The Yankees Offense is Doing One Thing Better Than the Rest of the League
Giancarlo Stanton was a part of the run procession that saw the New York Yankees blow out the Houston Astros in game one of their series. When he went down, the team didn't miss a beat, though. They continued to pile on, and game two was much of the same.
Unlike in past years, when the Yankees were built top-heavy, they have received contributions from up and down the lineup over the last two seasons. It isn't one or two hitters that need to be on at all times. This dismantling of the Astros in their own home ballpark was a team effort, and the reason was nothing new.
For Houston, it was death by a thousand walks. It was ten in total in that second game, with double-digit nights from Trent Grisham, Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, and Austin Wells. The surging Jazz Chisholm Jr. had one too.
Leading the league
The Astros have one of the worst staffs in baseball, and the Yankees were able to take advantage of that in a big way. If you give the them a free pass, they'll take it. They currently lead baseball with a 12.9% walk rate. The Brewers are second with 12.3%.
In the first two games, the Yankees have 16 walks. It shouldn't surprise anybody that that is the most in baseball during this two-game stretch.
At this juncture, the team's weak links are probably Wells and Ryan McMahon. Even they get on base at high rates.
Wells has an 18.8% walk rate. That is in the 96th percentile. McMahon's 14.7% walk rate puts him in the 85th percentile.
A slow burn in Houston
Before the game got out of hand, the Yankees were able to cash in on those free passes, and the first such instance came in the 7th. At that point, the game was 3-2.
Grisham walked, and even though Jose Caballero had been caught stealing again, Rice's single moved Grisham to second. After that, Judge walked. With the bases loaded, Bellinger walked on a 3-2 count, taking some close pitches. That six-pitch exchange brought the score to 4-2.
Chisholm walked after Bellinger. Those pitches were not close, and the next free pass with the bases loaded brought the score to 5-2.
In the 8th, the walk train kept moving. Wells walked. That was followed by a Ryan McMahon single, which was then proceeded by another Grisham walk.
With the bases juiced for the second time, the next run came on a Rice flyout that looked like it was headed for the seats. Unfortunately, it was hit to the deepest part of the park. Rice's rocket died at the warning track, and McMahon was able to tag up.
Yankees add three runs to their lead and it now lead it 6-2 a Cody Bellinger (RBI walk, T7th), Jazz Chisholm Jr. (RBI walk, T7th), and on a sacrifice fly by Ben Rice in the T8th!#YankeeSource#NewYorkYankees#Yankees#RepBX#ysrs26pic.twitter.com/VrndCN2DBb
- Yankee Source (@_yankeesource) April 26, 2026
Those walks hurt the Astros' pitching again in the 9th. The Yankees kicked off the top of the inning with Bellinger getting on base in five pitches. He only saw one strike that at-bat. An Amed Rosario single moved him to third, and a Wells single drove Bellinger in. A McMahon single ended up plating Rosario.
Manager Aaron Boone remarked on the team's collective eye at the plate. To him, that was the key to their win over Houston on the road.
"Patience was the difference tonight," Boone said, according to NJ.com's Randy Miller. "Just really good at-bats, deep counts, really good takes in walking situations. It was just a lot of outstanding at-bats."
This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/yankees/onsi as The Yankees Offense is Doing One Thing Better Than the Rest of the League.
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