NEW YORK — While his teammates took on the Kansas City Royals, Ryan McMahon spent most of the Yankees’ 4-2 win Friday in the batting cage behind their dugout taking on his immense struggles at the plate to start the season.
He hacked away, fiddling with minor adjustments, looking for the right mechanics, searching for his rhythm until manager Aaron Boone summoned him to replace Amed Rosario as a defensive replacement at third base.
“I was exhausted,” McMahon said.
But McMahon also emerged from his extra rounds of batting practice confident. He felt something had clicked. It was about repeating the feeling when he stepped to the plate in the eighth inning with a runner on first base, two outs, and the game tied. He proceeded to deliver his biggest hit of the season — a go-ahead, two-run home run to give the Yankees the win.
“God’s got a funny way of working, huh?” McMahon said. “I was excited. Excited for the opportunity and happy to put one up.”
The blast the other way — into a strong wind — was the 31-year-old McMahon’s first extra-base hit of the season. He had entered the at-bat 5-for-42 (.119) with 16 strikeouts and a .379 OPS in 50 plate appearances in 2026. Boone’s willingness to pinch-hit for him in recent games, even against right-handed pitchers, signaled the level of the left-handed-hitting McMahon’s troubles.
Before Friday’s game, Boone said he did not expect McMahon to play much over the next week, citing probable matchups against left-handed starters. The Royals are expected to have two lefties — Noah Camerson and Cole Ragans — start Saturday and Sunday. If there was any game for McMahon to start this weekend, it was Friday, but Royals right-hander Michael Wacha has reverse splits for his career so Boone opted for Rosario.
But McMahon found himself in the batter’s box in a huge spot anyway after entering the game at the top of the frame for his plus defense. Ben Rice, who drove in the Yankees’ first two runs with a homer in the fourth inning, was on first base, having extended the inning with a two-out, two-strike single off right-hander Alex Lange.
Three pitches later, McMahon drove a 2-1 changeup down in the strike through the wind gusts just over the wall in left field. The dugout erupted. He released a roar.
“I’m here with him early all the time,” Rice said. “We’re always hitting at the same time. Like 2 o’clock before the games and I see all the work he puts into it. And he’s a ballplayer, man. He’s going to grind. He’s going to help in a lot of ways out there and tonight was a great example.”
The Yankees acquired McMahon, who is under team control through 2027, from the Colorado Rockies for two minor league pitchers last July seeking stability at third base. They envisioned his elite glove boosting the infield defense and a potential for his left-handed pop to shine at Yankee Stadium. But McMahon batted .208 with four home runs and a .641 OPS with 62 strikeouts in 159 at-bats for the Yankees last season.
The lack of production was enough for the organization to suggest he implement mechanical changes, most notably a narrower stance, over the winter. On Friday, after some tinkering, he came through with one swing.
“Man, you want to play good,” McMahon said. “You want to play good for the men in the room with you. It doesn’t feel good letting brothers down, especially the guys that are playing every single day. So, I’ve been sick and tired of it, honestly.”
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