The New York Yankees have had a satisfactory start to the 2026 season as they are sitting atop the AL East after five games. There hasn’t been much to complain about their performance, especially this early in the season. Yet a former Red Sox pitcher who used to torment the Yankees in the 90s has not been impressed with their outing.

“I don’t think the Yankees are the totally dominant team they were last year,” Pedro Martinez posted on X on April 1.

His tweet came shortly after the Yankees showed a dominating hand against the Seattle Mariners. They didn’t just make a comeback after their 2-1 defeat on Tuesday; New York scored five runs while restricting the opponents from scoring any. 

This was the third shutout win for Aaron Judge and his team. The first two were against the San Francisco Giants, a 7-0 on Opening Day and a 3-0 on the following outing. They have won four out of five games so far, and the only loss came by a one-run margin. 

That’s why Martinez’s analysis hasn’t made much sense for many.

Pedro Martinez was basically a nightmare for the Yankees’ lineup during the late 90s. Specific examples include the regular-season game on Sept. 10, 1999, and the ALCS Game 3 in the same year. 

The Yankees admitted to being beaten by a single entity called Pedro Martinez in the regular-season game. The starting pitcher struck out 17 batters in a single game, making history against the best team in MLB. 

Boston won the ALCS game 13-1 with Martinez pitching seven scoreless innings, allowing only two hits and striking out 12 batters. Such a level of dominance makes the Red Sox legend an expert on the Yankees. 

He has firsthand experience of what a dominant Yankees team actually looks like. That’s why he isn’t just reacting to one game. He is benchmarking against the elite standard that the pinstripes are supposed to be.

Pedro Martinez’s claims shift focus beyond the Yankees’ early dominance

The Yankees played 169 games in 2025, including the playoffs. It doesn’t really sound logical to compare an entire season to just 5 games. But Martinez isn’t concluding too early. He is picking early signs. The 8x All-Star is pointing to an underlying identity that isn’t apparent yet.

Previously, Martinez has criticized the Yankees for depending on home runs too much. He emphasized that going for the big swings often leads to more strikeouts. Just to give you a context, Aaron Judge and Co. had 5,471 at-bats in the 2025 regular season, and they recorded 1,371 hits. Of those, 274 were home runs. 

But more concerningly, they were struck out 1,463 times. To make it clearer, they were 11th in hits, 1st in HRs, and 28th in strikeouts. Although this looks like a good gamble, Pedro identified the real concern earlier. 

The Yankees struggle against elite pitching. Although they won the Wild Card Series against the Red Sox, their struggle was visible in both the regular and postseason. The same happened against the Blue Jays in both the July Road Series and ALDS. New York registered a horrific 1-6 record in the former, while they struggled offensively in the latter as they were eliminated following a 3-1 result.

The Yankees have scored 19 runs so far, and only three of them came from HRs. They have been struck out on 49 occasions out of 167 at-bats, and they have managed only 39 hits. This means they are statistically weaker than they were in 2025. 

Although this is too early to identify a problem, that too one as big as this. But Pedro Martinez has accurately identified the pattern. And the Yankees did suffer in the past due to the same mindset. 

Whether they will take it as an early warning from a veteran or reject it outright, focusing on their early dominance will probably decide their October run. For now, the New York fans are happy with a 4-1 record, with the Yankees sharing the top spot with the Jays.