The New York Yankees hoped to shake off back-to-back losses against the Toronto Blue Jays by winning the opener of their biggest series of the year thus far, but they lost for the fifth time in seven games, falling 4-2 on Friday night. Gerrit Cole could not have been better in his long-awaited return, but Aaron Judge continues to struggle, as does the Yankees' bullpen.
No matter how mightily Judge struggles, he won't be on the Yankees' hot seat because, well, he's Aaron Judge. Not everyone has the luxury of being arguably the greatest right-handed hitter in MLB history, though. These five Yankees players need a good series, or else they could be at risk of a demotion of some sort, whether it's to Triple-A or to a lesser role.
RHP David Bednar
David Bednar was as reliable as any reliever down the stretch of the 2025 season after the Yankees acquired him in a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates, but his success has not carried into this season at all. The right-hander has an ERA over 5.00 and a WHIP over 1.500 in 21 appearances, and while some of that can be attributed to some bad batted ball luck, he hasn't looked the same, especially recently.
Now, he looked better on Friday, striking out three batters in a scoreless inning of work, but prior to this outing, he had allowed at least one run in three straight outings and in five of eight. He remains the closer, and Friday's outing helped his cause (especially since the Yankees don't really have any other reliable relievers right now), but if he appears in another game and struggles, you can only wonder how long a leash he has.
SS Anthony Volpe
With Jose Caballero set to return from the IL, the Yankees made the somewhat surprising decision to hold onto Anthony Volpe and sent Spencer Jones down instead. What does this mean for Volpe? Well, it meant he was on the bench on Friday night with Caballero at shortstop. Odds are, this is unlikely to happen every game.
I have no idea what to expect, but what I do know is that the pressure is on Volpe to play well whenever he's in the lineup. Volpe was only called up initially because the Yankees needed a shortstop with Caballero out. Caballero's return means the Yankees don't need Volpe. He played well enough to survive past Caballero's activation, but a bad series against the Rays could result in a demotion back to the minors.
3B Ryan McMahon
The Yankees traded for Ryan McMahon at last year's deadline, hoping his glove would be an upgrade and his left-handed power bat would play at hitter-friendly Yankee Stadium. McMahon's defense has been mostly as advertised, but his bat has been nothing short of disastrous. He had an underwhelming .641 OPS after being acquired last season, and he's been even worse in 2026, slashing .187/.253/.306 with four home runs and 16 RBI thus far after an 0-for-4 day with two strikeouts on Friday.
McMahon is striking out at a 30.6 percent clip overall, and he's now gone 3-for-37 with 12 strikeouts in his last 11 games, so it's not as if he's heating up. Yes, I understand that McMahon is making $16 million this season (and next), and it's never ideal to bench someone making that much money, but what other choice do the Yankees have if this continues? McMahon's 59 wRC+ is good for 194th out of 202 position players with at least 140 plate appearances. It's bad.
Whether the solution is moving Caballero to third, promoting Oswaldo Cabrera or even giving top prospect George Lombard Jr. a look, the Yankees ought to try something soon if McMahon has another rough series against Tampa Bay.
LHP Ryan Yarbrough
The Yankees have made the weird roster decision to deploy a pair of long relievers, Ryan Yarbrough and Paul Blackburn, who never seem to provide length when New York wants them to. Blackburn has pitched a bit better than Yarbrough, so Yarbrough finds himself on this list.
Yarbrough, a former Ray, has a 4.32 ERA in 10 appearances, and he's thrown just 16.2 innings in those outings. He's completed three innings just once and completed two innings only four times. That's just not what you want from a long reliever. His ineffectiveness puts a strain on the rest of the bullpen. The Yankees just demoted Yovanny Cruz, a hard-thrower who really impressed in his first two MLB outings, but kept Yarbrough around. You'd have to think a rough outing from Yarbrough could make Brian Cashman right that wrong by DFA'ing Yarbrough.
C Austin Wells
There isn't a player Yankees fans are frustrated with more than Austin Wells, and for good reason. Even with his home run on Friday, he's slashing .169/.293/.280 with four home runs and six RBI on the year. Yes, Wells has 140 plate appearances and he's driven in a total of six runs. He has gone 2-for-27 (.074 BA) with runners in scoring position.
Even with his home run on Friday, his 16 wRC+ is good for 229th out of 232 hitters with at least 50 plate appearances this month. He's been one of the worst hitters in the sport. Wells is still a good pitch framer, but is that really good enough to keep his spot as the Yankees' primary starter when he's been this lackluster offensively?
I get that JC Escarra doesn't inspire much confidence in a starting role, but continued struggles from Wells could result in the Yankees going in that direction or aggressively pursuing a trade of some sort.
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