September 15th, 2025: Red Sox Series, Judge, Bellinger, Chisholm

The consecutive winning seasons streak lives on. Friday night was the 82nd win of the season, giving the Yankees their 33rd straight season with a winning record. They haven’t had a losing season since going 76-86 in 1992. The current streak is the second longest in the history of the four major North American pro sports leagues. Here are the longest consecutive winning seasons streaks:

1. 39 seasons: 1926-64 Yankees
2. 33 seasons: 1993-2025 Yankees (active)
3. 32 seasons: 1951-83 Montreal Canadiens
4. 29 seasons: 1967-96 Boston Bruins
5. 24 seasons: 1992-2016 Detroit Red Wings

The third longest streak in baseball history is 18 straight winning seasons by the 1968-85 Orioles, and the second longest active streak is 15 seasons by the Dodgers (they won their 82nd game already). We’re all frustrated by the World Series title drought, believe me I know, but I’m grateful to be a 40-something who has very little memory of a bad Yankees team. I mean actually bad, not 82 wins in 2023 bad.

"I think it says we're playing meaningful baseball, year in and year out," Aaron Boone told Bryan Hoch. "Our goal every year is to get to the postseason and go win a World Series, but 33 years, it's a pretty remarkable feat. It's a testament to a lot of people who have been a part of this organization."

The Yankees are four games (plus the tiebreaker) behind the Blue Jays in the AL East and they are 4.5 games (plus the tiebreaker) up on the Rangers for a postseason berth. The magic number to clinch a spot in the postseason is down to … 

The most likely outcome remains Yankees vs. Red Sox in the Wild Card Series, and this weekend’s series win made it a bit more likely that series will be played in the Bronx. The Yankees are two up on the Red Sox in the loss column, though Boston has the tiebreaker. Still, a good weekend, it was. Here is Tuesday’s post on Monday. I figured it was better to get this out after the Red Sox series than wait another day.

1. Weekend thoughts. At the outset of this four-series gauntlet against almost certain AL postseason teams, I wrote, “Going 6-6 in these next 12 games would be a good outcome, albeit not one that makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside.” The Yankees went 7-5 in those 12 games and, no, I don’t feel warm and fuzzy inside. A first inning like Sunday’s will do that. It was the only good inning the Red Sox had all weekend, really.

These last four series showed us there is no great team in the AL (that includes the Yankees). The Astros just aren’t that good. The Blue Jays are good but not unbeatable. Same with the Tigers. The Red Sox’s lineup and pitching staff thin out quick. The Yankees can absolutely beat those teams in a short series. (They could also kick the ball around and get swept.) The AL is so very wide open. Now a few thoughts on the last few games.

Judge passes Joe D.

Five home runs in the last six games for Aaron Judge, who is two away from becoming the fourth player ever with four 50-homer seasons. Mark McGwire, Babe Ruth, and Sammy Sosa are the only others to do it. Friday’s homer (video) was No. 362 for Judge, giving him sole possession of fourth place – fourth place! – on the franchise home run leaderboard. The most homers in Yankees history:

1. Babe Ruth: 659
2. Mickey Mantle: 536
3. Lou Gehrig: 493
4. Aaron Judge: 363 and counting
5. Joe DiMaggio: 361

“It’s special, but just like all those guys in front of me and on those lists, they weren’t playing for records. They were playing to win,” Judge told Bryan Hoch about passing DiMaggio. “So I’m just trying to follow in their footsteps. I’m here to win. I’m trying to help put this team in the best possible position every single night.”

At 468 feet, Friday’s homer was the ninth longest in baseball this season, and I had no idea it traveled that far at the time. It wasn’t until the Apple TV+ broadcast put up this graphic a few innings later that I became aware of the distance. This does a pretty good job of showing just how far 468 feet is at Fenway Park. Funny how Judge has normalized monster dingers like this, eh?

