Yankees’ post-Juan Soto offense is good -- with one lingering issue

You don’t have to talk to many folks in the Yankees clubhouse to hear whispered admissions that the team misses Juan Soto and wishes he were still around. Who wouldn’t feel that way after losing arguably the best left-handed hitter in the game, and a nice young man to boot?

But four games into the season, it is becoming evident that while the team thinks about its erstwhile mate, the 2025 lineup is dynamic, not to mention deeper and more athletic.

No roster is perfect, though, and the hole in this one popped up in the ninth inning of Tuesday’s 7-5 loss to Arizona.

Down 7-4 in the ninth inning and facing the D-backs’ left-handed closer A.J. Puk, manager Aaron Boone had already removed switch hitter Jasson Dominguez for outfield defense. That left three lefty hitters -- Austin Wells, Trent Grisham, and Ben Rice -- to face Puk. Switch hitter Oswaldo Cabrera, who is much better against righty pitching, was due up fourth.

Here is where the Yanks remain one threatening righty bat short. The two on the bench were Pablo Reyes and Oswald Peraza. After Rice homered to make it 7-5, Boone hit Reyes for Cabrera. Reyes lined the first pitch from Puk to center, ending the game.

The context that led to this moment:

-- The Yankees entered spring training without a full-time third baseman or high-end righty utility guy, in large part because they opted to exhaust their remaining budget at first base instead. The Paul Goldschmidt signing concluded the heavy lifting of a very busy and productive offseason.

-- All through spring training, the team scouted other camps for a righty bat, but the right player and deal did not materialize. They remain open to making this acquisition, but can’t create the player they need out of thin air; at the moment, this player doesn’t appear to exist.

-- Peraza entered camp with the chance to finally turn his potential to results and dazzle the Yankees. He could have become -- and still has the tools to be -- the righty bat about whom we’re talking. But he hit .160 in spring, and made the team in large part because he is out of minor league options and the Yanks aren’t quite ready to lose him on waivers.

-- Peraza’s lackluster spring left Reyes as Boone’s choice to hit for Cabrera on Tuesday.

Now, a few potential solutions to this problem:

-- Dominguez could improve his defense to the point where Boone is eventually comfortable forgoing the defensive replacement. Had this been the case on Tuesday, he would have batted in the ninth instead of Grisham.

-- Dominguez could also improve from the right side. At present he is a switch hitter who is significantly better from the left side. His continued development could at some point give the Yankees another righty bat.

-- Peraza could step up. Time is running out there.

-- An appealing trade could somehow pop up, though it hasn’t yet.

This issue aside, the Yankees’ post-Soto lineup redesign is looking not just hot to start the season, but sustainably good -- and that’s without two future Hall-of-Famers in Soto and, for now, Giancarlo Stanton.

Forget the 18 home runs through four games for a moment. Consider what happened in Tuesday’s game, started by Corbin Burnes, one of the best pitchers in the sport:

-- Wells worked a brilliant 13-pitch at-bat in a fifth inning that set in motion a chain of events that ended in first baseman Josh Naylor’s two-run throwing error. Yes, the runs were unearned, but this was a classic case of a team making its own luck.

Wells appears on his way to the upper echelon of catchers in the game; who could have imagined a year ago that it would be legitimate to debate if a team would rather have Wells, Baltimore’s Adley Rutschman, the Mets’ Francisco Alvarez or Arizona’s Gabriel Moreno? But here we are.

-- Cody Bellinger stole a base, his first of the season. The highly athletic Bellinger swiped 20 bags in 2023, and is a threat while on the bases.

-- The youngsters hit balls hard: A bulked-up Rice smashed a double at 111 mph and a groundout at 105 mph. Dominguez homered and made solid, 97 mph contact on a single to left. And Anthony Volpe took Burns way deep to left, smashing a homer at 107 mph. Volpe had three homers on the season before the curtain closed on April Fools Day.

-- In addition to those specific events, the Yankee lineup features several elements that should help it all year. Dominguez, Bellinger, Rice, Goldschmidt and Wells all bring swings naturally tailored to Yankee Stadium’s dimensions.

-- Chisholm is far more athletic than his predecessor at second base, Gleyber Torres. He already has three home runs and a helpful high-tech bat.

-- We haven’t even mentioned that the Yankees continue to employ the best position player to grace New York City in perhaps a generation or more, Aaron Judge.

-- Another green shoot appeared in the clubhouse before the game, when Stanton confirmed what we heard from sources last week: His tennis elbows are improving, and he won’t miss nearly as much time as many of us assumed in spring training after Stanton declared his injury "severe."

One note on Will Warren:

The Yankees are excited about Warren’s potential, and loved his performance in five strong innings in Tuesday’s start. But one thing to note: Warren did not hold his fastball velocity for all five frames. He was within his normal range for most of the game, sitting 90-92 mph and touching 94 mph twice, according to a scout.

But Warren’s 3-1 fastball to Jake McCarthy leading off the fifth inning flashed on the scoreboard as 89 mph. It actually came in above 89.5 mph, according to a scout, so it could be called 90. But it did get a few people’s attention.

Possible explanations: 1) Warren threw 85 pitches, more than he had in a spring training game. He is still building stamina; 2) he might have been focusing on throwing a strike, resulting in a tiny velocity reduction; 3) it was freakin' freezing out there.

Not a significant concern at all. Warren pitched well. Just an observation.