NEW YORK — Everyone wants to talk about the torpedo bats, but the New York Yankees’ season-opening sweep of the undermanned Milwaukee Brewers was about a lot more than just bulbous lumber.
Here are a few takeaways from the Bombers’ 3-0 start to 2025.
Aaron Judge off to hot start
Judge’s outrageous full-year numbers from 2024 — 58 homers, 1.159 OPS, 10.8 bWAR, arguably the best season ever by a right-handed hitter — make it easy to forget that he underwhelmed for most of March and April last year. Entering play on April 27, 27 games into the season, Judge had a .178 batting average, a .674 OPS and just four home runs in 123 plate appearances. It got so bad that during a four-strikeout game against Tampa Bay on April 20, the Yankees captain earned a shower of boos from the home crowd.
Eventually, of course, Judge caught fire and made history. From April 27 to the end of the year, he slashed a preposterous .354/.488/.777, good for a 1.265 OPS and another MVP award.
This season, Judge isn’t waiting around to get hot. Through three games, he has already belted four home runs, a mark tied for the league lead with Arizona’s Eugenio Suárez.
“I wanted to have a better March and April than I did last season,” Judge told reporters after Sunday’s game. During that 12-3 win, the mammoth outfielder went 1-for-1 with three bases on balls, marking the 33rd time in his accomplished career that he walked thrice.
As Judge goes, so do these Yankees. The entire operation is pointless if he’s not crushing baseballs and instilling fear into opposing pitchers. On that front, so far, so good.
Third-base situation gains clarity
Entering this Yankees season, the hot corner looked at best like an unsettled unknown and at worst like a glaring weakness. Over the winter, GM Brian Cashman did not acquire a big-ticket option for third base, opting to let oft-injured vet DJ LeMahieu, switch-hitting utilityman Oswaldo Cabrera and fallen top prospect Oswald Peraza battle it out. The complexion of that group changed during spring training, with another LeMahieu injury and the strong play of 31-year-old journeyman Pablo Reyes.
Entering Opening Day, it appeared that Cabrera would be the preferred option against righties (his career OPS against RHP is nearly 100 points better than his mark against LHP), while Reyes and Peraza would split time against lefty starters.
Instead, through just three games, a path forward is developing. That’s because Reyes, who started Saturday’s game at the hot corner, had a shocking defensive display that included two ugly errors and another misplay on a screamer ruled a double. He was removed late for Peraza, who went deep late in the blowout. It’s not doomsday for Reyes, who impressed in camp, but his woeful debut showing should provide Peraza a window to secure more playing time in the near future.
Jasson Domínguez’s adventures on defense
Another major question entering the season was whether Domínguez, a highly touted center-field prospect, could adjust to his new home in left. The stocky Dominican was a horror show in left field down the stretch in 2024, but he has the athleticism to make it work out there. Center field, given the additional space that must be covered, is generally considered a more difficult assignment than the corner spots. But the angles left Domínguez perplexed last year, and his comfort at the position was a point of emphasis during spring training.
While it’s far too early to come to any significant conclusions, Domínguez was removed for the defensively superior Trent Grisham late in both Thursday’s and Sunday’s games. Domínguez started at DH on Saturday, also in deference to Grisham, who manned center field, pushing Cody Bellinger to left.
It’s also worth noting that Domínguez was notably tentative toward a hard-hit liner from Milwaukee’s Jackson Chourio on Saturday. The play, according to Statcast, had a 95% catch probability.
Carlos Rodón’s new sinker
The Yankees southpaw looked crisp in his first Opening Day start in pinstripes, allowing just one run and tallying seven strikeouts across 5 1/3 innings. Rodón’s 2024 was much better than his disastrous debut year in New York, but it still came in below his standards. Adding a sinker to his arsenal could help Rodón change the tide.
For much of his career, Rodón was effectively a two-pitch pitcher, using a high-carry fastball and a biting slider to create whiffs. Last year, he worked in a changeup, a curveball and the occasional cutter, a pitch that garnered hype in the early going but proved relatively ineffective. Now he and the Yankees are hoping that the sinker, which he threw 12% of the time on Thursday, will be a different story. The new offering generates a ton of drop for a pitch in its velocity range. Keep an eye on it.
What about the leadoff spot?
Lineup construction is much more fun to argue about than it is meaningful. And so because the Yankees lack an obvious leadoff guy, that has been a big topic of conversation so far this year. Skipper Aaron Boone went with left-handed catcher Austin Wells up top on Opening Day against Brewers righty Freddy Peralta. That made Wells the first backstop ever to lead off for the Yanks. He went yard on the third pitch he saw.
Righty bat Paul Goldschmidt hit first on Saturday and Sunday, in part because Boone liked the matchups against southpaw Nestor Cortes and reverse-split righty Aaron Civale. The 37-year-old first baseman went 5-for-8 across the two games. Time will tell if a true leadoff guy emerges or if Boone continues to mix and match.
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