Passing DiMaggio means Judge is now the franchise leader in home runs by a right-handed hitter (Mantle hit 163 right-handed, if you’re wondering) and it was also his 19th first inning homer of the season, a new MLB record. I sold Judge short when I noted he was close to setting a record for first inning homers. Turns out this is the record for most home runs in any inning, not just the first.

1. Aaron Judge: 19 and counting (first inning in 2025)
2. Aaron Judge: 18 (first inning in 2024)
3. Alex Rodriguez: 18 (first inning in 2001)
4. Mark McGwire: 17 (first inning in 1999)
5. Babe Ruth: 16 (first inning in 1927)
6. Sammy Sosa: 16 (first inning in 2001)
7. Roger Maris: 15 (third inning in 1961)

Makes sense that the first inning has the six highest totals of single-season homers. It’s the only inning specific hitters are guaranteed to hit. It’s actually pretty incredible Maris managed 15 homers in the third inning in 1961. He had 83 third inning plate appearances that year. Judge has 138 first inning plate appearances this year. Anyway, hooray for first inning homers and quick strikes. Early runs are always appreciated.

Judge went 5-for-10 with the homer and four walks in Boston. He also went 3-for-4 with two homers in the last game against the Tigers, so that’s 8-for-14 with three homers and four walks in the last four games. 12 times on base vs. six outs. Judge is back up to .326/.447/.678 (199 wRC+) and +8.7 fWAR on the season. He leads baseball in …

• AVG by 8 points (Jacob Wilson is second at .318)

• OBP by 50 points (Vlad Guerrero Jr. is second at .397)

• SLG by 71 points (Shohei Ohtani is second at .607)

• wRC+ by 30 points (Ohtani is second at 169)

• fWAR by 0.7 wins (Cal Raleigh is second at 8.0)

Whatever happens with the AL MVP voting is whatever happens. More importantly, Judge is mashing again, and we’re starting to witness some big time history. I mean, more home runs than Joe DiMaggio? Look at the names on that home run leaderboard. It’s four players in the inner circle of the inner circle of the Hall of Fame, and Aaron Judge. He’s the most dominant Yankees’ hitter many of us will ever see.

“It’s amazing,” Ben Rice told Hoch about Judge. “You kind of catch yourself taking it for granted every now and then, what he’s doing. But then those milestones come along and you’re able to really appreciate it.”

Bellinger vs. Chapman

The Yankees are probably going to give Cody Bellinger too many years and too many dollars after the season, and you know what? I’m okay with it. He’s been everything the Yankees have needed him to be and then some. An impact hitter. A difference-maker on the bases. A standout defender who seamlessly bounces between the three outfield positions (and occasionally first base). What a ballplayer, man.

“I expected a lot. He’s certainly delivered,” Boone said about Bellinger after Saturday’s win (video). “I think it’s been fun to watch him every day to see just his athleticism, his true defensive versatility – it’s one thing to talk about it, like it’s real. And then his athleticism on the bases. How fast he is and how good he’s been against left-handed pitching this year. We felt like the power would play in our ballpark and it certainly has. He’s been a great player.”

I’m not sure I would call Bellinger’s at-bat against Aroldis Chapman on Saturday the best at-bat of the season because it only – “only” – drove in an insurance run that ultimately wasn’t needed, but good gravy, what an at-bat. Nine pitches after falling behind in the count 0-2 against Chapman, who’s held lefties to a .143/.160/.245 line with a 44.0 K% this year, then a ringing double the other way off the Green Monster. Here’s video of the full at-bat.

“If you look at all the swings, he’s on everything,” Boone added (video). “He’s fouling pitches off. It’s full swing. It’s not just like battling and touching it and extending the at-bat and getting a mistake. It’s been impressive what he’s done against lefties.”

