The Yankees hosted the 2022 NL Champion Philadelphia Phillies in their second series of the season, another three-game series. The Yankees again took two of three games, and ultimately took four of six games in their first homestand. A few more firsts occurred in this series, including first starts, homeruns, and a few exceptional highlights.
Gleyber Day Season
What Gleyber Day? This is Gleyber Season. After two-consecutive seasons of trade rumors, Gleyber Torres is out for blood, and he is making one hell of run for the AL All-Star second base job. It appears he wants to stay in the Bronx, and he is making his stance known.
In Game 1 of the series, Torres hit his second homerun of the season, and notably, his 100th career homerun. He is the seventh-fastest New York Yankee to accomplish this feat.
In 6 games played and 19 at-bats this season, Torres has reached base 14 times with 8 H, 2 HR, and 6 RBI; an average of .421. He’s also taking an aggressive approach to base running with 5 stolen bases in 6 attempts.
Nestor Nesting Right In
Nestor Cortes Jr. made his debut of the season in Game 1 of the series sporting mustache-themed cleats. To mark the 2022 All-Star’s first start of the season, the New York Yankees did their best Nestor impressions upon arrival at the stadium on Monday. Fans on Twitter raved about Gerritt Cole’s impersonation. I think he won hands down.
In his first start, Cortes Jr. looked like “Nasty Nestor,” giving up just one run in five innings. Most extraordinary of all was his defense when he made the most beautiful play backing up home plate to get the out at third. The overthrow from Franchy Cordero (RF) came in way over Jose Trevino’s (C) head, Nestor backed up the plate for the overthrow, and fired it to D.J. LeMahieu at 3rd for the perfectly-timed Brandon Marsh (Phillies) out. It was immaculate! You can watch the play here.
They are the Bronx Bombers
Joining the “first homerun of the season” club in this series were Anthony Rizzo with a two-run homer in the 5th inning of Game 1, D.J. LeMahieu in the 9th inning of Game 2, and Jose Trevino with a two-run launch in the 7th inning of Game 3. Few homerun-less players remain on the roster, including Oswaldo Cabrera, Isaiah Kiner-Falefa, Aaron Hicks, Franchy Cordero, and 21-year old rookie Anthony Volpe.
Cole’d as Ice
Yankees’ Ace Gerrit Cole went head-to-head with Phillies' ace Aaron Nola in his second start of the season, and let’s just say this is what CY Young’s are made of. In his second outing, he worked 8 strikeouts in 6.1 innings pitched.
In 12 1/3 frames this year, Cole’s basically raking in a non-existent ERA of 0.73. He has placed himself in good company with Whitey Ford (1955) and Orlando Hernandez (“El Duque”) as just the third Yankee in the past 70 years with three hits or fewer in at least six innings pitched in his first two starts.
Roster Moves
Franchy Cordero (OF) made his debut in Game 1 of this series starting in RF. In his 5 at-bats, he had 1 hit, 1 run, and 2 RBI’s. The most memorable moment of his debut, though, was his big overthrow to home that looked like it had been rehearsed.
Josh Donaldson (3B) exited Game 3 with hamstring tightness after a flyout had him limping toward first base. The team will be reevaluating him on Thursday. A decision has not been made regarding moving him to the IL at this point in time.
"Don't think it's too severe," Yankees’ manager Aaron Boone told reporters. "But it is a hamstring."
On Deck
The Yankees head out for their first road series in Baltimore starting Friday at 3:05 p.m. ET. The series was set to begin Thursday, but with incoming inclement weather, the Orioles moved their home opener to Friday. The Yankees will play a three-game series before heading to face their 2022 ALDS opponent, the Cleveland Guardians on Monday, April 10.
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