Life without Gerrit Cole? For the Yankees, it begins with the bats
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Jorge Castillo, ESPN Staff Writer
HOUSTON — A few hours before the start of their 2024 season Thursday, the New York Yankees unveiled their Opening Day roster. Folded into the announcement was another piece of news: They had placed eight players on the injured list. As expected, Gerrit Cole, two weeks after being shut down with nerve inflammation and edema in his right elbow, was chief among them.
With that, the pain for Yankees fans became officially official. Instead of taking the ball on Opening Day for New York for the fifth straight year, Cole landed on the 60-day IL, meaning the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner isn’t eligible to return until late May. The Yankees must navigate at least two months — maybe much longer — without arguably the best pitcher in the world.
“It certainly sucks not having your ace go,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said before the game.
How the team performs in Cole’s absence will likely determine the course of the club’s season, a clear win-now mission. The formula the Yankees envision to succeed was on display Thursday afternoon in their 5-4 comeback win over the Houston Astros.
Solid, if not spectacular, starts from a rotation full of question marks. Strong bullpen performances. An improved defense. And, most importantly, a relentless lineup capable of grinding opposing pitchers down — leaving the other departments more margin for error.
They repeated the recipe in Friday’s 7-1 victory, deleting a 1-0 deficit in the late innings to begin the season 2-0 against a nemesis and projected World Series contender.
The Yankees’ offense, at least across the first two games, has looked very different from the one that ranked 25th in the majors in runs in 2023. Because it is very different. For all the doom and gloom surrounding the unit last season, its woes were primarily fueled by an onslaught of injuries, most notably the toe injury Aaron Judge suffered when he crashed into the right-field bullpen gate at Dodger Stadium and Anthony Rizzo‘s struggles with an undiagnosed concussion caused by a collision with Fernando Tatis Jr.
Just three players (Anthony Volpe, Gleyber Torres and DJ LeMahieu, who is starting this season on the IL) appeared in more than 115 games in 2023. Add Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo, both acquired in offseason trades, and the offense should rank among the best in the majors — if it can stay relatively healthy.
That’s a big if with five regulars in their 30s, and there are issues already. LeMahieu suffered a bone bruise in his foot during spring training that required another round of testing Friday; Boone said he didn’t know the results yet. Then Torres was hit by a pitch in his right hand in the seventh inning Friday. He initially stayed in the game but removed himself a half-inning later, though X-rays on the thumb were negative.
Torres was plunked during the Yankees offense’s awakening Friday. Astros starter Cristian Javier had held it scoreless over the first six frames — outdueling Carlos Rodon, who gave up one run in 4⅓ innings — before the Yankees pounced on the Houston bullpen.
The Yankees scored two runs in the seventh inning and followed with four more in the eighth as the Astros’ defense combusted. Oswaldo Cabrera punctuated the outburst with an RBI single — his fourth hit of the night and sixth in the two games. Giancarlo Stanton, who played in just 101 games in a disastrous 2023 season, blasted a home run in the ninth. Suddenly, it was a blowout.
“We’ve been trying to do that since spring training,” said Soto, who went 4-for-7 with three walks in the two games. “We were focusing on that stuff. Taking good at-bats, taking good at-bats against everybody. Don’t give at-bats away.”
On Thursday, Nestor Cortes, making his first career Opening Day start after an injury-shortened 2023 campaign, was a batter or two from getting pulled during a laborious first inning. He spotted the Astros a 4-0 lead after two frames. Cole’s absence was magnified. But Cortes was quickly reminded of the firepower on his side.
“I remember coming in the second inning,” Cortes said, “and [pitching coach] Matt Blake telling me, ‘Hey, just hold the rope. We’re going to get some runs across.'”
The Yankees grounded into three double plays to kill rallies early — twice with the bases loaded — but they didn’t waver from the game plan.
The tone was set with Soto’s first plate appearance as a Yankee, an eight-pitch walk in the second inning. They continued working deep counts against Framber Valdez, one of the game’s elite left-handed starters, eventually chasing him in the fifth inning after 86 pitches. They drew nine walks in total — plus a hit by pitch.
“That’s the kind of offense we want to be,” Boone said.
The bases-clearing hit never came, but they scored five runs in the middle innings to take the lead anyway. In the fifth, an RBI single from Soto, followed by Rizzo getting hit by a pitch and Volpe working a walk, both with the bases loaded. In the sixth, a solo home run from Cabrera. And, finally, Verdugo’s go-ahead sacrifice fly in the seventh. By taking pitches and chipping away, the Yankees’ offense had mounted the team’s biggest Opening Day comeback since 1950.
