Ryan McMahon’s hold on third base is suddenly looking shaky, and the Yankees are running out of time to decide what that means for October.
A month ago, McMahon’s glove gave Aaron Boone a clean reason to keep him in the lineup even while the bat went cold. That argument doesn’t carry the same weight now. His miscue Tuesday, when he fumbled and allowed the Rays to steal a base in the fifth inning, only sharpened the question around the one part of his game that was supposed to travel best.
Boone’s recent lineup choices have already hinted at the shift. McMahon sat against right-handed starters in three of his last five chances, with Jose Caballero stepping in each time. On Wednesday, Boone said on his weekly Talkin’ Yanks appearance that Anthony Volpe will probably get time at third base during the final five regular-season games, while George Lombard Jr. stays at shortstop and Jazz Chisholm Jr. is expected back in his usual second-base spot after returning Tuesday from a right thumb sprain.
That creates a very real competition for a role that once looked much safer. The Yankees are 90-67 with five games left, locked into the American League’s No. 4 seed, and headed for a wild-card series that begins Sept.
- With a possible Boston matchup looming and Aaron Judge expected to be out for the opening round, Boone is juggling more than just individual numbers.
He has to figure out what kind of infield gives the team the best postseason shape.
McMahon’s offensive slide is making that decision tougher. Since coming back Sept. 1 from a left thumb sprain, he has gone 6-for-42 with one extra-base hit and a .217 on-base percentage in 15 games.
His last home run came Aug. 3.
Over 43 second-half games, he is hitting .196/.272/.277 with one homer and seven extra-base hits in 125 plate appearances.
The season-long line hasn’t offered much cover either. Through Tuesday, McMahon had a .274 on-base percentage and a strikeout rate above 29% across more than 350 plate appearances. His .295 expected weighted on-base average suggests the struggles aren’t just bad luck on balls in play.
And the defensive edge that once made him such an easy fit has narrowed too. Entering Tuesday, McMahon had minus-1 Defensive Runs Saved and one Out Above Average, down from 10 DRS and seven OAA in 2025.
Caballero, by comparison, was at zero DRS and minus-1 OAA. The numbers don’t say the same thing in every metric, but they do say McMahon is no longer giving the Yankees the clear defensive separation he once did.
Boone has been trying to keep both McMahon and Caballero active rather than declare a permanent switch. Before Tuesday’s doubleheader, he said, “I want to be playing them both and getting them both regular reps,” so [it was] more just picking what game I wanted to play Caballero.”
The Volpe wrinkle could change the whole picture. Volpe, who won a Gold Glove at shortstop in 2023, has already adjusted to second base since his Sept. 10 recall.
He also logged three starts at third for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, along with 19 at second and 15 at short. Boone said he’ll probably use Volpe at third this week, while Lombard Jr. remains at short.
That matters because it could preserve Caballero as a bench weapon. Caballero entered Tuesday with 32 steals, and if he starts at third, the Yankees lose that burst from the bench. If Volpe can handle third, Caballero can stay in reserve and keep that speed available late in games.
There are still obvious questions. Volpe has never played third in the majors, and three Triple-A starts only tell you so much about the reaction time and throwing demands over there.
Amed Rosario is another right-handed option, but his .599 OPS against left-handers and the defensive uncertainty around him make that path complicated. McMahon, meanwhile, owns a .518 OPS against left-handed pitching, which makes the opposing starter especially important in any October decision.
The long view matters here too. McMahon is under contract for $16 million in 2027 and won’t be a free agent until after that season.
If the Yankees find a workable infield without him at third, that sets up a different conversation later. For now, though, there’s no indication they’ve decided to trade or release him.
What happens next is straightforward enough: the Yankees have two games left against Tampa Bay and three against Baltimore to keep testing this setup before the wild-card roster is due. Boone can use that stretch to see how Volpe looks at third, how Chisholm handles his return, and whether McMahon can do enough at the plate to keep his grip on the job.
For now, it’s a trial, not a ruling. But the pressure on McMahon is real, and the Yankees are getting close to the point where they have to decide whether he’s still part of the answer at third base - this October and maybe beyond.
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