It's Opening Day, and I'm Not Feeling It

Today is Opening Day of the 2025 Major League Baseball season, except for the 2 games played last week in Tokyo, Japan by the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs. (The Dodgers won both.)

The New York Yankees will open the season at home, at Yankee Stadium II, against the Milwaukee Brewers. The game will be on ESPN, rather than the YES Network. First pitch is set for 3:05 PM.

The Brewers were fellow members of the American League from 1970 to 1997, and fellow members of the AL's Eastern Division from 1972 to 1993. So, while this matchup has been Interleague since the 1998 season, it's an opponent familiar to those of us who have been Yankee Fans since before the Joe Torre, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera era.

Carlos Rodón will be the Yankees' starting pitcher. The reason for this is that their 3 pitchers from last season's starting rotation are injured.

The annual injury crisis is already well underway -- in order of believed return from injury, not in order of importance:

* Clarke Schmidt. Expected to be part of the starting rotation, he was diagnosed with fatigue in his right (pitching) shoulder. He starts the season on the Injured List "to build stamina," and is expected to return in April.

* Ian Hamilton. Expected to be a key reliever, he was diagnosed with an infection. As with Schmidt, he will start the season on the Injured list "to build stamina," and is expected to return in April.

* Jake Cousins. The righthanded reliever has a right forearm strain. He's expected back in April. Not something to get excited about.

* Tyler Matzek. The Yankees signed this lefthanded reliever as free agent on February 11. And, already, he has a strained right oblique. Formerly with the Colorado Rockies and the Atlanta Braves, he missed the entire 2023 season due to injury, and pitched only 11 games in 2024, mostly without effectiveness. He's 34. He's expected to return in April, but I wouldn't count on him being a key figure in a successful season.

* Jonathan Loáisiga. The righthanded reliever was supposed to be key last season, made one appearance, and needed Tommy John surgery. Had he been available in last year's World Series, who knows? He has been throwing off a mound since March 4. For the moment, the Yankees are thinking he might be back in late April or early May.

* DJ LeMahieu. The infielder has a left calf strain. He's expected back in early May. He'll be approaching his 37th birthday.

* Giancarlo Stanton. A heavy hitter when healthy, he has torn tendons in both elbows, and is also dealing with what's being called "a minor calf issue." (To paraphrase the late basketball legend Bill Walton, a minor issue is what happens to somebody else.) He is expected back sometime in May. He is 35.

* JT Brubaker. The Yankees got the righthanded starting pitcher from the Pittsburgh Pirates in last year's Spring Training. Due to various injuries, he has not appeared in a regular-season game since October 4, 2022. That's the last 2 whole seasons that he's missed. He pitched in a Spring Training game on February 21, tried to dodge a comebacker, and broke 3 ribs. He's 31. He might be back in May, but, to channel the spirit of Yogi Berra, even when he could pitch, he couldn't pitch.

* Luis Gil. Last season's AL Rookie of the Year was expected again, to be a big part of the starting rotation. He was diagnosed with a right (throwing) latissimus strain, and is not expected back before June. In other words, the Yankees will be without their ace from last season all this season, and without their top 2 pitchers from last season for at least the 1st 1/3rd of this season.

* Scott Effross. Much has the righthanded reliever been hyped. But injuries have meant that he's made just 3 regular-season major league appearances since October 3, 2022. He was diagnosed with a left hamstring strain after leaving a Spring Training game on February 25, after throwing one pitch. All we know is what manager Aaron Boone told us: "It's going to take some time." He's 31. Anybody who was ever counting on him has been kidding themselves.

* Clayton Beeter. The righthanded reliever reached the major leagues last season, making 3 appearances for the Yankees. He's 26. General manager Brian Cashman says only, "It's going to be a while." Sounds like someone we shouldn't be counting on, anyway.

* Gerrit Cole. The Yankees' starting ace had Tommy John surgery on his right (pitching) elbow on March 11. He is definitely out for the entire 2025 season, and may miss time in 2026 as well. For a team that reached, but lost, the World Series last year, and hoped to win it this year, this is a devastating blow. What's more, when he comes back, Cole will be approaching his 36th birthday. He may never be ace-level quality again.

* Chase Hampton. The righthanded starter made 7 appearances last season, topping out with the Class AA Somerset Patriots. He has never thrown a pitch even as high as in Class AAA. He had Tommy John surgery. They're talking about May 2026 as his earliest return. He'll be 25, and will probably spend whatever time he's active back at AA. I'm not sure why he's even mentioned on this list.

This is the projected Yankee starting lineup until LeMahieu and Stanton can come back -- presuming, that is, no other new injuries:

1. Catcher: Austin Wells.

2. Right Field: Aaron Judge. The best player in baseball, at least in the regular season. And yet, Cashman is still ordering Judge to bat his best slugger in the 2 spot in the order. This has been established as monumentally stupid. He moves from center field back to his natural position because right fielder Juan Soto crossed town and turned coat, signing with the New York Mets.

3. Center Field: Cody Bellinger. Fills the center field gap caused by Judge moving back to right. He's already won a Rookie of the Year, a Most Valuable Player award, and a Gold Glove. He's a 2-time All-Star. However, he also has an injury history. He will never again be the 47-homer, 115-RBI player he was with the 2019 Dodgers. And, like several other Yankees, but current and recent, he strikes out too much. But if he can put up the 26 homers and 97 RBIs that he put up with the 2023 Cubs, I will gladly take it. He is the son of Clay Bellinger, a reserve on the Yankees' 1999 and 2000 World Champions.

4. First Base: Paul Goldschmidt. He's a 7-time All-Star, a 4-time Gold Glove, and a former MVP (with 3 other top-3 finishes), with 362 career home runs and a 139 career OPS+. So, he's an upgrade on LeMahieu, anyway. The downside: He's 37, and, over the last 3 seasons, his on-base percentage has dropped from .404 to .362 to .303.

