The Yankees Are Hot but Must Avoid Repeating One Major Pitfall

The Yankees have seen hot starts before, but they don't always last.

The Yankees must avoid being their worst enemy amid the ongoing hot streak. | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

The Yankees are rolling.

Over the weekend, they barreled through the American League East rival Orioles, taking the first three games of a four-game set pretty handily. Sunday's 11-3 win, in which the Yankees poured on runs in the eighth inning, feels like everything that can go right with this team will go right.

Of course, the Yankees did get off to a hot start last year. Entering May last year, they were 18-13 and were in first place in the AL East just as they are now. In hindsight, there was probably some cause for concern at that point.

They had the most prolific offense in the sport heading into May. The Bronx Bombers slashed .267/.351/.478 with a 132 wRC+.

Their rotation had some issues, though. The Yankees had a 4.25 ERA, and the bullpen was showing signs of trouble. The bullpen did have a 3.02 ERA, but Devin Williams was on shaky ground every time he took the ball in the ninth. That was even before Luke Weaver unraveled.

Then there was the defense. It felt like there was some carryover from that World Series fifth inning, and things got sloppy.

I wanted to check how I felt about the Yankees after April last year as a reality check because they were 18-13 and in first place come May 1st.

But when I went through old texts, I was down on them from the jump last year. I was talking about the rotation being shallow, the… pic.twitter.com/WdQMbNeg8v

— Jomboy (@Jomboy_) May 3, 2026

By the time June rolled around, all their red flags came to the surface. The Yankees' division lead evaporated, and they found themselves in a two-month freefall. They had winning percentages of .481 and .480 in June and July, respectively, and any good fortune they may have had in those first two months was washed away until about September, when they finished the year strong.

Yankees have been here before

These Yankees are rolling to start the year, too, just as they did last year. While their 23-11 record is that of a team cruising through the league in the early goings of 2026, they are only a few more games removed from their record from last season at this point.

Anyone scarred from last year's swoon is well within their right to be a little concerned. The Yankees have seen hot starts before, only to falter in the middle portions of the season. It wasn't just last year, either.

Despite reaching the World Series and featuring the tandem of Aaron Judge and Juan Soto in 2024, the Yankees posted a .458 winning percentage in July. It felt like couldn't buy a series win that month.

The last thing Yankees fans want to see is a repeat of last season's collapse. | David Richard-Imagn Images

That swoon wasn't as pronounced as it would be a year later, but it still felt like a defining part of their season. For whatever reason, this core, led by Yankees manager Aaron Boone and general manager Brian Cashman, tends to fall apart in the middle of the year, and even if they make it to the playoffs, the very things that made them inconsistent for prolonged periods of time end up showing up in the postseason.

There was the aforementioned fifth inning in the World Series. Then, last year, in a tight game against the Blue Jays at home, Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s booting a ball ended up being the deciding factor that game. The Blue Jays would score thereafter and never look back.

Despite the past, reasons for optimism exist

Right now, the Yankees, again, have one of the best offenses in the league. They are slashing .241/.335/.450 with a 118 wRC+, which is fifth in the Majors.

What the Yankees didn't have in 2025, though, was this rotation. Before seeing Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón, their rotation leads all of baseball with a 2.74 ERA.

Even when someone like Max Fried struggles as he did against the Orioles, it still equates to him having a solid start. Fried pitched 5 1/3 innings on Sunday, allowing three earned runs while striking out six. It's a mentality of bending but not breaking.

The Yankees' outlook will improve even more when Max Fried hits his stride. | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

Then, there's the defense.

Things seem a little tighter, and that is probably because José Caballero has been the starting shortstop over Anthony Volpe, who regressed big time at the position. Caballero has more of a steady hand and makes those dynamite plays as well as the simple ones a shortstop should make. How many times did Volpe boot a ball last season, extending innings?

While the regular season does not determine the postseason, things that led to past swoons came back to bite the Yankees later. In some ways, it has been a foreshadowing of sorts.

Whatever they can do to stop that this season, they should. Playing with more urgency and optioning Volpe, while also cutting Luis Gil loose from the rotation early, are signs that the Yankees might be taking things a bit more seriously. It'll be interesting to revisit all of this in a month.