioned, his results weren’t as good. He had to settle for a minor league deal for 2026. Even when he got called up, his base salary was half of the year prior.
Though 29 teams just passed on the chance to get him off waivers, signing him now would be much cheaper. On a prorated basis, the league minimum would be less than a third of his salary and it would also come with no commitment, as teams could cut bait at any time.
Photo courtesy of Darren Yamashita, Imagn Images
Paul DeJong Opts Out Of Yankees Deal
Veteran infielder Paul DeJong has opted out of his minor league contract with the Yankees and is now a free agent, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports.
DeJong is only hitting .203 in Triple-A, but he’s clobbered six homers and walked at a 19% clip in 83 plate appearances, leaving him with an overall .203/.361/.516 batting line (127 wRC+). New York brought him in as a depth option in the offseason, knowing Anthony Volpe would miss the beginning of the year recovering from shoulder surgery. However, the Yanks also have Jose Caballero and Oswaldo Cabrera as infield options, and after signing DeJong they also acquired infielder Max Schuemann from the A’s. Volpe is set to return in the near future, and all of Caballero, Schuemann and Cabrera are still on the 40-man roster, leaving DeJong little path to a big league promotion.
A veteran of nine big league seasons, DeJong is a slick fielding, right-handed hitting shortstop who’s capable of playing anywhere on the infield. He strikes out too often (career 27.9%) and doesn’t walk enough to completely offset that (7.1%). DeJong has plenty of power though, evidenced by 146 round-trippers and a .187 ISO (slugging percentage minus batting average) in the majors. He’s a career .229/.294/.416 hitter in exactly 3500 big league plate appearances.
DeJong has played in each of the past nine major league seasons and logged at least 208 plate appearances in every 162-game season in that time (plus 174 plate appearances in the shortened 2020 campaign). He spent the 2025 season with the Nats and hit .228/.269/.373 in 208 trips to the plate. He’d have logged more playing time were it not for a fractured nose — suffered when an errant fastball hit him in the face — that sidelined him for two months.
There are plenty of teams with starting infielders on the shelf at the moment, which could lead to a new opportunity for DeJong. The Astros (Jeremy Peña), Athletics (Max Muncy), Orioles (Jordan Westburg, Jackson Holliday) and Mets (Francisco Lindor) are among the clubs dealing with prominent infield injuries. There are surely several other teams that might have interest in adding a quality defender with some pop to help out the big league bench or to stash in the upper minors (with a clearer path to the majors for DeJong).
Yankees Designate Randal Grichuk For Assignment
The Yankees announced Wednesday that veteran outfielder Randal Grichuk has been designated for assignment. His spot on the roster goes to top pitching prospect Elmer Rodriguez, whose previously reported promotion to the majors is now official.
Grichuk, 34, signed a minor league deal with the Yankees over the winter and made the roster despite a shaky spring performance. The 13-year veteran was brought in as a right-handed bat to provide some punch against lefties, ideally platooning with lefty-swinging Trent Grisham, but Grichuk hasn’t found his footing in a limited role. He’s taken 33 plate appearances and delivered a meek .194/.212/.323 batting line with 10 punchouts.
It’s been a tough couple of seasons for Grichuk, who posted a .228/.273/.401 line (82 wRC+) in 293 plate appearances between Arizona and Kansas City last year. However, he’s also not far removed from a 2024 campaign that saw him post a superlative .291/.348/.528 slash (139 wRC+) during his first season with the D-backs.
Grichuk had plenty of run as a low-OBP, power-focused regular with the Blue Jays earlier in his career. He’s a lifetime .250/.297/.464 hitter with 212 homers in the big leagues. Grichuk has long been a thorn in the side of left-handed pitchers, and as he’s aged into his 30s, he’s taken on a more limited platoon role. He didn’t hit lefties in his tiny sample with the Yankees, and he struggled against them in uncharacteristic fashion last year as well. Despite the recent downturn, however, he still carries a career .268/.318/.498 line against southpaws.
The Yankees will have five days to trade Grichuk, place him on outright waivers or release him. The latter option is likeliest. Any team to acquire Grichuk or claim him would be taking on the remainder of the prorated $2.5MM salary on his minor league deal. Given his tough start to the season and last year’s struggles, that seems unlikely. If he’s released, he’ll be able to sign with any club seeking some righty-hitting corner outfield depth. Grichuk does have 3677 career innings in center, but the vast majority of that work came earlier in his career; he’s played only 147 frames in center dating back to 2023 and hasn’t graded out as a clearly above-average defender there since 2019.
