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We’re three weeks into the season, and officially in our first stretch of the doldrums. The Yankees’ bats have gone completely unreliable over the course of a four-game losing streak, backed up mainly by Ben Rice and Giancarlo Stanton swinging solid bats and the rest of the lineup noodling around. Their latest attempt to break out of their funk saw them waste a solid Max Fried start, rally late to take a lead as José Caballero managed to find a two-run double just to blow the lead in the same inning, and then repeat that in extras. They’ll look to salvage the series finale later today, but suffice to say things are not looking great for the pinstripes.

Today on the site, Estevão leads off with a look at how the concerns of the offseason have come to roost in the lineup’s early struggles, and then Matt gets a double-feature first covering the Rivalry Roundup and the results around the league from Saturday before getting into the history of Sammy Vick’s time as a Yankee on his birthday. Kento dives into Statcast to examine some key Yankees’ batting stance changes entering 2026, and after the game John will be around to deliver the weekly social media spotlight.

Today’s Matchup

New York Yankees at Tampa Bay Rays

Time: 1:40 p.m. EST

Video: YES Network, Rays.tv

Venue: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, FL

Questions/Prompts:

1. Are we going to see the first sweep go against the Yankees this year, or can they get a sliver of revenge in the Trop?

2. Of the batters under the Mendoza line, who do you think will be the first to get back above it?

NJ.com | Randy Miller: With the Yankees among the worst in baseball at ABS challenge successes, there have been a couple very significant liabilities in the season’s first two weeks. While Austin Wells has been quite good behind the plate, José Caballero has been dreadful at the review system while batting. After Cabby lost two challenges in two games, both times coming in non-vital moments, Aaron Boone himself had to pull his nominal shortstop aside and reaffirm the importance of the limited challenges. After a pretty liberal attitude to reviews, expect the Yankees to tighten up just who can ask for a challenge, and when.

New York Daily News | Bill Madden: There was a lot of concern that Brian Cashman didn’t do enough over the winter to improve the lineup, and so far that concern seems justified. The Yankees sport the worst 7-8-9 lineup spots in the sport, and even leadoff hitter Trent Grisham has been good at walking with very little punch. Ben Rice and Giancarlo Stanton have been excellent, but there’s too many easy ABs for opposing pitchers right now.

New York Post | Greg Joyce: Cade Winquest was DFA’d off the roster this week, ending his Rule 5 draft experiment with the Yankees. Brian Cashman was candid that that was the only possible move with the club finally starting to get some pitching reinforcements, but it was a pity the right-hander never got into game action with the club. Winquest will now be returned to the Cardinals unless the Yankees can work out a trade with the acquiring team taking on his Rule 5 requirements to stay on the 26 man roster.

Jeffcoat Trant Funeral Home: A melancholy happy trails to Billy Bryan, who spent two seasons catching for the Yankees in 1966 and ‘67, but made a name with the then-Kansas City Athletics. Bryan’s time with the Athletics is perhaps highlighted by being batterymates with no less than 59-year old Satchel Paige:

Our best to Bryan’s family and loved ones.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — One week into the season, the Yankees looked like they were going to be the league’s best exploiting the automated ball-strike system.

A week later, their hitters have looked like the league’s worst challengers.

Aaron Boone chalked that up to the “ebb and flow” of the new ABS system, but the Yankees have not been particularly sharp at it of late, both in their actual success rates and some of when they have decided to tap their helmets.

“Being great at this is not, ‘We’re great at 80 percent,’ ” Boone said before the Yankees lost their fourth straight to the Rays in extras on Saturday at Tropicana Field. “It’s the right amount of volume, having that good sense of calls. So it’s nuanced and everyone’s a little bit different.”

Through their first five games of the season, Yankees hitters went 8-for-10 in successfully overturning strikes to balls. In nine games since, though, they were just 2-for-13 — the last few games of unsuccessful challenges standing out in particular because they coincided with the group’s overall offensive rut.

