Wow, what a start to the 2024 season! The Yankees dominated their biggest rivals, the Houston Astros, on their home field. The Yankees followed that series by taking 2 of 3 from the Arizona Diamondbacks, the reigning National League champions. We are only 7 games into the season. I don’t want to get ahead of myself, there is a lot of baseball left to play but Yankees fans have every reason to be excited for the 2024 season.
Juan Soto
Our biggest talking point is Juan Soto. I’m going to be very honest. I don’t really care about any team in MLB other than the Yankees. I follow the AL East and the Mets because they are rivals. I follow the San Francisco Giants due to my Great Uncle Joe and the baseball card collection he left me. But I’m not interested in closely watching any team other than the Yankees.
I knew Juan Soto was good. He was a force in the 2019 playoffs. I’ve watched his highlights. But I have never watched him as closely as I have these past 7 games.
Juan Soto is going to be a beast in the Yankees lineup. I love his energy. I love his approach to every at bat. I love that he is such a great fit for the pressure of playing in New York. We are only 7 games into the season but he is making a case for the Yankees to sign him long term. He’s a superstar that can handle the superstar attention. He’s a throwback to guys like Babe Ruth and Reggie Jackson, they may not have been developed in the Yankees system but they were made for the Yankees.
Soto’s strategy is a disciplined approach which can spread to the rest of the team. Batting high in the lineup will drive up pitch counts early into the game. These Yankees hitters have feasted on bullpens over the past few years. Soto’s approach is going to get the starting pitchers out of the game much sooner.
Gleyber Torres
Gleyber Torres has really got off to a hot start as well. I love seeing Gleyber in the leadoff spot, I hope Boone, Cashman, and the analytics nerds keep him in the leadoff spot all season. Gleyber is seeing a lot of good pitches, pitchers are being forced to throw the ball over the plate, they need to be aggressive with Gleyber because Juan Soto and Aaron Judge are hitting behind him. This can potentially lead to a monster contract year for Gleyber.
Aaron Judge
Speaking of Aaron Judge, the Yankees dominated the Astros without much contribution from Judge. That speaks volumes to the impact of Juan Soto. After Juan Soto was traded to the Yankees, a few people said he would be the Robin to Judge’s Batman. Instead I would compare them to Captain America and Iron Man. They are both forces to be reckoned with.
Alex Verdugo
I really have to walk back on a lot of my comments about Alex Verdugo. I had a lot of negative things to say about him the past few years. What we are learning is that Verdugo was unfairly scapegoated in Boston. (Can you believe that?! A player being unfairly scapegoated in Boston?!)
Verdugo seemed to be the whipping boy for Alex Cora. Alex Cora is a failure who has only seen success when orchestrating massive cheating scandals. Cora doesn’t have enough integrity to take a fair look at himself so he blamed Verdugo. Now Verdugo has a fresh start on a team that is going to compete. Maybe this is the year he finally lives up to his potential.
The Yankees traded a few low level prospects to acquire Verdugo. The Red Sox traded a future Hall of Fame player for Verdugo. So to be fair, I understand why Red Sox fans are so hateful towards Verdugo.
