BALTIMORE -- Going through the paces of a brightly optimistic spring, the Yankees never would have imagined that they could drop four of six games to the Orioles and Tigers on their opening homestand, nor did they anticipate the frequency with which their depth would already be tested.

But as Brett Gardner recently said, "The season doesn't slow down and wait on anyone," and the Yankees are fully invested into their “next man up” mindset. They may not be whole, but manager Aaron Boone believes they can still make serious noise in the American League East, which is why they seemed to be in such good spirits after Thursday's 8-4 victory at Baltimore.

"We're always capable of going on a roll," Boone said. "I feel like that's a matter of time. That's a matter of us starting to click a little bit together and getting some guys hot collectively in the lineup and getting our pitchers settled in. Even banged up, I'm confident we can go on a run at any point."

Here are three reasons for optimism and three causes for concern through the Yankees' first seven games of 2019:

THREE UP

1. Here comes the Judge

Aaron Judge is still waiting for his first home run of the new season, and he has struck out 14 times in 26 at-bats, including four times on Thursday. So why is he in this category? Even though Judge is "finding himself" in Boone's view, he is continuing to get hits (six singles and a double), having hit safely in six of seven games. He stands tall as the most dangerous figure in the lineup.

"I still feel locked in," Judge said. "I feel like I am seeing pitches well. I fouled off a couple of pitches [Thursday] I should have done damage with. My first at-bat, I went right at the second baseman. That's just baseball, just how it goes. Sometimes the ball falls, sometimes they don't. I am feeling good up there and just have to make sure to keep it rolling."

2. It's Tanaka Time

Pressed into duty as the Opening Day starter in the wake of Luis Severino's right shoulder injury, Masahiro Tanaka has been excellent through his first two starts, providing optimism that he can anchor the pitching staff while the Yankees wait for reinforcements. In 12 1/3 innings, Tanaka has held opponents to two earned runs. Though he has permitted 14 hits, he has yet to issue a walk against 12 strikeouts.

"I think there's more room for improvement," Tanaka said through an interpreter. "You have to work on it, you have to adjust on it. I need to make some tweaks here and there and try to get the best [splitters] back."

3. Gleyber and L-u-u-u-ke

Gleyber Torres and Luke Voit each carried the Yankees' offense for extended stretches of last season, and now that they are populating a lineup that could lack Giancarlo Stanton for the rest of the month, both players have the capability to serve as a big bat. Torres showed that with his two-homer, four-RBI performance on Thursday at Baltimore, a game in which Voit hit his first homer since the opener.

"Obviously with all the injuries and stuff there is more pressure on us, but I was just trying to do too much instead of being myself," Voit said. "At the end of the day, it's going to come around. I just had to smile and have fun and play a little kid's game, like you guys fell in love with last year."

THREE DOWN

1. RISP-y business

Wins seem more important going into an off-day. Players (and fans) have more time to savor the good vibes of that performance, and the bad data fades into the rear view. But let's not forget that the Yankees struck out a franchise record 18 times on Tuesday against Detroit, and with runners in scoring position through the first five games, they were 6-for-37 (.162) with 16 strikeouts. No wonder Torres' at-bats on Thursday felt so crucial.

"He came up in certain situations where we needed someone to come up and kind of change the tides a little bit," Judge said. "We had a couple of guys get on with singles, he worked the count and hit a couple of homers. That's huge for us. Especially in that situation, getting down early and fighting back the whole game. He was a catalyst."

2. Leaky 'pen

Having been touted as possibly the best bullpen in history, the early returns from the relief crew have been solid, but not stellar. Perhaps that was an unfair bar to set, but Chad Green and Jonathan Holder stumbled in the second game against Baltimore, Aroldis Chapman couldn't keep the game tied on Tuesday and Green served up a late homer on Wednesday.

"I feel like we're seeing a lot of good things out of our bullpen guys," Boone said. "I thought Greenie, even though he gave up the home run, was really good; I thought his slider was really good. I'm actually encouraged there with the way Holder is throwing the ball. I'm really encouraged with Chappy, especially going back to back there, even though he got caught. I think he's throwing the ball really well."

3. Injury report

The Yankees are keeping the lights on for their injured players down at the Player Development complex in Tampa, Fla., where the population has been more star-studded than at any time in recent memory. While Stanton, right-hander Dellin Betances and left-hander CC Sabathia could return by the end of the month, the Yankees expect to continue leaning on players that they expected to be in Triple-A (most prominently, Clint Frazier and Tyler Wade).

"When injuries settle in a little bit, other guys need to step up," Boone said. "There are obviously opportunities for guys that we didn't necessarily count on right out of the gate, and it's a good time for them to contribute to winning baseball. And that's the expectation."