The Yankees are through their first nine games of the season as they took the three-game set against the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday and now turn their attention to Cleveland. The Bombers will spar with the Guardians before returning back to the Bronx for four games against the Minnesota Twins.
New York has taken all three series they’ve played to start this season while scoring fewer than five runs just twice in the nine-game span. There’s still a long season ahead of the Yankees, but some things are starting to come to light.
Below are three takeaways from the Yankees’ first nine games of the season.
Gerrit Cole is the Yankees’ ace
Cole has been on the mound twice so far this season and he has looked quite possibly the best he has ever looked in a Yankees’ uniform. Through his first two starts of the year, Cole has a 0.73 ERA with just one run allowed on six hits and 19 strikeouts to his name.
Batters have seemed unable to do much of anything with Cole’s pitches and the Yankees have benefited greatly from his strong command on the mound. Considering some of the questions that had been raised last season about what Cole was going to be able to do, he has answered those with pretty emphatic statements.
The ace hasn’t dealt with the major issue that plagued his starts last season, which became one or two bad innings that cost him and the Yankees games. Cole became good for a home run or two last season, but so far this year he hasn’t allowed one to clear the ballpark.
Anthony Volpe is still adjusting
The rookie sensation has done quite a few things well so far this season, but he had struggled at the plate a bit early. He has three stolen bases to his name and four hits, but he has only batted .143 through the first nine games of the season.
Naturally, the reaction from some fans has ranged from already wondering if Volpe should have been still in the minors to those who want everyone to give him a bit of a break. After nine games, it’s clear he’s handled the pressure well, telling amNewYork recently that he doesn’t pay attention to the outside noise.
Manager Aaron Boone had a bit of a different way to describe some of the reactions to Volpe’s start to the year before Saturday’s game in Baltimore.
“We’ve played seven freaking games now out of 162, so it’s overreaction on overdrive,” he said. “But he’s equipped to handle all that. He’s fine. He’ll get through it.”
It’s clear the Yankees are going to give him the latitude to adjust to big-league pitching before making any drastic changes. And Ironically, later that particular night, Volpe hit his first career triple to help lead the Yankees to a win over the Os that night.
Clarke Schmidt’s early struggles
Schmidt had some success in spring training and there was plenty of talk about his newly developed in his pitching arsenal, but so far that hasn’t translated in the regular season. Schmidt hasn’t gone more than 3.1 innings in either of his first two starts and lefties have continued to be a problem for him.
In Friday’s loss to the Orioles, he gave up four runs on five hits and his ERA through his first two starts is a 9.45.
“Continue to work on the little things,” Boone said of Schmidt’s early pitching. “Really focus on location, not always just chasing the best shape or the nastiest pitch, but the best location.”
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