Going into Sunday’s game, Bellinger was hitting a solid .246/.308/.457 (110 wRC+) against righties and an outstanding .370/.408/.623 (182 wRC+) against lefties. The great Ichiro Suzuki hit .404 against lefties in 2004. Here are the best left-on-left numbers in the two decades since (min. 150 PA):

AVG
1. 2025 Cody Bellinger: .370
2. 2024 Yordan Alvarez: .362
3. 2008 Joe Mauer: .361
4. 2010 Nick Markakis: .361
5. 2005 Hideki Matsui: .354

wRC+
1. 2024 Yordan Alvarez: 189
2. 2022 Yordan Alvarez: 184
3. 2025 Cody Bellinger: 182
4. 2015 Joey Votto: 180
5. 2006 Travis Hafner: 178

Bellinger has a 9.9 K% against lefties. And the thing is, it’s not a one-year blip. Okay, maybe he won’t hit .370 against lefties again, but Bellinger hit .318/.349/.520 (137 wRC+) against lefties during his two years with the Cubs. He’s a legitimately great left-on-left hitter, which is so important to this lineup because the Yankees have some lefties who don’t hit lefties well (Rice, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Trent Grisham).

“A lot of it is approach,” Bellinger told Hoch. “I’m just trying to stay right there and stay with myself. Ultimately, it’s just putting my best swing on the ball as consistently as I can.”

At +4.6 WAR, Bellinger is a top 20 position player this year, just behind Kyle Tucker (+4.7 WAR), the guy we all wanted in the offseason and the guy whose acquisition led to the Cubs salary-dumping Bellinger on the Yankees. With all due respect to Cody Poteet, the Yankees got a +5 WAR player basically for free. Things worked out in such a way that Bellinger fell into their laps, and I couldn’t be happier.

162 games of Jazz

Saturday was Chisholm’s 162nd game as a Yankee. He missed 10 days with an elbow injury last year and a month with an oblique injury this year, so the 162 games don’t align perfectly with last year’s trade deadline, but what a 162 games: .254/.336/.495 (132 wRC+) with 40 homers while going 48-for-56 (86%) in stolen bases. Chisholm, Ohtani (Dodgers), and Alfonso Soriano (Nationals) are the only other players in history to go 40/40 in their first 162 games with a new team.

Here is the position player WAR leaderboard since the day of Chisholm’s Yankees debut:

1. Aaron Judge: +12.8 WAR
2. Bobby Witt Jr.: +10.8 WAR
3. Cal Raleigh: +10.1 WAR
…
13. Julio Rodríguez: +6.9 WAR
14. Jazz Chisholm Jr.: +6.6 WAR
15. Gunnar Henderson: +6.4 WAR

Jazz has been a top 15 position player since the trade and a top six infielder too. Only Witt, José Ramírez (+8.3 WAR), Geraldo Perdomo (+8.0 WAR), Francisco Lindor (+8.0 WAR), and Trea Turner (+7.3 WAR) have Chisholm beat among infielders. Nico Hoerner (+6.3 WAR) is the next best second baseman, though Jazz did play third base last year and for a few weeks this year. Still, a top 15 position player!

Saturday’s home run (video) was Chisholm’s 40th as a Yankee and also his 29th of the season. He needs one homer in the team’s last 13 games to record only the fourth 30/30 season in franchise history. Bobby Bonds did it in 1975 (32 HR and 30 SB) and Soriano did it in both 2002 (39 HR and 41 SB) and 2003 (38 HR and 35 SB). Going 30/30 even after missing a month is a hell of a thing.

Chisholm stole two bases Friday night (and got caught once) to reach 30 steals. José Caballero stole a bag as well. The Yankees lead baseball with 47 stolen bases since the trade deadline, and the AL stolen base leaderboard since that date is fun:

1. Jazz Chisholm Jr.: 16
2. José Caballero: 12
3. Josh Naylor: 11
4. Trevor Story: 11
5. Several tied with 9

I see no reason why Caballero should not be the everyday shortstop moving forward, though that’s a topic for another time. Chisholm is one home run away from a 30/30 season and he’s gone 40/40 in his first 162 games as a Yankee, and he’s a top 15 position player since the trade. Jazz drives me crazy sometimes, but man, what a great player, and what a fun player too. He’s exceeded my every expectation.

