Yankees Drop In MLB Power Rankings With Slugger Struggling on Offense

The New York Yankees have taken a significant step back in a recent MLB Power Rankings.

Apr 12, 2025; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees outfielder Cody Bellinger (35) hits and RBI single against the San Francisco Giants during the fifth inning against the San Francisco Giants at Yankee Stadium. | Tom Horak-Imagn Images

The New York Yankees are trying to survive in the early part of the season with some injuries still keeping key players out.

This past week was a challenging one for the Yankees, losing both of their series against playoff hopefuls.

To start the week, New York lost two out of three games on the road to the Detroit Tigers. The offense came into the series quite hot, but the cold temperatures in Detroit cooled them off.

After that series, the Yankees were unable to get it done against the San Francisco Giants, also losing two out of three games.

As the team has fallen to just one game over .500, there is reason to be concerned about the recent struggles.

Will Leitch of MLB.com recently had the Yankees take a significant drop in his MLB Power Rankings, falling from third to seventh with one of their key members struggling.

“As well as the Yankees have been hitting, one guy who hadn’t been much a part of the party was Cody Bellinger, who had gone 7-for-his-first-37. (A back injury and some food poisoning may have had something to do with that.)”

While the offense has been excellent for the most part, one of their expected key contributors hasn’t been off to the strongest start.

Cody Bellinger was brought in to help replace the production lost when Juan Soto departed in free agency, but has started out a bit slow with a bit of a nagging back.

In 12 games, the slugger has slashed .196/.245/.304 with one home run and eight RBI. It has certainly been a disappointing start to his Yankees career, but the season is young and Bellinger will likely turn it around.

Fortunately, his lack of production hasn’t made a major impact on the team, with nearly everyone else performing well.

However, while the lineup has thrived even with Bellinger struggling, the starting rotation is the real issue for New York.

Luckily, Clarke Schmidt is set to return this coming week against the Kansas City Royals. The Yankees are going to be asking a lot of the right-hander once he’s back with the struggles of the unit so far.

Furthermore, even with Schmidt set to return from the injured list, the rotation is still filled with question marks for New York.

Even though there is a lot of talent still on the Yankees, they have a lot of concerns right now as well.

The offense has cooled down a bit after their ridiculous start to the campaign, and the starting rotation has been poor. If things don’t improve, expect to see another drop in the power rankings.