Yankees Add Randal Grichuk To Fill a Area of interest in Their Outfield

When the Yankees re-signed Cody Bellinger in late January, they kind of dedicated to operating again the identical outfield they utilized in 2025. And why not? Even with restricted contributions from their reserves, the first trio of Bellinger, Trent Grisham, and Aaron Choose mixed to supply a significant league-high 16.6 WAR. However with secondary roles nonetheless up for grabs, New York added outfielder Randal Grichuk to its choices final week, signing the 34-year-old veteran to a minor league take care of a non-roster invitation to spring coaching.

The signing of Grichuk isn’t precisely out of left subject, so to talk. Whereas the Yankees do have 23-year-old switch-hitter Jasson Domínguez — who spent all of final season with the Yankees and made 93 begins in left however was lowered to a bench position by September — and 24-year-old prospect Spencer Jones on their 40-man roster, each have minor league choices remaining (two for the previous, three for the latter). If the first trio is wholesome, and if major designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton is ready to reply the bell typically sufficient (sure, that’s a load-bearing if), the Yankees would favor that their kids proceed to develop by taking part in commonly, if not within the Bronx than at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre.

“I’d concede it’s in his finest curiosity to be getting on a regular basis reps,” Yankees basic supervisor Brian Cashman mentioned in mid-February concerning Domínguez, who positioned sixteenth on our Prime 100 Prospects Checklist final spring as a 55-FV prospect regardless of having been moved from middle subject to left, then hit a modest .257/.331/.388, (103 wRC+) in 429 plate appearances. Whereas the Yankees tolerated worse from left fielder Alex Verdugo in 2024, when Domínguez was coming off Tommy John surgical procedure on his proper (throwing) elbow, between his league-average offense and his struggles in left subject (-7 DRS, -9 FRV in 793 innings), he was an afterthought in September. He made simply 4 begins and totaled 20 plate appearances within the last month of the common season, earlier than getting only one postseason plate look. (He made essentially the most of it, lacing a leadoff double into the right-center hole within the backside of the ninth inning of an elimination sport with the Yankees down 4 runs.) Domínguez’s 0.6 WAR — which matched Verdugo’s 2024 output in about 200 fewer plate appearances — signifies he nonetheless has sufficient to work on to justify one other stint within the minors.

“We’ll simply have to attend and see how the spring shakes out, who’s standing, after which we’ll make the suitable selections when we now have our conferences near the top of camp,” Cashman mentioned in that very same mid-February interview. “There’s flexibility within the roster with loads of gamers that we are able to do loads of various things with, whether or not they’re going north with us or going to Triple A.”

Enter the righty-swinging Grichuk, who break up final season between the Diamondbacks and Royals, the final of these his fifth workforce in a five-season span, following the Blue Jays (for whom he performed from 2018–21), the Rockies (2022–23), the Angels (2023, his first main league video games with the workforce that selected him one choose forward of Mike Trout in 2009), and the Diamondbacks (2024–25). Grichuk was exceptionally efficient with Arizona in 2024, batting .291/.348/.528 (139 wRC+) with 12 residence runs and 1.6 WAR in 279 plate appearances, however he slipped to .240/.277/.457 (96 wRC+) with seven homers in 188 plate appearances earlier than being traded to the Royals for pitching prospect Andrew Hoffmann on July 28. Issues went from dangerous to worse for Grichuk in Kansas Metropolis, as he hit simply .206/.267/.299 (56 wRC+) with two homers in 105 plate appearances. He was precisely substitute stage with the Diamondbacks, and 0.4 wins under substitute stage with the Royals.

Grichuk’s capacity to hit lefties has all the time been his calling card, and he had been notably robust in that division till final 12 months. For his profession, he owns a .268/.318/.500 (118 wRC+) slash line in 1,672 plate appearances towards lefties, in comparison with .241/.287/.446 (92 wRC+) in 3,161 instances up towards righties. From 2022–2024, he was distinctive when dealing with southpaws, however final 12 months, he was really worse towards them than he was towards righties for the primary time since 2017, his second main league season:

Notably towards lefties, Grichuk’s efficiency towards four-seam fastballs fell off. From 2022–24, he batted .359 and slugged .634 towards such pitches, together with a .377 common and .698 slugging proportion in ’24. Final 12 months, he slipped to a .222 common and .407 slugging proportion towards four-seamers from lefties, although to be truthful, his anticipated stats (.268 xAVG and .533 xSLG) had been nonetheless respectable.

On that be aware, Grichuk really made a lot better contact towards pitchers of each arms final 12 months than his precise stats would counsel:

If he had sufficient batted ball occasions to qualify, Grichuk’s common exit velocity would have positioned within the 92nd percentile, his hard-hit price within the eighty fifth percentile, and his barrel price within the 74th percentile. His pull price was within the 44% vary for the third straight 12 months, and his 22% pulled air price was only a bit under what it was 2024 (23.3%). However for the primary time since 2017, he undershot on each his slugging proportion and his wOBA relative to his anticipated stats. His 56-point shortfall within the former would have grazed the highest 20 and his 37-point deficiency within the latter would have cracked the highest 10.