Today’s swap of Rodriguez for Grichuk balances out the Yankees’ big league roster. They’ve spent the past couple days playing with 14 position players and 12 pitchers while holding off on a decision regarding Giancarlo Stanton‘s IL status. The Yankees finally placed Stanton on the IL due to a low-grade calf strain last night and replaced him with utilityman Max Schuemann, who was recalled from Triple-A. Jettisoning Grichuk and bringing up Rodriguez again gives the Yankees 13 pitchers and 13 position players, putting their bullpen back at full strength and returning them to a four-man bench.
Yankees Place Giancarlo Stanton On Injured List
April 28th: The Yanks officially put Stanton on the IL today, with infielder Max Schuemann recalled as the corresponding move. It appears the Yanks will play one more game with 14 position players and 12 pitchers. They plan to recall Elmer Rodríguez to start Wednesday’s game, so it may just be a one-day stint on the roster for Schuemann.
April 27th: The Yankees are placing Giancarlo Stanton on the 10-day injured list with a “low-grade” strain of his right calf, manager Aaron Boone told reporters (relayed by Erik Boland of Newsday). They can backdate the placement to April 25.
New York recalled Jasson Domínguez to serve as the designated hitter in tonight’s 4-2 win over the Rangers. They played with 14 position players and only 12 pitchers after optioning struggling starter Luis Gil on Sunday. That means they’ll probably recall a reliever tomorrow as the corresponding move for the Stanton IL placement.
Stanton tweaked his calf on Friday while running the bases. The Yankees gave it a few days before making the IL move. Between that and Boone specifying that it’s of a low-grade variety, it doesn’t seem the club anticipates an extended absence. Stanton will need at least another week before he’s able to return to action.
It’s the first injury of the 2026 season for Stanton. He has required at least one IL trip in every year since 2018 and hasn’t reached 500 plate appearances in a season in five years. The Yankees surely anticipated at least one injury absence from the five-time All-Star.
Stanton is out to a league average start at the plate. He’s hitting .256/.302/.422 with a trio of home runs through 96 plate appearances. The power numbers are down in the early going, but Stanton still ranks at the top of the league in bat speed and exit velocity. Even if repeating last season’s .273/.350/.594 slash would be a tough ask, he should remain an impact power threat when he’s able to take the field.
This should open the DH spot for Domínguez, at least against right-handed pitching. He got the nod tonight against Jack Leiter and went 1-4 in his season debut. The Yankees face two more right-handers, Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi, to close that three-game series. The switch-hitting Domínguez has been much better from the left side in his career and would be the sensible choice to start those games.
The complicating factor is that the Yankees are expected to welcome Anthony Volpe back from the injured list this week. That’ll push José Caballero to a utility role and someone off the big league bench — presuming they don’t want to stick with a 12-man pitching staff. Ben Rice hasn’t caught all season and is destroying the ball as the primary first baseman. They may not want to mess with that arrangement by optioning J.C. Escarra and making Rice the backup catcher.
They could option Domínguez back to Triple-A, but he’s probably not benefiting much from destroying mediocre minor league pitching. He was squeezed off the season-opening roster simply because the Yankees couldn’t find a path to getting him everyday playing time, which is now open at DH as long as Stanton is on the shelf.
That could instead point to them designating a veteran role player for assignment once Volpe returns. Randal Grichuk broke camp in a short side platoon outfield role and is hitting .194 without a home run over 33 plate appearances. Paul Goldschmidt has had a slow start as well but figures to have a longer leash in his second season in the Bronx on a $4MM contract.
Yankees To Recall Elmer Rodríguez For MLB Debut
The Yankees will recall highly-regarded pitching prospect Elmer Rodríguez this week, as first reported by Yankees Farm. Manager Aaron Boone tells Talkin’ Yanks that the 22-year-old righty will start Wednesday’s game against the Rangers.
Rodríguez will oppose Nathan Eovaldi in his MLB debut. The Yankees have already tabbed Cam Schlittler to go against Jacob deGrom in tonight’s fantastic pitching duel. They’d listed Will Warren as their probable starter on Wednesday. He’ll evidently be pushed back beyond Thursday’s off day and make his next outing this weekend against the Orioles.
