After defensive miscues played a major role in the Yankees’ defeat in the 2024 World Series, the Yankees clearly made it a priority to strengthen their performance with the glove in 2025, as they brought
in a trio of Gold Glovers in Cody Bellinger, Max Fried, and Paul Goldschmidt during the winter, shifted Jazz Chisholm Jr. back to the keystone (except for a brief stint back at the hot corner when they tried to squeeze the last bit of baseball out of DJ LeMahieu), and added a pair of strong defenders in Ryan McMahon and José Caballero at the deadline.
It should not be surprising, then, that this year’s squad has no shortage of defensive highlights to choose from when putting together this year’s list. Each one of Sam’s and Estevão’s posts highlighting the team’s defensive highlights for each month of the season is filled with plays worthy of this post, and a series between the Yankees and Rays was so exciting that I wrote an entire article in April on its web gems. So out of all these highlights, what made the final cut? Here’s my list of plays most worthy of remembrance. We’re not ranking them, because defensive excellence need not be ranked, but feel free to do so in the comments section below!
Bellinger Secures the Win
Ah, Cody Bellinger. The former NL MVP put together one of the best seasons of his career in his first (and hopefully not only) year in pinstripes, and in truth, we could fill out this entire list with just his defensive highlights. But to be fair to everyone else on the team, we’re going to stick to just two, and here is the first. With the tying run on second and two outs on April 16th, MJ Melendez laced a line drive to right field, one that seemed destined to hit grass and tie the game. Bellinger, though, ranging to his left, made the diving grab that ended the game and sent the crowd into a frenzy (as someone who was at the game, I can personally attest to how much the Stadium buzzed). While he was struggling at the plate at the time — he had just a .538 OPS at the plate — this play showed that Belli could make an impact whether or not he was performing at the plate, and made Yankees fans forget about the previous season’s right fielder.
Head Over Heels for McMahon
Had the Yankees managed to go on a run and win the World Series, this catch from Ryan McMahon would have been the cover of the commemorative DVD. It checked off all the boxes. Yankees vs. Red Sox? Check. Big play by trade deadline acquisition? Check. Late in the game of a legendary shutout spun by a rookie in his 15th career start? Check. Wind up on your head in the opposing dugout? Check.
Some plays don’t really need words. This is one of them.
Bellinger Turns Two in Queens
In my opinion, the best defensive highlights combine physical prowess and mental awareness, and this play has both in spades. Facing the Mets on July 6th, Bellinger charged a blooping single off the bat of former Yankees right fielder Juan Soto. He made the catch at his shoestrings for the first out of the seventh inning, a play that itself was a web gem. As he stood up, however, Bellinger noticed that he had a shot to double up Francisco Lindor at first, then laced a perfect strike to first baseman Paul Goldschmidt. He singlehandedly stopped the Mets’ rally in its tracks, and this play found itself a regular feature of hype videos at Yankee Stadium throughout the second half of the season.
Jazz Saves the (Nonexistent) No-No
While a pitcher gets credit for the no-hitter, at least some of the credit has to go to his defense behind him — indeed, pretty much every no-no has at least one incredible web gem that saved the day and will be talked about every time the game came up. Had Fried managed to complete the no-hitter on April 20th, this leaping grab by Chisholm, who ranged into the middle of No Man’s Land to rob Christopher Morel of a surefire hit, would have been “that play.”
As it turned out, the no-hitter didn’t actually exist at the time, as when Fried took the mound for the eighth inning, the official scorer announced that he had changed an error in the sixth inning into a hit. But nobody could’ve known that at the time, Chisholm included, so the pressure to preserve the no-hitter still stood, and gives this play the extra juice it needs to end up on this list.
Pitchers are Athletes Too
While Gold Glove finalist Max Fried gets most of the attention — and deservedly so — the Yankees pitchers this year flashed the leather consistently this season. Considering how awesome pitcher highlights are, I couldn’t pick just one.
Noticing that Goldschmidt had strayed too far from the bag, Luke Weaver sprinted to cover first on a ground ball to Chisholm on April 14th.
We’ve got Fried beating Tampa Bay’s Chandler Simpson to the bag on a ground ball to first, in the third inning of his no-hit bid.
Just a few weeks later, Fried would then pick off future teammate Caballero at first.
And a few weeks after that, he picks off Jordan Beck and Aaron Schunk in the same game (May 24th).
On May 27th, Carlos Rodón made this acrobatic play that made his wife Ashley very excited.
Less than a month later, Fried tried to copy his teammate.
September 2nd saw Fried made a sliding catch on a bunt, then double up the runner on first to stop an Astros rally in its tracks.
And in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series, Fried ended his night by beating Jarren Duran in a foot race to first… right before the game went off the rails.
Honorable Mentions
Here are some other noteworthy plays that received consideration:
Other Bellinger plays considered
Aaron Judge steals a homer from Pete Crow-Armstrong
Fernando Cruz nabs runner at the plate on September 28th to keep division hopes alive
The Martian goes airborne
José Caballero ends Game 3 of ALDS
McMahon’s other big postseason highlight
And one routine play worth remembering:
Giancarlo Stanton’s first defensive putout since September 9, 2023