In Friday’s 5-3 loss to the Rays, they ran out of challenges by the top of the fifth inning. Jazz Chisholm Jr. had an unsuccessful tap on an 0-0 count with one out and no one on in the fourth inning of a 3-2 game and then an inning later, José Caballero challenged the first pitch of the frame and was proved wrong. Saturday, Yankees hitters didn’t challenge once.

“We’re told to be aggressive and use them,” catcher Austin Wells said. “I think you can always hindsight and look back and think, ‘Oh man, I should have maybe not used it there.’ But they tell us to be aggressive and use it when we think it’s a ball. There’s been some really, really close ones that haven’t gone our way. But I think that’s just the game.”

Boone has in fact preached being aggressive to his team, but he has also said he wants them to get to a place where understanding leverage becomes instinctual — which is where he seemed to disagree with Friday’s challenges.

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“We, just like the umpires, are going to be needing to make adjustments throughout the year,” said Ben Rice, who had a pair of bad challenges during the series against the Marlins. “Of course having understanding of situations, when to challenge and when not to. But at the end of the day, it’s just kind of a gut feeling.”

During spring training, Boone said he was direct with players in telling them they had either made a good or bad challenge. That has carried over into the regular season, as he indicated Saturday he had made his feelings known with Caballero (in a light way) after his rough one Friday night.

Overall, Yankees hitters entered Saturday 10-for-23 in ABS challenges — a success rate of 43.5 percent, which was the ninth lowest in the majors. Their 13 unsuccessful challenges were the most in the majors, but their 10 successful challenges were also the second most.

Chisholm and Caballero both had three unsuccessful challenges, though Caballero was 2-for-5 while Chisholm was 1-for-4.

Trent Grisham led the club with three successful challenges.

“I predicted all this coming out of [spring training] — there’s going to be noisy weeks where it’s like, ‘Ohh,’ ” Boone said. “The last thing I want is our guys to get gun-shy. I want us to be smart. I want us to continue to learn where it becomes reactionary, instinctive. There’s going to be weeks where you have not a great umpire, not a great receiver back there that you have a lot of opportunities to challenge. There’s going to be nights when you don’t. There’s going to be nights when you have a few and it doesn’t fall in a leverage spot. So there’s a lot of things that goes into the noise of the day to day.

“I think we’re going to be good at this. We’ve had a few this week that haven’t been great. But it also had nothing to do with us losing a game [Friday] night.”

The game looked lost for the Mariners early on Saturday. It was not.

The Astros were all over Luis Castillo from the jump. They lead 7-2 when they chased him in the fourth inning. Things felt final. But Cal Raleigh homered, Julio Rodríguez homered, and the Mariners offense roared back, with a J.P. Crawford walkoff single in the ninth to cap a six-run comeback.

“This is one of those feel-good wins,” Dan Wilson said after the game.

“I can’t say enough about the effort to come back. Being down five runs is a big deal, and these guys, they scratched and clawed their way back. … It’s a confidence builder. And again, the crowd, the ballpark, being here at home, all that plays into it, too. Just a great, great night at the ballpark.”

Things actually started pretty well for the Mariners. Castillo was sharp in the first. He got two quick outs before ending an eight-pitch battle against Isaac Paredes with a strikeout. His velocity was fine, his pitches looked sharp, and he was locating in the zone but away from the heart of the plate.

The Mariners’ lineup gave him quick support, too. Crawford drew a leadoff walk and Cal Raleigh yanked a first-pitch hanging curveball 364 feet to right for a 2-0 lead.

Julio Rodríguez followed with a rocket double just fair down the left field line, flashing a big smile after recording his first extra base hit of the season. It was just about the perfect start to a game.

But things quickly derailed. Josh Naylor popped out. And Randy Arozarena lined a 102-mph comebacker that just so happened to fly right into the glove of Lance McCullers Jr., who doubled-off Julio at second.

