We’re just over one week into the MLB season, and the New York Yankees are off to a red-hot start. New York is 5-1, with a sweep in San Francisco and taking two out of three in Seattle, allowing a league-best six runs throughout the first six games.
The starting pitching staff has dominated, especially Max Fried and Cam Schlittler. In 13.1 innings pitched, Fried struck out 10 batters and gave up just five hits. Schlittler, the 25-year-old who threw eight scoreless innings to eliminate Boston, has proven that his performance wasn’t a miracle. In 11.2 innings pitched, he struck out 15 batters, allowing just three hits.
The bullpen has also been fantastic. They held the Giants scoreless in the first series and were finally burned in their first loss of the season as Mariners’ catcher, Cal Raleigh, walked off Paul Blackburn in the 10th inning.
The bats for the Yanks have also been hot, especially for Giancarlo Stanton. The DH has turned back the clock to 2017, as he has had a multi-hit game in every appearance so far. He’s gone 2-4 every game, featuring a homer and knocking in four runs.
Captain Aaron Judge has had a much chillier start to the season than we could’ve hoped for. Opening Day was one to forget as the Judge struck out four times. He made up for himself for the next two games as he left the yard in both. Since then, he’s had just one hit over the next three games.
Judge looks to turn it around as the Yankees have their home opener on Friday as they take on the 5-1 Marlins.
Looking over the neighboring borough, the Mets had a roller coaster first week. They hosted Pittsburgh, as they thrashed the reigning NL Cy Young winner, Paul Skenes, on Opening Day. New York won the next game on a walk-off homerun in extra innings from offseason acquisition, Luis Robert Jr. The final game of the series featured extra innings again and saw the Pirates come out on top.
The Mets then headed to St. Louis for a three-game set, dropping two games. Hide your eyes Met fans, scoring 5 runs throughout the entire series against a poor Cardinals team is not ideal. Bo Bichette has struggled majorly as well. The free agent pickup from Toronto is batting .111 with eight strikeouts. The shortstop turned third baseman has had high hopes coming into the season. His fielding was the question mark, but his hitting stats thus far have overshadowed his defensive skills.
The Mets head to San Francisco for a three-game series before heading home to face the Diamondbacks.
From the diamond to the hardwood, the New York Knicks have had some late-season struggles. Dropping three out of their last four games, the Knicks are falling out of the race for the No. 2 seed in the East. If you had told Knicks fans at the start of the season that Boston, without Tatum for most of the season and relying heavily on younger players, would be above New York, they would’ve thought you were from a different planet.
The Knicks need to wake up, dropping games to playoff opponents by double digits and simply getting outworked is alarming. These Knicks have a championship-caliber roster, yet they can’t build on their wins. One night, it’s like the banner ceremony is ready to go, while other nights, they struggle to get by the Brooklyn Nets.
With five games to play, Brunson and the Knicks need to capitalize on them. Four of the five matchups are against playoff teams in the East. Have April 10 circled on your calendar, as they face Toronto. The Raptors are currently tied for the No. 6 seed, meaning they’d face off in round one. New York is also to play Boston one last time, before a crucial game 82 against the surging Hornets.