NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 04: Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees is walked to first during the ninth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Yankee Stadium on April 04, 2023 in the Bronx borough of New York City. The Phillies won 4-1. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
The New York Yankees are off to a good start. Which three player were impressive during opening week and who struggled to start the 2023 season?
The New York Yankees began the season
with a winning record
and looked good doing it. Aaron Boone’s group picked up where they left off in 2022 and the Yankees, as they always do, have their sights set on winning a World Championship this season.
The Yankees won both of their series to begin the season by dispatching of both the San Francisco Giants and upending their defending National League Champion Philadelphia. New York still trails the Tampa Bay Rays, however, as Kevin Cash’s crew hasn’t taken an L yet this season.
When looking up and down the Yankees roster, you can point to a lot of successful starts. While there’s one player who has struggled to begin the year, let’s start with those three Yankees players who’ve found success early.
Yankees OF Aaron Judge has been impressive during opening week
Let’s start with the obvious, shall we? Aaron Judge has been doing Aaron Judge things, including launching a home run on Opening Day to put the New York Yankees on the board early against the San Francisco Giants.
Since then, Judge has sent another ball into the stands and has eight hits on the season. The other six hit, however, have all been singles and Judge has struck out 10 times thus far. But on the whole, big No. 99 has been doing everything expected of him.
While it’s doubtful that Judge, or any other Yankees player for that matter, will have the same type of success he did in 2022, last year’s AL MVP is off to a fine start to begin his 2023 campaign.
with a winning record</a> and looked good doing it. Aaron Boone’s group picked up where they left off in 2022 and the Yankees, as they always do, have their sights set on winning a World Championship this season.</p>
<p>The Yankees won both of their series to begin the season by dispatching of both the San Francisco Giants and upending their defending National League Champion Philadelphia. New York still trails the Tampa Bay Rays, however, as Kevin Cash’s crew hasn’t taken an L yet this season.</p>
<p>When looking up and down the Yankees roster, you can point to a lot of successful starts. While there’s one player who has struggled to begin the year, let’s start with those three Yankees players who’ve found success early.</p>
<h2>Yankees OF Aaron Judge has been impressive during opening week</h2>
<p>Let’s start with the obvious, shall we? Aaron Judge has been doing Aaron Judge things, including launching a home run on Opening Day to put the New York Yankees on the board early against the San Francisco Giants.</p>
<p>Since then, Judge has sent another ball into the stands and has eight hits on the season. The other six hit, however, have all been singles and Judge has struck out 10 times thus far. But on the whole, big No. 99 has been doing everything expected of him.</p>
<p>While it’s doubtful that Judge, or any other Yankees player for that matter, will have the same type of success he did in 2022, last year’s AL MVP is off to a fine start to begin his 2023 campaign.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #58595b" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://fansided.com/2023/04/06/yankees-3-impressed-1-struggled/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Who else is off to a hot start? </a>
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<img class="size-full wp-image-2401559" src=https://fansided.com/2023/04/06/yankees-3-impressed-1-struggled/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/https%3A%2F%2Ffansided.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1250155881.jpeg" alt="New York Yankees" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://fansided.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1250155881.jpeg 3200w, https://fansided.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1250155881-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px" /><p class="wp-caption-text">NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 30: Gleyber Torres #25 of the New York Yankees high fives teammates during a game against the San Francisco Giants at Yankee Stadium on March 30, 2023, in New York, New York. (Photo by New York Yankees/Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>Yankees 2B Gleyber Torres has been impressive during opening week</h2>
<p>The rumors of Gleyber Torres’ demise in New York were greatly exaggerated – at least through the first week of the 2023 season. Torres has been been the Yankees best hitter, and it’s honestly not even close.</p>
<p>To begin the year, Torres is slashing .421/.560/.789 and two round trippers to go along with a team-leading six runs batted. Perhaps most impressive, however, has been Torres’ six free passes that he’s drawn in the opening week of play.</p>
<p>Most Yankees fans know what they’re going to get from the likes of Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and even Anthony Rizzo. But if New York can have this type of production from Torres, the Bronx Bombers will be on cloud nine.</p>
<p>With the young infielders in the Yanks farm system, there was speculation that Torres may be on the trade block. It’s pretty obvious that the Yankees second baseman has heard all that chatter and decided to do something about.</p>
