Some takeaways from an Opening Day win

03/28/2025 11:30 AM

The Yankees are 1-0, and there is plenty to take from 2025's opening contest.

Folks, it's all happening. There were real-life baseball games throughout much of yesterday, there are some more today, and there'll be plenty tomorrow. The events in this game will be forever immortalized on Baseball Reference and the like, and the 2025 season has officially begun for the Yankees as well as the majority of the league. It was only one game, but Opening Day is a particularly special "one game." We're all pumped up, so why not get excited and look at some takeaways from the Yankees' 1-0 start to the 2025 season.

The Positives

Carlos Rodón looks sharp in season debut

The Yankees will be without their ace, Gerrit Cole, for the 2025 season. In his absence, Carlos Rodón got the Opening Day nod. The veteran left-hander looked sharp to begin his third season in pinstripes, and his continued success is a near-necessity.

In his 5.1 innings of work on Thursday, had the good stuff working much of the way, save for one mistake. He left a high fastball up for grabs to Vinny Capra in the third inning, which he deposited in the left field seats, but other than that was successful with his fastball and slider mix. He struck out seven Brewers in the outing, and generated 13 whiffs, most of which came with the slider. The lefty painted with the heater around the edges of the plate, and used the glove side slider as the put-away pitch. With Cole on the sidelines, the Yankees will need an ace-level performance from Rodón, and he started down that path on Thursday.

Plenty of contributors in a marginal win

The pitching was mostly excellent for the Yankees, but they needed every bit of the four runs they scored as well. New York's 4-5-6 hitters went without a knock, but the rest of the lineup contributed, with the most important blows coming from Austin Wells and Anthony Volpe. Similar to the situation with Cole, one of the glaring differences with last year's team is the incomparable loss of Juan Soto. He can't really be singularly replaced, but if the Wells and Volpes of the world can make some marginal gains, the loss might not be so significant. With Giancarlo Stanton on the shelf for now as well, every bit of weight that can be taken off of Aaron Judge's shoulders is a good thing. More specifically, it was also good to see Volpe's hard-swinging approach pay immediate dividends.

The short porch is alive and well

The Yankees' home park has maintained the same dimensions for decades, but its heartwarming to see the notable quirk of those dimensions work out in the Yankees favor (and of course, to see the reactions to such things). Austin Wells' leadoff home run was a top-spin bullet that was a home run in Yankee Stadium and Yankee Stadium alone, a signal that baseball season is truly back. Volpe's blast in the second wasn't all that different in results, but was described as a "pop fly" on the broadcast, which eventually carried all the way into the seats. That one was at least a homer in 9/30 parks, but it looked every bit as beautiful as your typical porch job.

The Negatives

A shaky Devin Williams debut

Although he earned the save in his debut for the Yankees, Devin Williams has looked far better than he did on Thursday. In his one inning of work, the right-hander allowed an earned run among two hits and a walk. Most glaringly he allowed three very hard-hit balls in the brief outing, though serious damage was ultimately avoided. As mentioned, there will be plenty of slack to pick up in the early going for this team, and a strong bullpen will need to be a part of that. Williams obviously didn't have his best stuff, and was having trouble getting swings-and-misses with his signature changeup, but he has the track record of one of the best the game has to offer, and there shouldn't be any reason to overreact. He will have plenty of opportunities to right the ship.

In all, this was a largely positive day for the Yankees and their fans. The pitchers (aside from Williams) all looked sharp, and they took an early lead thanks to some non-middle-of-the-order contributors. It will need to be an all hands on deck effort for the Yankees in 2025, and they started on the right foot on Thursday.