“It’s scary, bro,” Verdugo said. “We got some guys. No question about it.”
Cortes retired 12 of the final 13 batters he faced, throwing 43 pitches in his final four innings after 33 in the first. Three relievers held the Astros scoreless over the final four frames. Verdugo tracked down a potential tying double in left field in the seventh before Soto stole the show by throwing out another potential tying run in the ninth.
“This group from the beginning, we talked about it, it’s going to take everybody,” Judge said. “There was no panic or fear in this clubhouse and in that dugout. We’re down 3-0, 4-0 and the guys just stay locked in on their approach and what they had to do and we were able to wear down Framber a little bit.”
The Yankees’ fate in 2024 hinges on health. Few teams can match the firepower of a Soto-Judge one-two punch, surrounded by a potent — and intact — supporting cast. The results just matter even more now to stay afloat in a competitive American League East over the next two months — if not longer — without their ace. The early returns indicate they can score the runs. Time will tell if they can stay healthy enough to keep scoring enough of them.
The 2025 Little League World Series is underway, with some of the best young players around the country competing in Williamsport — all with the hopes of eventually making it to the major leagues one day.
And a few of them will make it … as evidenced by all the Little League alumni in Major League Baseball today.
This year’s MLB Little League Classic between the the Seattle Mariners and New York Mets will feature a number of MLB players who have played little league baseball in one way or another, either with local teams in their home countries or with Little League specifically. In fact, Seattle manager Dan Wilson played in the 1981 Little League Baseball World Series with Barrington (Illinois) Little League.
As the Mariners and Mets face off at historic Bowman Field in Williamsport on Aug. 17 — which you can watch on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” broadcast at 7 p.m. ET — let’s take a look at “then” and “now” photos of notable players on each team that played little league.
More: Little League World Series: Results, schedules, more
Watch every game: LLBWS
Mets first baseman Pete Alonso played for Tampa Bay Little League in Tampa Bay, Florida.
J.P. Crawford, SS, Seattle Mariners
Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford played for Lakewood Little League in Lakewood, California.
Edwin Diaz, RP, New York Mets
Mets reliever Edwin Diaz played for Miguel Luzunaris Little League in Humacao, Puerto Rico.
George Kirby, SP, Seattle Mariners
Mariners starting pitcher George Kirby played for Rye Little League in Rye, New York.
Francisco Lindor, SS, New York Mets
Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor played little league baseball in Caguas, Puerto Rico.
Jeff McNeil, 2B, New York Mets
Mets second baseman Jeff McNeil played for Goleta Valley South Little League in Santa Barbara, California.
Cal Raleigh, C, Seattle Mariners
Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh played for Great Smokies Little League in Sylva, North Carolina.
Julio Rodriguez, CF, Seattle Mariners
Mariners center fielder Julio Rodriguez played little league baseball in Loma de Cabrera, Dominican Republic.
Kodai Senga, SP, New York Mets
Mets starting pitcher Kodai Senga played little league baseball in Gamagōri, Japan.
Juan Soto, RF, New York Mets
Mets right fielder Juan Soto played for Banco Central Little League in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Bryan Woo, SP, Seattle Mariners
Mariners starting pitcher Bryan Woo played for Alameda Little League in Alameda, California.
All childhood photos courtesy of the New York Mets and Seattle Mariners.
Sports
Arch Manning is finally Texas’ starting QB! Coaches and scouts on his expectations and draft status
Arch Manning needs no introduction to the college football world. From the moment the sophomore quarterback committed to Texas in the class of 2023, the grandson of Archie Manning and nephew of Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning and two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning has been in the public eye.
After a redshirt season in 2023 and serving as a changeup to Quinn Ewers last season, Arch Manning will get his opportunity to be the face of the Longhorns — and potentially college football. He won’t get the chance to ease into the starting role, as top-ranked Texas will play at defending national champion and No. 3-ranked Ohio State in its season opener on Aug. 30.
As Manning readies for the 2025 season, we had our NFL draft and college football experts dive into all things Arch. Heather Dinich looked at how Manning could change Texas’ offense this season, and Adam Rittenberg talked to opposing coaches to get their initial impressions. Jordan Reid broke down Manning’s game from a scouting perspective, and Matt Miller talked to NFL evaluators about what stands out about the young QB and when he could enter the draft.
Let’s begin with Reid’s breakdown of what Manning has put on film to date.
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Scouting report | Texas’ offense
Opposing coach perspective
NFL scouts talk Arch
What does Manning look like from a scouting perspective? What stands out most, and what does he need to work on?
