TAMPA, Fla. — The New York Yankees signed Cody Bellinger to a five-year, $162.5 million contract in January to keep him at the center of their championship push. Five weeks later, the 30-year-old outfielder is sitting out games with a back problem that has become a familiar refrain.
Bellinger missed two straight spring training games last weekend after his back flared up on Feb. 28. He sat out Saturday’s win over the Phillies and Sunday’s game against the Blue Jays. While the Yankees are calling it minor, the timing has raised eyebrows across the fan base and the front office alike.
For a team that already has Anthony Volpe, Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon on the injured list heading into the season, any health concern involving their biggest offseason investment carries weight. The Yankees are built to contend right now. They cannot afford to manage around their $162 million outfielder for long stretches.
Boone downplays the setback but Bellinger has a history
Yankees manager Aaron Boone addressed the situation after Saturday’s game. He described Bellinger’s back as having “went out on him a little bit,” and compared it to a similar episode from early in the 2025 season. Boone said the trainers were not overly concerned.
“We don’t think it’s anything. The trainers aren’t too concerned about it,” Boone said. “This is something that crops up on him every now and then, usually sometime in the spring or earlier in the year.”
The plan, as of Sunday, was for Bellinger to take live batting practice on Tuesday and return to game action by Thursday. But the fact that this keeps happening is what makes it more than a one-day story.
Bellinger himself tried to ease the concern.
“It’s honestly very mild,” Bellinger told the New York Post’s Greg Joyce on Sunday. “Just ramping up activity and it just tightened up on me a little bit. Really nothing serious.”
The $162.5 million question for the Yankees
Before his back acted up, Bellinger had been one of the most active Yankees in early spring work. He played in the team’s first exhibition against the Blue Jays on Feb. 24 in Dunedin and singled in that game. He skipped the WBC entirely, telling reporters in January that he owed it to the Steinbrenner family and the organization to focus on the regular season.
“Don’t think this year is the year,” Bellinger said of the World Baseball Classic. “Getting the free agent and going into spring training, you just want to focus at the task at hand. And I owe it to the Steinbrenner family and the Yankee organization to go and give my best foot forward and try and win a championship.”
That loyalty is admirable. But it also puts a spotlight on what happens when the player you paid $162.5 million is already managing a recurring physical issue before the first pitch of the regular season.
Bellinger played 152 games last year, his highest total since his 2019 NL MVP campaign with the Dodgers. He hit .272 with 29 home runs and a .813 OPS while playing all three outfield spots and first base. The Yankees need that version of Bellinger over 150-plus games again. His contract counts $48 million against the luxury tax in Year 1 because of how the opt-outs and signing bonus are structured. That is a massive number for a player whose body has a track record of breaking down.
Between 2020 and 2022, Bellinger hit just .203 with a .648 OPS across 295 games. A shoulder injury suffered during the 2020 NLCS celebration set off years of decline. He rebuilt his career with the Cubs in 2023 and carried that momentum to the Bronx. But the back issues are a reminder that durability is never guaranteed with him.
Roster ripple effects if Bellinger misses time
If Bellinger needs to be managed carefully, the Yankees have options but none that replicate his production. Jasson Dominguez could step into left field on a more regular basis. The 23-year-old has electric tools but struggled against left-handed pitching last year, posting a .569 OPS from the right side. Spencer Jones, the team’s top outfield prospect, is not yet on the 40-man roster.
Boone has always valued Bellinger’s versatility. He can play left field, center, right and first base. Losing that kind of flexibility would force the Yankees to juggle their lineup more often, which creates a domino effect across the roster.
“Belli is that true, versatile player that can go be really successful all over the diamond,” Boone said earlier this spring. “So we’ll see how everything plays out. The reality is, we have a lot of really good players. And Jasson and Spencer are part of that.”
The AL East is not a division where the Yankees can afford to coast. The Blue Jays, who bounced New York from the playoffs last October, added Dylan Cease and other pieces this winter. General manager Brian Cashman acknowledged as much when discussing the offseason strategy.
“Our division is the best in baseball,” Cashman said. “One series, make or break, is not going to define what we think our capabilities are.”
Why the next few weeks matter for the Yankees
Opening Day is March 25 in San Francisco. Bellinger has roughly three weeks to get fully right and build up his at-bats. He said he expects to be fine by then and there is no reason to doubt him at this point. The issue is not this one episode. It is the pattern.
A 30-year-old with a history of back trouble, shoulder problems and a brutal three-year stretch of decline does not get the benefit of the doubt from fans or analysts. The Yankees signed him because his 2025 season proved he was back to being an impact player. But they also structured the deal with opt-outs after Years 2 and 3 for a reason. If Bellinger’s body does not cooperate, the team could be looking at a very expensive problem before the contract even hits its midpoint.
For now, Bellinger says it is nothing. Boone says it is nothing. The trainers say it is nothing. But the Yankees know better than most that spring training aches have a way of becoming regular-season headaches. This one is worth watching closely.
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