Yankees’ Bronx Bash Brothers Continue To Make History

Judge’s Verdict And Rice’s Serving

With their combined might, Judge and Rice have been laying down the law and serving it up. The two of them are the second pair of Yankees teammates to hit 10 or more home runs in the team’s first 29 games, something that only by Yogi Berra and Mickey Mantle accomplished (1956).

Historic starts to the Major League Baseball campaign are nothing new for Aaron Judge, but it’s even more special for Rice, a Dartmouth graduate who was drafted 363rd overall in 2021. In the case of New York’s captain, though, Judge is relieved that he’s produced a .288/.432/.814 slash line in his last 17 games. Prior to that, the future Hall of Famer was hitting .212 with a .721 OPS.

On the other hand, Ben Rice swung a scorching hot bat for the entirety of March/April. Rice’s 1.7 fWAR is second-best, behind only Yordan Alvarez. Rice also ranks second in wRC+, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS.

It also helps when extraordinary teammates can share some laughs and poke fun at one another. In a postgame interview with the YES Network, Rice playfully quipped, “I’m just trying to keep him honest; keep him motivated. He’s getting a little complacent”. Rice gleefully winked as he spoke ebulliently of his revered teammate and friend.

Yankees Are Atop American League

History is kind to big league ball clubs that are in first place on May 1. Since 1996 — the first full season with at least one Wild Card in each league after the 144-game 1995 season — 88 of 174 eventual division champions held at least a share of their division lead entering May 1. That’s 51 percent of division winners.

To add to the voraciousness of Yankees fans even more – since 1996, 18 of the 29 World Series winners, excluding 2020, led their divisions entering May.

At 20-11 with a .645 winning percentage, baseball’s gold standard franchise owns first place in the American League east, and the best overall mark in the American League. Their +47 run differential is bested only by the MLB-best Atlanta Braves and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Bronx Is Burgeoning

The Yankees are coming off a 7-2 road trip in which they swept their arch rival Boston Red Sox and took two of three from both the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers. Young flamethrower Cam Schlittler, who currently has the second-best ERA and lowest FIP in the big leagues, broke Boston. Shortly after their easy decimation of their nemesis, Boston fired manager Alex Cora and most of the coaching staff.

Max Fried and Will Warren both rank eighth and 11th in FIP themselves. Even without Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón – both of whom are returning soon – the Bombers’ rotation has been the finest in the majors. They’re first in ERA, FIP, fWAR, and WHIP; the Yankees are listed second in average against, walk rate, and strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Being gifted with the opportunity to face another anemic batting order is just what New York’s stable of starting arms wanted, too. The Baltimore Orioles are in town this weekend, and they’ll be up against Warren, Ryan Weathers, Fried, and Schlittler. Good luck to the O’s.

It’s not just the rotation and terrific tandem getting it done for the Yankees, either.

Shortstop José Caballero’s 12 stolen bases trails only Nasim Nuñez of the Washington Nationals, although he will unfortunately be usurped by the imminent return of Anthony Volpe.

Amed Rosario has generated clutch home runs and an .830 OPS off the bench. Relievers Tim Hill and Brent Headrick are perhaps the best one-two punch of any bullpen right now.

End Of My Yankees Rant

Aaron Judge and Ben Rice are responsible for their team’s blistering beginning to 2026; the Yankees are on pace for 104 wins, their most in a season since 1998. Fans are cognizant of the ’98 squad’s status as the greatest baseball team ever assembled.

In no way though, of course, does that garner a comparison. It’s the first day of May, and there are 131 games remaining. Manager Aaron Boone needs to extract much more from Austin Wells, Jazz Chisholm, Ryan McMahon, and Trent Grisham. The bullpen is shambolic, outside of Hill and Headrick. The team is 3-6 in one-run games and only .500 in divisional contests.

Armed with a great chance to bury Baltimore and pad their lead in the AL East, the Yankees are cruising through the weakest part of their schedule right now, and it’s important to crush opponents that they’re supposed to easily defeat. That begins with a reeling Orioles team that hasn’t recovered from a moribund 2025 season.