Part of a series of articles previewing the defensive performance of all 30 MLB teams by asking the question ā¦ are they good? We give an overview of team strengths, weaknesses, and other things to know, using Defensive Runs Saved and other stats as the basis for our evaluation. To see the full series, click here.
2025 Team Defensive Runs Saved Rank: T-12th
Team Strengths
It’s a good list of strengths.
Cody Bellinger is good to go in either corner outfield spot and we say ‘good to go’ because he’s pretty good when fully healthy. He had 7 Runs Saved in left field and 8 Runs Saved in right field last season. His 6 Outfield Arm Runs Saved ranked 1 shy of Steven Kwan for the MLB lead.
Ryan McMahon has five straight seasons with at least 10 Runs Saved at third base. He’s finished in the Top 5 at the position in each of those seasons, though he’s never won a Fielding Bible Award. He’s also been durable, having played 152 and 154 games there the last two years.
Jose Caballero is a very good utility man who can play second base, third base, shortstop, and right field at a high level. He could be a contender for the multi-position Fielding Bible Award if he has another season in double figures in Runs Saved. He’ll start the season as the shortstop with Anthony Volpe out recovering from shoulder surgery.
Though Austin Wells didn’t rate well overall by Runs Saved, he was an excellent pitch framer last season. He ranked tied for second among catchers in our pitch-framing stat, Strike Zone Runs Saved.
What took Wells down in overall Runs Saved was an adjustment we make related to catcher ERA comparisons relative to each pitcher (as a proxy for calling pitches and working with pitchers). In Wells’ case, his catcher ERA’s for the season were nearly a full run higher than both of the Yankees other catchers and that brought his Runs Saved down. It wouldn’t be surprising if that number was better this year.
Most Runs Saved From Pitch Framing – Last 2 Seasons
| Player | Strike Zone Runs Saved |
| Patrick Bailey | 29 |
| Cal Raleigh | 17 |
| Alejandro Kirk | 16 |
| Austin Wells | 16 |
| Austin Hedges | 14 |
Lastly, we haven’t been listing pitchers often here, but the Yankees have the reigning Fielding Bible Award winner for pitchers, Max Fried, who led the majors with 10 Runs Saved at the position.
Team Weaknesses
It feels a little weird to list Trent Grisham as a weakness, but statistically speaking 2025 was not a good season for him. He finished with -11 Runs Saved, by far the worst season of his career (much of that attributable to catching fewer deep fly balls than expected). Grisham has won a Gold Glove in the past and has saved as many as 10 Runs in a season, so we know he’s capable of better than last year’s results.
Trent Grisham- Runs Saved in Center Field
| Season | Runs Saved |
| 2020 | 7 |
| 2021 | 7 |
| 2022 | 10 |
| 2023 | 1 |
| 2024 | 0 |
| 2025 | -11 |
We’ll see where Jasson Dominguez fits into this roster as right now there’s not much room for him. He had -7 Runs Saved in left field last season, which doesn’t help his cause.
The sample size on Ben Rice is still pretty small but he’s come out a little below average at both catcher and first base. In particular, he doesn’t rate well in terms of throw handling at first base (which is important).
Other Things To Know
Anthony Volpe is out for now after offseason shoulder surgery. Volpe has had 15, 6, and 2 Runs Saved at shortstop in his three MLB seasons. He would have had more Runs Saved last season but he lost 4 Runs Saved for his lack of success at finishing plays (a component that mostly tracks throwing).
Jazz Chisholm Jr. should stick to second base for the most part this season after being moved around constantly throughout his career. Chisholm has shown good range there. His issue last season was turning double plays. He converted only 46% of opportunities (opportunities being balls hit to him or his being a relay man in a double play situation). A good MLB conversion rate is about 65%.
Lastly, we’ve gone this far without mentioning Aaron Judge. Judge has had seasons of 21 and 18 Runs Saved in the past but those were in the previous decade. He had 3 Runs Saved as a right fielder last season. He’s not erasing baserunners or robbing home runs like he previously did so we didn’t feel listing him as a strength was appropriate.
Are the Yankees A Good Defensive Team?
Yes, probably right on the edge of Top 10 status with the potential to be higher if their best players are really good.