The Yankees haven’t announced their weekend rotation plans. It seems likely they’ll go with Warren, Ryan Weathers and Max Fried in that order. Warren and Weathers will be working on two extra days of rest, while Fried will be on five days rest after starting last night.
New York has an opening on the pitching staff after optioning Luis Gil on Sunday. They called up Jasson Domínguez in conjunction with the Gil demotion, but they can return to a 13-pitcher setup by calling up a fresh arm when Giancarlo Stanton goes on the injured list today. They could recall Rodríguez today or go with a ninth reliever for tonight’s game and make another move tomorrow.
Rodríguez is arguably the organization’s top pitching prospect. The Yankees acquired him from the Red Sox in a December 2024 swap for catcher Carlos Narváez. That has turned into a much bigger trade than expected for both teams. Narváez quickly jumped Connor Wong as Boston’s primary catcher and finished sixth in AL Rookie of the Year voting last season. Rodríguez was a mid-tier developmental pitching prospect who had yet to reach Double-A. He’s now among the top minor league arms in the game.
The Puerto Rico native combined for a 2.58 earned run average across 150 minor league innings last season. He fanned 29% of opponents while cutting his walks a couple points to a manageable 9.4% clip. The Yankees had an easy call to add him to the 40-man roster to avoid losing him in the Rule 5 draft. Rodríguez has made four strong turns through the Triple-A rotation, allowing a 1.27 ERA with a 26% strikeout rate across 21 1/3 frames.
Rodríguez sits around 94-95 mph with his four-seam fastball and sinker. He mixes a changeup, slider and curveball while occasionally throwing a cutter. Scouting reports praise the heavy sinker as a plus ground-ball offering. Rodríguez got grounders at a huge 55% clip in the minors last year and is in that range again through his first month of this season.
Although it’s not the most overpowering arsenal, Rodríguez has the repertoire depth and control to profile as a potential mid-rotation arm. FanGraphs, Kiley McDaniel of ESPN and Baseball America each rank him as a Top 100 prospect and the #2 player in the system behind shortstop George Lombard Jr. MLB Pipeline slots him behind Lombard and Carlos Lagrange in the organization but has him in the back half of their Top 100 list. Keith Law of The Athletic ranked Rodríguez sixth in the system, expressing a bit more skepticism about the righty’s command but writing that he has a #2 starter ceiling if he throws enough strikes.
Rodríguez is eligible for the Prospect Promotion Incentive, meaning he’d earn a full year of service time if he finishes top two in AL Rookie of the Year voting. It seems unlikely he’ll place that highly, as it’s not clear how long a look he’ll get in his first big league stint. Carlos Rodón and Gerrit Cole are each on rehab assignments and could be back within the next few weeks. Rodríguez should get at least two or three turns but might be pushed back to Triple-A once Rodón and/or Cole are healthy. The Yankees have gotten excellent work out of their rotation aside from Gil’s four starts.
Yankees Notes: Stanton, Volpe, DeJong
Giancarlo Stanton has been absent from the Yankees’ lineup since an early exit due to discomfort in his right calf Friday night. The team hasn’t announced a formal move regarding the slugging designated hitter but is expected to make a call on a potential IL stint one way or another prior to tonight’s game, per Greg Joyce of the New York Post. With outfielder Jasson Dominguez reportedly on his way to join the big league club, it seems likely that Stanton will require at least a brief trip to the injured list.
Stanton, 36, is out to a .256/.302/.442 start with three homers through his first 96 trips to the plate. It’s not his typical level of production, but Stanton’s 30.2% strikeout rate — while still way higher than the 22.2% league average — is down from last year’s 34.2% mark. His batted-ball numbers remain excellent; he’s averaging 94.1 mph off the bat with a strong 44.3% hard-hit rate and a huge 18% barrel rate, per Statcast.
If Stanton heads to the injured list, the Yankees can use the vacant DH spot to get Dominguez some at-bats and perhaps get partial days off for the outfield trio of Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger and Trent Grisham. That quartet can rotate through the three outfield spots and the designated hitter slot.
The Yankees optioned righty Luis Gil over the weekend, so there’s no need to make a corresponding 26-man roster move to get Dominguez up to the majors. However, swapping Dominguez out for Gil would leave the Yankees with 14 position players to 12 pitchers. A second move to subtract a position player from the roster in favor of a pitcher (e.g. placing Stanton on the IL and recalling Gil or another arm from Triple-A) would make sense.
