Yankees Should Make One Change to Their Outfield Moving Forward

The New York Yankees need to stabilize center field, and from there, it becomes easier to shore up the rest of their defense.

New York Yankees center fielder Spencer Jones (78) at Yankee Stadium. | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

The New York Yankees would like to throw away the footage of the last few days. They have been plagued by some ugly defensive plays, which were the norm last year but haven't been too prominent this season, until now.

Jasson Domínguez dropped an easy fly ball over the weekend, and, on a ball scorched to him in the ninth inning against the Reds on Sunday, it seemed like he slowed down as he got closer to the wall. The ball landed in right before hopping into the stands for a ground-rule double. The runner on third scored.

Why the runner was on third that inning was another miscue. A ball that came off the bat of Spencer Steer slowly rolled up the middle. It somehow ended up getting past Anthony Volpe and Jazz Chisholm Jr., and because of a José Caballero throwing error, Steer was able to make it to third.

The first game against the Tigers saw another gaffe. With the defensive alignment so out of whack, Zach McKinstry's liner in the third split the outfield, and he was able to take third. It was a ball that Cody Bellinger usually gets to and would have been held to a single were he in left. José Caballero, whose outfield experience has been limited, wasn't able to get to it.

Jose Caballero didn't take the best route to this ball and it's a leadoff triple for Detroit in the third inning pic.twitter.com/xqYnaVL807

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) June 22, 2026

The Tigers were able to rally from there. It was the moment the game was lost.

Fixing the defense for now

If there's one thing the Yankees should do, it's have Spencer Jones play more center field. It was his primary position in Triple-A. Giving him some run against lefties instead of benching him is something they should go with out of necessity here.

With Jones out in center, they can have Cody Bellinger back in left, which is his primary position these days, and has brought sparkling defense to. Right field can go to one of Domínguez (if they'd still like to give him some run), Caballero or Max Schuemann.

New York Yankees left fielder Cody Bellinger (35) makes a running catch in the seventh inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. | David Richard-Imagn Images

While Schuemann won't offer much with his bat, he'll at least be solid in right. He has played a few innings out there already and has shown he is dependable.

As for Caballero, he should still be playing every day. They shouldn't lose his bat. Third base could be an option for him. It's not like Ryan McMahon has given much at the plate these days. McMahon is hitting .222/.282/.389 in June with an 87 wRC+.

He has a 2 OAA at third, but he has hit so poorly that sitting him won't hurt the Yankees much. They already benched McMahon early on in the season, and they should do that again.

While the Yankees have had trouble scoring runs, and may continue to do so until at least Trent Grisham returns and stabilizes both the lineup and outfield, the Yankees should do everything in their power to shore up their defense. If they can't hit, they should at least keep themselves in these games. It all starts with Jones in center.