Castillo didn’t look as sharp when he came back out for the second inning. He loaded the bases with a single, a walk and another single — Julio prevented a run with a strong throw home that forced the runner to stay at third. Castillo initially looked like he might escape. He worked a full count to Yainer Diaz and then threw a called ball four, but a successful challenge from Cal turned the bases loaded walk into a strikeout.

With two outs, however, Castillo threw a first pitch fastball right down the middle and Taylor Trammell lasered a double off the wall in left center, clearing the bases and giving the Astros a 3-2 lead.

They would make it 4-2 on a Yordan Àlvarez home run to lead off the third. And they would make it 5-2 after stringing together three consecutive hits later in the inning. After three more singles and two more runs in the fourth, Dan Wilson turned to the bullpen down 7-2.

Again, this score felt pretty final there. The Astros’ lineup was scorching. They picked up 17 hits on the day, including six doubles and a homer, to go with four walks. The Mariners’ lineup, on the other hand, went nine-up and nine-down after the first inning, allowing McCullers to settle in. With the general malaise at the plate over the first few weeks of the season, it was hard to see them suddenly figuring it out.

Slowly but surely they did. Cole Young picked up a single in the bottom of the fifth. Dominic Canzone doubled him to third. Leo Rivas loaded the bases with a walk, bringing up Crawford, who plopped a two-run single into right center.

Cal followed with a sac fly, bringing Julio to the plate with two outs and a runner first, down 7-5. After falling behind 1-2, he got a hanging slider below the zone and scorched it out to straightaway center field at 108 mph — his first homer of the season to tie the game at 7-7.

The Astros threatened to take back the lead in each of the next three innings but couldn’t quite pick up the go-ahead knock.

In the seventh, Eduard Bazardo gave up a leadoff double to Carlos Correa. Joey Loperfido followed with a single to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Bazardo got Cam Smith to watch three strikes for the first out. Then he got Diaz to pop out. Then he froze Trammell with a front-door, 94-mph sinker at the top of the zone to escape the jam.

In the eighth, Matt Brash gave up a one-out double to Yordan Alvarez that bounced off the top of the wall in right field at 111.3 mph. Brash eventually escaped three batters later.

Andrés Muñoz loaded the bases with the game still tied in the ninth. He gave up a screaming double to Smith that went off (or maybe through?) Leo Rivas’ glove at third. Then he walked two consecutive batters to load the bases with two outs. Muñoz was struggling to find the strike zone and things looked dicey when he fell behind Alvarez 2-0. But he got Alvarez to a chase a slider below the zone and ended the inning with a pop out.

That brought the Mariners to the plate with a chance to win in the bottom of the ninth. Luke Raley struck out to leadoff. Then Bryan Abreu completely lost the zone, loading the bases with three straight walks to Young, Brendan Donovan (who started the game on the bench with an illness), and Rivas.

Crawford stepped in. He watched a fastball right down the middle for strike one. He just missed on another fastball right down the middle, fouling it back for strike two. Then he got a third-straight fastball right down the middle, and this time sliced a firm line drive the other way to walkoff the Astros 8-7.

Crawford was the ideal person to have at the plate in that moment. He entered the game with a career 196 wRC+ with the bases loaded (ninth best since tracking began in 2002) and a 145 wRC+ in high-leverage plate appearances for his career (tied for 10th best).

He said he’s been able to consistently come through in big spots because of he’s confident in his approach.

“Get the job done — do your job, handle business, don’t try to think so much, put a good swing on it, and find a hole,” he said on his mindset in the ninth. “I just go up there with the same game plan. He’s got bases loaded, less than two outs, so all the pressure’s on him. He has to make his pitches, and I knew he was going to be aggressive right there. So just trying to be on time for a fastball.”

Crawford’s season didn’t get off to a good start. He began the year on the injured list with a sore shoulder that bugged him throughout Spring Training. He was activated just days after the Mariners signed Colt Emerson, likely his future replacement at shortstop, to a historic extension for a prospect. After a sleepy second half in 2025, there was some question about what Crawford might be able to provide in 2026, and how soon the Mariners might seek change.

