Yankees' Trent Grisham has become one of MLB's top high-leverage hitters
Trent Grisham #12 of the New York Yankees follows through on his fifth inning three run home run against the Kansas City Royals at Yankee Stadium on Sunday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Yankees’ offense revolves around Aaron Judge, and rightfully so.
But aside from Judge, fellow former MVPs Giancarlo Stanton and Cody Bellinger and rising star Ben Rice, the Yankees have another hitter who has been one of MLB’s best in high-leverage moments.
Trent Grisham.
Since the start of the 2025 season, Grisham – who accepted the $22.025 million qualifying offer this past offseason, a move some fans questioned – has been arguably the best high-leverage hitter in the sport.
Among batters with at least 50 plate appearances in high-leverage situations over the past two seasons – according to FanGraphs – Grisham leads MLB in homers (nine), RBIs (34), slugging percentage (.894), OPS (1.312) and wRC+ (252), a stat measuring a hitter's overall offensive value compared to league average (100). He has a .319/.418/.894 slash line in 55 high-leverage plate appearances in 54 games since the start of 2025.
Whether a moment is high, medium or low leverage is determined by the Leverage Index (LI), which FanGraphs defines as “a measure of how ‘on the line’ the game is at that particular moment,” and it “allows you to determine how players perform in different situations.” An average or neutral LI is 1.0, and high leverage is 2.0 and above.
Grisham is having a subpar start to 2026, with a .167/.321/.348 slash line, but his two high-leverage homers on April 13 helped the Yankees squeak out an 11-10 win over the Angels.
The first one came in the bottom of the fifth of a 4-4 game with runners on second and third with one out (2.04 LI). Grisham, pinch hitting for Randal Grichuk, hit a three-run homer to give the Yankees a 7-4 lead. Fast-forward to the bottom of the ninth, with the Yankees losing 10-8, Grisham stepped up with Jazz Chisholm Jr. on first and none out (3.43 LI). He smacked a two-run homer to rightfield, tying the game at 10, and the Yankees ultimately walked it off later that inning.
“It’s a big at-bat, so just heightened senses, heightened everything,” Grisham said of his second homer. "I think when you’re having success like that, nothing’s really going through your mind."
According to FanGraphs, Grisham’s first homer increased the Yankees’ win expectancy from 68.1% to 88.1% while his second improved it from 17.8% to 63.4%.
Let’s look at Grisham’s previous high-leverage homers since the start of 2025.
Sept. 17, 2025
Situation: Yankees lead 3-2, top of the fourth, runners on second and third, two outs
Leverage Index: 2.02
Win expectancy before HR: 63.5%
Win expectancy after HR: 83.5%
Grisham’s three-run homer off Taj Bradley, his second homer of the game after hitting a solo shot in the third, opened it up. “He does it with ease, and it’s been really fun to watch,” Bellinger said after the game.
Sept. 2, 2025
Situation: Yankees lead 2-0, top of the fifth, bases loaded, two outs
Leverage Index: 2.14
Win expectancy before HR: 77.5%
Win expectancy after HR: 96.1%
On a 1-and-0 sinker from Framber Valdez, Grisham laced an opposite-field liner into the Crawford Boxes at Daikin Park to give Max Fried – who tossed a seven-inning gem – breathing room. It was Grisham’s third high-leverage grand slam of the season.
Aug. 29, 2025
Situation: Yankees lead 1-0, top of the fourth, bases loaded, two outs
Leverage Index: 2.87
Win expectancy before HR: 64.9%
Win expectancy after HR: 91.5%
Yoendrys Gomez left a four-seamer up in the zone to Grisham, who made no mistake with it. His homer put Carlos Rodon in the driver’s seat to earn a win.
July 30, 2025
Situation: Yankees trail 1-0, bottom of the eighth, bases empty, no outs
Leverage Index: 2.47
Win expectancy before HR: 29.6%
Win expectancy after HR: 60.4%
Tampa Bay limited the Yankees to two hits before the eighth, when Grisham cranked a leadoff homer into the second deck in rightfield off Bryan Baker. The Yankees finished with 10 hits and won in 11 innings.
July 19, 2025
Situation: Game tied 8-8, top of the ninth, bases loaded, two outs
Leverage Index: 6.87
Win expectancy before HR: 53.4%
Win expectancy after HR: 98.3%
Grisham delivered the Yankees one of their best wins of the season with his grand slam off Atlanta closer Raisel Iglesias. The Yankees had trailed 5-0, 7-2 and 8-6 in the game. “You trust him in big spots to have a real quality at-bat, regardless of result,” manager Aaron Boone said after the game.
May 7, 2025
Situation: Yankees trail 3-1, bottom of the eighth, man on first, no outs
Leverage Index: 3.03
Win expectancy before HR: 23.3%
Win expectancy after HR: 60.4%
Grisham pinch hit for Jorbit Vivas and drove Jason Adam’s changeup into the second deck in rightfield to tie the game. J.C. Escarra walked it off in the 10th with a sacrifice fly.
April 5, 2025
Situation: Yankees trail 4-2, top of the fifth, men on first and third, no outs
Leverage Index: 2.39
Win expectancy before HR: 41.2%
Win expectancy after HR: 63.7%
Grisham’s second homer of the game – an opposite-field, three-run shot off Bailey Falter – opened the floodgates for the Yankees’ offense.
Ben Dickson is Newsday Sports' general assignment reporter. He joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
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