SAN FRANCISCO — There won’t be many games when Aaron Judge goes 0-for-5 with four strikeouts, as he did in Wednesday’s season opener.
In fact, he didn’t strike out four times in a game all of last year and he went hitless in five at-bats just once in that second straight MVP season.
In a season-opening 7-0 rout of the Giants at Oracle Park, Judge’s aberration was barely an afterthought. That was not just because the rest of the lineup did its job, but also because the bottom of the order — which struggled much of last year — came through.
Against ace Logan Webb in the top of the second, José Caballero came up with two on and one out and opened the scoring with a double to left.
Ryan McMahon, a mess at the plate for most of his time last year after coming over in a trade from Colorado at the deadline and again this spring after retooling his swing, followed with a two-run single up the middle to make it 3-0.
An Austin Wells single from the No. 9 spot kept the rally going, which led to Trent Grisham’s triple to right-center that gave the Yankees a 5-0 lead.
So while the Yankees have plenty of confidence in that heart of the offense that will have to deliver in order for the Yankees to contend for a title, an improvement from McMahon and Wells might make them unstoppable.
“We have the best player in the world,” Max Fried said afterward of Judge. “But we also have a lot of guys to support him.”
Caballero is the starting shortstop in part because Anthony Volpe is out after offseason surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder.
As for Wells, the lefty-swinging catcher was the leadoff hitter on Opening Day a year ago against Milwaukee, and he went deep in each of the team’s first two games.
Asked if Wells might stay at the bottom of the lineup this season, Aaron Boone said, “We’ll see.”
“As long as I’m in the lineup, I don’t care,” Wells said.
The only things Wells was interested in were the victory, some good at-bats and a solid game catching Fried behind the plate.
“It was a good start,” Wells said of his pair of hits and a walk. “I’d like to build off of it.”
They’ll face left-hander Robbie Ray in the second game of the season Friday, which Boone noted could be the only southpaw they see on the road trip.
While Judge and the rest of the middle of the lineup should carry the offense, the Yankees are hoping for more production from McMahon. He had a .641 OPS with the Bombers last year after posting a .717 mark with the Rockies prior to the trade, when he played half his games at hitter-friendly Coors Field.
Before Wednesday’s game, Boone noted McMahon swung the bat better toward the end of spring training, even if he didn’t have much to show for it.
If the rest of the offense performs as expected, the Yankees can probably live with McMahon’s superb glove at third base and not much else. But they still believe he’s better than the third-worst offensive third baseman in the majors, which is where his numbers with the Yankees would put him over the course of a full season.
Boone said it was unlikely some of the lefties would start Friday against Ray. The Yankees made sure this offseason to add right-handed balance, leaving Paul Goldschmidt, Randal Grichuk and Amed Rosario available for a righty-heavy lineup.
And while Boone and the Yankees typically look to space out their lefties as much as possible, Jazz Chisholm Jr., McMahon and Wells were in the bottom four Wednesday.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
