NFL
By: Billy Lewis
As Rogers Hornsby once said “People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.” Finally, we have made it to the opening week for Major League Baseball!
The New York Yankees will open at home in Yankee Stadium Thursday afternoon against the San Francisco Giants. The Yankees are coming off a lackluster performance in the 2022 ALCS. They were swept by the eventual champion Houston Astros and will be looking to get that taste out of their mouth.
The Yankees’ most significant offseason addition was signing one of the best-starting pitchers on the market, Carlos Rodon. Rodon will be looking to be co-aces with Yankees ace Gerrit Cole.
Perhaps the biggest move of the offseason, after a short Arson Judge scare, was the re-signing of reigning MVP Aaron Judge. He of course came up for a cup of coffee in 2016, but since his historic 2017 rookie season, Judge has been the face of the New York Yankees and now enters 2023 with the title of Captain of the New York Yankees.
New York Yankee Lineup Questions
Rodon and Judge were the two big offseason moves for the Bronx Bombers. Questions still surrounded the team entering Spring Training, namely the position battles for both shortstop and left field.
The shortstop battle was a three-horse race between recumbent Isiah Kiner-Falefa and the two young guns Oswald Peraza and Anthony Volpe. We were told going in that it would be an open competition.
On Sunday, they made good on their word and named Volpe the starting shortstop.
Welcome to The Show, AV! pic.twitter.com/Gq5VMRvqN0
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) March 26, 2023
Volpe being named shortstop means that Peraza will start the season in Triple-A and IKF will assume the role of utility man. IKF has been moving around all spring, including playing some outfield, so when the season starts both he and Oswaldo Cabrera will likely have plenty of gloves to choose from depending on the day.
The left-field battle was more opened up by the injury to centerfielder Harrison Bader. Entering Spring Training, two outfield positions would have appeared to be set with Bader in center and Judge in right. Bader’s injury will open up the outfield and allow Aaron Hicks, IKF, Cabrera, and Giancarlo Stanton to get more outfield time than originally thought.
Unfortunately, the Bader injury isn’t going to be the only health concern entering Opening Day. Rodon will begin the season on the IL, as will Luis Severino who was scratched from his start this past Saturday. Both Rodon and Severino could be back sooner rather than later. The same can not be said for Frankie Montas, who could possibly miss the full season.
However, despite the early injury woes, Yankee fans should still be in for a fun summer in the Bronx. They’ve built a deep team and the infusion of young talent with Volpe and Cabrera should bring a good mix to the Bombers. Brian Cashman is always active in the trade market and this year will be no different. With Peraza knocking on the door, expect to hear Gleyber Torres’ name in a lot of trade rumors (I would still vote to hold to Gleyber, but time will tell.)
Potential Lineup
- DJ LeMahieu 2B
- Harrison Bader CF
- Aaron Judge RF
- Anthony Rizzo 1B
- Giancarlo Stanton DH
- Josh Donaldson 3B
- Aaron Hicks LF
- Jose Trevino C
- Anthony Volpe SS
Potential Rotation
- Gerrit Cole
- Carlos Rodon
- Nestor Cortes Jr
- Luis Severino
- Clarke Schmidt
2023 Prediction
98-64 AL East Winner. Loss in ALCS 4-2
Bold Prediction: Gerrit Cole wins 2023 AL Cy Young
