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.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A federal judge has denied NASCAR’s motions to dismiss an antitrust lawsuit filed against the stock car series.
U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell of the Western District of North Carolina also denied NASCAR’s request that two teams — 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports — be ordered to post a bond to cover fees they would not be legally owed if they lose the case.
23XI Racing, a team co-owned by NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan, and Front Row Motorsports, which is owned by entrepreneur Bob Jenkins, are suing NASCAR to compete with charter recognition throughout the 2025 season.
NASCAR and the teams that compete in the top Cup Series operate with a franchise system that was implemented in 2016 in which 36 cars have “charters” that guarantee them a spot in the field at every race and financial incentives. There are four “open” spots earmarked for the field each week.
The teams banded together in negotiations on an improved charter system in an often-contentious battle with NASCAR for nearly two years. In September, NASCAR finally had enough and presented the teams with a take-it-or-leave-it offer that had to be signed the same day – just 48 hours before the start of the playoffs.
23XI and Front Row were the only two teams out of 15 who refused to sign the new charter agreement. They then teamed together to sue NASCAR and chairman Jim France, arguing as the only stock car entity in the United States, NASCAR has a monopoly and the teams are not getting their fair share of the pie.
Both organizations maintained they would still compete as open cars, but convinced Bell last month to give them chartered status by arguing they would suffer irreparable harm as open cars. Among the claims was that 23XI driver Tyler Reddick, last year’s regular-season champion, would contractually become an immediate free agent if the team did not have him in a guaranteed chartered car.
NASCAR argued Wednesday that it needs that money earmarked because it would be redistributed to the chartered teams if 23XI and Front Row lose.
Jeffrey Kessler, considered the top antitrust lawyer in the country, argued that NASCAR has made no such promise to redistribute the funds to other teams. Kessler said NASCAR told teams it was up to NASCAR’s discretion how it would use the money and didn’t rule out spending some on its own legal fees.
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Jorge Castillo, ESPN Staff Writer
For years, teammates have asked Devin Williams to teach them his changeup, a pitch so unusual and dominant it has its own nickname. Williams always helps. They just never get “The Airbender” right.
“I haven’t seen anyone replicate it,” Williams said.
Powered by The Airbender, Williams has established himself as one of the premier relievers in baseball since breaking into the majors in 2019. He has been so good that the Milwaukee Brewers, keeping with their frugal roster-building tactics, traded Williams to the New York Yankees last month for left-hander Nestor Cortes and prospect Caleb Durbin before he inevitably would become too expensive in free agency next winter.
So, for one season, at least, Williams will follow in the footsteps of another Yankees closer who perplexed hitters with one pitch: Mariano Rivera.
“Those are big shoes to fill,” Williams said of Rivera, whose signature cutter helped him become the first player voted unanimously to the Hall of Fame. “I feel he kind of ruined it for everybody else. I mean, after him, it’s hard to live up to those expectations. But at the end of the day, I can only be me.”
Being himself has been more than good enough for the 30-year-old Williams. The right-hander won the 2020 National League Rookie of the Year Award with a 0.33 ERA in 22 games as the Brewers’ primary setup man during the COVID-shortened campaign. He was an All-Star in 2022 and 2023, his first full season as a closer.
Last season, after missing the first four months with stress fractures in his back, he posted a 1.25 ERA with 14 saves in 15 opportunities across 22 appearances. His 40.8% strikeout rate since 2020 ranks second in the majors among relievers. His 1.70 ERA is also second. His .144 batting average against ranks first.
“Obviously, he’s one of the best in the league, if not the best,” Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake said.
For Williams, it all starts with The Airbender. Williams grips it like a changeup and its 84-mph average velocity plays off his fastball like a changeup. But it’s a changeup with an exceptionally high spin rate that breaks to his arm side — opposite from the typical changeup — making it resemble a screwball or a left-hander’s sweeping slider. It is without precedent.
“It’s not anything to do with the grip,” Williams said. “The grip is nothing special. That’s why I think it’s funny when people are like, ‘Oh, don’t give it away.’ This is the most basic changeup grip they teach you when you’re 8 years old.”
Williams said his changeup is so different for two reasons: His elite extension, which ranked in the 98th percentile in 2024, and a singular ability to pronate his wrist.
“It’s the way my wrist works, the way I’m able to manipulate the ball is something unique, uniquely me,” Williams said. “It allows me to throw my changeup the way I throw it. I’m a really good pronator, not supinator. That’s why my slider sucked. You need to get on the other side of the ball. I’m not good at that. I’m good at turning it over.”
Williams did, however, modify his changeup grip to unearth the weapon. Entering 2019, Williams was a struggling minor league starter with a solid changeup, two years removed from Tommy John surgery. He was one year from reaching free agency, from perhaps seeing his career come to an end and going to college to play soccer.
That spring, seeking more movement, he altered his changeup grip from a two-seam to a four-seam, circle change grip. He first threw it during a live batting practice session to Trent Grisham, then a Brewers prospect. Grisham, now with the Yankees, told Williams the spin difference was noticeable. Williams stuck with it.
A starter through spring training, Williams was sent to Double-A as a reliever to begin the season. The demotion sparked desperation, and Williams decided to throw harder than ever, reaching back to lift his fastball into the high 90s. He was in the majors by August. But it wasn’t until the COVID shutdown in 2020 — when he realized spinning the ball more and dropping the velocity from high-80s to mid-80s created more movement — that his changeup reached another level.
“I took that into the season and at summer camp I’m facing my own teammates,” Williams said. “And Jedd Gyorko, I threw him one, and he swung and missed and he was just like, What is that? I’ve never seen [anything] like that. That gave me confidence and we just ran with it. And I literally started throwing it all the time.”
Coincidentally, Williams said the closest changeup he’s seen to his belongs to Luke Weaver, whose emergence as a shutdown reliever in 2024 was crucial in the Yankees reaching the World Series. Williams happened to be in New York when the Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers played in the Fall Classic. He was on his annual autumn vacation after the Brewers were eliminated from the postseason. Past trips have taken him all over Europe: London, Paris, Dublin, Amsterdam, Munich, Dortmund, with a soccer game invariably on his itinerary.
This time, he was in New York. He explored the city for 10 days. Instead of soccer, he watched the World Series from a bar. He shopped. He ate good food. He absorbed the city’s energy.
“I’m a city guy,” Williams said. “I love to explore cities. I like to immerse myself in the culture. I want to be like a normal, everyday person. You guys like bacon, egg and cheese? All right, I’m getting a bacon, egg and cheese.”
Less than two months later, as part of a series of moves executed in their pivot from Juan Soto‘s decision to sign with the crosstown Mets, the Yankees added Williams. On Thursday, Williams settled for $8.6 million to avoid arbitration.
He’ll partner with Weaver to create one of the best bullpen back ends in baseball — in hopes of helping the Yankees win their first championship since Rivera was dominating hitters with his cutter.
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