There could be other roster machinations in the works, too. Shortstop Anthony Volpe, who’s spent the first month of the season on the injured list while finishing off rehab from shoulder surgery, is expected to return this week, per Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com. Romero suggests that Volpe will play a couple more games with the Yankees’ Double-A team this week and be activated Wednesday or Thursday.
Volpe, who’ll be 25 tomorrow, struggled through the worst season of his career in 2025. The former top prospect slashed just .212/.272/.391 in 153 games and 596 plate appearances. He connected on 19 home runs and swiped 18 bags, but Volpe saw diminished contact levels within the strike zone and had his worst career performance against fastballs. The dip in production was a mystery for much of the season, but manager Aaron Boone revealed in September that Volpe had a “small” tear of the labrum in his left shoulder and had been battling shoulder pain since May. He underwent surgery to repair the tear in October.
Through his first eight rehab games, Volpe has turned in a .308/.333/.423 batting line. It’s only 23 plate appearances, but it’s an encouraging small-sample stretch for the young shortstop. His return will push the Yankees to make some decisions on the roster.
Jose Caballero has filled in plenty capably at shortstop in Volpe’s absence. He’s batting .271/.314/.417 with three homers and a hefty 11 steals through his first 27 games. Caballero isn’t going anywhere, both due to that production and the fact that he’s controllable through the 2029 season. Volpe could push him to a utility role, but he’s not going to lose his roster spot. Bench infielder Amed Rosario has had a nice start and is hitting both righties and lefties well; he’s safe, too.
The simplest path would be to send Dominguez back to Scranton when Volpe returns. If the Yankees want to give Dominguez a bigger look after he hit .326/.415/.478 with a 12.3% walk rate and just a 15.1% strikeout rate in 106 Triple-A plate appearances, there are alternatives to consider. Paul Goldschmidt was brought back to platoon with Ben Rice at first base but hasn’t hit lefties in a small sample this year. Outfielder Randal Grichuk has had similar struggles. Both players have tallied only 33 plate appearances and have track records of note, however.
If the Yankees don’t want to go with an early boot for either veteran, they could option catcher J.C. Escarra to Triple-A and use Rice and and Austin Wells as their two catchers. Rice hasn’t gotten behind the plate at all this season but caught 229 innings last year and has plenty of minor league experience. It’s always possible that another injury will pop up between now and Volpe’s planned activation window and make the answer more straightforward.
One other infielder to keep in mind is veteran Paul DeJong. He’s currently in Triple-A on a minor league contract but can opt out of his deal at the end of the month. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports that DeJong has already informed the Yankees that he’ll be taking the opt-out opportunity if he’s not added to the roster.
DeJong, still only 32 years old, has belted six homers in his first 78 plate appearances with the Yankees’ Scranton affiliate in 2026. The longtime Cardinals shortstop is batting .213/.359/.541 with a huge 17.9% walk rate against a manageable 21.8% strikeout rate in that time. Like Volpe, Caballero and Rosario, DeJong is a right-handed hitting infielder. He’s a more capable option at shortstop than Rosario but typically a lighter hitter.
The presence of three other righty-swinging infielders on the roster doesn’t bode well for DeJong’s chances, but it’s possible there’ll be some shuffling to accommodate him. If not, DeJong can take a longstanding track record of strong defense and a hot minor league start to the open market and see if an infield-needy team has a spot for him — or at least a less-crowded path to breaking through than the one he currently faces in the Bronx.
Yankees To Promote Jasson Dominguez
The Yankees are calling Jasson Dominguez back up to the big leagues, according to reporter Francys Romero. The move will be made official prior to tomorrow’s game with the Rangers.
Dominguez is already on the 40-man roster, and New York already has an opening on its 26-man roster since Luis Gil was optioned to Triple-A after his start today. Calling up Dominguez in Gil’s place, however, would leave the Bronx Bombers with only 12 pitchers on their active roster, so it seems more likely that another pitcher will be summoned tomorrow as a fresh arm for the bullpen.
To balance out the position-player side, it may be that Dominguez’s return is related to the calf injury that has sidelined Giancarlo Stanton for the last two games. Stanton left Friday’s game due to tightness in his right calf, and given the slugger’s long history of leg injuries, the Yankees could place Stanton on the 10-day injured list in at least a precautionary move.
