Opening Day is a grand occasion for every MLB team and the New York Yankees are no exception. It's also a prime example of how small sample size can send a team's fan base into ecstacy or despair. This should serve as a public service reminder to all Yankee fans about making definitive conclusions after the opening series of the 2025 regular season.
In fairness, the opening weekend inspired a lot more optimism than despair for fans in the Bronx. The team flashed brilliance for long stretches of play against the Brewers. The series win did a lot to quiet concerns about the team's injury crisis coming out of Spring Training.
With that being said, it's still far too early to draw lasting conclusions about the team based on three games of action. Here are three overreactions that should be avoided at all costs.
1. Aaron Judge is going to win the Triple Crown
Some Yankees fans had some quiet concerns about Aaron Judge after he only hit one home run during Spring Training. He silenced any doubts about his form after mashing three home runs in the team's 20-9 demolition of Milwaukee on Saturday at Yankee Stadium.
Judge swinging the bat with such authority is absolutely a positive sign for the Yankees. Manager Aaron Boone needs him to get off to a hot start to make up for the loss of Giancarlo Stanton. He has the singular talent required to carry an offense when he's swinging a hot bat.
It's still too soon to think he's taken any sort of meaningful step forward compared to his monster 2024 campaign. Fans in New York should be pleased if he simply repeats his feats from a season ago. Doing anything more would represent a season for the ages for the Yankees' top offensive player.
Projecting Judge to have monster home run numbers is in play. Expecting him to lead MLB in batting average is not. He's simply going to swing and miss to offen to win a Triple Crown. Fans should appreciate his greatness without heaping too much pressure onto the towering slugger.
2. Max Fried can't be an ace for a World Series contender
There's no way around the reality that Max Fried did not have his best stuff in his Yankees debut. His inability to locate his offspeed repertoire allowed the Brewers to square up his fastball. in the end, he left the game before getting what could have been an easy win given his team's offensive outburst.
It's important to note that only two of the six runs Fried allowed were earned. He did commit one of the costly errors that extended an inning for Milwaukee, but he did not get quality help from the players behind him.
The Yankees did not spend a fortune on Fried to help them win games in March. He needs to be given time to round into form. His value to the franchise will be fully established when the team starts playing high-pressure games in October. Fried needs to be given double-digit starts before anyone in New York starts to worry about his suitability for that task.
3. Cody Bellinger is ready to return to MVP form
Cody Bellinger's hot start to the season might be the most important storyline from the Yankees' Opening Weekend. There was a lot of optimism surround the veteran outfielder coming out of Spring Training and he stayed hot by tormenting the Brewers through three games.
His importance to the middle of Boone's batting order cannot be overstated. The team needs Bellinger to prevent opposing teams from pitching around Judge. The former MVP has the ideal left-handed stroke to mash home runs over the short porch in left field at Yankee Stadium.
Three games of quality offensive output do not mean Bellinger is ready to return to the form that made him one of the best players in all of baseball. His good start is a good sign for the Yankees but they should not pencil him to finish in the top-five of MVP voting alongside Judge quite yet.
Like every player, his performance is going to wax and wane over the course of what will be a marathon campaign in the Bronx. The best thing about Bellinger's good start is that he can take some pressure off of himself to provide an immediate impact with his new team. Getting off to a cold start could have forced him to start squeezing his bat too tightly both literally and figuratively.
In the end, the Yankees need Bellinger to perform like an above-average starter if they're going to reach their full potential. Anything he gives them above that level should be considered a very important bonus by the team and their passionate fan base.