Yankees' Opening Night: 3 takeaways from their shutout of the Giants

SAN FRANCISCO – The Yankees won on Opening Day for the fifth straight year with Wednesday night’s 7-0 victory over the Giants, and improved to 8-1 in their last nine openers since 2018. The Yankees are off Thursday before the three-game series resumes Friday afternoon. Here are three takeaways from Game 1 of 162:

1. Spring training numbers, as always, are irrelevant

Two of the standouts from the victory were coming off decidedly un-standout spring trainings. Max Fried, who posted a 4.40 ERA in the Grapefruit League and never looked especially sharp with his command, allowed two hits and a walk in 6 1/3 scoreless innings. The lefthander, by his own acknowledgment, didn’t have his best stuff, but it was clear the regular-season flip had been switched and Fried, other than the first inning, was in command throughout. Ryan McMahon, who hit .170 in the spring with a .477 OPS, had one of the biggest hits of the night, a two-run single in the five-run second inning.

2. The bullpen didn’t cause any angst

Granted, the offense and Fried’s performance made the relievers’ work the furthest thing from high-leverage innings. But the Yankees entered the season with quite a few bullpen questions, most of them revolving around setup roles in front of closer David Bednar. So in that respect, the performances of Jake Bird, Brent Headrick and Camilo Doval were encouraging. The trio combined for 2 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out two, doing exactly what a quality bullpen should do in blowout situations.

3. Jose Caballero isn’t going to give up his job easily

Caballero, filling in for the injured Anthony Volpe, would love to be an everyday shortstop in the big leagues and he would really love to do it with the Yankees. Though he had an error on Wednesday night, Caballero nonetheless fielded his position smoothly and arguably had the night’s biggest hit, a one-out RBI double off Logan Webb that got the Yankees off and running in their five-run second. Volpe’s rehab from shoulder surgery to this point has progressed faster than expected, and the fourth-year shortstop could be back by late April. But Caballero, a trade acquisition last year whose athleticism improved the Yankees both in the field and on the bases, appears poised to make that decision as difficult as possible for the Yankees.

By Erik Boland

erik.boland@newsday.comeboland11

Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.