The New York Yankees open the 2026 season Wednesday night against the San Francisco Giants. The roster they’ll run out looks the part — proven, expensive, and built to win now. But the most interesting Yankees of 2026 may not be the ones in pinstripes on Opening Day.
Among the cuts are a former Rookie of the Year still finding himself, a 22-year-old who struck out Aaron Judge on the first day of camp, and a switch-hitter with a spring OPS that embarrassed the guys who took his job.
They’re all in Scranton… for now.
1. Luis Gil, RHP
Nobody on this list carries higher stakes. Luis Gil won the 2024 American League Rookie of the Year, becoming the first Yankees pitcher to win that award in more than four decades. He enters 2026 as perhaps the most important arm on the roster — and he isn’t even starting the year in New York.
Gil won 15 games and helped the Yankees reach the World Series in 2024, but a lat injury in 2025 cost him four months and derailed his momentum. This spring was rough: a 6.28 ERA, a fastball whiff rate that dropped from 28.5 percent in his Rookie of the Year campaign to 18.8 percent, and persistent command issues.
The Yankees opened with a four-man rotation rather than hand him a spot — a decision that reads less like development and more like the organization hedging its bets on a pitcher they’re not yet sure they can trust to hold a lead in April.
Then, in his final spring start, he threw five scoreless innings against the Orioles with seven strikeouts. “That was 2024 Luis Gil right there,” Aaron Boone said.
Luis Gil isn’t just a depth arm. He’s a player who could change the outlook of the Yankees’ season. With 13 straight games looming from April 7-19, the Yankees will need him healthy and sharp, fast.
2. Carlos Lagrange, RHP
Most spring training stories fade the moment rosters are set. This one won’t.
Lagrange struck out Aaron Judge with a 102.6-mph fastball on the first day of live BP, then backed it up across 13.2 Grapefruit League innings: two runs, six hits, 13 strikeouts, a 0.66 ERA. He won the James P. Dawson Award as the top rookie in camp. Gerrit Cole called it “silly.” Austin Wells said flatly he could help the team right now.
The arsenal goes beyond the fastball. He pairs it with a slider at 88 mph, a sweeper at 83, and a developing changeup, all with sharp glove-side action.
The concern is command; his tall frame makes it difficult to consistently repeat his delivery. But with a shorthanded bullpen and a rotation already running thin, the idea that a pitcher touching 103 with three above-average secondaries stays in Scranton all year feels like wishful thinking on the organization’s part.
3. Jasson Dominguez, OF
The story of Jasson Dominguez in 2026 is one of the more maddening in baseball. In 13 exhibition games, the 23-year-old switch-hitter slashed .342 with three home runs, 10 RBI, and a 1.013 OPS — and the Yankees still sent him to Scranton.
All three outfielders who made the Opening Day roster had a combined spring OPS lower than Dominguez’s individual mark. Boone said the Yankees want him playing every day, which is fair — but let’s be direct: Dominguez should already be starting in the Bronx. At some point “development” becomes hesitation, and the Yankees are flirting with that line.
Dominguez responded the day after his demotion by going 2-for-3 with three batted balls over 100 mph, including a triple against Framber Valdez. One outfield injury or a sustained Grisham slump is all it takes. He is the first call the Yankees make.
The question isn’t whether he’ll be in the Bronx in 2026 — it’s when.
4. Spencer Jones, OF
Spencer Jones enters 2026 carrying a résumé that should have already made him a household name, and a strikeout rate that has made sure it hasn’t.
In 116 minor league games last season, he slashed .274/.362/.571 with 35 home runs and 29 stolen bases. The problem: a 35-percent strikeout rate and a zone whiff rate among the highest in all of Triple-A.
The Joey Gallo comparison surfaced and it wasn’t meant as a compliment.
Jones responded this offseason by rebuilding his swing around a toe-tap timing mechanism modeled after Shohei Ohtani. “A lot of my miss came when my foot was off the ground,” he said. His first spring swing was a 408-foot home run. He finished with a 1.345 OPS and a 29-percent strikeout rate.
Aaron Judge endorsed the new mechanics directly: “The minute he puts that foot down with that little toe-tap, he’s ready to hit.” With Giancarlo Stanton’s injury history, the Yankees know better than most how fast a depth chart can unravel.
5. Kervin Castro, RHP
The name Yankees fans may know least, and encounter soonest. Castro, a 27-year-old right-hander, posted a 0.96 ERA across seven spring outings and left camp without a roster spot only because the Yankees ran out of room.
He has brief MLB experience with the Giants and Cubs, but this spring felt like an arrival. With a bullpen that enters the season shorthanded and a brutal April schedule on deck, Castro sits at the front of a short line of Scranton options that have actually earned the call.
He won’t be there for long.
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