NEW YORK — The Yankees have spent the final week of the regular season trying to answer a question they hoped would have disappeared months ago.
Who should play third base when the postseason begins?
Ryan McMahon once seemed to have the safest claim because his glove could absorb a weak offensive season. That advantage has narrowed. Jose Caballero has received starts at third. Anthony Volpe took grounders there before Wednesday’s game. Aaron Boone has said he wants Volpe to get additional work at the position before the regular season ends.
The Yankees still have not removed McMahon from their October plans. Boone has continued to defend him publicly, especially on defense, even as the numbers have become harder to ignore.
Through Tuesday, McMahon was hitting .206 with a .274 on-base percentage and .341 slugging percentage. He had gone 1-for-17 over his previous six games. His .614 OPS ranked 224th among 232 major leaguers with at least 350 plate appearances, while his .518 OPS against left-handed pitching presented an obvious matchup problem for October.
The defensive case has weakened, too. FanGraphs credited McMahon with 10 Defensive Runs Saved last season but minus-2 this year. Statcast had him at seven Outs Above Average in 2025 and one at third base this season.
New York entered Thursday at 91-67 and locked into the American League’s No. 4 seed. The Yankees will host a wild-card series beginning Sept. 29, turning the remaining regular-season games into auditions as much as contests.
Wednesday’s 9-2 win over the AL East champion Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium offered another test. The Yankees broke the game open in a five-run third inning, while Gerrit Cole earned the win with 5 2/3 innings and eight strikeouts. Tampa Bay used Mason Englert, recalled from Triple-A Durham for a spot start after clinching the division, and he took the loss.
The Yankees are therefore weighing more than late-season results. They have to decide which performances can translate against postseason pitching and which could become a one-game trap.
One game produced 12.5% of McMahon’s season RBI total
Wednesday’s outburst was valuable precisely because it has been so rare.
McMahon’s five RBIs raised his season total to 40. In other words, 12.5% of his RBI production this year came in one game. His updated line is .210/.276/.352 across 356 plate appearances with 11 homers, 40 RBIs and 32 runs.
The opponent also matters. Tampa Bay called up Englert after clinching the AL East to give its regular starters extra rest. He allowed eight runs, nine hits and four homers in 3 2/3 innings and finished the night with a 5.95 ERA.
McMahon punished the pitcher in front of him. That counts. It does not recreate the conditions the Yankees are likely to face next week.
Boone’s faith now competes with Yankees’ alternatives
Boone backed McMahon before the breakout and made clear that he still trusts the veteran at third base.
“Defensively, I have tremendous faith in him moving forward,” Boone said.
Yet the Yankees are simultaneously building alternatives. Caballero started at third in two of the previous three games, and Volpe’s work there added another possibility.
Caballero has an 86 wRC+ and .666 OPS, so he is not an offensive solution. His speed, however, gives the roster a dimension McMahon does not. Volpe has only three Triple-A games at third this season, making him a less-tested option.
The issue is no longer whether McMahon has the talent to produce one big game. Wednesday answered that.
McMahon finally delivers swing and message for Yankees
McMahon then produced his loudest answer of the season.
He went 2-for-4 with five RBIs, lining a two-out RBI single in the second inning before launching a third-inning grand slam off Englert. The slam made it 7-0 and was McMahon’s first homer since Aug. 3 and only his second since mid-July.
Afterward, McMahon acknowledged both his difficult season and what he is trying to prove before October.
“This game’s tough, man. I don’t think I had my best game for a lot of the season. Just trying to figure it out and be a good player for the team in the postseason,” McMahon said.
That was the message the Yankees wanted to hear. McMahon believes he can still help when the games become elimination games.
The harder question is whether one night should change the club’s roster calculation.
Grand slam buys McMahon another look, not a berth
McMahon’s timing could hardly have been better.
With his role shrinking and the Yankees testing other third basemen, he delivered the type of swing Boone has been waiting for. It changed the game and reminded the club that McMahon still has enough power to alter a postseason inning.
But the Yankees have a much larger sample to weigh.
McMahon has struggled for most of the season, especially against left-handed pitching. His defensive metrics have declined. His grand slam came against a Triple-A recall used as a spot starter while Tampa Bay shifted toward postseason rest.
The Yankees can treat Wednesday as evidence that McMahon is still capable of helping them. Treating it as evidence that his season-long problems are solved would require far more.
With the wild-card roster due soon, McMahon has bought himself another opportunity. He has not made the third-base decision disappear.
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