It’s Time for the Yankees to Alter Trent Grisham’s Role

The New York Yankees need to rethink how they are using Trent Grisham. As it stands, he is the everyday leadoff hitter and center fielder, but he shouldn’t be doing either. The front office has forced him into a spot that no longer fits the player.

In 2025, Grisham had the anomaly of a season in which he posted career-best offensive numbers. So, by the end of the year, the Yankees offered Grisham the $22 million qualifying offer, which he accepted. With Cody Bellinger and Aaron Judge already patrolling the corner outfield spots, that left Grisham going back to center despite the Yankees knowing he had regressed athletically.

On top of that, the Yankees didn’t get a true leadoff hitter, which put Grisham in a Kyle Schwarber-like situation with the team hoping he hits a homer to lead off the game. They are now stuck with this version of Grisham, a bad defender plus an underwhelming bat at the top of the order.

Yankees Need to Move Grisham out of Leadoff Spot

The leadoff spot has been an issue for the Yankees. They haven’t had a true leadoff hitter in nearly half a decade. They’re currently slotting Grisham to start things off, but this experiment hasn’t clicked.

Grisham had six full seasons up until his breakout 2025 campaign that showed he wasn’t a prolific hitter. From 2019 to 2024, his per-162-game numbers have him hitting 18 homers with a .213 average. Grisham today is batting .222 with 15 home runs, almost matching those averages. The Yankees have handcuffed themselves with him and yet still lead him off in the majority of games.

There have been 70 games Grisham has led off this year. In only six of those games has he gotten a hit. He has a .101 average leading off with an on-base percentage of just .220. These are just unacceptable numbers as a leadoff hitter. His job is to be setting the table for the sluggers, but when he makes the first out 53 of the 68 games, he’s not doing his job.

When he bats first through the entire game, he is still just a .200 hitter. In reality, manager Aaron Boone should slot him in the middle of the order. When batting fifth, he’s hitting .314 in 41 plate appearances. It is a small sample size, but anything to get this dreadful offense going is a win. If he can find that version of himself from last season again, then the $22 million deal looks a whole lot better.

The Yankees need to find ways to maximize this lineup, and moving Grisham down may boost production. But his bat isn’t the only part the Yankees should be concerned about. His glove in center field is becoming troublesome.

Grisham Is a Liability in Centerfield

The former two-time Gold Glover has lost the ability to add a third to his mantle anytime soon. When you think of a great center fielder, certain tools come to mind: good speed, a rocket of an arm, and immaculate defense to make an impossible play look possible. The problem is Grisham has none of those anymore. He used to create web gems every week, but now has regressed into a liability in the outfield.

The 29-year-old is a much bigger factor than fans think in why the Yankees play a bad defensive game. This is because Grisham is the worst center fielder by defensive metrics in all of baseball. He has both the worst Outs Above Average (-5) and Fielding Run Value (-3). His Defensive Runs Saved sits at a putrid -7. Grisham’s defense isn’t smooth; instead, it’s lazy and poor.

A big part of these defensive woes has been the extent to which his speed has regressed. Five seasons ago, he was in the 91st percentile of Sprint Speed; now he has fallen to the 30th percentile. This has made him the slowest center fielder in the league by far. He and first baseman Nick Kurtz both possess the same sprint speed. Imagine Kurtz patrolling center field; it would be a nightmare.

The Yankees hold on to the notion that he is a Gold Glove center fielder, even though he is not anymore. Now Grisham is costing this team runs at a time when they can’t give up extra outs with all the injuries.

Costing the Yankees Big Time

In the Yankees’ recent homestand, Grisham looked horrific in center. Balls hit over his head and in front of him that should have been caught have not. This has led to giving up unnecessary runs, putting the team in a hole. In the St. Louis Cardinals series, he contributed to blowing the Yankees’ seven-run comeback by allowing a triple with a 95% catch probability that turned into a seven-run inning.

Later in that series, Grisham had the same issue where he couldn’t get to the ball over his head in time, which led to the go-ahead runs scoring. In the next series, when the Atlanta Braves came into the Bronx, Grisham had another blunder on a ball this time in front of him that an average fielding center fielder makes a play on. The ball had a 75% catch probability but him being the slowest center fielder just gives him no chance to make what should be and easy play.

The worst of Grisham got exposed to fans on Wednesday night against the Seattle Mariners. A bloop to center field landed between him and shortstop George Lombard Jr. The play had a 99% chance of being caught by Grisham but instead became a double for Seattle. Luckily, the runner didn’t come in to score, but it’s the fact that all this has happened over one homestand should be plenty to consider moving him to right or left field.

His recent hamstring injury may have something to do with this, but the Yankees have all the same information showing that he isn’t a center fielder anymore. Each game exposes that Grisham isn’t the natural fit that the Yankees think he is. Fortunately, they have a solution.

There Solution is Right Infront of Them

The basics of baseball tell fans that your team’s center fielder should be fast. The Yankee mentality, though, has their fastest outfielder playing the corners.

Spencer Jones should be the full-time center fielder until the team is back to healthy. Jones isn’t just the fastest outfielder but the fastest player on the team. His 29.2 feet per second puts him in the 93rd percentile of Sprint Speed. With Grisham having trouble going forward and backward on balls, Jones’s speed advantage can limit extra bases.

Jones has come up through the farm system as a center fielder. He has logged almost 3,000 innings playing center in the minors. He is plenty qualified to slide in, but Grisham hasn’t played any left or right field since 2019. The last time he was in right, the ball went under his glove during the National League Wild Card game that let the winning runs score and the Brewers’ season to end.

During all the time Grisham was a backup in 2024, the Yankees never experimented with him in left or right field. While Grisham is to blame for the defensive blunders, the Yankees’ front office doesn’t get off scot-free for any of this.

It’s bizarre that the team doesn’t try new things out. They keep doing the same thing over and over, hoping it works out. The Yankees put themselves in this situation and now have to figure out how to fix it.

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