5 things we’ve learned about the Yankees so far

The Yankees are 3-3 going into Friday’s home opener against Albert Pujols and the Angels at Yankee Stadium. Here are some storylines from the season’s first week that should be relevant today:

1. Captain Crunch & Alex the No-So Great: Six games into the season, Derek Jeter is hitting .370 and Alex Rodriguez is hitting .174. Jeter has one more guaranteed year on his contract. A-Rod has a contract that lasts until 2017. Why does that seem as if it should be the other way around?

2. Nick of Time: In the last year of his Yankees contract, Swisher so desperately wants to be known as a clutch hitter. Wednesday’s game-winning home run in Baltimore will help, but Swisher has to prove it all year and then in the postseason if he wants this not to be his final Yankees home opener.

3. No Mo Mo? Speaking of final home openers, Mariano Rivera won’t say if this is his. Still, expect there to be a ton of emotion today from fans who will take their cues from Rivera’s coy statements on the matter. It certainly feels as if he means to ride off into the sunset after this season, doesn’t it?

4. Pettitte and Forget It: The first turn through the Yankees’ rotation made it clear Andy Pettitte will have a rotation spot when he’s ready – if there was any doubt to begin with. Hiroki Kuroda (today’s starter), Phil Hughes and Freddy Garcia all had underwhelming first outings in the race to see who gets sent to the bullpen once Pettitte’s minor-league tune-ups are done.

5. The Catcher and the Goodbye: Jorge Posada returns to the Bronx to throw out the ceremonial first pitch, proving the hard feelings from his tumultuous final season in pinstripes are gone. The big debate this week was whether Posada’s part of the ceremony would include Rivera or Jeter. We say both. Instead of taking the mound, Posada should get behind the plate one last time, catch a pitch from Rivera and throw the ball to Jeter at second base. Now that would be a fitting way for a near Hall of Fame catcher to go out.