Yankees takeaways: Stellar start about more than ‘torpedo’ bats

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NEW YORK — The New York Yankees have already torpedoed their season.

OK, not really. Their dominant three-game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers to start the year would suggest otherwise.

All the buzz around the team has been about how several of its players have been using bats shaped like “torpedoes,” with weight redistributed to place its sweet spot nearer where each hitter tends to make the most contact.

Footage of the bats and the story behind their creation and implementation caused a social media frenzy over the weekend, though MLB says they’re legal.

But that’s not all that’s gone right in the Bronx.

‘A treat’

Sweeping the Brewers — last year’s National League Central champions — was a big accomplishment for the post-Juan Soto Yankees.

“A sweep going into an off day is always a treat,” said manager Aaron Boone, whose Yankees will next host the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday.

It was the fourth time in the last 30 years that the Yankees had won the first three games of their season. They also did it last year. Their 15 home runs matched the most homers by a team through its first three games in MLB history. They’re also the third team in big-league history to score at least 36 runs over the first three games of a season.

The Yankees outscored the Brewers 36-14.

“It’s a huge way to start the year,” right fielder Aaron Judge said.

“We know every game counts,” first baseman Paul Goldschmidt said. “It’s easy to focus for that Opening Day. That was just our mentality. Just stay focused.”

“It’s just three games,” Boone said, “but you take wins when you can get them because those don’t come off the board. There’s still going to be moments when it’s a challenge and it’s tough. Anytime when you can sweep a team, especially a playoff-caliber team like the Brewers to start the season, that’s always a good thing.”

Judge’s historic power

Judge crushed three home runs (and nearly a fourth) Saturday before also going yard Sunday.

He became the first Yankees player and only the 13th player in MLB history to hit at least four home runs in his team’s first three games of a season.

“With Aaron, you never put a ceiling on what’s possible, with what he could do,” Boone said.

Judge said he still had last year’s early disappointment in his mind. In 31 games in March and April, he hit just .207, though he did post a respectable .754 OPS. He finished with one of the best seasons ever for a right-handed hitter, leading the game with 58 home runs and 144 RBIs while hitting .322. It nabbed him his second career American League MVP.

“I wanted to have a better March and April than I did last season,” he said.

Through his first three games, he’s hitting .454 (6-for-11) with 11 RBIs, three walks and two strikeouts.

“Say Goodbye” – @davesims_ #RepBX pic.twitter.com/aiYbzfIdlU

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) March 30, 2025

Question marks getting answers

The Yankees entered the season with a ton of questions. They have played only three games, so there’s reason to temper the excitement. But consider:

Paul Goldschmidt has looked good. He hit leadoff for the first time in his career Saturday and did it again Sunday. He went 5-for-12 (.417) with a home run.

Cody Bellinger has looked comfortable in center field. Sure, it’s good for the Yankees that he has hit .400 (4-for-10) with a home run and 6 RBIs so far. But the catch he made for the first out of Sunday’s game on Jackson Chourio’s deep fly ball was spectacular. Bellinger ran backward, tracked the ball after briefly putting his head down and caught it over his shoulder while at the warning track. If it had fallen, it would have been a bad way for starting pitcher Marcus Stroman to begin the game.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. is not backing down. Chisholm homered once Saturday and twice Sunday. After the Brewers intentionally walked Judge in the third inning Sunday, Chisholm followed with a home run. Then in the seventh, the Brewers pitched around Judge for a walk, and he made them pay again, this time with a three-run homer. “That was big time,” Judge said. “ … It was fun to see him do his thing where it’s like, if they’re not going to challenge me, they’re going to challenge you, do something about it.”

Carlos Rodón pitched well. He gave the Yankees 5 1/3 one-run innings on Opening Day in place of Gerrit Cole.

Jasson Domínguez’s defense still a concern

Nobody is saying Domínguez can’t be a solid outfielder someday. Right now, though, the Yankees are either easing him into left field or treading carefully with him.

The Yankees swapped the 22-year-old out with defensive substitutions to protect leads on Thursday (eighth inning) and Sunday (seventh inning). On Saturday, he was the designated hitter, with Bellinger in left field and Trent Grisham in center field.

He also didn’t move much for a fly ball from Chourio that fell in front of him for a single with two outs and nobody on in the fifth inning Sunday. The ball had a 95 percent chance catch probability, according to Statcast. On the play before, Brice Turang’s fly ball nearly popped out of Domínguez’s glove.

Domínguez mostly played center field in the minors and looked shaky in left field late last season.

“I feel like he keeps getting better (defensively),” Boone said Saturday. “I thought his work in spring training was excellent. I thought as the spring unfolded, we really started to see his athleticism, his speed come into play. His routes, I feel like, continue to evolve and get better and better. My expectation is that he’s going to be really good out there.”

(Photo of Jazz Chisholm Jr. celebrating his two-run homer on Sunday with Aaron Judge: Brad Penner / Imagn Images)

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