Trent Grisham’s Recent Struggles
After a scorching start to the season, Trent Grisham’s performance has taken a noticeable dip. Yet, Yankees manager Aaron Boone remains confident in the quality of Grisham’s batting, despite the disappointing results lately.
Initially, Grisham recorded a batting average of .294 and an OPS of 1.025 over 35 games, hitting 12 home runs, with 13 walks and 23 strikeouts. However, in the last 20 games leading up to Friday, he saw his batting average plummet to .155 and his OPS to .519, with only one home run, alongside 14 walks and 23 strikeouts.
“For me, it’s not much changed in his quality,” Boone said before the Yankees’ 9-6 win against the Red Sox. “In general, he’s been more patient at the plate, going deeper into counts rather than just chasing pitches.”
Grisham’s recent games reflected this philosophy. On Friday, he managed a 4-1 walk during the Yankees’ five-run first inning. The underlying statistics tend to back Boone’s assertions about Grisham. Before facing Walker Buhler on Friday, Grisham was in the 98th percentile for chase percentage and 89th percentile for barrel percentage, along with an 85th percentile walk rate.
Boone also compared Grisham’s situation to that of Ben Rice, noting how both hitters might be seeing their averages dip but are still delivering strong at-bats.
“Both have experienced a drop in average, but quality at-bats are still there,” Boone said.
On a different note, Devin Williams hit Jaren Duran with a 3-0 pitch during a clean nine-inning game on Friday, keeping everything else tight on the field.
In injury news, Luke Weaver has received a PRP injection for his hamstring issues, with promising early results. He threw on Thursday and continued on Friday, starting to make his arm active after landing on the injured list earlier this week. Although the Yankees haven’t officially confirmed the details of his injury, reports suggest a recovery timeline of four to six weeks. Boone mentioned, “He’s doing very well. He feels quite encouraged and optimistic about his recovery.”
Meanwhile, Giancarlo Stanton chose to stay in Tampa on Friday to engage in live hitting during full training, including some running activity. He could remain there over the weekend while waiting for further updates from the Yankees, with Boone suggesting that a rehab assignment might happen next week.
