
Friends, the Boston Red Sox are bad. Their record doesn’t really reflect this, as they come to the Bronx for the home opener at 3-4. We have the Mets to thank for that. In my humble opinion, the Yankees should do what they do best: remind the Red Sox that they are bad. That begins tonight and, hopefully, will continue all weekend.
Here are the lineups for the first series in the Bronx in 2020:
Boston Red Sox (3-4)
1. Kevin Pillar, RF
2. J.D. Martinez, DH
3. Rafael Devers, 3B
4. Xander Boegarts, SS
5. Christian Vazquez, C
6. Alex Verdugo, RF
7. Michael Chavis, 1B
8. Jackie Bradley Jr., CF
9. José Peraza, 2B
Ryan Weber, RHP
New York Yankees (4-1)
1. DJ LeMahieu, 2B
2. Aaron Judge, RF
3. Gleyber Torres, SS
4. Giancarlo Stanton, DH
5. Aaron Hicks, CF
6. Luke Voit, 1B
7. Gio Urshela, 3B
8. Brett Gardner, LF
9. Kyle Higashioka, C
Jordan Montgomery, LHP
Looks like a routine off-day for Gary, though I’m sure that many fans are very excited to see it. The big news, of course, is that Gleyber is in there. He exited last night’s game after being hit with a pitch in the first inning. Good to see that his “contusion” is actually, well, a contusion. Always pays to be skeptical these days but some optimism was good.
Jordan Montgomery is back on the bump for the Yanks! Let’s hope he can keep up his 2017 success. Check out my 2019 primer on him and/or Derek’s season preview for a refresher on the Yanks’ lefty.
News & Notes
- Tommy Kahnle is on the IL with “forearm tightness.” That is not good. Hopefully, Tommy Tightpants is back in action soon and this isn’t a precursor to Tommy John, which would really suck for everyone’s favorite changeup extraordinaire. Jordan Montgomery is his replacement. (Lindsey Adler)
- In better news, Aroldis Chapman is cleared to return to the team. It seems like he is already in the Bronx, too. He wasted no time. (Brendan Kuty) He’ll be playing catch soon and the Yanks will evaluate him from there. (Meredith Marakovits)
- Gleyber Torres is in the lineup, as noted above. But he may not be if he has any issues in pregame. (SNY)
- Suzyn Waldman, an actual national treasure, is fulfilling an old promise to Gerrit Cole: she is singing the national anthem tonight. (Bryan Hoch) She is great. Another great person is CC Sabathia, who is throwing out the first pitch tonight. (Yankees)
- John Sterling will miss this weekend’s series against the Red Sox. He’s feeling under the weather but does not have COVID, apparently. Rickie Ricardo, who is great, will be on the call. (WFAN)
- Major League Baseball and the Player’s Association agreed that each game in double-headers in 2020 will be 7-innings each. (James Wagner) I think it’s dumb, but whatever. Aaron Boone, on the other hand, likes it. (Lindsey Adler)
- As expected, the Phillies are coming to the Bronx on Monday and Tuesday of next week. The two teams will then travel to Philly for another two-game set. No idea why they don’t just do all four in the Bronx, but that’s why I’m just a blogger. (Jon Heyman)
- A cool 20% of the league is off tonight because of COVID. Seems bad! (Ben Nicholson-Smith)
First pitch tonight is at 7:05 pm EDT. The game will be on YES locally and MLB Network nationally. WFAN and WADO will have the radio broadcast.