Miscellany

Friday’s start was Luis Gil in a nutshell. Four strikeouts in six scoreless innings (video) while being literally unhittable (zero hits) and also wild (four walks and two wild pitches). “He’s a little unpredictable, even for us sometimes,” Boone told Gary Phillips. Gil’s velocity has begun to tick back up …

… and Friday he threw his first legit 98 mph pitch (i.e. no rounding up) in four starts. Gil and the Yankees said he was dialing down his heater for the sake of throwing strikes. Is he no longer doing that? Is he comfortable enough with his control now to really let it fly? Was that just a giant lie and he’s now over whatever dead arm phase he had? Beats me. I just know Gil was really good Friday even with those four walks … Three straight appearances with a run(s) allowed for Fernando Cruz, including homers the last two times out. He allowed three homers all season prior to that. Gonna need you to snap out of it before the postseason, Fernando. At least Devin Williams and Luke Weaver looked good this weekend after some rocky outings. Also, David Bednar went six up, six down with two strikeouts on 20 total pitches in his two saves. An efficient closer is always appreciated … Jasson Domínguez is a Saturday specialist. He’s started only three of the last 16 games, all on Saturdays. El Marciano is 3-for-6 with two walks and no strikeouts in those three starts. It’s not easy to perform when you play so infrequently, especially when you’re a young player used to playing every day, but credit to Domínguez for making an impact on the rare occasions he is in the lineup these days … The bat has been frustrating at times, but good gravy can Ryan McMahon play third base. The eye test says he’s better than the numbers, and the numbers are really good (+10 DRS and +4 OAA in 2025). He made a few plays over the weekend that were just spectacular (videos) … The Yankees went 1-for-2 with their righty bat trades. Amed Rosario is 9-for-23 (.391) with two doubles plus a homer off Garrett Crochet (video) as a Yankee. Austin Slater is 2-for-18 (.111) with 11 strikeouts. I’m cool with Slater being in the lineup against lefties, but come on, don’t bat him leadoff. What was wrong with Paul Goldschmidt leading off against lefties, exactly? … And finally, the Red Sox really gotta get their mound in order at Fenway Park. Gil's landing foot slid out several times Friday and Crochet slipped right onto his behind Sunday. Amateur hour moundwork in Boston. Hopefully the Yankees won’t go back there until 2026.

Injury updates

Brian Cashman told Phillips the Yankees don’t expect Judge (flexor) or Anthony Volpe (shoulder) to need surgery in the offseason, though he “wouldn’t rule it out” with Volpe. Volpe has not played since Tuesday. He was supposedly available off the bench Sunday, but who really knows with this team. We’re rapidly approaching “just put him on the IL and stop playing shorthanded” territory here. Judge DHed in Boston because it’s a big right field and his arm is limited. He’ll return to the outfield in Minnesota.

Up next

Three games in Minnesota, then it’s off to Baltimore for four games with an Orioles team that has had a disappointing season, but has also played competent baseball of late (24-22 with a +14 run differential since July 25th). Here’s what’s coming up between now and Friday’s post:

• Monday at Twins: LHP Carlos Rodón vs. RHP Simeon Woods Richardson (7:40pm ET on YES)

• Tuesday at Twins: RHP Cam Schlittler vs. RHP Zebby Matthews (7:40pm ET on YES)

• Wednesday at Twins: RHP Luis Gil vs. RHP Taj Bradley (7:40pm ET on Amazon)

• Thursday at Orioles: TBA vs. TBA (7pm ET on FOX)

I’ve been complaining all year about the Yankees running into the other team’s ace every series, so I must acknowledge they will miss both Pablo López and Joe Ryan this week. They also missed Tarik Skubal last week. It took 140-something games, but the Yankees finally got some pitching matchup luck.

According to FanGraphs, the Yankees have the easiest remaining schedule in baseball (by a lot too). And you know what? I don’t care. Any team can beat any other team on any night in this game, and I’ve seen the Yankees inexplicably no-show against bad teams too many times over the years. The schedule gods did the Yankees a favor these last two weeks. Now go take advantage.

