Yankees off to torrid start after cleanest of sweeps

This story was excerpted from Bryan Hoch’s Yankees Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

SEATTLE – There were four times last year when the Yankees failed to complete a sweep, missed opportunities that loomed large when they finished tied with the Blue Jays atop the division.

Flip any one of those, and the Yankees would have avoided a tiebreaker scenario. That was part of the message Aaron Judge said the club discussed before Sunday’s 3-1 win over the Giants in San Francisco: “Hey, we’ve got to close out the series.”

It’s still only March, as Aaron Boone points out, but it’s hard to script a cleaner three-game set.

“This was awesome,” Ben Rice said. “Some tight games, great plays on defense, clutch pitching, clutch hitting. It was a great way to start the year.”

As the Yankees prepare to visit the Mariners at T-Mobile Park, here are five takeaways from that opening series:

The near-untouchables
San Francisco did not score in its first 20 innings, a rough beginning to Tony Vitello’s managerial tenure. But this says more about the Yankees’ pitching staff, led by Max Fried (6 1/3 innings) and Cam Schlittler (an economical 5 1/3, even with a pitch limit).

The Giants scratched out their only run off Will Warren on Sunday, and even though Warren labored through 4 1/3 innings, the Yanks held the line -- aided by four inning-ending double plays in the final six frames. Boone believes this may be his deepest staff yet. If this is any indication of how they’ll pitch, he may be right.

“If our starting rotation is going to shorten games for us and just make it a handoff to the bullpen, good things are going to happen,” Judge said.

Scoops of Rice
It has been easy to forget Rice hadn’t tried on a first baseman’s glove before 2024. It may be even easier now.

With a full spring of work and pointers from Paul Goldschmidt, Rice displayed real progress, picking several throws that might have kicked away from him last season. Boone said of Rice: “You give him a challenge, he’s been able to conquer it. He keeps getting better over there.”

“The more games I get under my belt, the more comfortable I’m going to feel,” Rice said. “I can do as much practice as I want, but the reality is, I’ve got to keep getting in game reps to keep feeling better. So hopefully we continue in that direction.”

Captain’s log
Judge made history on Opening Night, striking out in his first four plate appearances -- the first reigning MVP to do so in his club’s opener. That prompted some media hot takes during the off-day, but those voices are forgetting why Judge’s mantle is so crowded with hardware.

He only had two hits in the series. Both left the ballpark, including one on Sunday that clipped the roof of an ambulance parked beyond the left-field wall.

“It’s early in the season. He’s kind of finding it,” Boone said. “He’s not like anyone else, though. He’s searching for it a little bit here this series, and he hits two big home runs. As I always say, he’s playing a different game.”

A good ‘problem’
Jake Bird didn’t make much of an impression after being acquired from the Rockies last July, allowing six earned runs in two innings before wrapping his year in the Minors. His beginning to 2026 looked different.

Armed with sharper command after a full spring working with the Yanks’ pitching gurus, Bird showed filthy movement over 2 1/3 innings in the series, including a five-out appearance on Saturday.

“Especially against righties, when he’s filling up the strike zone, he’s a problem,” Boone said.

Challenge accepted
José Caballero became the answer to a trivia question, initiating the first ABS challenge in Major League history on Wednesday. That was unsuccessful, but the Yankees found their rhythm throughout the weekend.

Among them: Judge flipped a count that later led to a homer, Trent Grisham turned a strikeout into a walk, and Austin Wells – who caught every inning of the series – successfully challenged twice on Sunday.

“I love what I’m seeing from Austin Wells back there, overturning a couple of big calls to shift the momentum,” Judge said.