It’s Sunday once more, and you know what that means — it’s time for our weekly social media roundup! At long last, the regular season has begun, and so far, it has gotten off to a fantastic start, with the Yankees securing their first two wins of the season without allowing a run to cross the plate. But we’re not here to talk about the performance on the diamond, we’re here to talk about their performance on social media — which has also gotten off to a fun start. And so, without further ado, let’s
get started!
The Annual Hype Video
As always, on the night before Opening Day, the New York Yankees posted a regular season hype video. This year’s theme was focused on NYC being the concrete jungle, but that’s not where the story was. As with most videos, this video included one shot of a Yankees pitcher absolutely buckling the knees of an opposing pitcher — and perhaps unsurprisingly, the video selected was Max Fried striking out Juan Soto last season. The Mets outfielder made a comment on the post, started a brigade of Mets fans commenting — not the first time since October that Soto has commented on something Yankees-related, generated headlines, and then deleted it.
And in this case, it’s a shame that this became the headline, because that’s a well-edited hype video, and an even better pitch by Fried.
Generating much less drama was this Sinatra-themed video and the YES Network’s hype video, although I must point out how fun it is that Dellin Betances has now started commenting on everything the network posts that is Yankee-related.
Opening Day on Netflix
The big story of the week, was Opening Day. Yankees players, coaches, broadcasters, and alumni got in on the excitement, starting with Suzyn Waldman posting about everyone packing their bags to head westward from Tampa.
After showing off their drip (or is it fit? I don’t know, the lingo is always changing these days), everyone began posting photos celebrating the season’s kickoff.
As we know, the game was unfortunately on Netflix, which meant, of course, shenanigans. Among these, though, we had Giants backup quarterback Jameis Winston do his signature “eating the W” with Yankees ace Max Fried, who earned the W on Opening Day with 6.1 shutout innings.
Netflix wasn’t the only one to have some fun, though. Making fun of some Internet jokes about Austin Wells playing for the Dominican Republic during the World Baseball Classic, the Yankees’ social media team posted this meme. And apparently, they got it wrong; the expression is supposed to be “Gloria a Dios, Gloria morisoñando.”
Following the win, Dellin Betances, Josh Hart (who, as you may recall, is related to Elston Howard), and others took to their social media accounts to celebrate the W.
The French Fry Bandit
So when I was a kid, I took piano lessons. I don’t really remember them all too well, although I still theoretically remember how to play, sort of. But my (admittedly not great) music background isn’t the point here. You see, one of those songs we had to learn at like eight years old was titled The French Fry Bandit. I don’t think that’s an actual song — my quick Google search is that it’s an exercise designed to teach things like rhythm and tempo, but again, not the point — but it came to mind this week when I saw Trent Grisham having some postgame fries as part of Netflix’s coverage of Opening Day.
I get it, Grisham. The Griffin family, we love our fries too. But maybe leave some for the guy whose name is literally Fried?
The Game Belt
This season, the New York Knicks have awarded a Defensive Player of the Game after every win (the comeback win over a depleted Warriors team the sole exception), taking a photo after the game with the DPOG dressed in Timberlands and a vest, like a NYC construction worker. Likely inspired by the popularity of these posts, the Yankees social media team has begun to post the recipient of each win’s Game Belt.
Cam Talks Smack
Cam Schlittler took the baseball world by storm with a dominant performance over the Red Sox in last year’s Wild Card Game 3, then with an equally dominant performance over Red Sox fans on Twitter. He has continued his strong trash talking on Twitter with the new year.
Sims’ Game Posts
Yankees radio broadcaster Dave Sims took to Instagram to talk about the Yankees’ first wins of the season.
Speaking of Sims, he also posted some pics from the Yankees’ day off on Thursday, as he took the opportunity to tour the great city of San Francisco.
2025 Prospect Awards
This past week, the Yankees announced the recipients of the 2025 Kevin Lawn Award.
March Madness
Ryan Ruocco celebrated his 6th season covering March Madness, where, unfortunately, my Villanova Wildcats lost in the first round in both tournaments.
Ben’s Rice
Congrats, Sevy!
Congratulations to former Yankees pitcher Luis Severino, who reached ten years of service time this season and, in doing so, is now a fully vested member of the Major League Baseball Player’s Association. While not a big deal to outsiders, this is a massive milestone among players, and it’s always nice to see it commemorated.
Questions of the Day
As is our custom early in the year, we wrap up our busy week with some more Questions of the Day.