2. Mining the news. Congrats to old pal Robinson Canó, who recorded his 4,000th professional hit on Saturday. Here’s the video. Now 42, Canó is playing for Diablos Rojos del Mexico in the Mexican League. Those 4,000 hits include majors, minors, winter ball, regular season, postseason, etc. It’s every hit of Canó’s career, basically. Baseball Reference’s Adam Darowski keeps track of these things and Robbie is only the 23rd player with 4,000 pro hits. Here now are a few stray links and notes I’ve been meaning to get to, but haven't until now.test

Tarpons returning to GMS Field in 2026?

The Low-A Tampa Tarpons released their 2026 schedule last week and the graphic includes a little George M. Steinbrenner Field pin. It ain’t much, but it’s the closest thing we’ve gotten to confirmation that the Rays will return to Tropicana Field next season (full-size image):

The Tarpons and the Rays have several overlapping home dates (though none in April) and MLB would not do that even if the Tarpons have to play on a backfield again. There’s only so much room down there and so many parking spots to go around. It seems like MLB has prepared for the possibility that the Trop will not be ready to start the season, but they expect the Rays to play there no later than mid-May.

A family member of one of my CBS coworkers drives by the Trop often and says the new roof is going up. Once that’s done, they have to repair whatever needs to be repaired inside. We all wanna know when the Rays are moving out of GMS Field (the Rays included), but it’s a wait-and-see situation. Construction delays happen. For now, there are indications a return to the Trop is expected early in 2026, if not on Opening Day.

O’s wanted ERC for Morton

The Yankees and Orioles discussed a Charlie Morton trade prior to the deadline and Baltimore wanted pitching prospect Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz in the deal, reports Andy Martino. I don’t blame the Orioles for asking, but that was never gonna happen. Morton was eventually traded to the Tigers for lefty Micah Ashman, who is in neither MLB Pipeline’s nor Baseball America’s top 30 O’s prospects.

I answered a mailbag question about Morton last month and said the meager return made it feel like the Orioles did the veteran a solid, and traded him where he wanted to go. The Tigers give him a chance at a ring and he reunited with manager A.J. Hinch. It could be that the O’s tried to make a trade that was best for them, and when no one was willing to give up a good prospect, they worked it out with Morton and sent him to Detroit.

Now 41, Morton had a nice little run in the middle of the summer, though that didn’t last and he has a 5.92 ERA (4.80 FIP) with the Tigers. They don’t need him to be great. The AL Central title and a postseason spot is in the bag. The Tigers needed someone to give them innings and help them get to the finish line of the regular season, and he’s doing that. Poor numbers aside, Morton’s done what Detroit needed him to do.

The Yankees did not add a starter at the trade deadline and instead bet on Luis Gil returning with no ill-effects from his lat strain and Cam Schlittler being effective, and the Yankees are winning that bet. Gil’s been really good even with all the walks (2.83 ERA and 4.09 FIP) and Schlittler’s been awesome outside that one bad start against the Blue Jays. Can’t complain about Will Warren’s overall body of work either.

Rodriguez-Cruz, 22, recently slid into Baseball America’s top 100 prospects list (he’s No. 100). He finished the regular season with a 2.42 ERA (2.45 FIP), 29.6 K%, 9.7 BB%, and 54.8 GB% in 145 innings. His 173 strikeouts lead current minor leaguers and are second to Mets RHP Jonah Tong’s 179. The evaluations of Rodriguez-Cruz have been glowing. He’s as good a pitching prospect as there is in the system right now.

Double-A Somerset qualified for the postseason and will face Binghamton (Mets) in the best-of-three Division Series beginning Tuesday. The winner will take on either Altoona (Pirates) or Erie (Tigers) in the best-of-three Championship Series. Ben Hess, Carlos Lagrange, and Brock Selvidge line up to start the Division Series in that order. Somerset is going for its second Eastern League title in four years.

