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MESA, Ariz. — As the Yankees gear up for a fresh season, the true test of their mettle lies seven months down the line.
After another year passed without a celebratory parade through the Canyon of Heroes, the Yankees are set to embark on their hopeful journey once more, kicking off with the Opening Day clash against the Giants.
Entering their 17th season since their last championship, the Yankees are optimistic about their current lineup and the depth supporting it. This renewed confidence is buoyed by the anticipation of key players returning from the injured list.
However, manager Aaron Boone shared a similar confidence in last year’s squad, which made it only to Game 4 of the ALDS before being defeated by the Blue Jays.
With a clean slate, the Yankees are determined to rewrite their story, tackling 162 games with the aim of securing another shot at postseason glory.
“October is a long way away,” Boone said Tuesday morning at Sloan Park before the Yankees wrapped up their spring schedule against the Cubs. “Obviously, we want to get there and play in it and be the last team, but there’s just so many things you got to go through as a team to give yourself a chance to be in that position.
“It’s San Francisco Giants right now and opening on the West Coast and trying to get off to a good start in the overreaction week of the season, whether we start off good, bad [or] indifferent.”
There is pressure on Boone, entering his ninth season on the job, to finally have something to show for all the winning the Yankees have done in the regular season under his watch.
There is pressure on Aaron Judge, the back-to-back AL MVP who has accomplished just about everything in this game besides capturing the one thing that defines the Yankees’ greats: championships.
And there is pressure on Brian Cashman, entering his 29th season as general manager (and again the final year of his contract), to concoct the right mix of talent to add another World Series title to his resume.
There is little they can do about those legacies right now. But at least entering the regular season, the Yankees have put themselves in a strong position to take another swing.
“Look, I caution that it’s only camp, but we’ve had a hell of a camp,” Boone said. “We’ve had a lot of the answers we were hoping to get, knock on wood a lot of really good health and a lot of guys that are on their way back, trending in a really good direction with their rehab. I feel like the young players that are going to be future cores of this, maybe sooner rather than later, really showed well. And I feel like we’re going to have competition brewing for opportunities throughout the year because of our depth right now.
“But that’s camp, nobody cares about camp 10 days from now into the season and rolling. It’s about the 162 now and we’re excited to get after it.”
One of the ultimate wild cards that could change the fortunes of the Yankees’ season — and alter the run-it-back narrative that followed them throughout the offseason — took the mound again Tuesday at Sloan Park, taking the next step toward a potential May return.
Gerrit Cole, after that 26-pitch outing, was asked about his club entering the season and immediately reached for a bat in the bag next to him so he could knock on the wooden barrel.
“Remarkably healthy spring,” said Cole, who has looked sharp in his comeback from Tommy John surgery. “That’s really encouraging. I think the balance of the roster is good. I liked it last year. The depth of the roster is good, especially starting pitching, especially position player depth. I’m sure some of the length guys, the bridge guys bolstering the bullpen at some point. All-around looks really promising.
“At the same time, every year, it’s so early, whatever’s on paper, you put yourself in a good position to have championship aspirations. That’s the blessing of playing for the Yankees, but at the end of the day, you got to play. You got to execute. So we’ll see where it takes us. But as far as what we can do right now, everybody’s healthy, everybody’s feeling good, and that’s a great place to start.”