Optimism should be at top of order for Yankees on Opening Day
The Yankees' Max Fried throws live batting practice during spring training at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla., on Feb. 25. Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
If the Mets can take Juan Soto and Clay Holmes, it stands to reason the Yankees can steal a little something of their own from their crosstown rivals.
No, not the mascots. And please, keep names off the jerseys. But as the Yankees enter Opening Day injury-riddled and metaphorically wounded by a World Series loss and a frustrating offseason, there’s at least one thing they can rally behind.
It’s the first game of the year, anything can happen, and you know what? Ya gotta believe.
OK, OK. That might sound a little sacrilegious, but the sentiment fits.
It’s mind-boggling to think the Yankees — the team that came three wins shy of a championship — could ever consider themselves some sort of underdog. They have the fourth-highest payroll in baseball, though almost 30% of that is currently on the IL. They have the reigning American League MVP in Aaron Judge, and two former MVPs in Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt (and a third one, if Giancarlo Stanton makes it back from injury). Believe it or not, FanGraphs projects them to have the highest WAR of any team in the AL.
And still, the last few months have been riddled with the kinds of nicks and cuts that can sink a season before it starts.
First, they lost the World Series to the Dodgers, and then they lost Soto to the Mets — something that not only stripped them of a generational talent but created a sizable shift in the power dynamic between the Yankees and the team often regarded as their little brother.
Then came the injuries, so many of them severe: Gerrit Cole is out for the year, Luis Gil is out for months, there’s no telling when or even if Stanton plays this year. DJ LeMahieu, Clarke Schmidt, Ian Hamilton and Jake Cousins are all starting the year on the IL. And this is just a partial list.
Do they have a third baseman? Sort of! Do they have a leftfielder? Sort of! Do they pretty much have to get the best versions of Carlos Carrasco, 38, and Goldschmidt, 37? Sure do!
But that’s where Opening Day optimism comes in. And belief, too.
Every year in Yankeeland is World Series or bust, and this season is no different, But there’s a different flavor entering 2025: Despite their payroll, pedigree and punishing rightfielder, this season already is tinged with adversity.
You’ve heard that old analogy, right? The same boiling water that softens the potato, hardens the egg? It’s not a person’s circumstance but his substance that defines how he responds to a challenge. That means there’s an opportunity here. This team absolutely has the pieces to be very good. And it’s absolutely not going to be easy.
In his first year in pinstripes, Max Fried has a chance to grab onto a leadership role, anchor this rotation, and make his name here. Carlos Rodon can continue the bounce-back that started last year, and potentially reclaim his White Sox era dominance. Marcus Stroman is not the pitcher we saw in the second half last season, and is champing at the bit to show it.
The lineup, too, has so much potential.
Sure, Jasson Dominguez isn’t a natural leftfielder, but presumably, we’ll finally get to see a full season of The Martian, and if his minor-league career is any indication, that could be special. Jazz Chisholm Jr. is a firecracker who doesn’t shy away from the bright Bronx lights and could very well perform even better a year removed from the depressing confines of LoanDepot Park.
After his career appeared close to over last year, Goldschmidt had a second-half resurgence and wants to prove he has plenty of baseball left. Despite the unorthodox choice, catcher Austin Wells looks comfortable in the leadoff role and has the benefit of being in his sophomore campaign. Bellinger has basically wanted to be a Yankee since he was a kid, and now he gets to protect Judge in the lineup.
Will it all go according to plan? No, it never does. But that’s not true of just the Yankees. The Red Sox will face their trials, as will the Orioles. Even the Dodgers aren’t impervious to the whims of the baseball season.
In that regard, the Yankees have a head start: None of this is ideal, but already they have a chance to test their depth and resourcefulness. And other than Cole — whose loss is genuinely troublesome — almost all these injured players are due back in the coming months. Until then, some guys will have to overperform, some will have to come into their own, and some will have to reclaim their past glory.
Those are a lot of variables, but it’s Opening Day, and that’s as good a time as any to believe.
Be the egg, not the potato.
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
