No Juan Soto, No Problem! At least on Opening Day



No Juan Soto, no problem for the New York Yankees on Opening Day 2025. The offense provided enough pop, Carlos Rodon missed enough bats, and Devin Williams scared the sold-out crowd in the Bronx but nailed down his first Yankee save.

Along the way, Austin Wells became the first catcher in Major League Baseball history to hit a lead-off home run on Opening Day, Aaron Judge knocked home two key 7th inning insurance runs, and Anthony Volpe’s home run swing stayed true since last October. For one day all is right with the world at East 161st Street. Even with the departure of Soto to Queens, there is optimism among this ballclub to realize the dream of raising banner number 28. However, something did feel off. Maybe it was that Gerrit Cole didn’t toe the slab as the ace of a staff should on Opening Day. Or it was the fact that Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt are Yankees, and this isn’t an MLB The Show franchise save. Or the fact that players can have beards now, and this isn’t some weird dream. Or it’s the bad taste still hovering over the stadium from the way last year ended. Or I’m just looking for something to be upset about for the sake of it. Whatever it is, it is good to have baseball back and a ballclub to watch for the next seven months. It is nice to have goosebumps of anticipation again.

Even with Soto gone, one thing seemed to have remained with the Bronx Bombers—their ability to work counts. Austin Wells had four good at bats. Jazz Chisholm didn’t have much to show in the box score for his efforts [0-3 with a walk] but worked every count he had against Milwaukee pitching. Ben Rice looked like he was ready to take a step in his development with a double, walk, and run scored while wearing Soto’s old number 22.

This is a team that should have a chance to get back to where they were last year. This is a team that will look a lot different from the recent vintage of chiseled power hitters and pitchers who you’ve mostly never heard of. Speed will be more of an element. Jazz Chisholm will have a full year to showcase his lightning speed. Anthony Volpe is now longer looked at as the spark plug at the top of the order and can run amuck at the bottom of the order. Jasson Dominguez also has speed to burn with his thunderous bat. Pitchers who have a track record will be relied on to keep opponents off the scoreboard and get the Yankees into the win column. Devin Williams already had his first impression and barely passed but he is one of the premiere closers in the sport. Max Fried, the Bombers big free agent acquisition, will have his chance to impress on Saturday. Marcus Stroman will have a second chance to redeem his poor second half on Sunday. Luis Gil at some point this summer will have a chance to provide a great encore to his Rookie of the Year campaign last year. There’s a lot of baseball to be played in the 2025 season, but for a day, the Yankees looked every bit the World Series contender.

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