When & Where To Watch
Today: Coverage of the Yankees’ home opener begins on YES & the YES App at 11:30 a.m.
Tomorrow: Coverage on YES & the YES App begins at 6:00 p.m. with Yankees Batting Practice Today.
Sunday: Coverage on YES & the YES App begins at 12:30 p.m. with Yankees Batting Practice Today.
What a Start!
Juan Soto’s first road trip as a Yankee was a memorable one! By sweeping their first series in Houston and then taking two out of three from the Diamondbacks, the Yanks won six of their first seven games, making this year the 13th time in their illustrious history that the Yankees have started a season 6-1 or better. They pulled off four comebacks along the way, including their Opening Day rally from a four-run deficit and Wednesday’s win over Arizona in 11 innings. Soto hit .345 with a home run during the trip, and now he’ll get to experience all the pageantry of a home opener in the Bronx. As part of the festivities, YES’ own Paul O’Neill will throw out the ceremonial first pitch prior to action.
Pinstriped Pulse
Along with Soto, Anthony Volpe and Oswaldo Cabrera were huge at the plate for the Yankees during their first two series. Volpe hit .409 with a home run, while showing improved pitch recognition skills from where he was at as a rookie last season. Cabrera hit .346 with a couple of homers, putting into practice lessons he learned by watching Soto go about his business during Spring Training. The bullpen was fantastic as well, posting an ERA of 1.27 over 28.1 innings. Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge also hit their first home runs of the year while the Yanks started off on the road.
How ‘Bout That
Alex Verdugo has made his mark during the Yankees’ impressive start, and his first home run with the team was a rare one! By going deep in the top of the 10th inning Wednesday, Verdugo became just the third Yankee since the start of the 1989 season to have their first home run as a member of the team be a go-ahead drive in extra innings. Another player who went from Boston to the Yankees did it in 1993: Hall of Famer Wade Boggs, who hit a walk-off homer to defeat the Tigers at the Stadium on June 29 of that season. Prior to Verdugo, the last player to do it was Alfonso Soriano on Sept. 24 1999, when his first career hit was a walk-off homer that gave the Yanks a victory over Tampa Bay in the Bronx.
Know The Foe
In the midst of 10 straight road games to begin their season, the Blue Jays are off to a 3-4 start, having split a four-game series at the Rays and dropping two out of three to the Astros. While big bats like Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette and George Springer have struggled out of the gate, free-agent signing Justin Turner has hit the ground running, batting .318. The Jays’ bullpen has also had trouble, giving up 13 earned runs over the last six games following three scoreless frames of work on Opening Day. This series will mark a return to the Bronx for several people – Isiah Kiner-Falefa is back as a member of the Jays after signing with Toronto over the winter and Chad Green will make his second trip back to the Stadium, where he pitched for the Yanks from 2016 until he suffered a right elbow injury in early 2022 that required Tommy John surgery. We can’t forget about Yankees legend Don Mattingly, who is in his second year on Toronto’s coaching staff.
Probable Pitchers
A dream will come true for Marcus Stroman today when the Long Island native starts for the Yankees in their home opener. Facing his original MLB team, Stroman will work opposite Yusei Kikuchi. Clarke Schmidt is going to start tomorrow against Kevin Gausman, who led the American League in strikeouts last season and finished third in Cy Young voting behind Gerrit Cole and Sonny Gray. Luis Gil is scheduled to take the ball in Sunday’s finale after hitting 100 MPH on the radar gun versus Arizona during his first big league appearance in almost two years. He’ll oppose a pitcher making his second career start in Bowden Francis, although Francis did have 21 relief appearances on his resume before that first start took place Monday in Houston.