When the New York Yankees open the 2026 season against the San Francisco Giants, their lineup should look exactly how the organization envisioned all winter.
Such a thought sounds obvious, right? Not always in the case of the Yankees, who have frequently succumbed to spring training injuries in recent years. Giancarlo Stanton didn’t make his 2025 debut until mid-June while battling tennis elbow in both arms, and ace Gerrit Cole underwent season-ending elbow surgery last March.
Although Cole and All-Star pitcher Carlos Rodón remain on the shelf following their respective elbow procedures, the rest of the Yankees are healthy — and that includes the likes of Aaron Judge and Jazz Chisholm Jr., who avoided injury while participating in the World Baseball Classic.
For once, the Yankees are poised to enter the season (mostly) healthy
Every team runs into spring training injuries, but it feels like the Yankees have had an especially bad run in recent years. Cole missed the start of 2024 with elbow problems, while Rodón (left forearm and back) and outfielder Harrison Bader (oblique) opened 2023 on the injured list. Bader’s injury was especially noteworthy because he hurt himself while playing for Team Israel in the WBC.
The list goes on, from former All-Star infielder DJ LeMahieu’s fractured foot (2024) and strained calf (2025) to starting pitcher Luis Severino’s 2020 Tommy John surgery. Yet, the Yankees made the postseason in seven of manager Aaron Boone’s eight seasons, though they only won a single pennant in that time.
Knock on wood, but it seems like the Yankees will get through the spring without losing any of their expected major contributors. Starting pitcher Cam Schlittler, who had a minor back problem earlier in camp, is the only projected member of the Opening Day roster who has publicly acknowledged battling a new injury; Stanton has confirmed that he’s still working through the tennis elbow, though he’s already hit three home runs this spring.
In fact, Schlittler’s most significant issue in camp was encountering a spider in his locker. If that’s all that the 25-year-old needs to worry about, then he — and the Yankees — are in good shape.
Imagine what would have happened had Judge, Chisholm, or Austin Wells gone down with an injury during the WBC. The Yankees had 12 total players compete in the World Baseball Classic, and it appears that all escaped without any health problems. For all intents and purposes, the Yankees went 12–0 without playing a single WBC game.
Can the Yankees realistically win the 2026 World Series? Well…
As is always the case in the Bronx, the Yankees have a World Series-or-bust mentality. Anything short of holding the Commissioner’s Trophy during a late October or early November parade means that the season will be a disappointment, and it’ll be the latest black mark against Judge.
Most sportsbooks remain high on the Yankees, who typically trail only the Dodgers in odds to win the World Series. The Yankees are also consensus favorites to beat out the Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays to secure only their second pennant since their 2009 World Series title.
However, I’m more skeptical than most, even with how healthy the roster currently is. I simply don’t believe in Boone’s leadership and management, not with how loyal he still is to struggling players. The Yankees might have won the AL East outright last year, instead of tying with the Blue Jays for first but needing to play in the Wild Card Round, had Boone not been so stubborn in sticking with closer Devin Williams and shortstop Anthony Volpe.
None of this is to say that I don’t think the Yankees will make the postseason. Barring injury, this roster is built, at least on paper, for a deep playoff run. But that’s what we’ve said for the entirety of Boone’s tenure, even in years where they’ve been ravaged by injuries.
For now, though, the Yankees are healthy, and they’re poised to get Cole and Rodón back by mid-May at the latest. Maybe, just maybe, everything will come up Milhouse for the Yankees after all.