Rodriguez-Cruz could start in place of Selvidge in Game 3, though with workloads being what they are this late in the season, the Yankees probably won’t rearrange the rotation. Yeah, winning a championship would be cool (especially for the players), but the Yankees can’t cut down on rest for their top young arms just to improve Somerset’s title odds (Selvidge has been great lately anyway).

Yankees checked in on Skenes

According to Jon Heyman (subs. req’d), the Yankees were one of “fewer than five” teams that called the Pirates and checked in on Paul Skenes at the deadline. Fewer than five? Even if the answer is almost certainly going to be “we’re not trading him,” don’t you have to at least call and ask, just in case? Skenes is a “make them tell you no” player, not someone you just assume is unavailable and don’t bother.

(I would bet a shiny nickel those “fewer than five” teams were the Yankees, Dodgers, Padres, and Phillies. Those four clubs have the most aggressive front offices and seem like the only four teams in the sport that go into each and every season expecting to contend, and get involved with every top player.)

Anyway, Heyman says the Yankees were willing to discuss Spencer Jones and George Lombard Jr. with the Pirates, and, I mean, duh. “We’re interested in Skenes but you can’t have our top prospects, who are not truly elite prospects anyway” is a great way to not get Paul Skenes. Skenes is an everyone is on the table player, right? Every prospect in the system, Jasson Domínguez, Cam Schlittler, etc. I'd make 'em all available.

Skenes, 23, has a 1.92 ERA (2.35 FIP) with 29.4 K% and 5.6 BB% in 178 innings this year, and his 1.94 ERA is fourth lowest in the Modern Era for any pitcher in his first two seasons (min. 50 starts). He had 4.5 years of control remaining at the deadline. Even if you assume 1.5 of those 4.5 years will be lost to injury, Skenes is outrageously valuable. (FanGraphs had him third in their Trade Value series in July.)

I think the closest comp to a Skenes trade is the first Chris Sale trade? Max Scherzer was not yet an ace when the Diamondbacks traded him to the Tigers. Gerrit Cole, Zack Greinke, and David Price had less than half as much team control remaining as Skenes when they were traded. Sale had three years left on his contract (one guaranteed year plus two cheap club options) when the Red Sox got him, and they gave up:

• IF Yoán Moncada (global top 5 prospect)

• RHP Michael Kopech (global top 30 prospect)

• OF Luis Basabe (team top 10 prospect)

• RHP Victor Diaz (team top 30 prospect)

It was a huge prospect package at the time but ultimately not nearly enough, which is usually how these star-for-prospect trades go. The team that gets the star almost always wins the trade and wins big. That was three years of Sale. Could any team even put together a prospect package good enough to get 4.5 years of Skenes? Maybe the Red Sox if they put Roman Anthony on the table? I dunno.

The Pirates have allowed 4.07 runs per game this season, sixth fewest in baseball, and it’s not all Skenes. He’s thrown only 14% of their innings. They are an elite run prevention team, yet they’re 65-85 because they’re dead last in runs scored per game (3.60) and home runs (107), and 29th in wRC+ (82). Great city, great ballpark, dedicated fan base. Ownership and the front office have failed those fans every which way. I’m sure the Yankees will be in the mix when the Pirates inevitably trade Skenes in 2-3 years.

Yankees scouting KBO players

This isn’t particularly notable at this point because the Yankees scout everyone in Japan and Korea, but the Yankees had someone in attendance for a Hanwha Eagles vs. Kiwoom Heroes game in Seoul on Aug. 28th, reports JoongAng Daily. Righty Cody Ponce (Eagles) and third baseman Sung-Mun Song (Heroes) are the top KBO players looking to come to MLB after the season. The Heroes have apparently already agreed to post Song.