But after reaching base four times Sunday, Crawford has a 129 wRC+ in his first 31 plate appearances of the new season. If he keeps hitting, he’ll keep finding himself in big spots like Saturday’s. And is history is any indicator, he’ll keep coming through.

“It means everything. You know, it’s one of those moments you dream of as a kid in the batting cages, and honestly it’s a dream come true. You have a chance to be the hero. You gotta capitalize.

“It never gets old. Hearing the crowd chant my name is honestly a dream come true. There’s no better feeling than that.”

Francisco Lindor doesn’t have any answers for his puzzling play.

He doesn’t have any excuses, either.

It’s not missing most of spring training due to a hamate bone injury. It’s not the absence of Juan Soto, adding pressure on the shortstop.

“I’m not sure. I feel like I’m locked in,” he said after the Mets’ 11-6 loss to the A’s at Citi Field Saturday, their fourth straight. “It just happens. I’ve got to be better.”

The defeat highlighted Lindor’s latest mental mistake. In the second inning, he failed to cover second on a potential double-play ball, allowing the A’s to tack on a run. Rather than cover the bag, Lindor pursued the ball up the middle. Second baseman Marcus Semien fielded it, and with nobody to throw to, stepped on second for the force.

“I went after the ball and Marcus was there,” said Lindor, batting just .167 on the season without an RBI. “I didn’t make it to second base. We didn’t turn the double play. Senga could’ve gotten out of the inning right there and I didn’t help him.

“No miscommunication. He’s one of the best second basemen in the game, and I should expect he’s gonna be there. There was no miscommunication at all.”

This wasn’t an isolated incident. In an April 1 game against the Cardinals, Lindor forgot how many outs there were on a double-play ball, which wound up forcing starter Freddy Peralta to throw extra pitches to get out of the inning. Later in the game, Lindor was picked off first while adjusting his sliding mitt.

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There was another miscue Friday. With runners on first and third and no outs and the Mets trailing by a run, Lindor only went halfway on a ground ball to first. He was thrown out trying to get back to third. Afterward, Lindor said he should’ve forced a rundown to advance the other runners. The next hitter, Luis Robert Jr., grounded into an inning-ending double play.

“It’s weird, because that’s not him,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “It’s hard to explain, and he’ll tell you he has to be better. Never seen so many plays, he’s out of position at times.”

Lindor dismissed the notion his spring training injury contributed to his poor start. He also said any extra responsibility to produce isn’t weighing on him differently than in past seasons.

“There’s always been pressure and I’ve always put a lot of pressure on myself, because I expect a lot of myself,” Lindor said. “It’s the same every single year.”

On a day when the University of Denver hockey team won their historic 11th National Championship, it felt like nothing could go wrong in the Colorado sports world. Alas, there was no more Mile High Magic to go around for the Colorado Rockies (or Colorado Avalanche) tonight.

Things got off to a promising start. Ryan Feltner looked sharp early and the offense came out swinging with some big bombs on Germán Márquez in his first start against the Rockies since signing with the San Diego Padres this offseason.

The start wouldn’t last, as the Padres would quickly get back in front and pull away in the middle innings.

Pioneering the way

What the Rockies possibly needed most in this game was a hot start against starter Germán Márquez. They got just that.

Márquez has been susceptible early and often this season. Across his two starts, he carried a 13.50 first-inning ERA into today’s game. He had also given up 14 hits over eight innings pitched.

The Rockies hope was to put runners on base and rattle him with some early runs. Edouard Julien started that with a leadoff single. Julien attempted to steal second, was called out, but a successful challenge kept him there.

That would prove vital as Mickey Moniak hammered a two-run homer to right for an early lead.

The Padres nearly responded in the bottom of the inning, reaching second and third. With those runners in prime position to score, Nick Castellanos boomed a deep drive to left. With a save that was reminiscent of DU goalie Johnny Hicks, Jordan Beck made an incredible leaping grab at the left field wall to rob Castellanos of a three-run homer and the lead to end the inning.

