Yankees reveal Opening Day roster and lineup with some twists

Happy Opening Day to all those who celebrate. The New York Yankees, who take on the San Francisco Giants at 1:05 p.m. ET, decided to wait until the last possible moment to reveal their Opening Day roster and lineup because ... that's just how they do business.

Fans were waiting up late on Wednesday to see who would be coming north with the Bombers, but nothing ever dropped. Instead, the team released the bundle package of the roster and lineup early Thursday morning.

There's one notable surprise, too. The Yankees are going with a five-man bench to start the year, carrying a glut of underperformers. Kyle Higashioka as the backup catcher was always baked into the equation, but all of Estevan Florial, Franchy Cordero, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Aaron Hicks seems like some of the worst depth you could possibly have.

For a team that's dealing with injuries to 3/5ths of its starting rotation, you'd think there'd be a few more pitchers instead of excess outfielders in the fold.

The team can obviously still make changes, but they better hope Gerrit Cole, Clarke Schmidt and Domingo Germán can give them length in the opening series against SF.

Yankees reveal Opening Day roster and lineup ahead of game vs Giants

Expect to see Matt Krook, Greg Weissert and Deivi Garcia early on in 2023 as the team sifts through its pitching issues. With Scott Effross out for the year and Tommy Kahnle and Lou Trivino without definitive timetables, there will be some heavy mixing and matching until some sort of hierarchy is established.

Per manager Aaron Boone, however, there could be a deal in the works to add another pitcher before the weekend.

As for the lineup, we really weren't far off from our prediction! And the one alteration was one almost everyone supported anyway: Oswaldo Cabrera will be starting in left field over Aaron Hicks, which is the right move since Hicks is among the most disliked Yankees and nobody wants the vibes to be off for the opener.

Another pleasant surprise is Giancarlo Stanton starting in right field, which was something Aaron Boone alluded to during his first appearance on the Talkin' Yanks podcast last week. DJ LeMahieu will get the start at second base, too, with Gleyber Torres at DH. Everything else is standard.

Most fans are zoned in on Anthony Volpe's MLB debut, which should hopefully turn the tides on this season since the Yankees haven't had a true shortstop on a full-time basis since the 2018 season. Cabrera, Jose Trevino and Volpe at the bottom of the lineup is certainly a crew -- a trio of fan favorites with electricity rather than three throw-ins just to fill spots, which would've been a classic Yankees low-energy move.

Only real issue we have with this? It's not April 30, so Lineup Card Guy will have to fix that.

Yankees Pitching Probables for Opening Day: Gerrit Cole vs Logan Webb

And, on Saturday, it's Giants right-hander Alex Cobb vs. Clarke Schmidt, making a surprise cameo in the No. 2 starter's role. Sunday's series finale is set to feature Ross Stripling vs. Domingo Germán, another surprise.