Yankees’ baseball is finally back!

New York Yankees, NYY, Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton
Oct 9, 2020; San Diego, California, USA; New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) celebrates with designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton (27) after hitting a solo home run against the Tampa Bay Rays during the fourth inning of game five of the 2020 ALDS at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Yankees are set to open their season later today, at 1:05 pm ET, when they take the field to face the pesky Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium. It has been quite a few months of transactions (some weeks with a complete lack of them), but the wait is finally over.

Gerrit Cole will be the Opening Day starter for the Yankees, and he is not only coming off a good season in 2020 (2.84 ERA, 3.89 FIP, 1.5 fWAR in 73 frames) but also had a positive spring training, earning 24 strikeouts, stretching to around 90 pitches, and using his whole repertoire.

Hyun-Jin Ryu, the Jays’ formidable lefty, will toe the rubber against the Yankees in the first game of the season.

The Yankees had a busy week as they assigned their last few remaining roster spots. They lost three crucial players due to injuries in Zack Britton, Justin Wilson, and Luke Voit, but their overall depth served them well.

The Yankees’ are boasting their overall depth

Relievers such as Mike King, Lucas Luetge, and Nick Nelson made the Yankees’ roster, in part because of Britton and Wilson’s ailments, but also because they mostly earned on the field during Grapefruit League play.

Mike Tauchman, Tyler Wade, and Jay Bruce edged Derek Dietrich and got a spot, too. Bruce will have his hands full replacing Voit, one of the Yankees’ premier sluggers, until he is ready to return from a partially torn meniscus in May.

Here is the Yankees’ first lineup of the season:

2B DJ LeMahieu

RF Aaron Judge

CF Aaron Hicks

DH Giancarlo Stanton

SS Gleyber Torres

3B Gio Urshela

C Gary Sanchez

1B Jay Bruce

LF Clint Frazier

The game will be televised by ESPN and the YES Network, and available on radio via WFAN. Play ball (finally!), and let’s go Yankees!