The New York Yankees are doing impressive things at 161st Street in the Bronx. Six games into the season, Gleyber Torres is still swinging a smoking hot bat and Gerrit Cole is maintaining his potential run at the 2023 Cy Young Award as the Yankees take the series against the Philadelphia Phillies with a victory on Wednesday at Yankee Stadium.
Yankees: Gerrit Cole is already contending for the AL Cy Young
Cole allowed just three hits in Wednesday’s series-clinching win. He pitched brilliantly over 6.1 innings, not allowing any runs. Cole recorded eight strikeouts to add to the 11 he logged against the San Francisco Giants on Opening Day. He is 2-0 with 19 strikeouts and a 0.73 ERA in his first two starts. The Yankees ace looks to be in mid-summer form to open the season, which is a significant relief to the banged-up Yankees rotation.
In his postgame interview, Cole commented on his win in a brutal battle against Phillies ace Aaron Nola. Cole said of the Phillies, “Their lineup’s a joke, they’re so good.” A classy move by the ace, as this was anticipated to be one of his tougher matchups this year.
Cole is looking to take the Yankees to their 41st World Series and end their 14-year championship drought this year. He is an odds-on favorite to win the AL Cy Young as well.
Yankees trade Gleyber Torres? Absolutely not
The Yankees took a 1-0 lead early in the first inning on a single by Gleyber Torres, driving in team captain Aaron Judge. He also smacked in another two runs in the sixth. Watch that run-scoring double below.
Gleyber Torres with a double he's RED HOT pic.twitter.com/FGjfY7OZWA
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) April 5, 2023
The disrespect for Torres at the beginning of the season was very loud as trade rumors swirled, but he’s making everybody eat their words so far. His slash line of 421/.560/.789 (1.349 OPS), two home runs and five stolen bases to start the season is sensational. It appears to have done him good to play in the WBC and be surrounded by different veteran hitters. His hard work has been paying off, and the young second baseman is starting to hit his potential. His six walks and five stolen bases in his first six games makes him the first Yankees player to hit those marks since Rickey Henderson.
New York Yankees hit the road
The Yankees sit in second place in the AL East with a 4-2 record after they took both home series against the Phillies and Giants. The Bronx Bombers will head to Baltimore on Friday to begin a three-game set against a hot Orioles team. But, before counting on World Series tickets in the Bronx, let’s see if the Yankees can keep the heat on during the challenging upcoming road trip.