Two starts and 95 career passing attempts provide too small a sample size to assess any signal-caller, but the early returns on Manning are positive. He has immense potential, but his starts came against 2-10 Mississippi State and 5-7 Louisiana Monroe. At 6-foot-4, 222 pounds, Manning has prototypical size and a well-built frame. He finished last season with 939 passing yards, nine touchdown passes and two interceptions over 10 games, and he has picture-perfect mechanics. He throws from a strong platform and seems to always play on balance from the pocket.
Manning also has a quick, over-the-top delivery that helps him get the ball out effectively. He has the necessary arm strength and confidence to drive the ball into tight windows, but one of the more impressive parts of his film was his success as a downfield thrower. He averaged 10.0 air yards per attempt last season, and 15 of his 61 completions went for 20-plus yards.
Manning finished last season with seven completions on throws of 20-plus air yards, and three of his nine touchdowns came on downfield passes, which was an element mostly missing from Texas’ offense when Ewers was quarterback. Manning will help the offense generate more explosive plays downfield because of his touch, arm strength and comfort on deep-shot plays.
Unlike his uncles, Manning can also turn into a reliable running threat on designed QB runs or when plays break down. His frame and mobility allow him to string together positive plays outside the framework of concepts.
But Manning needs refinement on true multistep progressions from the pocket. He has a habit of sticking to his primary read too long, so he must learn when and how to move on to his next options quickly. Too many times last season, he stared down his first read, hoping the receiver would get open.
Manning can also improve on using his mobility to his advantage. His internal clock in the pocket was inconsistent. During several plays, he could have hurt defenses even more as a running threat instead of hanging in the pocket too long. — Reid
How will Texas utilize Manning, and how will things look different with him instead of Ewers?
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian told ESPN that his offensive system won’t change, but it has evolved with the strengths of different quarterbacks — just as it did when Sarkisian was the offensive coordinator at Alabama and transitioned from Tua Tagovailoa to Mac Jones late in the 2019 season.
“The beauty of it for us right now is we have two years with Arch of working with him every day and have a really good understanding of the things that he’s good at, and so we can focus and tailor things around what he does well,” Sarkisian said.
“Probably the most natural thing is his athleticism to where he’s a threat. When he runs the ball, you have to account for him because there’s a speed component to the way he runs, and there’s a physical component to the way he runs. And so some of the things that we’re able to do in short yardage may be a little bit different than where we’ve been in the past.”
Sarkisian said that the Longhorns have added the quarterback run in short-yardage, third-down situations and in the red zone — while also allowing Manning to recognize his strengths.
The Longhorns were middle of the pack in the red zone last season, as their 63.8% touchdown percentage ranked 55th in the FBS. Texas was 49th in third-down conversion percentage (42.1%). Manning could boost both categories. He averaged 4.3 yards per carry last season (25 carries for 108 yards and four touchdowns), a marked improvement over Ewers’ minus-1.4 yards per carry in 2024 (57 carries for minus-82 yards and two touchdowns).
“We may not change so much, but his ability to use his legs on third down in the red area to create plays when people are in man coverage and people are blitzing and there’s voids to go run, I think would be another component to that as well,” Sarkisian said. — Dinich
What do opposing college coaches think of Manning, both good and bad?
Most opposing coaches have a better sense of Manning off the field than on it, but they like what they’ve seen.
“He’s getting a lot of publicity, but he seems like a pretty level-headed kid,” a coach who will face Manning this fall said. “It doesn’t seem like he bought into the hype.”
An SEC coach added: “You’ve got a ton of respect for the kid, handling what is an insane situation.”
However, Manning’s limited game experience (11 career games, including 10 in 2024) creates doubt about whether he can reach the elevated expectations he’s facing as a first-year starter.
“He’s going to be a good player,” another SEC coach said. “The hype that it’s been, it’s impossible to reach.”
Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby, who faced Manning in his only conference start last season, thought the quarterback’s command and composure stood out. Manning completed 26 of 31 passes for 325 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions, while adding a rushing touchdown, in a 35-13 Texas win.
“You’ve got to find ways to get him off platform,” Lebby told ESPN. “For a guy who hadn’t played a ton up to that point inside that game, man, he was really, really calm. He had great demeanor, and he had command of what Sark and his staff was trying to accomplish.”
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Arch Manning dazzles with 5-TD performance vs. UTSA
Arch Manning replaces the injured Quinn Ewers and tallies five total touchdowns in Texas’ win vs. UTSA.