5. Second Base: Jazz Chisholm Jr. The reason we will not miss Gleyber Torres. That, and the fact that Torres no longer has a million-dollar bat, but still has a buck-ninety-five glove and a five-cent head.

6. Shortstop: Anthony Volpe. He came into his own last season. He's ready to be a championship-level shortstop.

7. Left Field: Jasson Domínguez. He can hit the ball a long way, but he's had a lot of fielding woes, and is already injury-prone.

8. Designated Hitter: Ben Rice. He has been hitting very well in Spring Training. He is also Wells' main backup as catcher.

9. Third Base: Oswaldo Cabrera. Good fielder, not a good hitter, and LeMahieu's return might not mean he goes back to 3rd base, anyway.

Last season, Soto had 41 home runs; Bellinger and Goldschmidt, combined, had 40. Soto had 109 RBIs; Bellinger and Goldschmidt, combined, had 143. So making up what he produced might not be that hard. But, again, both men have declined a bit the last 2 seasons.

The starting rotation: Carlos Rodón, Max Fried, Marcus Stroman, Will Warren and Carlos Carrasco. Rodón and Fried are lefthanded, the rest are righthanded. The Yankees signed Fried as a free agent. In 8 seasons with the Braves, he went 73-36 with a 3.07 ERA and a 1.164 ERA. Sounds great. Except he only appeared in 7 games in 2020 (about half as many as he should have in that COVID-shortened season), and only 14 in 2023. He's 31. Sounds like a classic, "Yes, but... " situation.

The Yankees acquired Devin Williams from the Milwaukee Brewers, in a package that included Nestor Cortés. In other words, Rodón and the terribly inconsistent Stroman are the only regular starters from last season who are ready to go this Opening Day. But Williams is intended as the new closer. The bullpen will also have, in decreasing order of my confidence in them, Luke Weaver, Mark Leiter and Tim Hill.

Boone is still the field boss. Cashman is still the roster manager. Hal Steinbrenner, who, unlike his father, values profit over winning, is still the controlling owner. Doesn't seem like there's a lot of reason for optimism, does it?

On top of that, I've had health issues this Winter. All but one are now resolved, but that one, new dentures, are a problem. And Trump has been even worse the 2nd time around.

So, put it all together, and I am not really in the mood for baseball. Today is Opening Day, but I'm not feeling it.

I'm not sure there's even going to be anything to feel.

*

I haven't done a countdown in 4 months. Here goes:

Hours until the Yankees open the 2025 regular season: 8.

Days until the next New York Red Bulls match: 2, this Saturday afternoon, at 2:30 PM, vs. the New England Revolution, at Gillette Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

Days until the Red Bulls again play a nearby rival: See the previous answer.

Days until the next Arsenal match: 5, on Tuesday, at 2;45 PM New York Eastern Time, home to West London team Fulham.

Days until the New Jersey Devils again play a local rival: 9, at 12:30 PM on Saturday, April 5, against the New York Rangers, a matinee at the Prudential Center.

Days until the Yankees' next series against the Boston Red Sox begins: 71, on Friday night, June 6, 2025, at Yankee Stadium. Just 10 weeks.

Days until the next game of the U.S. National Soccer Team: 72, on Saturday, June 7, at 3:30 PM, vs. Turkey, at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut. The team looked very bad in the recent CONCACAF Nations League, under their new manager, former Tottenham and Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino.

Days until the new Superman movie premieres: 106, on July 11. Just 15 weeks.

Days until the next North London Derby: Unknown, as Arsenal and Tottenham have already played both Premier League games against each other this season. The next season begins on August 16, and the opening weekend almost never features major rivalries, so we're looking at no earlier than August 23. That's 149 days, or under 5 months.

Days until the next Rutgers University football game: 154, on Thursday night, August 28, home to Ohio University. Just 5 months. That's Ohio University. Not to be confused with "The... Ohio State University." Unfortunately, Rutgers has to play the defending National Champions away. A week after playing Ohio University, Rutgers will host Miami University of Ohio, not to be confused with the University of Miami in Florida.

Days until the next East Brunswick High School football game: Unknown. The 2024 season began earlier, and ended earlier, than ever before, as we went 2-8. If the schedule works out the same way as this season, then the opener will be on Friday night, August 29, 2025. That's 155 days.

Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge Game: Unknown. If the 2025 schedule is a reverse of the 2024 edition, with the teams flipping to the other's home field, it will be at home on September 26, 2025. That's 183 days, or just under 6 months.

Days until the next elections for Governor of New Jersey and Mayor of New York City: 222, on Tuesday, November 4, 2025. A little over 7 months.

Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State football game: 247, on Saturday, November 29, in Piscataway, at what's currently named SHI Stadium. (The naming rights could be sold to someone else by then.) 

Days until the next Winter Olympics open in Milan, Italy: 316, on Friday, February 6, 2026. Under a year.

Days until the next World Cup opens: 438, on Monday, June 8, 2026. Under a year and a half, or under 15 months. I wonder what team Trump will be rooting for: Ours, or Russia's.

Days until the World Cup Final in New Jersey: 479, on Sunday, July 19, 2026. Under a year and a half, or under 16 months.

Days until the next Summer Olympic Games: 1,205, on Friday, July 14, 2028, in Los Angeles. Under 3 1/2 years, and under 40 months. What shape America will be in at the time, God only knows.

Days until the next Presidential election: 1,321, on Tuesday, November 7, 2028. A little over 3 1/2 years, under 44 months. This, of course, presumes that the Trump Administration doesn't suspend the Constitution of the United States and cancel all future Presidential elections.