The Yankees are playing like a team intent on ending a 15-year World Series drought.
When they hosted the Miami Marlins last night at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, their 10-2 record reflected a squad with a loaded lineup flexing its muscles. It was the best in Major League Baseball, two better in the loss column than the 10-4 Los Angeles Dodgers, which came into this season favored by sports gaming companies to win the World Series.
Right fielder Juan Soto and shortstop Anthony Volpe have powered the Yankees out of the gate. Before taking the field against the Marlins last night in the final game of a three-game set, Soto was pacing the team with 16 hits, 11 RBIs and an .456 OBP (on-base percentage). Volpe topped the Yanks in batting at .375 and OPS (on-base plus slugging) at 1.044.
The Yankees still have 149 regular season games and five and half months of baseball in front of them. But the indicators thus far are they should be, barring serious injuries to core players, a contending force. Ace Gerrit Cole, the reigning Cy Young Award winner, is a vital piece. Cole has begun the season on the 60-day injured list due to nerve inflammation in his right elbow.
The right-hander is eligible to come off the IR on May 27 but more realistic projections have Cole returning in early June if that soon. On Sunday, Yankees manager Aaron Boone informed reporters that Cole would begin throwing this week as the next phase of his rehab. The 33 year old was 15-4 with 222 strikeouts and 2.63 ERA last season.
This season the Yankees have gone with the five-man rotation of Nestor Cortes, Carlos Rodon, Marcus Stroman, Clarke Schmidt, and Luis Gil. Rodon has been particularly good after a rough 2023 with the franchise, his first after being signed to a six-year, $162 million contract in December 2022. In three starts this season the lefty has allowed just three earned runs in 15.2 innings pitched for a 1.72 ERA.
On Tuesday, Rodon took a shutout into the seventh inning in the Yankees 3-2 victory over the Marlins. The Yankees 10 wins was tied for the most in 12 games to begin a season in franchise history. They were also 10-2 in 1922, 1949 and 2003. The Yankees will begin a six-game road trip tomorrow with three scheduled in Cleveland versus the Guardians and then in Toronto for three from Monday through Wednesday versus the Blue Jays.
As for the Mets, after opening 0-5, they were 4-7 prior to taking on the Atlanta Braves on the road last night. They close out a four-game series against the Braves this afternoon (12:20 p.m.) and will play the Kansas City Royals three games at Citi Field tomorrow through Sunday and the Pittsburgh Pirates in a three-game series in Queens Monday through Wednesday.