<p>Whether your name is Anthony Volpe, Oswald Peraza, or even Willie Randolph, you’re not taking at-bats away from Gleyber Torres at the moment. He’s on fire, and Aaron Boone is likely to ride Torres’ hot bat for as long as he can.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #58595b" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://fansided.com/2023/04/06/yankees-3-impressed-1-struggled/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Throwing heat </a>
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<img class="size-full wp-image-2401576" src=https://fansided.com/2023/04/06/yankees-3-impressed-1-struggled/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/https%3A%2F%2Ffansided.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1480121506.jpeg" alt="New York Yankees" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://fansided.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1480121506.jpeg 3200w, https://fansided.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1480121506-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px" /><p class="wp-caption-text">NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 05: Gerrit Cole #45 of the New York Yankees looks on during the third inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Yankee Stadium on April 05, 2023 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>Yankees RHP Gerrit Cole has been impressive during opening week</h2>
<p>When you hop over to the pitching side of things, you can’t help but be impressed with what <a href=https://fansided.com/2023/04/06/yankees-3-impressed-1-struggled/"https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/colege01.shtml" target="_blank" rel="noopener" ref="nofollow">Gerrit Cole</a> has done early in the season. Cole has two wins in his two starts and a sub-1.00 ERA. The New York faithful have to like what they’ve seen from Cole thus far.</p>
<p>Being a winning pitcher isn’t en vogue anymore, as analytics have taken over the game. Okay, how about 19 strikeouts and only five walks in 12.1 innings of work. Cole has allowed just six hits in his two starts and not a single ball has left the yard.</p>
<p>The Yanks rotation took a hit with the absence of Carlos Rodon, Luis Severino, and Frankie Montas. All three hurlers were placed on the IL to begin the season which put more emphasis on Cole getting off to a hot start.</p>
<p>Nestor Cortes has pitched well, but in order for the New York Yankees to have success in 2023, Gerrit Cole has to contribute in a similar manner to what we’ve seen through the first week of the season.</p>
<p>Cole is the Yankees ace, and through his first two starts, he’s looked the part. Can the five-time All-Star keep it rolling as the 2023 season enters Week 2?</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #58595b" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://fansided.com/2023/04/06/yankees-3-impressed-1-struggled/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Slow start </a>
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<img class="size-full wp-image-2400192" src=https://fansided.com/2023/04/06/yankees-3-impressed-1-struggled/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/https%3A%2F%2Ffansided.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2023%2F04%2F1478448584.jpeg" alt="Aaron Hicks, Yankees" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://fansided.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2023/04/1478448584.jpeg 3200w, https://fansided.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2023/04/1478448584-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Aaron Hicks, Yankees (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>Yankees OF Aaron Hicks has struggled during opening week</h2>
<p>For as impressive as several members of the New York Yankees have been to start the season, there have been some duds as well. Isiah Kiner-Falefa is 0-for-10 to begin the season, rookie Anthony Volpe has struggled, but the biggest disappointment has to be Aaron Hicks.</p>
<p><a href=https://fansided.com/2023/04/06/yankees-3-impressed-1-struggled/"https://fansided.com/2023/04/06/yankees-captain-aaron-judge-supports-struggling-teammate-aaron-hicks/">Hicks is 0-for-7 to begin the season</a> and has three strikeouts and just one walk to his credit. The fans at Yankee Stadium have been raining boos down from the upper deck, and things aren’t going to get much better.</p>
<p>Hicks has competition from the likes of Franchy Cordero and Oswaldo Cabrera. If Hicks can’t get out of his current funk, the at-bats are going to become fewer and fewer. While Hicks is still owed a ton of money, New York may be looking to move on from the left fielder very soon.</p>
<p>The Yankees just have too much young and productive talent to continue wasting ABs on a player who’s struggled mightily the past few seasons. Over the offseason, we saw the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds make the expensive, yet correct move to cut ties with Jason Heyward and Mike Moustakas respectively.</p>
<p>It may not have reached that point quite yet, but if Aaron Hicks doesn’t wake up, he’s likely to be traded or released in the near future.</p>
<div class="fs-shortcode" data-type="StoryLink" data-theme="dark" data-text="3 NYYs who won't be on the roster by May 1" data-url="https://fansided.com/2023/04/04/new-york-yankees-players-off-roster-may/" data-call-to-action="Next"
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