Opening Day is officially in the books for the New York Yankees. Yesterday in a clash with the Washington Nationals, the NYY won 4-1 in 6.5 innings. The game was ended in the middle of the sixth inning due to inclement weather. We got to see some great pitches by newly signed pitcher Gerrit Cole and some great home runs last night by the Bronx Bombers. Thursday night was an exciting representation of what this team is capable of. Here are some players that had played deadly and dangerous for the Yanks:
Gerrit Cole:
Cole began the night trying to find his groove, and it took him a little while, but he found it and became impenetrable. He ended the night with one hit, 1 earned run, one walk, and five strikeouts in 5 innings pitched. It certainly was not his best performance, but he is still familiarizing himself with the team and his new catcher Gary Sanchez. The only iffy thing with Cole is how many homers he gives up. In 2019, he gave up 29 homers, and the most were 41 by Mike Leake (D-Backs). But, along with giving up 29 HRs, he had the most strikeouts in baseball last year with 326. That’s worth it, and the second was his former teammate, Justin Verlander, with 300. He led by 26 strikeouts! That’s a great look. I would say his best pitch is the 4-Seam Fastball, but all of his pitches are his best. I may be exaggerating, but the Yankees have an All-Time ace in NY. The best is still yet to come. His next matchup will most likely be versus the Phillies (Game 2) on Tuesday night.
Giancarlo Stanton:
I don’t know if it was me, but I saw some glimpses of 2017 NL MVP from the Miami Marlins, Giancarlo Stanton. When Judge doubled to 2nd base, and Gleyber grounded out, we saw something we haven’t seen in a while. Stanton hit a 459-foot bomb to center field and gave the Yankees a 2-0 lead over the Nats. I’ve got to say I wasn’t expecting that from him, I was expecting a strikeout or pop-up to end the inning, but Stanton proved us wrong. Stanton could be an MVP candidate this year, and he’d live up to his massive contract if he were to do that. I think since there will be no fans at the stadium that’ll give the Stanton the edge. He won’t have to worry about any boo-birds just hit the ball. That goes for a lot of players, don’t be surprised if players we’ve never heard of emerge to be MVP candidates. Stanton has started tremendously and hopefully continues to be great.
Aaron Judge:
The Judge looks back in the 2017 form. Where he should’ve been MVP, but he looked great on Thursday night. He went 2-3 with one run, one RBI, and two hits. If he stays healthy, there’s no question he’ll remain the face of NY. He looked impressive.
Tyler Wade:
You may be surprised Wade is here, but he is. I wasn’t a massive fan of putting Wade into the lineup and felt like Boone was pushing him too fast, but he wasn’t. Wade went 1-1 with a walk, run and bunt. He is what you call a speedster, and he makes the Flash jealous. A great bat and place in the lineup even at 9th. He stayed calm, going against a scary pitcher, Max Scherzer, and ended working a walk against him, impressive. I’m impressed with the kid and hope Boone gives him some more looks.
Team Takeaways going into Game 2 versus the Nationals:
I feel like this team is ready to win. They found a way to score not one, not two, not three, but four runs. That’s great! Some good dedication this team has put together. I love it. Game two should honestly be another win. They are going up against Ereck Fredde. They should’ve faced Strasburg, which would’ve been trying, but he endured an injury that has to do with the nerves in his hand. It’ll be interesting to see how Paxton will pitch well tonight since there is no crowd he should have no issue. Get ready for Game 2 tonight, ladies and gentlemen. Have a great day, and this has been Jose Calderon III with FBD!
TheDyspatch 