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NEW YORK — Yankees fans who remember the marathon wars with the Red Sox in the early 2000s – usually on Sunday nights on ESPN, easily four hours apiece – would’ve felt a rush of déjà vu on Saturday. The Yankees and Marlins went at it long enough to use 13 pitchers who issued 15 walks over 229 minutes.
Okay, not exactly four hours, but you get the idea. Yet, after watching a total of 379 pitches, most of the crowd was still inside Yankee Stadium on a frigid night. They were either a) Spartans, b) masochists or c) old-fashioned hard-cores beginning to sense something special about these Yankees.
I’ll go with Door Number 3. The season is barely a week old, but the Yankees are off to the best eight-game start in franchise history. They’re winning in every imaginable way, including the unveiling of a secret weapon in the 9-7 victory over Miami.
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Make no mistake, this game will never be memorialized in Cooperstown. It was actually the Yankees’ sloppiest performance to date. But they overcame an early 4-0 deficit thanks to a two-run home run from Cody Bellinger, the game-winning single from Giancarlo Stanton … and that special weapon.
That would be Stanton, the new terror on the base paths. That’s not a joke. That’s not a typo. The heavily-muscled, but chronically-injured slugger made a difference against the Marlins by stealing a base in the seventh inning – his first since 2020 in a regular season game.
Stanton subsequently scored from third on a wild pitch, which sparked a small riot in the Yankees dugout. I asked Jose Caballero, MLB’s top base stealer in 2025, what he thought of Stanton’s technique.
“It was tremendous,” Caballero said. “He was very aggressive, good job. I was surprised.”
Caballero laughed and said, “We were all surprised.”
As amusing as it was to the Yankees, Stanton didn’t exactly play along. He’s a serious veteran who thinks stealing a base is less about comedy than good baseball instinct. Stanton noticed the Marlins weren’t holding him on and decided to make them pay.
“If they’re going to give it to me like that, I’ve got to go get it,” he said. “I’m going to take what they give me and understand where I’m at each day.”
It’d be a stretch to say Stanton was sprinting. Those days are over for him. But the gait was more athletic than in years past. Stanton’s legs are at least healthy enough that he can stop being paranoid about pulling a hamstring.
Point is, if Stanton, of all people, is upping his game on the bases, then it’s time to acknowledge the Yankees just might be the American League’s best team – not just for the first eight games, but all 162.
And if that’s the case, there were several asterisks from Saturday’s win that should be noted.
*Where is Jazz Chisholm’s head?
We’re not talking about Chisholm’s atrocious hitting to date. Slumps happen. Chisholm’s .194 average will correct itself soon enough.
But his lethargic reaction to Otto Lopez’s routine grounder in the ninth inning was unacceptable. Chisholm, laying back, was as passive as Lopez was aggressive in trying to beat out a base hit. Chisholm was startled, unable to get his throw off in time to retire Lopez.
Aaron Boone tried to soften his criticism in front of the YES cameras, but was clearly irked.
“Jazz just kind of laid back on it,” the manager said. “Credit to Lopez, who was getting down the line in a hurry. (Chisholm) probably figured he had plenty of time. But when he’s got to close on it, we’ve got to make that one.”
When asked if he would address the matter with Chisholm, Boone paused before cryptically saying, “We’ll see.”
That’s manager-speak for “you better believe it.”
*Are David Bednar and Camilo Doval ok?
Neither one was effective against Miami. Their performances would’ve been scrutinized more closely had the Yankees not won. But Doval, who GM Brian Cashman envisioned as the next Yankees closer after the trade with the Giants last summer, has a 10.80 ERA with a .313 opponents’ average against.
The sample size is still small (just 3 1/3 innings in five appearances), but Doval failed to retire four of the five batters he faced. His velocity is also worrisome. After averaging 99.1 mph as recently as two years ago, Doval is currently down to 96.1 mph.
Bednar, who is the closer, is suffering from a similar drop-off. Both his fastball (97 mph to 95.7 mph) and splitter (92.3 mph to 90.9 mph) are diminished from last year.
Bednar has endured elevated pitch-counts in his last two appearances (40 and 33) against the Mariners last Wednesday and the Marlins on Saturday. He struggled to preserve what was a three-run lead in the ninth inning.
Bednar picked up the save, but not before allowing a run and leaving the bases loaded. Stay tuned on this one.
*Exactly who is Ryan Weathers?
Is he the little-noticed talent who Cashman considers a potential gold mine? Or a hard thrower with a blistering fastball … and not much else?
The jury has not yet returned a verdict. But Weathers was unable to get out of the fourth inning, leaving the Yankees in a 4-0 hole. With a 4.50 ERA, the question isn’t whether the lefthander is headed to the bullpen at some point. He is.
Can Weathers be trusted in high-leverage situations?
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