Yankees Opening Series Takeaways as New York Sweeps the Astros

In most years, Opening Day is about the festivities and starting the season while the remainder of the series feels like typical March baseball. In 2024, that was not the case for the Yankees as they engaged in what felt like playoff baseball in the Spring as the faced off against the Astros.

On the forefront was the debuts of offseason additions Juan Soto, Alex Verdugo, and Marcus Stroman. Starting 4-0 is incredible for a Yankees team that looks to return to the playoffs after a disappointing 82-80 2023. This series showed resiliency, with New York taking the lead in all three games after the 7th inning.

A change in mindset with Aaron Boone and the Yankees?

In past seasons we've seen the Yankees take extreme caution when it comes to resting banged-up players and giving players days off. This has seemingly shifted as we saw Juan Soto say he was playing despite a twisted ankle and Gleyber Torres playing a day after being hit in the hand with a pitch.

Juan Soto is as advertised and more

When Juan Soto arrived in New York, the excitement was around his ability to work counts and hit for power. What Yankees fans didn't expect was incredible defense as Soto put on full display in this series.

On Opening Day, Soto saved the day gunning the game-tying run out at the plate with a perfect throw. In Game 2, Soto made and incredible sliding catch which led to Carlos Rodon saying the following:

"That guy's pretty incredible. You'd think we traded for him for his defense at this point."

- Carlos Rodon

At the plate, Soto has exceeded expectations as well through four games in a Yankees uniform. The superstar is batting .529 with 9 hits, 3 walks, and 4 RBIs.

The impact of adding Soto has been felt early and is a massive reason for the Yankees' 4-0 start.