When T.S. Eliot wrote “April is the cruellest month,” he definitely wasn’t talking about baseball, but he might as well have been. April is the month when small sample size reigns supreme, convincing even the most hard-hearted fans that a long-awaited breakout is happening, only to leave them in shambles once May rolls around. In general, it’s best not to read too much into players’ statlines during the first month of the season.
However, there are some signals that stick even in April. Changes in raw
skill (bat speed, sprint speed, velocity), or in approach (batting stances, swing paths, and release points) can manifest themselves in the earliest days of the season. With the advent of Statcast, it is now easier than ever for a layman like me to suss out notable changes in player profiles. Here are a few Yankees batters who are changing up their approach at the plate in a way that caught my eye.
Aaron Judge is inching frontwards in the batter’s box
In 2023, Aaron Judge set up at the plate with his back foot squarely on the back border of the box, standing 31.5 inches behind the front of the plate. In 2024, he moved a bit forward, standing at 29.7 inches. 2025 saw him move forward even more, at 26.2 inches. Now, in 2026, he’s at 25.4 inches, with his back foot clear of the box’s border by about an inch.
The year-to-year changes might not seem like much, but when you compare his 2023 position to his 2026, the change is striking. (Black indicates his starting position, while red indicates his feet at the point of contact.)
2023
2026
What does this mean? I can’t say for sure. Generally, it seems like setting up at the back of the box would give you more time to see each pitch and make better swing decisions. However, every batter times their swing differently, and it would be folly to advocate for a one-size-fits-all approach. Perhaps Judge feels that he can square up more pitches by moving forward in the box. It’s still too early to tell whether this is working or not, but it’s something to look out for in the early going.
Giancarlo Stanton and Trent Grisham are adopting wider stances
After a horrendous 2023 campaign that saw him post a sub-.700 OPS for the first time in his career, Giancarlo Stanton made several changes to his batting stance. He adopted a somewhat less closed position (standing at a 12-degree angle towards the plate in 2024, compared to 18 degrees in 2023) and widened his stance by a little more than three inches. The change paid off handsomely, with Stanton bouncing back to a 117 wRC+ in 2024 before going berserk in 2025 with a 158 mark.
I’m a “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” type of person”, but apparently Stanton isn’t. He’s planted his legs even wider apart to start 2026, at a distance of 46.1 inches – another three-inch increase from 2025. Admittedly, that doesn’t sound like a drastic change, but once again the bird’s-eye visual helps to put things into perspective.
2025
2026
Stanton’s back foot hasn’t moved, but where his front foot used to be slightly behind the front of the plate in 2025, now it’s basically aligned with it. Interestingly, though, when he makes contact, his front foot ends up in basically the same position as 2025. Stanton may be setting up differently, but he ends up in the same spot. The effects of this change are yet to be seen, but it may be something to keep a tab on when monitoring Stanton’s performance going forward.
Another Yankee adopting a wider stance is Trent Grisham. In Grisham’s case, the impetus behind the change is a little bit more obvious. Grisham already widened his stance from 2024 to 2025 by more than five inches, and he was rewarded with a career year. This year, he’s taking it even further – his feet are now planted 24.6 inches apart, almost eight inches farther than 2024.
2024
2026
So far, Grisham’s results haven’t been pretty, with a .158 average dragging his overall line down to a 90 wRC+ through Friday’s action. However, his .387 xWOBA suggests that he’s been scalding the ball when he does make contact, and his .207 BABIP is unsustainably low. Expect better results from Grisham in the coming weeks. And if he does manage to establish a higher baseline, the catalyst may be his widened stance.
Austin Wells has opened up his stance like never before
After a down 2025, Austin Wells has clearly decided that things need to change. Whereas his stance was only very slightly open for the first three seasons of his big league career, Wells is opening up his stance to begin 2026. The numbers seem quite jarring – while 2025 Wells stood at a 9-degree open angle, now he’s standing at 20 degrees! However, the bird’s eye view tells us that Wells is no Tony Batista — his feet are more open, but not by that much.
2025
2026
Wells does seem like he’s slightly opened up his body a bit from the pitcher’s point of view. When you compare these two screenshots of Wells hitting in LoanDepot Park in 2025 and 2026, you will notice that Wells’ hips are more opened up towards the pitcher.
2025
2026 (WBC)
Again, it’s too early to tell whether this change is working. The (very) early returns haven’t been promising, with Wells running a 32 wRC+ through Friday. However, he has managed to nearly double his walk rate from 2025, and he did just hit his first homer of the year on Saturday. Let’s see if Wells can turn up the engine after a slow start to 2026 — I’ll be keeping an eye on how open his stance is over the coming weeks. If the hits continue to not fall, Wells just might be better off with his old stance.
