Yankees' home opener started great . . . then the game happened
Yankees’ Juan Soto tosses his helmet after striking out swinging to end the eighth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays in an MLB baseball game at Yankee Stadium on Friday, April 5, 2024. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Two snapshots from what should’ve been a memorable Opening Day No. 122 in the Bronx:
1) An electric Marcus Stroman, the former Patchogue-Medford star, suddenly appearing in the outfield roughly 45 minutes before throwing his first pitch, trading applause with the gathering fans, hyping up the crowd as much as they did him.
This was highly unusual, maybe even unprecedented behavior — I’d never witnessed anything like it from that day’s starting pitcher in three decades of covering baseball — and Stroman followed up that warning track tour by kneeling at Monument Park, almost genuflecting before the Yankees legends on the other side of the centerfield wall.
“It’s a dream come true for me,” Stroman said afterward.
2) Everyone’s focus Friday was locked on to Juan Soto, with the sellout crowd of 47,812 feverishly hoping that his first Opening Day in pinstripes would be the first of many in a career that ultimately finishes with the Yankees. And Soto, for his part, definitely fed that hysteria, from the NYC-flavored cleats to Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind” walk-up song to his unabashed, over-the-top response during the first-inning roll call.
While most Yankees reply to their names with a hat tip or wave, Soto went all-in. When the thunderous “JUAN SOTO!” bellowed from the bleachers, Soto snapped off his cap, spread his arms wide and went into a deep, Broadway-caliber bow. Again, the mutual outburst of affection, to this degree — similar to Stroman’s interactions — was something rarely seen, if ever.
“There’s always a first time for everything,” Soto said. “So I’ve got to give them a little bit of thanks first, that they came to watch us and see what we can do. I’m going to be doing a love sign to them, because it’s all love from them to me — and me to them.”
If only the Yankees’ home opener could have ended right then, at the love portion of the show. Because what followed in the next 2 hours, 54 minutes — aside from Stroman’s superb six innings — was largely disappointing in a 3-0 loss to the Blue Jays.
There’s no other way to spin it, really. The Yankees returned to New York after winning six of seven on the road, including a four-game sweep of the Astros and a series victory over the defending National League champ Diamondbacks, so that jacked up expectations even further for the home opener. Instead, all of that adrenaline fizzled out, as their previously relentless, resourceful lineup was neither against Blue Jays starter Yusei Kikuchi.
Despite all the pageantry — the big flag, the intros, etc. — the home opener is just one game, so we can’t get too caught up in a single flat April performance. But the feelings of deflation were a real thing, especially in wasting Stroman’s three-hit, zero-run, six-strikeout performance. He hasn’t allowed an earned run in 12 innings this season.
The rotation was supposed to be the biggest problem for a team with World Series goals, the one department most capable of sabotaging that mission — especially with Gerrit Cole (elbow) on the shelf until June. And here was Stroman, back in close proximity to his Long Island roots, delivering maybe beyond what the Yankees initially had in mind.
To flush Stroman’s gem on this particular afternoon, when a 46-degree first pitch actually felt somewhat toasty in the sun, made the lackluster offensive performance sting that much more. Stroman was among the very short list of Yankees, along with Anthony Volpe (two of the team’s six hits) to get a pass.
“Not the end result we wanted,” Aaron Judge said, “so we really didn’t give them too much to cheer about.”
Other than the mid-morning earthquake, which rumbled the Bronx during the Yankees’ 10:30 batting practice, the solo homer by Blue Jays pinch hitter Ernie Clement provided the only jolt felt at the Stadium.
Clement ambushed reliever Caleb Ferguson — the former Dodger making his Bronx debut — to open the seventh inning with the only run Toronto would need. The Jays scored two more in the ninth thanks to Nick Burdi flinging the ball around (three wild pitches), and Soto being invisible was a big factor in the Yankees’ disappearing act at the plate.
After roll call, Soto couldn’t be found, going 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts. When he whiffed to end the eighth inning, he slammed both his bat and helmet to the ground, the day’s futility finally bubbling over. It was a stark contrast with that joyous moment with the Bleacher Creatures way earlier, and one Soto later would regret.
“It’s tough,” he said. “It’s the frustration that comes out. You want to do some things for this fan base, get your team going, you have the chance to do it and couldn’t get it done. It really gets you mad. At the end of the day, that’s my fault. I shouldn’t do that, but things happen.”
Last weekend in Houston, Soto looked as if he’d never make an out. The Bronx will see that player again, sooner rather than later. But having that Soto in the home opener would’ve made for a perfect afternoon instead of the flawed spectacle that nobody expected to witness.
When Aaron Boone was asked about the experience as a whole, the always-glass-half-full manager wisely chose to hedge.
“Great,” he said before correcting himself. “Well, good. Didn’t end well.”
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
