Yankees at the All-Star break: Three takeaways from the first half

1. The Yankees need roster additions.

This is neither a surprise nor a secret. For weeks it has been anything but the latter in the industry when it comes to the Yankees and their needs before the July 30 trade deadline. Internally it has been apparent for a while that the Yankees likely would be in the market for an upgrade or two in the bullpen to give Aaron Boone another lockdown arm(s) in his dwindling Circle of Trust, as well as another corner infield bat, maybe two.

That thought percolated organizationally before veteran first baseman Anthony Rizzo was lost for at least two months in mid-June with a right forearm fracture. Rookie Ben Rice has been a revelation since his June promotion, playing his way into everyday-first-baseman status, something that surprised plenty in the organization. But not Rice.

The 25-year-old Dartmouth product carries himself with an easy confidence in the clubhouse that has impressed and endeared him to veteran teammates. And that goes back to the three weeks Rice spent in spring training with the big-league club. Rice, as general manager Brian Cashman has said over the years of players or coaches he likes, “checks all the boxes.” But impressive as his six homers in 24 games has been, as well as other trending-positive traits, it has been just that: 24 games. Following his three-homer game against the Red Sox, for instance, Rice went 2-for-27, an indication that 24 games is far too small a sample size to make any concrete predictions on him. Good or bad.

A corner bat means third base, too, where DJ LeMahieu, as admired a teammate as there is in the clubhouse, has shown very few signs of a rebound from 2023. Getting protection at this position is a possibility.

And though it’s not near the top of the priority list, acquiring starting pitching depth can never be ruled out. The Yankees don’t have nearly as deep a farm system as they think they do, at least not according to a half-dozen scouts assigned the Yankees’ system top-to-bottom. But according to those same scouts, the Yankees have enough desired pieces to get just about any kind of deal done. It depends, as always, on what Cashman and to a large extent managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner — super-protective of prospects — are willing to part with.

2. The Yankees still don’t know exactly what they have in Anthony Volpe.

And that, by the way, is OK. Volpe, the Yankees' first-round pick in 2019, who won the 2023 starting shortstop battle in spring training over Oswald Peraza, turned 23 in April. That’s it. He’s 23. Volpe by any objective measure, had a successful rookie season, winning the AL Gold Glove and hitting 21 homers. Despite Sunday’s costly error that had Volpe looking dispirited and shellshocked afterward, he has been even better on defense this season and has a chance to win the award again.

Volpe, who projects a do-anything-to-win vibe to his teammates, was an instant hit in the clubhouse as a rookie, mentored early on by Aaron Judge in particular. He seamlessly was absorbed into the clubhouse. But all of the above positive attributes — and there are many more, just ask anyone in the traveling party — doesn’t mean the question of exactly what Volpe will be isn’t valid or fair.

The hit-it-to-all-fields-with-mature-plate-discipline hitter Volpe was during his short climb through the minors was rarely seen in 2023, as he hit .209 with a .666 OPS and 167 strikeouts in 541 at-bats. There were some slight offseason swing adjustments, and an electric spring training and then start to the regular season followed. But Volpe has been in an extended slump since June 6, slashing .169/.201/.223. A number of scouts have recently commented on seeing the return of some bad habits from 2023 like becoming pull-happy and chasing exit velocity. Overall? Still far more good than not. A year-and-a-half, no matter how many may want it to be the case, remains too soon to make career proclamations on the vast majority of players. There are many more signs than not that Volpe will develop into an All-Star. But it’s equally fair to say he isn’t there yet.

3. Juan Soto and Aaron Judge: as advertised.

Cashman was forever burned on his “legendary bat speed” comment regarding Clint Frazier, a headline trade deadline acquisition in 2016 whose Yankees career, for a variety of reasons, never took off. Last winter’s “transformational bat” superlative uttered by Cashman when it came to the addition of Juan Soto to the lineup, will age much better. The thought from many in the industry from the time the Yankees dealt for Soto last December, was that pairing the lefty-hitting outfielder — a World Series winner at age 20 and a four-time All-Star at 25 — with an in-his-prime Aaron Judge, had the potential to result in a historical one-two punch season.

“It almost isn’t fair,” one bench coach said in the spring, shaking his head. “Imagine those two penciled in every day, what that could look like at the end of the season.”

Or seasons to come, depending what the free-agent-to-be Soto decides in the offseason. The Yankees will be aggressive, but so, too, could others with big checkbooks such as Steve Cohen’s Mets, for example. An in-season extension isn’t happening, so Yankees fans should focus on, and simply enjoy, the franchise’s best single-season back-to-back lineup duo since Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle. Soto, battling a right hand issue the last two weeks and in his first prolonged slump before that, is still hitting .295 with 23 homers, 66 RBIs and a .985 OPS through 94 games.

As for Judge, his numbers at the All-Star break — .306 average with an MLB-leading 34 homers, 85 RBIs and a 1.112 OPS — would be remarkable in any circumstance, let alone taking into account that on May 2, he was hitting .197 with six homers, 18 RBIs and a .725 OPS. Soto heard “MVP!” chants throughout the first month of the season at Yankee Stadium. Those chants later carried over to Judge, as the centerfielder started an astounding two-plus month run. By the end of May there was a reasonable debate of who was the team MVP. But by the end of June, as consistent as Soto has been, Judge had put that first-half question to rest.