The Yankees’ June has had plenty of obvious storylines, but some of their most important production has come from places that do not always get the loudest attention.
A few guys have been stacking quality at-bats. A few have stabilized the bullpen. One veteran has been so good that even calling him “quietly” feels unfair.
Here are five Yankees crushing June.
Anthony Volpe: The At-Bats Are Starting to Add Up
Anthony Volpe’s month has started to look a lot different.
Volpe is batting .276 with a .354 OBP in June, but the recent trend is even better than the overall line. He has recorded multiple hits in five of his last nine games since June 14, including back-to-back multi-hit games in Detroit.
He also went on a season-high on-base streak that stretched through June 23, his longest since a 10-game streak last season. During that run, Volpe hit .441/.525/.559 with 15 hits, six runs, two doubles, one triple, five RBI, six walks and two stolen bases.
That is the version of Volpe the Yankees need.
He does not have to be the loudest bat in the lineup. He just has to lengthen it. When he is reaching base, stealing bags, putting together competitive at-bats and finding ways to drive in runs, the Yankees become much harder to pitch through.
David Bednar: The Ninth Inning Has Settled Down
David Bednar has quietly turned the back end of the Yankees’ bullpen into a much calmer place.
Bednar recorded his 15th save of the year Tuesday at Detroit, throwing 1.1 perfect innings and stranding an inherited runner after entering in the eighth. He has not allowed a run over his last 11 appearances since May 22, covering 11 scoreless innings.
Over that stretch, opponents are hitting just .108 against him.
That is exactly what the Yankees needed. Bednar has converted each of his last four save opportunities, and among Major League relievers, he is near the top of the league in saves and save percentage.
Bednar has become the Yankees’ quiet door-slammer, closing games without becoming the headline, and that is exactly what he and this team needed.
Brent Headrick: The Inherited Runner Eraser
Brent Headrick’s work might be the easiest to overlook, but it has been some of the most important on the staff.
Headrick tossed 1.2 scoreless innings Tuesday at Detroit and has gone 1-0 with a 0.61 ERA over his last 16 appearances since May 19. In that span, he has struck out 13 and stranded all 10 inherited runners.
For the season, Headrick is 4-1 with a 1.66 ERA and 39 strikeouts across 39 relief outings. He has not allowed a run in 32 of those appearances, which is tied for the second-most scoreless relief outings in MLB.
He has also stranded 24 of 27 inherited runners this season. His 11.1 percent inherited-runners-scored rate is among the best in baseball.
Every bullpen needs someone who can enter when an inning is already getting away. Headrick has become that guy for the Yankees.
Fernando Cruz: The Spark Plug With Swing-and-Miss Stuff
Fernando Cruz does not exactly pitch quietly.
He brings emotion and a visible edge that can jolt a team, especially in the middle innings when games can start to drift. For a Yankees bullpen that has needed different arms to own different lanes, Cruz has become one of the most important tone-setters.
The numbers back it up.
Cruz is 4-2 with one save, a 2.08 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 39 relief appearances this season. He has not allowed a run in 31 of those games and has recorded at least one strikeout in 24 appearances, including 14 games with multiple punchouts.
That has continued in June. Since June 1, Cruz is 1-1 with one save, a 1.80 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 10 appearances. He has held opponents scoreless in nine of those outings and has punched out multiple batters in four of them.
He has also been especially tough on left-handed hitters, holding them to a .140 batting average.
But Cruz’s value goes beyond the strikeouts. He has stranded 28 of 32 inherited runners this season, and over his last 27 outings since April 25, he has allowed just one of 24 inherited runners to score. In that same stretch, he owns a 1.37 ERA with 33 strikeouts in 26.1 innings.
Cruz made his 39th appearance Thursday in Detroit, entering in the seventh and stranding an inherited runner. That has become a theme for him: come in, bring the emotion, get the punchout, stop the inning from spiraling.
Paul Goldschmidt: Not Quiet in the Bronx, But Maybe Still Too Quiet Around the League
This one is not exactly a secret to Yankees fans.
But around the league? It still might not be loud enough.
Paul Goldschmidt is 38 years old, the oldest active position player in Major League Baseball, and he is putting together the kind of June that would have anyone firmly in the American League All-Star starter conversation.
In June, Goldschmidt is batting .346/.357/.667 with 28 hits, 20 RBI, one stolen base, two walks and eight home runs. Over the last 30 days, he ranks third in MLB with nine home runs, is tied for second with 25 RBI and is tied for seventh with 33 hits.
And the first-inning damage has become its own storyline. Goldschmidt has seven leadoff home runs this season and is batting .389/.389/1.111 in the first inning. He is setting the tone before the other team has even settled into the game.
Then came Wednesday in Detroit.
Facing reigning Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal, Goldschmidt hit two home runs. The last player to hit multiple homers off Skubal in a game? Paul Goldschmidt, back in 2021.
His work against left-handed pitching has been even more absurd. Against lefties, he ranks first in batting average at .405, first in on-base percentage at .488, first in slugging at .784 and first in OPS at 1.272. He is also tied for fifth in home runs against left-handed pitchers with seven.
Goldschmidt was brought in to help stabilize the Yankees, provide veteran presence, add right-handed thump and lengthen a lineup that needed exactly that. He has done all of it. But he has also done more than simply play a part. He has become one of the Yankees’ most important bats.
There was a version of this signing that could have been described as insurance. A veteran safety net. Just a standard depth move.
Instead, Goldschmidt is making Brian Cashman’s front office look like a fortune-telling mastermind.
And if the MLB All-Star Game is supposed to reward performance, not assumptions, Paul Goldschmidt deserves to start for the American League.