And the purple coat would not stay away for long!

Julien would come back around and extend the early lead with a solo shot in the top of the third, right before Moniak would do the same with his second of the night, bringing the game to 4-0.

Trust the “proscess”

Following in the footsteps of DU hockey’s intentionally misspelled motto, the Rockies would trust in their gameplan and try to weather some storms.

The Friars got back into things with a strong three run third inning. With runners on first and third, Jackson Merrill would drive in a run on a grounder that was nearly a double play, bringing things to 4-1. With the next at-bat, Manny Machado blasted a two-run homer into left-center to make things a one-run game.

Márquez would settle things down, securing a 1-2-3 fourth inning. That, unfortunately, set the stage for the Padres to take the lead.

After striking out Gavin Sheets, Feltner gave up a double to Miguel Andujar and walked Freddy Fermin. Feltner nearly escaped, striking out Jake Cronenworth for the second out.

Ramón Laureano seized the opportunity with a three-run homer, giving San Diego a 6-4 lead heading into the fifth.

Similar start, different finish

Feltner and Márquez entered the matchup with eerily similar stat lines across their two starts.

In his two games, Feltner went 1-0 across 8.1 innings with a 4.32 ERA, one home run surrendered, and five strikeouts. Márquez was 1-1 across 8.0 innings with a 4.50 ERA, two home runs, and five strikeouts.

Despite a shakier start, Márquez would get the better of Feltner tonight.

After a scoreless first and second, Feltner gave up six runs on seven hits, including two home runs, with three walks, four strikeouts, and a 7.30 ERA for the night.

On the flipside, after giving up four runs in the first two innings, Márquez would rebound and post a 5.54 ERA after five innings of work, with just four hits, including three home runs, five strikeouts, and two walks.

An opportunity on thin ice

The Rockies chances quickly slipped away as the game went on.

Zach Agnos entered in relief of Feltner in the bottom of the fifth and didn’t fare much better. He made it through the fifth unscathed, but would lose control in the sixth. After Fermin reached base on an error, Agnos would walk the next three batters and walk in a run to put the game at 7-4.

Agnos finished his night with a 7.56 ERA on top of those three walks and three runs (two earned) surrendered.

There, things went from bad to worse. Brennan Bernardino came in and immediately gave up a double to Jackson Merrill pushing the score to 9-4. He intentionally walked Castellanos before striking out Gavin Sheets to limit the damage.

Take me home, country roads

The ol’ Fighting Rocks would not go quietly. The makings of a rally would come together in the eighth and ninth.

Ezequiel Tovar doubled in the top of the eighth. Moniak’s hot night continued with an RBI single to right field to bring Tovar home and make it 9-5. Moniak finished 3-for-4 with four RBI on two home runs.

Entering the ninth down four, Willi Castro struck out swinging and Brett Sullivan popped out for outs one and two. Just when it looked all but over, things got exciting.

TJ Rumfield, pinch-hititng for Kyle Karros, hit a line drive single to center. Tyler Freeman singled to right. Julien drew a walk on a wonderful at bat to load the bases. The situation forced a San Diego pitching change, bringing in Jason Adam to close things out. Tovar got behind in the count early and popped out to second for the final nail in the coffin.

A lot went well early and late tonight. It was nice to see the Rockies work with a decent lead early on. It felt promising that the big deficit led to an inspired rally. Ultimately, Warren Schaeffer highlighted the team’s seven walks, noting that you won’t win many games that way. The Rockies leave this one with some nice things to point to, but plenty left to clean up.

Up Next

The Rockies will ride three straight losses into the finale of this four game series out in Petco Park on Sunday afternoon.

Back at the top of the rotation, Kyle Freeland will take the mound against Nick Pivetta for a 2:10 p.m. MT first pitch.

The Rockies will look to escape the series with a win before shipping off to Texas for an early season rematch with the Houston Astros.