Song, 29, is hitting .318/.393/.530 (154 wRC+) with 24 homers and 24 steals in 133 games this year. He was an 89 wRC+ hitter from 2021-23 and is a 149 wRC+ hitter the last two years. Veteran agent Mark Pieper, whose client list includes Patrick Corbin and Justin Verlander, represents Song. Here’s what he told JoongAng Daily about his client:

"Obviously, everybody knows he's shown a good amount of power, especially over the last two years. He's hit for a high average, stolen bases at a good rate the last two years. He's played really solid defense and has some defensive versatility. Those are the more obvious things," Pieper said at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in the southeastern city of Daegu. "But then there's also another layer down of things that he does well. He hits left-handed pitching well, which is important. It's a small sample size, but he actually hits high velocity really well. So if you look at his impact when he's facing 95miles an hour or more, he does just as well as he does in under normal circumstances." 

…

"He just looks like a guy that belongs over there, and that's not disparaging anybody else," Pieper said. "It's just a credit to him, the way that he looks both offensively and defensively, the way he swings the bat. Everything about him just looks different. And that's a good thing." 

Agent talks highly of his player. News at 11. I really don’t have an opinion of Song. I didn’t even know the guy existed until I came across this report a week or two ago. The Yankees have a third baseman now though, right? Ryan McMahon is signed through 2027. I guess the Yankees could sign Song and turn him into a utility guy like the Dodgers are trying with Hye-Seong Kim, but eh. That feels like a stretch.

Ponce, 31, had cups of coffee with the Pirates from 2020-21. He played in Japan from 2022-24, and this is his first year in Korea. He’s been terrific: 1.70 ERA (1.98 FIP) with 36.4 K% and 5.5 BB% in 169.2 innings. Ponce will try to follow the Erick Fedde/Kyle Hart/Merrill Kelly path and turn his KBO success into an MLB payday. (Kelly’s the only one of those guys who had sustained success here after coming back.)

The Yankees have five healthy starters either signed or under team control next year (Gil, Schlittler, Warren, Max Fried, Carlos Rodón) and Gerrit Cole is expected back at midseason, but still, you always need pitching. The Padres gave Hart $1.5M and he agreed to be optioned to Triple-A. Ponce has an option left. Maybe this isn’t a Fedde/Kelly situation, and Ponce gets a smaller deal and can be stashed as depth? Hmmm.

Preliminary WBC rosters set

And finally, Sept. 1st was the preliminary 50-man roster deadline for next spring’s World Baseball Classic. Those rosters will be trimmed to 35 players on Dec. 3rd, then the final 30-man rosters will be set Feb. 3rd. The WBC begins March 5th. The Championship Game is scheduled for March 17th in Miami. Here are the pools, the brackets, and the schedule (full-size image):

Those preliminary 50-man rosters don’t get announced. So far all we know is Aaron Judge has been named USA’s captain and Jazz Chisholm Jr. wants to play for Great Britain, which he didn’t get to do in 2023 because of an injury. Anthony Volpe has said he will only play for USA, not Italy, and I just don’t see how that's gonna happen given USA’s other available shortstops (Bobby Witt Jr., most notably).

Just looking at guys under contract/team control in 2026, other Yankees who could make their way into the WBC include Gil (Dominican Republic), David Bednar (USA), José Caballero (Panama), Fernando Cruz (Puerto Rico), Yerry De Los Santos (Dominican Republic), Indigo Diaz* (Canada), and Camilo Doval (Dominican Republic). Bednar, Caballero, Cruz, Diaz, and Doval all played in the 2023 WBC. I’m sure Fried (USA) will get asked, among others.

* Diaz was the other prospect the Yankees got in the Lucas Luetge trade with the Braves along with Caleb Durbin. The 26-year-old has a 2.58 ERA (3.35 FIP) with 21.4 K% in 52.1 Double-A relief innings this year.

Teams can block players from the WBC if they have spent 60 total days on the IL in the most recent MLB season, including at least 15 of the final 60 days. The Yankees can block Cole (USA), Oswaldo Cabrera (Venezuela), and Clarke Schmidt (USA), not that the two pitchers will be ready for it. The Yankees can’t block Judge. He didn’t miss enough time with the flexor. That has been your 2026 WBC update.

(Send your requests for Friday's mailbag to RABmailbag at gmail dot com. The random Yankee series is on hiatus, but feel free to send in requests for when it returns.)