Yankees: 1 big winner and 1 loser in dominant victory over Boston

The Yankees had their home opener against the Boston Red Sox last night in the first game of a three-game series. New York was dominant in their performance against the Orioles in the series before and continued to play great baseball against Boston. They held the Red Sox to just one run and got their fifth win of the season. 

New York clicked on both sides of the field last night and played their best baseball of the year. So far, they are looking like the best team in the MLB and already look like their in mid-season form. Many players looked very good in the 5-1 victory over the Red Sox. 

Let’s take a look at the winners and losers from the New York Yankees’ dominant win over Boston:

LOSER: Kyle Higashioka

Gary Sanchez has looked awful so far this season and got the day off against the Red Sox. Kyle Higashioka was behind the plate and didn’t look much better. From a catching standpoint, he actually looked very good, but in the box, he didn’t look like he saw pitches very well. Now granted, he hasn’t had many at-bats leading up to the season. However, he looked very rusty. Considering the Yankees had such an excellent performance, overall, it was hard to find someone that really struggled. If you compare all of the players’ performances, it was obviously Higashioka who performed the worst.

WINNER: Jordan Montgomery/Aaron Judge/Gio Urshela

This is the first time that we have seen Montgomery pitch this early in the season in a while. It’s safe to say he didn’t disappoint. He came out dealing and only allowed one run to Boston. Montgomery had very good command of his sinker and changeup and even acknowledged his success with those pitches. For someone that we haven’t got to see pitch in a while, his performance was very encouraging. He showed that on little preparation, he is still able to get big league batters out at an efficient rate. The Yankees’ rotation doesn’t have very good left-handed pitchers, and Montgomery showed that he can add diversity to the group. Very promising performance, to say the least. 

Another game, another home run for Aaron Judge. Judge continues to rake game after game and keeps putting runs on the board for New York. Now, this home run wasn’t hit very far at all, but it goes to show how strong Judge is. It was a pitch that he didn’t get all of, but was still able to hit it out. Not only did he have a great offensive performance, but he had some nice plays in the field. Before the season started, I predicted that Judge would be the Yankees MVP this season, and he continues to prove me right.

Gio Urshela is another player that has gotten off to a slow start but looked really good against the Red Sox last night. He seemed to be really locked in and was seeing the ball very well. Even though Urshela hit a home run, I don’t think that was his best hit of the night. He had a perfectly timed swing on a fastball and hit a sweet line drive later in the game. Urshela getting his swing back is very scary for opponents. He had a career year hitting wise last year and is showing glimpses of elite batting ability. 

The New York Yankees will take on the Red Sox tonight and will look to win their third straight series and get their fifth straight win. Masahiro Tanaka will take the mound for the first time since being drilled in the head by a Stanton line drive. Look to see how the Yankees will perform in their second game against their division rivals.