Yankees Enjoy Competency At Third Base With Newcomer Ryan McMahon

Forbes

a day ago

New York Yankees' Ryan McMahon celebrates after his two-run double during the second inning of a ... More baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Sunday, July 27, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)
The Yankees began Friday with a .214 combined batting average from anyone playing third base through their first 102 games of uneven overall performances in a season where they won 35 of 55, lost six straight on two occasions, won five straight and lost seven of 10 entering the final Sunday before the trade deadline.
About three hours before the Yankees began their first home series following the All-Star break and coming off an ugly three-game series in Toronto, they announced a potential upgrade was looming in the form of Ryan McMahon for the price of sending two low-level pitchers to the Colorado Rockies.
McMahon had the easy logistics of getting from the Rockies to the Yankees. About an hour after the trade was announced, he got into a rideshare from Baltimore, likely sat in some traffic on I-95 and made it to Yankee Stadium where the Yankees were enduring a 12-5 loss to the Phillies.
His debut featured one hit and two strikeouts in an unsightly 9-4 loss best known for the Yankees losing Aaron Judge for about two weeks due to right elbow flexor strain. His second impression was a memorable one with two hits and three nice plays in the field after the Yankees were charged with 10 errors in their previous five games.
While McMahon is not going to be the massive slugger of a third baseman, he is capable of chipping into wins like he did Sunday -- which coincided with the one-year anniversary of the Yankees acquiring Jazz Chisholm Jr. and making him a third baseman for the first time in his career.
On Sunday, there was a nice swing with the bases loaded on a curveball by Zack Wheeler that wound up down the right field line for a two-run double in a four-run fourth and the hit preceded a leaping catch on Bryce Harper and a sliding stop on Trea Turner and those plays were made after he committed six errors and produced a .978 fielding percentage, his best at third base since a .979 mark in 113 games at third in 2021.
'Oh, man, it always feels good to come through with the stick,' McMahon said. 'We had that big inning. It was great. Stacked some really good at-bats, the guys in front of me loaded them up, and I put a good swing on it. You know, it's about aim sometimes.'
It led to some discussion about good defense for a change, especially after the Yankees gave up two hits that led to five runs immediately after committing errors in the previous two games.
'There's some real athleticism, he's explosive, he's got a good arm,' manager Aaron Boone said after his team improved to 15-18 in one-run games and 10-15 when not homering. 'And there's a real good clock, but also like a calmness that he plays the position well.'
'Hopefully they hit the ball at him because it seems like he's going to catch it every time,' Carlos Rodon said.
The Yankees do not need McMahon to be the anchor in the lineup but a contributor on both ends with a competent bat and dynamic glove. It remains to be seen how competent McMahon's bat will turn out since he struck out about 32 percent of the time and like many who ply their trade in Colorado perform differently on the road but they would certainly take anything close to the recent sample size of 11 games where McMahon is hitting .342.
'Honestly, just excited to do something to help the team,' McMahon said. 'Wins are important right now, so that's the angle. Happy to be doing some solid stuff out there.'
Now the Yankees need to go on a run where various players are talking about producing solid things like clutch hits and plays in the field with the hope they can chip into the deficit they face with the Blue Jays.
In the meantime, they can possibly feel some semblance of relief adding McMahon and Amed Rosario in a trade from the Washington Nationals can solve some of their infield woes in terms of production at the plate in an area that made it seem like a Yankee third baseman was an automatic out.