NEW YORK — New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone knows a season is not a sprint but a marathon, with ups and downs typical of a six-month slog through 162 games.
As with every season, whether realistic or not, expectations are high in the Bronx, and anything less than hoisting the Commissioner's Trophy would be an utter disappointment.
"It's just three games, you take wins when you can get them," Boone said after the Yankees' 12-3 win completed a sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers. "It's always a good thing. It's a beautiful thing going into an off-day."
While most teams try to establish an identity depending on the availability of their roster, no one knows what this version of the 2025 Yankees will look like, including Boone.
Take the opening weekend series against the Brewers, where the long ball came early and often and might be a sign of things to come.
On opening day, the Yankees used strong pitching and timely hitting to eke out a 4-2 victory, getting two homers to help in their effort. Then Saturday, the Bronx Bombers turned Yankee Stadium into their own Home Run Derby, slugging a team-record nine round-trippers, including three from reigning American League MVP Aaron Judge.
Five of those homers came against Nestor Cortes, the former Yankees pitcher who gave up a walk-off blast to Freddie Freeman in Game 1 of last year's World Series. The same fans that lamented that longball in in October were cheering with delight seeing Cortes' fastball and cutter getting tattooed to the tune of eight runs while facing only 17 batters. The Yankees offense left the yard on the first three pitches they saw and finished the day with 20 runs on 16 hits.
In the series finale Sunday, the Yankees wasted no time getting on the scoreboard when Judge blasted a two-run shot deep into the seats in the first inning on an 89-mph fastball from Brewers starter Aaron Civale. New York added three more homers, including two from second baseman Jazz Chisholm, in a victory for a series sweep. The Yankees hit 15 homers, tying the major-league record for most team home runs in the first three games of the season.
Aaron Judge is unreal!
— MLB (@MLB) March 30, 2025
He has FOUR homers already this season 🤯 pic.twitter.com/7El1LWblYa
"They have gone out and executed the game plan," Boone said. "You are not always going to have games like this."
While the offense got most of the headlines, the defense that failed the Yankees so miserably in the five-game World Series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers returned this weekend. New York committed five errors Saturday, leading to four unearned runs off Max Fried, one of the team's prized free agent signings. Fried, who inked an eight-year, $218 million deal in the offseason, got the hook from Boone after 4⅔ innings, leaving with a 10-run lead.
"Obviously, we didn't catch the ball great," Boone said. "I mean, that's an understatement."
How Boone, now in his eighth season as the Yankees skipper, will play musical chairs with his beat-up lineup, including Giancarlo Stanton, DJ LeMahieu, ...
