Yankees Opening Series Takeaways as New York Sweeps the Astros

Oswaldo Cabrera makes the most out of his opportunities.

In Spring Training, Oswaldo Cabrera underwhelmed batting .213 and in all likelihood would have started the year in the minors if not for injuries to DJ LeMahieu and Oswald Peraza. The Yankees then traded for Jon Berti who almost started in Game One however, Cabrera was given the start. Oswaldo would make his impact felt immediately and forced Boone to start him for all four games of this series.

The hot start of Cabrera has given the team as much of a boost as Juan Soto through four games and will continue to command playing time. The utility fielder is hitting .438 with 7 hits, 6 RBIs, 2 home runs, and 3 runs. Cabrera leads the team in home runs, extra-base hits, and RBIs.

Starting Pitching surprises

The biggest concern with this Yankees team heading into 2024 was if they had good enough of a rotation to compete for a World Series after losing Gerrit Cole. So far the rotation has surprised with the team getting 20.2 innings out of its rotation through four starts.

Nestor Cortes got tagged early in Game 1, but settled in allowing the Yankees to come back and win the ball game. Carlos Rodon battled all of the second game pitching just 4.1 innings but, he allowed just one run allowing the bullpen to win this game.

In Game 3, Marcus Stroman made his Yankees debut, pitching six innings giving up three runs none of which were earned. Clarke Schmidt would get off to a solid start in the final game of the Series before allowing two runs which would take him out of line for the win.

Slimmed Down Stanton provides optimism

The story of Giancarlo Stanton's time in New York has been underwhelming play paired with constant injuries. As a way to try and prevent injuries, Stanton slimmed down this off-season losing nearly 20 pounds.

As a result, Stanton looks more nimble and has shown it, especially in game four of this series. Stanton hit a rocket which in past years would have been a single however, he was able to stretch it into a double. Later in that inning, Stanton was able to advance on a fly ball to center which led to the Yankees scoring a run.

We'll see the full extent of how nimble Stanton is when he plays the field but, early on there's plenty to be excited about.