It's time to face the facts when it comes to New York Yankees outfielder Trent Grisham.
New York Yankees outfielder Trent Grisham has certainly not gotten off to the brightest of starts in the 2026 MLB campaign.
Grisham is slashing just .145/.303/.290 thus far. Yes, he does have a couple of home runs and 11 RBI, but his .593 OPS is not cutting it. Neither is his clear defensive decline in center field.
Yes, it's still very early in the season, and sample size obviously matters. It would be ridiculous to throw in the towel on a player three weeks into the year.
But when it comes to Grisham, it's important to remember who he is.
I keep seeing all of this talk about how Grisham's underlying metrics look good and how he is bound for a breakout soon. But is he really?
Grisham has been in the major leagues since 2019. Throughout that time, he has amassed a .216/.320/.397 slash line. That is hardly what you want from your leadoff hitter, which is where Grisham is batting for the Yankees.
It's also important to remember that prior to Grisham's breakout campaign in 2025, he had batted under .200 three years in a row.
Sure, Grisham smashed 34 homers last season, but it's entirely possible that that was an outlier, especially considering he had topped out at 17 long balls beforehand.
New York Yankees outfielder Trent Grisham. Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images.Oh, and over 109 career playoff plate appearances, Grisham has slashed .160/.275/.287. So even though he has hit some big regular-season home runs, this idea that he has the "clutch gene" is nonsense.
Again, I'm not completely writing off Grisham. There is still ample time for him to bounce back in 2026, and he is hardly the only New York player struggling. But this constant optimism (you might even want to call it homerism) surrounding Grisham is starting to become worthy of an eye roll.
It sounds an awful lot like the daily "Austin Wells is about to break out" assertions, even though it's becoming more and more clear that this is just who Wells is as a hitter.
The Yankees re-signed Grisham on a $22 million qualifying offer, an indication that they don't trust either Jasson Dominguez nor Spencer Jones. But it was an awful lot of money to pay for a guy who has really only had one very good season.
Plus, Grisham's defensive downturn was very obvious last season, and it has continued into this year.
Grisham was undoubtedly a fun story in 2025, but it's looking like the 29-year-old has come back down to earth.
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