NEW YORK — The label arrived in November and stuck through February. The New York Yankees were “running it back.” They did not pursue any major free agent starter. They did not swing a headline trade. They brought back the core that went to the World Series and quietly filled the edges of the roster.
People who cover baseball were skeptical. Fans were divided. The phrase carried a hint of complacency, of a franchise willing to coast on recent momentum rather than push for something more.
One week into the 2026 season, the Yankees are 5-1. Their pitching staff has a 1.01 ERA. And the questions that defined the winter are getting answered one game at a time.
What the Yankees actually did this offseason
The Yankees’ primary offseason moves centered on re-signing their own players. Cody Bellinger returned. Trent Grisham accepted the qualifying offer at $22.05 million. Ryan Yarbrough, Paul Goldschmidt, Amed Rosario and Paul Blackburn were all brought back in various capacities.
The one external acquisition that drew attention was the trade with the Miami Marlins for left-hander Ryan Weathers. The Yankees deal was not a blockbuster. Weathers is young, has a live arm and fits a Yankees organizational philosophy of accumulating pitching depth that can develop under Matt Blake.
In his first start of 2026, Weathers went 4.1 innings against the Seattle Mariners, allowing one run on six hits while striking out seven. The Yankees lost that game, their only defeat in the first six. Weathers did not look bad. He looked like what the Yankees hoped he could be: a back-end starter with the stuff to beat good lineups on a given day.
That trade now looks smarter than it did in December, especially given that Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon are both unavailable to start the season and Clarke Schmidt is also sidelined. The Yankees needed Weathers to be ready. He was.
A starting rotation performing at a level nobody forecast
Through six games, four Yankees starters combined to allow just two earned runs. The rotation posted a 0.53 ERA and a 0.68 WHIP, striking out 35 in 33 and two-thirds innings. The Yankees permitted three total runs as a full staff through five games, tying the 1943 St. Louis Cardinals for the fewest by any team through that span. Three shutouts in the first five games matched the 2002 Yankees and placed this club in company with just four other teams since 2000.
Manager Aaron Boone did not reach for extra words when asked about it.
“I mean, what a week of pitching,” he said.
Max Fried threw 13.1 scoreless innings across his first two starts. Cam Schlittler was the story of Wednesday’s 5-3 win over Seattle, throwing 6.1 scoreless innings on two hits with seven strikeouts. Schlittler has not allowed a run in two starts and is carrying a 51.5 percent whiff rate on his four-seamer.
Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller captured how complete the performance has been.
“Max Fried is right there with Schlittler, though, tossing 13.1 scoreless innings across his pair of quality starts. Jake Bird, Tim Hill and Brent Headrick have each worked exactly 3.1 innings in relief without allowing a run. And both Camilo Doval and David Bednar had been flawless in their high-leverage roles until Wednesday afternoon.”
The next closest team ERA through six games belonged to the Atlanta Braves at 2.00. The Yankees were more than a full run ahead of every other staff in baseball.
Yankees are the team to beat
ESPN’s Jeff Passan has been among the national voices most vocal about what the Yankees have built. When he appeared on the Blair and Barker Show on Sportsnet 590 The FAN this week, his message was direct.
“The Yankees look like the team to beat in the American League East right now. And that’s no disrespect intended to the Blue Jays. The Yankees pitching right now, they’re doing this without Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon,” Passan said.
He pointed out the Yankees had surrendered just six runs across their first six games and singled out Fried as the team’s current best arm.
Passan also issued a warning to the rest of the American League about what is still coming. “You eventually add Cole and Rodon to that rotation, you just got a surfeit of pitching otherwise,” he said.
Passan had defended the Yankees’ offseason approach before the season as well, pushing back on the “running it back” criticism on ESPN New York.
“There are worse things than running back a 95-win team that has arguably the best starting pitching in baseball and scored more runs than anybody last year,” Passan said at the time.
The first week of 2026 has given those words more weight.
Cole is expected back around May. When that happens, the Yankees rotation could feature Cole alongside Fried, Schlittler, Weathers and eventually Rodon. Passan also flagged that pitching prospect Carlos Lagrange, the organization’s No. 2 prospect, is expected to arrive in the Yankees bullpen in the second half of the season.
Ben Rice answering first base questions in real time
The most scrutinized non-pitching question entering 2026 was whether Ben Rice could hold down first base every day. The Yankees were all in on him as their starter, with Goldschmidt limited to starts against left-handers.
Rice went 7-for-17 through his first five games, with three doubles, a home run, six runs scored and five RBI. He reached base in each of those starts. His walk rate climbed and his strikeout rate dropped. An American League scout noted Rice had not been lifting the ball much, a sign his approach at the plate has tightened.
Rice’s 2025 expected numbers were stronger than the results he posted, meaning some of last season’s disappointment was bad luck. The early 2026 numbers suggest he is cashing in on that expected production now.
“I’d be more worried about his glove if I didn’t think he could be such a threat at the plate, but he keeps getting better,” the AL scout said. “And I think he can at least be average defensively. If he’s hitting like he’s been the past year or so, you’ll live with some hiccups on defense.”
Bullpen depth holding through the first week
The Yankees entered 2026 with real questions about the bridge to David Bednar. Through the first week, Doval, Bird, Hill and Headrick each logged at least three scoreless outings. Doval’s first stumble came in the Seattle series finale, but his first three appearances showed the heavy sinker the Yankees acquired him to deploy.
A National League scout offered a measured take on the closer situation.
“I like his guts, but Bednar in a big spot would still make me nervous,” the scout said. The early numbers, however, suggest the bullpen structure is functional heading into the home opener.
Where the Yankees still have real problems
Not everything has gone well. Ryan McMahon, brought in from Colorado at last year’s deadline for his glove, is 1-for-15 with seven strikeouts through six games. His offseason swing adjustments have not produced visible results at the plate.
Anthony Volpe is still recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. Jose Caballero and Amed Rosario are covering the left side of the infield as stopgaps. When Volpe returns, he will need to show his defensive inconsistencies from 2025 are behind him.
The Yankees ran it back because they believed in what they had. One week in, the pitching staff is validating that belief loudly. Jeff Passan called them the team to beat. The standings agree.
What do you think? Can the Yankees sutain the momentum?
