Walking away with two wins in four games against that very pesky and tough Guardians ballclub was a decent way to start the season. Even though the results didn’t exactly line up with their performance, there were a bunch of encouraging things we saw from the Mariners during Opening Weekend. The bottom of the lineup really came through with some clutch hitting and getting a healthy Luke Raley back is looking like it’s going to be a huge difference maker for the middle of the order. The pitching should
be just fine, even if the bullpen — and its management — looked a little shaky. With the first series in the books, the Mariners host the Yankees for an early season clash with an AL heavyweight.
The Yankees won 94 games last year but wound up tied with the Blue Jays atop the AL East standings and wound up entering the playoffs as the first Wild Card team. They were eventually bounced out of the postseason by Toronto in the ALDS — a disappointing end to what should have been another deep playoff run. It was looking like there would be a ton of turnover on New York’s roster as the offseason began, but Cody Bellinger, Trent Grisham, and Paul Goldschmidt all re-signed with the team pretty quickly. Devin Williams was the only significant player who didn’t return and Ryan Weathers is the one significant name that joined the roster from outside the organization. Running it back with essentially the same roster that won 94 games two years in a row and had a World Series appearance two years ago isn’t the worst idea in baseball, but it isn’t particularly inspired either. We know this team is good because they were good last year and they should be just as good this year too.
Whether you agree with the MVP voters or not, it’s undeniable that Aaron Judge had one of the best offensive seasons in the last half century last year. Of course, his seasons in 2024 and 2022 were better which makes his 2025 season somewhat of a step back. He “only” produced a 204 wRC+ with “just” 53 home runs. There’s plenty of talent up and down the Yankees’ lineup, but Judge is absolutely the linchpin that makes the whole engine run. Cody Bellinger and Jazz Chisholm Jr. are fantastic sidekicks to Judge’s super hero; both of them have thrived since joining New York after some ups and downs to both their careers. The Yankees were also fortunate to enjoy breakout seasons from Trent Grisham and Ben Rice. The latter had shown flashes of talent in the past but transformed his approach at the plate to maximize his contact quality and blasted 34 home runs last year. For his part, Rice outperformed a pretty mediocre prospect pedigree by changing his batting stance, allowing him to see the ball out of the pitcher’s hand a little better — the results speak for themselves. I’d be remiss not to mention former-Mariner José Caballero, currently the starting shortstop while Anthony Volpe recovers from shoulder surgery. Cabby was absolutely fantastic for the Yankees after they acquired him at the trade deadline and he should play a very valuable utility role on this roster as soon as Volpe returns.
Probable Pitchers
The new man in the starting rotation, Ryan Weathers is a product of the Marlins pitching development pipeline. He’s struggled with a bunch of different injuries over the last few years but none of them have required surgery. His raw stuff leveled up during spring training last year, adding a tick of velocity to his entire repertoire and adding a ton of movement to his changeup and sweeper. We didn’t get to see that revamped arsenal in action for very long before a lat strain derailed his season. His raw stuff was even more impressive this spring; his fastball was regularly touching 99 mph, which would make him one of the hardest throwing left-handed pitchers in all of baseball. His two secondary pitches are fantastic at generating whiffs and he’s confident enough with his changeup to use it against both righties and lefties. There’s a lot of unfulfilled promise with Weathers — he’s yet to prove that he can stay healthy and that all this raw stuff can produce outs regularly — but he’ll get an opportunity to prove it all with the Yankees this year.
After signing a massive eight-year free agent deal with the Yankees in December 2024, he posted one of the best seasons of his career in New York. His velocity was up two ticks and he rejiggered his pitch mix to emphasize his cutter against right-handed batters. With two fantastic breaking balls, a solid changeup, and three different fastball looks, he’s got a weapon for any situation. If he needs a swing and miss, he’ll turn to one of the best curveballs in baseball. If he needs a groundball out, he’ll go to his sinker or changeup. That deep repertoire paired with excellent command makes him one of the toughest pitchers to face in the AL.
Cam Schlittler burst onto the scene last July with a hard fastball and a nasty cutter. He made a statement in Game 3 of the AL Wild Card series against Boston, firing eight scoreless innings with 12 strikeouts in a winner-take-all game. That performance was the culmination of a breakout season for Schlittler. He had started the year in Double-A but wasn’t seen as one of the Yankees’ top prospects. His velocity climbed to start the year and it just continued to improve as he worked his way up to the big leagues. He added three (!) ticks to his cutter this spring and started throwing his sinker a little more often. Those three fastball looks make it nearly impossible for batters to sit on his high velocity and his hard curveball plays well off all three of those pitches. That breaking ball is essentially his lone secondary pitch, but his stuff is so overpowering, he doesn’t really need much else.
The Big Picture:
The Angels and Astros split a four-game series last weekend with both teams looking particularly shaky. The Rangers started off the season with a series win in Philadelphia while the Athletics struck out 50 times in three games (setting a major league record) as they were swept by the Blue Jays. The Rangers, Angels, and Athletics all continue their season opening road trips this week with stops in Baltimore, the north side of Chicago, and Atlanta, respectively. The Astros stay at home and host the Red Sox.