Several coaches who studied Manning noted his athleticism, which showed on a 67-yard run against UTSA and runs of 26 and 21 yards against Mississippi State and Georgia, respectively. Texas used Manning primarily as a running threat when Ewers returned from injury.
“Any time a quarterback can make all the throws and has enough ability to run the ball, they’re usually pretty f—ing good,” an SEC defensive coordinator said. “But I’m sure he’ll force some stuff and make some mistakes.”
Manning’s run threat certainly will be part of his repertoire, but how much? Coaches say a lot depends on Texas’ confidence in projected backup Trey Owens, who had only four pass attempts last season, because the more Manning runs, the more he opens himself up to injury.
“Sometimes, that comes into play, what your backup’s like,” a coach who faced Texas last season said. “I don’t imagine there will be a lot of designed runs. It will be Arch doing it on his own.” — Rittenberg
What do NFL scouts and evaluators think of Manning, and what are they looking to see from him this season?
Based on conversations I had with scouts, Manning is arguably the nation’s most discussed player. I spoke to 20 evaluators, and each was excited to talk about Manning. But not one evaluator polled is sure when they’ll scout the third-generation star as an active NFL draft prospect.
As a redshirt sophomore, Manning is draft eligible for the 2026 draft but also has three years of college eligibility remaining. No one I talked to thinks he’ll use all three years, but scouts aren’t ready to commit to him as a 2026 prospect, either. Grandfather Archie Manning, who has been more hands-on than Arch’s famous uncles, told Texas Monthly that he doesn’t expect Arch to enter the 2026 draft. But scouts are doing the legwork just in case.
“We’re evaluating him, while at the same time knowing he probably goes back to school [for the 2026 season],” an AFC scouting director said.
NFL scouts typically say 25 collegiate starts is the minimum any incoming quarterback should have before entering the draft. Manning has only two. A long playoff run this season could get him to 18 starts. But if the family agrees that more starts are better in the long run — Peyton started 45 games in college, and Eli had 41 — then it’s unlikely Arch will have a one-and-done starting season.
“People in the league want him to come out. Fans want him to come out. But I really feel like he’s in no rush, given his support system,” an NFC West scout added. “The family is going to care where he goes and who has the first pick when he does enter the draft.”
That sentiment was echoed by other scouts, and there’s precedent. The Manning family determined Eli’s landing spot in 2004, as Archie and Eli told the San Diego Chargers not to draft him coming out of Ole Miss. The Chargers picked Eli but traded him to the New York Giants, his preferred destination.
“The situation is going to matter,” an NFL general manager said. “With NIL money and his family situation, there is no rush to get to the league. So, they’ll wait and see what the environment is before making a decision.”
One NFC scouting director predicted that the Manning decision would come close to the mid-January deadline for underclassmen to declare for the draft. “They’ll want to see which team has the No. 1 pick and if they’ve fired their coach — which is pretty common — [and] who the replacement is before jumping into the draft,” the scouting director said.
Would Manning and the family consider an earlier entry into the 2026 draft if a team with the right appeal, be it an emotional tie to an organization or the right football fit, were in position to draft him? Potentially, but after conversations with scouts, this is an unknown.
Online speculation that the Manning family wants him to land with the New Orleans Saints, where his grandfather played, or maybe the New York Giants to follow uncle Eli, has been rampant. But one thing is for certain — Arch will go his own way. He didn’t go to Tennessee or Ole Miss and try to live in the family legacy. Overconnecting the dots between where his uncles played hasn’t been a smart bet.
If he enters next year’s draft, Manning wouldn’t be the guaranteed No. 1 pick. Cade Klubnik (Clemson), Drew Allar (Penn State), LaNorris Sellers (South Carolina) and Garrett Nussmeier (LSU) are also receiving first-round attention.
Manning is the most hyped quarterback coming out of high school since Trevor Lawrence, but arguably under more pressure and with more attention.
“We’re still talking about a guy who has two starts, right?” an AFC South area scout said when asked to break down Manning’s game. “He’s big, he has a strong arm and I love the flexibility in his throwing motion. And he can move much better than his uncles ever did. But he’s very raw, and last year, the game was way too fast for him when he got in against Georgia and looked overwhelmed.”
Manning was a fish out of water too often when thrust into action last year. On film, there were a lot of “one-read-and-go” situations when he would take off as a runner if the fast-throwing option wasn’t there, which was referenced by several scouts. Texas coach Steve Sarkisian will develop his eyes and his pocket patience, but that’s the jump scouts need to see this season for him to live up to the generational quarterback label. — Miller
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