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Last year, there were only two qualified hitters in Major League Baseball who had a .300 batting average and .500 slugging percentage.

Through the 14 games this season, the Dodgers are just about doing it as an entire team.

After a 6-3 win over the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night, it’s becoming hard to keep track of all the statistical superlatives the club’s superstar lineup is setting.

Just to name a few, here are the categories in which they currently lead the majors:

–– Batting average: .297. Next closest: The Houston Astros at .281.

–– Slugging percentage: .507. Next closest: The Astros at .462.

–– Home runs: 27. Next closest: The Atlanta Braves with 20.

–– OPS: .879. Next closest: The Astros at .839.

–– Runs per game: 6.4. Next closest: The Astros at 6.1.

All that, despite the Dodgers producing just one run over their final five trips to the plate Saturday.

Behind a solid six-inning, three-run start from Emmet Sheehan, and three scoreless from the bullpen (which turned to Blake Treinen and Alex Vesia to close out the game, after Edwin Díaz threw 23 pitches in a three-run blown save Friday), the Dodgers prevailed on the strength of their early scoring, tagging Rangers starter Jack Leiter with five runs in a laborious first three innings.

Rangers leadoff man Brandon Nimmo went deep two pitches into the game, blasting a solo home run to center.

But the Dodgers (11-3) answered right back in the bottom of the first, when Shohei Ohtani hit a leadoff home run of his own –– his fourth long ball this season and first at Dodger Stadium –– and Teoscar Hernández uncorked a three-run blast later in the inning.

The lead would eventually grow to 5-1 after another run in the third –– this one set up by walks from Will Smith and Max Muncy (the latter in a marathon 11-pitch, seven-foul-ball at-bat).

Then, despite some missed opportunities the rest of the night, and another home run from Nimmo that got the Rangers (7-7) back within two, the Dodgers put the game on ice in the eighth, when Hernández doubled and scored on a single from Andy Pages; his MLB-leading 17th RBI of the season.

What it means

The scariest part of the Dodgers’ early offensive outburst?

They still don’t even have all of their best hitters clicking.

Instead, the team is relying on quality at-bats throughout the order to generate consistent scoring. On Saturday, they forced Leiter to throw 93 pitches in his 3 ⅔ inning start.

“We’re really taking good at-bats. And even some of the guys that haven’t gotten going, they will,” manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s nice when everyone’s not firing on all cylinders, but one through nine, I see a good team offensive approach.”

Who’s hot

Indeed, for all the team-wide success at the plate, there are only two Dodgers regulars currently batting better than .300.

One of them is Pages, whose .442 average remains the best in MLB after a 1-for-3 performance with a walk Saturday.

The other, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, is Hernández, who bumped his average up to .306 with his 2-for-4 showing in the victory.

The slugger’s first-inning homer came on a vintage Hernández swing, staying inside an inner-half changeup from Leiter and launching it 393 feet to left field. His double in the eighth inning also went to the left-field gap, a sign he is starting to dial in his swing.

“I think it’s getting a good pitch to hit,” Hernández said. “The timing has been there. The pitch selection has been there. Just missing a couple pitches that I should have hit. But definitely it’s been great so far.”

Who’s not

All offseason, the Dodgers said they didn’t need Kyle Tucker, believing that –– even if they didn’t ultimately sign him, as they did to a $240 million deal in January –– their offense would be fine.

Lately, that theory has been put to the test.

While Tucker is not the only big bat still grinding through some early struggles, his recent slump has become the most pronounced. With a 0-for-4 performance Saturday, he now has just four hits in his last 20 at-bats. For the season, his average is down to .250 while his OPS is below .700.

Up next

The Dodgers and Rangers conclude their weekend series Sunday afternoon. Roki Sasaki will start for the Dodgers, looking to bounce back from his five-inning, six-run clunker against the Nationals last week. Two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom will go for the Rangers, entering with a 3.72 ERA in his first two outings.

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