Yankees' latest version of 'Baby Bombers' is off to a good start

We’re a long way removed from the “Baby Bombers” — the promising group of homegrown talent that was supposed to usher the Yankees into another golden age.

Some, of course, succeeded — Aaron Judge is still here and still a star, and despite plenty of bumps along the way, Gleyber Torres and Luis Severino have carved out lasting careers for themselves. The rest have had short peaks and long valleys, more likely to be the answer to a trivia question than a hallmark of this franchise’s prosperity.

So while there’s been plenty of excitement surrounding Anthony Volpe, Austin Wells, Luis Gil and Jasson Dominguez — and Jazz Chisholm Jr., too, though he’s more experienced and came from the Marlins — the hype surrounding this group hasn’t quite reached the fever pitch it did when Gary Sanchez was hitting 20 bombs in 53 games in 2016.

But maybe it should.

The Yankees took the field on Opening Day on Thursday with almost contradictory expectations. They won the pennant last year, they have the reigning American League MVP playing rightfield, their lineup is strong and their rotation, though flawed, boasts significant upside behind Max Fried and Carlos Rodon, who had a mostly strong outing Thursday. But: Gerrit Cole is out for the year, Juan Soto is a Met, the AL East is stacked and about 30% of their gargantuan payroll is on the injured list.

That, though, becomes background noise once the first pitch is thrown. They beat the Brewers, 4-2 (though newly acquired closer Devin Williams sure made it interesting), and along the way, they sketched out a blueprint for success.

Yes, Judge will have to stay healthy, and they’re definitely going to need Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt to do some damage, but so much of this season will rely on young talent ready to shoulder increased responsibility.

And on Thursday, it did.

Wells, the first catcher to bat leadoff in the franchise’s 123-year history, also became the first catcher to hit a leadoff homer on Opening Day in MLB history.

Volpe added a solo homer in the second. Oswaldo Cabrera, who seemingly won the starting third-base job for lack of better options, used his speed to leg out a run on a shallow sacrifice fly in the seventh inning. Chisholm steadied the infield with a number of strong plays at second.

The Yankees, a team whose average age is a little north of 29, need their kids more than ever. And the kids? They’re all right.

“I think when you return some players but you lose other guys, it’s kind of up to those [remaining] guys to step up and take more responsibility,” said Wells, who came in third in the Rookie of the Year voting last year (Gil won). “I feel like our young group that we have has definitely embraced that and I feel like we’re in a good spot.”

It’s wise to exercise caution when it comes to young players. Prospects fizzle out all the time, and if the original Baby Bombers taught us anything, it’s that potential doesn’t win ballgames. But it also seems safe to say that most of these young players are moving past their “potential” stage.

Now in his sophomore campaign, Wells has grown tremendously — so much so that a player that once was seen as a defensive liability is routinely lauded by manager Aaron Boone for his work behind the plate. Offensively, his eye, plate discipline and propensity for hitting the ball very, very far convinced Boone to bat his moderately slow-footed catcher leadoff. It’s a move that not only speaks to Wells’ skill but his maturity.

“I get it — it’s unconventional, it’s the catcher, he’s not a burner and all that,” Boone said. “But to me, it made a lot of sense, potentially . . . I think that’s where he is as a hitter now, too. I think he’s really a lot more advanced and he’s going to take another step from last year.”

The same is expected from Volpe, who improved significantly at the plate between his first and second year and got to start in his third Yankees Opening Day on Thursday.

“I couldn’t imagine” having that confidence at Volpe’s age of 23, Judge said. “He’s up here manning the toughest position in sports in being the shortstop for the Yankees and he’s handling it with flying colors.”

He added: “The young guys are going to be a big bullet for us.”

Judge, of course, would be the expert on something like this. Of that old crew, he’s the only one still in pinstripes and the only one that truly lived up to all that promise.

But that was then and this is now. The Baby Bombers are gone. Long live the Baby Bombers.

By Laura Albanese

laura.albanese@newsday.com@AlbaneseLaura

Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.