Yankees’ Opening Day lineup, roster predictions: Best guess at how they’ll break camp

TAMPA, Fla. — A very unusual Yankees’ offseason ends Wednesday when pitchers and catchers report for spring training.

This winter consisted of a few comings and goings because general manager Brian Cashman’s roster building, aside from a little tinkering here and there, was mostly about rewinding the clock.

Much to a lot of fans’ chagrin, the 2026 Yankees are starting out a lot like the 2025 Yankees, with six free agents re-signed. Starting outfielders Cody Bellinger and Trent Grisham are back, as are relievers Paul Blackburn and Ryan Yarbrough, plus bench pieces Paul Goldschmidt and Amed Rosario. Also, the club option in reliever Tim Hill’s contract was vested, so the lefty is a returnee, as well.

There will be compelling story lines playing out over the next six weeks, starting with ace right-hander Gerrit Cole, who is hoping to return from last spring’s Tommy John surgery by June. Will the 2023 AL Cy Young winner get through the spring without a setback?

The Yankees also will be hoping for smooth sailing this spring from All-Star left-hander Carlos Rodon, who is due back in April from his offseason elbow surgery, and shortstop Anthony Volpe, who probably is looking at a May return from an October left labrum procedure.

Even more importantly, the Yankees will be keeping their fingers crossed that right fielder Aaron Judge indeed is over his right flexor strain. The injury put the captain on the IL for 10 days last summer and then relegated him only to DHing for a month.

In Judge’s pre-game camp workouts, including Tuesday at the Yankees’ player development complex, the three-time (and twice reigning) AL MVP has been throwing pain-free.

There will be many other plots to follow this spring, especially if other key puzzle pieces get hurt.

Also, the Yankees still might trade for a right-handed-hitting catcher to share time with regular Austin Wells and keep Ben Rice mostly on first base. There figures to be an unheralded reliever making headlines, too, because that’s been the norm for most of Matt Blake’s first seven seasons as pitching coach.

By late March, the Yankees would love to break camp with even more confidence that they’ll be a better team than their 2025 club. They tied for league lead with 94 wins last year, but lost the AL East crown to the Blue Jays in a tiebreaker and was then ousted by Toronto in the AL Division Series.

Here’s a conservative Opening Day roster prediction for the Yankees, who are scheduled to play 31 Grapefruit League games in Florida and then two exhibitions in Phoenix before beginning the regular season on March 25 at Oracle Park in San Francisco:

LINEUP

1. Trent Grisham, CF

2. Aaron Judge, RF

3. Cody Bellinger, LF

4. Ben Rice, 1B

5. Giancarlo Stanton, DH

6. Jazz Chisholm, 2B

7. Ryan McMahon, 3B

8. Jose Caballero, SS

9. Austin Wells, C

BENCH (4)

Oswaldo Cabrera, INF/OF

Jasson Dominguez, LF

Paul Goldschmidt, 1B

Amed Rosario, INF/OF

ROTATION (5)

1. Max Fried, LHP

2. Luis Gil, RHP

3. Cam Schlittler, RHP

4. Ryan Weathers, LHP

5. Will Warren, RHP

BULLPEN (8)

David Bednar, RHP

Paul Blackburn, RHP

Angel Chivilli, RHP

Fernando Cruz, RHP

Yerry De los Santos, RHP

Camilo Doval, RHP

Tim Hill, LHP

Ryan Yarbrough, LHP

INJURED LIST (4)

Gerrit Cole, RHP

Carlos Rodon, LHP

Clarke Schmidt, RHP

Anthony Volpe, SS

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