All 23 of Stanton’s appearances this season have been as a designated hitter, so if Stanton is indeed heading to the IL, the Yankees now have the flexibility to rotate multiple players through the DH spot. Dominguez might well take some of those at-bats himself, or he could play in the outfield while any of Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, or Trent Grisham are given a partial rest day.
Dominguez burst into the majors with four homers and a .258/.303/.677 slash line over 33 plate appearances when he debuted near the end of the 2023 season. It seemed like “the Martian” was on his way to living up the hype associated with his status as one of baseball’s top prospects, but he underwent a Tommy John surgery just eight games into his big league tenure. The TJ rehab and an oblique strain limited him to 58 minor league games and 18 MLB games in 2024, and Dominguez then hit .257/.331/.388 with 10 home runs over 429 PA for New York in 2025.
It was a decent but unspectacular first full season for Dominguez, as his offensive numbers translated to a 103 wRC+. He struck out 115 times in his 429 PA, however, and made plenty of hard contact but had trouble consistently keeping the ball in the air. Dominguez’s biggest struggles came on defense, as he had -7 Defensive Runs Saved and -9 Outs Above Average over his 793 innings in left field.
Dominguez has reduced his strikeout rate to 15.2% over 99 Triple-A plate appearances this year, while hitting .306/.404/.471 with three homers for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Still, Dominguez doesn’t have anything left to prove in the minors at this point, as the question is now whether or not he can be a productive big leaguer.
It certainly isn’t too late for Dominguez given that he is still only 23 years old, but the crowded state of the Yankees’ outfield and Stanton’s presence as the regular DH left the Martian without a 26-man roster spot on Opening Day. The fact that New York re-signed Bellinger last winter was another sign that the club still had reservations about giving Dominguez more regular playing time in 2026.
Yankees Option Luis Gil To Triple-A
The Yankees announced that Luis Gil was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre following the right-hander’s tough start against the Astros today. No corresponding move was announced, but the Yankees will likely call up another pitcher prior to tomorrow’s game with the Rangers.
Gil didn’t record a strikeout over four innings pitched today, allowing six earned runs on five hits and three walks. Two-run homers from Isaac Paredes and Christian Walker accounted for most of the damage in what wound up as a 7-4 Houston victory, and Gil has now allowed six home runs in only 19 1/3 innings this season.
Gil didn’t make his 2026 debut until April 10, as the Yankees kept him in Triple-A since multiple off-days in the early portion of the schedule left the team without any need for a fifth starter. In four starts since his return to the Show, Gil has a 6.05 ERA and more walks (11) than strikeouts (9), in addition to his problems in keeping the ball in the yard.
After winning AL Rookie of the Year honors in 2024, a right lat strain sidelined Gil for most of last season, though he returned in August to post a 3.32 ERA over 11 starts and 57 innings. Gil achieved that solid ERA despite a host of subpar secondary metrics, and his struggles have now carried over into 2026.
It’s clear that something isn’t quite right with Gil, so he’ll return to Triple-A to try and work out the kinks before his next call up to the Show. What remains to be seen, however, is when that next opportunity could come, as Carlos Rodon and Gerrit Cole are both making strides in their rehab assignments. Rodon is expected to need two more rehab starts, so he could be back in New York’s rotation within the next two weeks. Cole is still probably a month or so away from his return from Tommy John surgery.
Once Cole and Rodon are back, they’ll join Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, Will Warren, and perhaps Ryan Weathers within what looks to be one of baseball’s top rotations. Weathers could be the odd man out and moved into long relief duty even though he has pitched well, but the Yankees could also deploy a six-man rotation or use Weathers as a spot starter or piggyback starter in order to manage everyone’s innings. Since this is Schlittler’s first full MLB season and Cole and Rodon are both returning from injury, the Yankees will be creative in finding ways to keep everyone fresh for what the club hopes is a deep playoff run.
In the short term, the Yankees’ upcoming off-day on Thursday means the club could skip Gil’s turn in the rotation without the need for a replacement starter. Beginning Friday, however, New York plays 13 games in 13 days, so the Yankees will need to fill at least one start before Rodon is perhaps ready for his season debut. The Yankees could consider a bullpen game, or top prospect Elmer Rodriguez might be given his first taste of big league action.