At least three times per game, as a batter marches to center stage, the piercing eyes of 50,000 critics judge his right to breathe, to take up space, to exist. As he arrives, his worth is flashed electronically in symbols large enough to be read in outer space.
Last night, as the Death Barge stumbled for nine useless innings in Baltimore, those humbling scoreboard figures revealed:
1. Three Yankees hitting below .200.
2. The cleanup batter with one HR on the year (in the opening series, no less.)
3. Their No. 3 hitter a washout, with a lowly OBP of .282.
On that note, let's discuss Cody Bellinger.
Thus far in 2025, if he were a movie, he'd be certified "Rotten." He's hitting .194. (Over his last seven games, a tepid .235.) This followed a great spring training - .423 with 4 HRs - leading the team in meaninglessness.
He's only 29. If he were a movie, he'd star Florence Pugh.
Last year, he hit .266 with 18 HRs - a rather large drop from 2023 (.307), when he won Comeback of the Year - and the Cubs cut him loose.
Right now, the most optimistic thing about Bellinger is that April is over. But even that comes with a caveat: Over his career, April has been his best month - .278 with 37 HRs. In his best years, he got off to great starts. This is - well - one of his worst.
It's too soon to worry, I suppose. But if he were a disease, he'd be the avian flu. The Yankees cannot afford a full-on Babadook season from the guy targeted to hit third.
Bellinger was supposed to protect Aaron Judge and play 1B if Paul Goldschmidt crapped out. (Goldy is hitting .361, though with only 1 HR; last night, his drive to CF was snatched over the wall. Tough luck.)
Look: We all expect Bellinger to heat up and sashay confidently in the nightly catwalks to home plate. Remember: his old man, Clay, was a lug nut in the great Joe Torre teams. He won't hit below .200. But can he do .270? (Note: Over the last four games, he's 4-for-14. Hope?)
The Yankees started 2025 with a lefty-leaning lineup, revolving around Bellinger and Jazz Chisholm. Both have been disappointments. That said, the Yankees are in first, and Mayday is almost here. Bellinger will either heat up - or he won't. If he doesn't, expect a long summer. Ben Rice and Trent Grisham are diversions. There is no Plan B.
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After we've made fun of Grisham since he's been on the Yankees, he's showing his simple secret to success: more playing time. In a fair, non-Cashman world, Grish would be out there almost every day, until he proves he shouldn't have the job. You know, like Cody does. And do the Yankees powers that be think Chisholm should be playing instead of giving Peraza another chance? Obviously yes.
Idiots, the lot of them.
No one can accuse me of being an optimist, but I think Bellinger will end up with about 20 HR’s, 75 RBI, 330 OBP….not quite what some may have envisioned for him, but overall a welcome improvement over Verdugo. We’d better hope so, because the cupboard at SWB is pretty bare, so unless you think Spencer Jones is coming to save the day (newsflash: he isn’t) you better hope Bellinger awakens.
Cody who?
Alls we can say for sure is that Bellinger & Chisholm better wake up soon and start hitting. Or this is going to be a one man show lineup again.
It ain't just those two, Wells, Volpe, The Martian also have to get it going. They all have to start hitting like they're capable of hitting. Or at least somewhere near a living, breathing, functioning level.
With the pitching staff a mess, the offense was counted upon to score runs in bunches and take some pressure off the pitching. With the exception of occasional explosions, the offense has been mostly silent. Not busy enough for this pitching staff.
I still hate the idea of Judge hitting #2. But BaBoone seems to be doing it more and more lately. Judge, a quasi-leadoff man running the bases. Of course, this would be the year that he starts taking what the pitchers are giving him and sprays the ball all over the yard for a great batting average. But what does that mean if the guys behind him don't drive him in? Still think it's better to have Judge hitting #3. Get somebody on and let Judge drive him in. Is Bellinger going to protect Judge, or is Judge going to protect Bellinger?
Or is Goldschmidt going to protect us all?
That answer and more on the next episode of..."Soap."
Good for Grisham that he's hitting so far this year, but I think this is an example of the Brett Gardner syndrome. (Gardner, near the end of his tenure with the Yankees, would get a lot of cookies over the plate from opposing pitchers who thought he sucked so bad that he wouldn't do any damage. But he did hit 'em, usually for home runs.) So Grisham is hitting home runs and even hitting for average, probably because opposing pitchers think he sucks so bad that he couldn't do any damage. He is a lifetime approximate .216 hitter in about two thousand at bats. Hey, they can't pitch carefully to everyone, right? If he continues to get these cookies and continues to hit these cookies, might as well keep getting him in there as a 4th outfielder by DH'ing Judge and Bellinger. That would keep them fresh for the playoffs. I would leave The Martian alone though. You want Dominguez to get as many at bats and defensive innings as possible to prepare for the playoffs. And he needs those at bats if he's going to develop.
Can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. This team is horribly flawed, and without some unlooked for help from the farm it will break our cynical hearts. I don't think that I would even follow baseball if it wasn't for Judge. The man could run the Vatican as far as I'm concerned. The rare athlete who actually seems to be possessed by humility, decency, leadership,and every positive quality that you could ask for in a person. I genuinely dread the time when the mob turns against him.
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