3 surprises Yankees fans should expect on Opening Day
![NEW YORK, NEW YORK - AUGUST 07: Gleyber Torres #25 of the New York Yankees in action against the Seattle Mariners at Yankee Stadium on August 07, 2021 in New York City. The Yankees defeated the Mariners 5-4. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_752,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/https-3A-2F-2Fyanksgoyard-com-2Fwp-content-2Fuploads-2Fgetty-images-2F2021-2F09-2F1333496811-850x560-a777b030b0bb1ae5c11ab1e3c78bcbb9.jpg)
![Gleyber Torres #25 of the New York Yankees (Photo by Cole Burston/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/w_480/shape/cover/sport/https-3A-2F-2Fyanksgoyard-com-2Fwp-content-2Fuploads-2Fgetty-images-2F2022-2F04-2F1235615502-df0714068774fb97a81744ccdff793bf.jpg)
Just missed this list? Brett Gardner throwing out the first pitch. Still won’t rule it out.
With Yankees Opening Day just a few short days away — under 100 hours! — the roster feels nearly set, with room for a potential trade splash or Gardy signing still en route. Will it be Frankie Montas? Hell no! Will it be someone like ex-Rays reliever David McKay, who the Yanks suddenly have to protect? Yes, absolutely!
Regardless, other than dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s, the Yankees will be ready for their rival Red Sox in the Bronx, the start of a heinous slate featuring both Boston and Toronto to open the campaign.
Of course … the best-laid plans often go awry, and that goes for the fans as well. Some things the fan base has likely counted out will be confronting them this week, whether they like it or not.
As much as you might hate the idea, Opening Day is ceremonial. It’s also just one singular contest of a 162-game marathon. Some things that will eventually be deemed deleterious to the Yankees fulfilling their ultimate goal will go down in the opener.
Hell, it might take the team 100 games to solve their glaring issues. Or, if we’re talking 2021, when the season opened with some RISP fail and Mike Tauchman stranded at third, they may never get to the bottom of things.
Don’t judge a book by its cover, and don’t judge the 2022 Yankees by their Opening Day performance. Notice how many times I said “Judge” in that sentence? His finish line is approaching, too — or, according to Carlos Beltran, it’s already been crossed. We’re predicting a Judge extension before the opener, likely announced when the team returns to the Bronx, but we’re putting it in the intro instead of on its own slide so it can be easily deleted if it happens before publication. Science!
As for the other three? Yankee fans should be surprised by how little they’re surprised by these possibilities.
3 Opening Day surprises Yankees fans should be prepared for vs Red Sox
3. Gleyber Torres Starts at Shortstop
Remember when using Gleyber Torres at short was “ruining him mentally”? And the Bombers had unlocked him once again by declaring him a full-time second baseman? Hey, that’s dynamite.
Anyway, he’s the backup shortstop now and started at the position in the spring’s final preseason game. And, for ceremonial purposes in the opener, using Gleyber at short and DJ LeMahieu at second base might be the safest way to slide the veterans in there before Isiah Kiner-Falefa eventually starts ~130 games.
LeMahieu out-OPS+’d Torres in 2021 despite battling a core muscle issue that eventually needed surgery, yet somehow, the Yankees’ plan is to place him on the bench to open the season and just assume he’ll worm his way back into the order? Odds are … he will do just that, as he did in 2019 when the Opening Day shortstop who bumped him off the field was Troy Tulowitzki. Miguel Andújar started at third! 2019!
While it’s a safe assumption that either Josh Donaldson or Torres will get hurt at some point in 2022, necessitating additional LeMahieu reps, the opener feels like a safe place for Torres to play short and LeMahieu to play second, in much the same way Gary Sánchez caught Gerrit Cole in last year’s first game and then basically never did it again.
Sorry, IKF. Your Yankee indoctrination will have to wait. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
![JP Sears #92 of the New York Yankees (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/w_480/shape/cover/sport/https-3A-2F-2Fyanksgoyard-com-2Fwp-content-2Fuploads-2Fgetty-images-2F2022-2F04-2F1388672362-ce66682836894fd5609f584548ced13c.jpg)
2. JP Sears Faces Rafael Devers as First Lefty Out of the ‘Pen
It’s just the opener, right? Game 1 of 162? It’s still a bit of an experimental breeding ground, even though the games absolutely count, yes?
Combine the fact that Gerrit Cole has only made two spring starts in a shortened camp with the reality that the Red Sox have seen the ball quite well against him lately, and you’ve got a recipe for two on with two out in the fifth inning with Cole sitting at 79 high-stress pitches and his nemesis Rafael Devers at the plate.
Who you gonna call this early in the game? Wandy Peralta, who’ll be needed later? Lucas Luetge who, after an excellent first season in the Bronx, is still widely considered the last man out of the ‘pen? Or JP Sears, the top prospect who just buzzsawed his way through the Phillies and made the Opening Day roster after being protected on the 40-man this offseason?
It all depends. Does Aaron Boone want a soft landing for his latest weapon or not? He certainly didn’t care back in 2020, when Clarke Schmidt was promoted and immediately thrown into the fire during a high-leverage situation in Baltimore. Why would he care now? Why is Sears on the team if he can’t come into a scenario like this?
Cole likely won’t be allowed to go beyond 80 pitches in the April chill, and the Yankees might have to patch four full innings or more together from the back end of the bullpen. Don’t be surprised if Sears gets some run sooner than you were expecting.
![DJ LeMahieu #26 of the New York Yankees (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/w_480/shape/cover/sport/https-3A-2F-2Fyanksgoyard-com-2Fwp-content-2Fuploads-2Fgetty-images-2F2022-2F04-2F1327334531-b65e719c2f0b4a7928f8b0580f367d96.jpg)
1. A Rainout
Hope your Friday’s clear!
Does it really qualify as a surprise if every Yankee fan on earth was prepared for something significant to go wrong in the lead-up to this much-anticipated Opening Day showdown? Even though the MLBPA “saved” a mid-April opener with some last-minute negotiating, it’s very fitting that Bombers fans will probably have to wait one more day to be let into the ballpark for our first “normal” Opening Day in three years.
A forecast of rain is almost 100% likely for Thursday, leading to a significant amount of off day calculus for local businessmen. Sorry, kiddos, but you’ll have to plan your Lunch Beers for Friday and make the safe assumption that this game is getting bagged, then conveniently slid right into the vacated mid-series off day slot.
Either the Yankees will not be playing Thursday, or they’ll be playing an extremely wet, sloppy, cold and frostbitten game filled with potential sopping missteps. Which would you rather? You’ve waited so long already. You can give the Yankees a one-day breather to avoid clutching your chest every time Aaron Judge veers too close to a puddle. Stay strong.