Given Grichuk’s observe report and a motive to consider he was higher than his stats confirmed, it’s comprehensible that some workforce would take an opportunity on him. For the Yankees, he may function one thing of a platoon associate for the lefty-swinging Grisham. In 2025, Grisham set profession highs with 34 residence runs, a 129 wRC+, and three.2 WAR whereas batting .235/.348/.464 general, however he hit simply .182/.303/.348 (88 wRC+) in 153 plate appearances towards lefties, his third 12 months out of 4 with a sub-100 wRC+ in that context. His profession splits are mainly stage (103 wRC+ towards lefties, 102 towards righties), however that development is a flip for the more serious, and it stays to be seen if the identical is true for his protection following career-low marks of -3 FRV and -11 DRS. The Yankees may want to reap the benefits of a defensive alignment with Grichuk in left and Bellinger — the majors’ handiest lefty towards lefties final 12 months — sliding over to middle every now and then.

Grichuk’s arrival factors to one among Domínguez’s obvious shortcomings. Whereas he was fairly stable towards righties final season, he was anemic towards lefties:

Not solely did Domínguez battle to make contact towards southpaws, his contact wasn’t excellent when he did; he averaged simply an 86.7-mph exit velocity with a 1.7% barrel price, 41.7% hard-hit price, and .281 xSLG towards them, in comparison with a median 91.8-mph exit velo with an 8.6% barrel price, 51.9% hard-hit price, and .399 xSLG towards righties.

The Yankees tried to compensate for Domínguez’s battle towards lefties on the deadline final 12 months, buying righty-swinging Austin Slater from the White Sox on July 30. A left hamstring pressure and a 3-for-25 displaying when he was out there pushed Slater to the margins, although previous to his signing with the Tigers final month, the Yankees did supply him a significant league deal.

As long as Grichuk lives as much as expectations this spring, it seems Domínguez is slated to strive shoring up his sport within the minors, and the identical is probably going true for Jones. The 6-foot-7, 240-pound lefty is understood for his plus-plus uncooked energy, however his inventory has fallen significantly since he positioned fifteenth on our 2024 Prime 100 Prospects record as a 55-FV middle fielder, even after he went on a 13-homers-in-19-games binge final summer season following his promotion to Scranton/Wilkes Barre from Double-A Somerset. For the season, he hit .274/.362/.571 with 35 residence runs, however he additionally struck out 35.4% of the time; at Triple-A, he had a 35.5% chase price and only a 72% zone contact price. Notably, these numbers weren’t sufficient for him to shed the 45+ FV grade he slipped to final 12 months whereas sliding out of the Prime 100, with a Prospect TLDR that likened him to “a Franchy Cordero kind of participant.”

“He’s an thrilling younger expertise that’s, once more, unproven on the Main League stage,” Cashman mentioned of Jones within the wake of Bellinger’s return in January. “We’re going to search out out in some unspecified time in the future — or anyone else would discover out in some unspecified time in the future, in the event that they pry him away from me.”

That assertion clearly factors to the opportunity of a commerce down the street, however whereas Cashman could also be listening provides, he nonetheless has the slugger on his radar. “I feel Domínguez and Spencer Jones are simply trying to make a reputation for themselves and ensure that folks take discover of them, after which we’ll act accordingly,” he mentioned on Saturday. By that time, Jones had homered 3 times in his first 4 Grapefruit League appearances, off the Tigers’ Keider Montero, the Braves’ Austin Pope, and the Twins’ Raul Brito, in case you’re questioning concerning the caliber of competitors.

No matter near-term alternative arises for both teenager most likely relies upon upon the provision of the 36-year-old Stanton, who hit a thunderous .273/.350/.594 (158 wRC+) with 24 residence runs in simply 281 plate appearances final 12 months, his finest season since 2021 — all after lacking the Yankees’ first 70 video games as a consequence of bilateral epicondylitis, which is a double case of tennis elbow. The difficulty is one among ache administration; Stanton instructed reporters final week that he’s nonetheless coping with the issue, which makes day-to-day actions tough. “You have got your good days and dangerous days, identical to your temper and every thing,” he mentioned. “I can’t open a bottle… I can’t open a bag of chips… a bag of something. That’s the best way it’s.”

Whereas Stanton may have undergone offseason surgical procedure to scrub up the tendons in his elbows which might be positioned below a lot stress, he apparently doesn’t consider the trade-off is price it, and stays particularly guarded in sharing particulars. “What’s written (about my elbows) is what me and the Yankees provide you with,” he mentioned.

Stanton has averaged simply 101 video games over the previous 4 seasons and has proven no indicators of backing down from swinging more durable than anybody else; his 80.6-mph common swing velocity was 1.8 mph forward of the official (certified) chief, Oneil Cruz, with the Eleventh-ranked Colson Montgomery (77.0 mph) as near Cruz as Cruz is to Stanton. Stanton’s 97.3% quick swing price is over 16 proportion factors forward of second-ranked Junior Caminero. His 94.4-mph common exit velocity ranked fourth amongst batters with not less than 100 batted ball occasions, together with his 22.1% barrel price third and his 55.2% hard-hit price Eleventh.

Thus, the Yankees will attempt to get as a lot as they will out of Stanton with out overtaxing him. That might most likely imply an ample variety of days off, with Choose DHing and a Grichuk-Grisham-Bellinger outfield. The calculus is totally different if Stanton lands on the injured record or can solely produce on the stage he did from 2022–24 (.212/.291/.454,107 wRC+) whereas coping with an assortment of leg accidents, however 100 video games at one thing approaching his 2025 stage can be greater than welcome.

The Yankees are generally criticized for overhyping their prospects, however the best way they’ve dealt with Domínguez and Jones is an acknowledgment that they’re removed from completed merchandise. Whereas the hope is that they develop sufficient to drive their means into the large league lineup, with the addition of Grichuk, Cashman has fortified the roster whereas taking a few of the stress off the youngsters.