Surprising Slugger Has Been Major Contributor for Yankees Offense This Season

The New York Yankees have been led this season by their high-powered offense that has exceeded all expectations. However, while stars have performed, there have been some surprises as well.

Coming into the year, the Yankees were expected to still be one of the best teams in the league despite a challenging offseason.

New York went through a lot of roster turnover despite winning the American League Pennant in 2024.

Even though the team lost Juan Soto in free agency, the offense hasn’t skipped a beat in 2025.

While the performance of Aaron Judge has been a major reason for the success of the Yankees, he has had a lot of help too. One of which has been a massive surprise.

Which surprising player has stepped up so far?

Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report recently wrote about the performance of outfielder Trent Grisham, who has been a massive surprise so far for the Yankees.

“Aaron Judge's incredible start to the season has understandably generated all of the buzz. But more surprising than the six-time All-Star remaining the best hitter on the planet is the amount of production the Yankees have gotten out of their center fielder, not named Cody Bellinger.”

This winter, the addition of Cody Bellinger looked to be an excellent one for New York. As a former National League MVP and a left-handed batter, he was figured to be a perfect fit for Yankee Stadium.

However, the talented slugger has gotten off to a slow start in 2025. So far, he has slashed 205/.281/.359 with four home runs and 19 RBI. Even though the numbers from the talented outfielder haven’t been great, the Yankees have still received excellent production at the plate from an unlikely source in the outfield.

As somewhat of an afterthought in the Soto trade, Grisham has had an incredible start to the year. While he has always been a great defender as a two-time Gold Glove award winner, it has been his performance at the plate that has been exciting to watch.

So far, he has slashed .284/.370/.602 with nine home runs and 18 RBI.

These numbers are off the charts compared to what he has done throughout his career, and it could end up just being a great month and things will cool down.

However, if he is able to sustain it, Bellinger might end up seeing a little less playing time if he doesn’t turn it around.

Overall, it has been a shocking and amazing start to the campaign for Grisham at the plate. Hopefully, he can sustain this level of play and create a good problem of who to play in the outfield for Aaron Boone.