Category: MLB

Giants' roster continuity stands out most two weeks into MLB season originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO — Before the fourth game of the 2024 season, the Giants DFA’d catcher Joey Bart and added right-hander Daulton Jefferies, who started later that day and then was immediately optioned back to Triple-A. Bart was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates and Jefferies later joined him there — but only after being recalled and optioned two more times in early May.

A year earlier, a trade for veteran Matt Beaty in the hours before the opener at Yankee Stadium led to Bryce Johnson and Sean Hjelle surprisingly being left off the Opening Day roster after strong springs. Brett Wisely had been told the night before the opener that he was being optioned, but he ended up returning after the roster shakeup.

“I’m honestly still in a little bit of shock,” Wisely said the last time the Giants visited New York. 

Two days later, he was optioned and Johnson was added to the roster. Hjelle arrived the next day. 

That’s just the way things were in the clubhouse for a few years, starting in 2019, when Farhan Zaidi acquired Connor Joe and Michael Reed at the end of his first spring in charge and plugged them right into the lineup. In 2022, the Giants used a franchise-record 66 players, and it became the norm to go through 50-60 players a year.

As the Giants headed back out on the road Wednesday night, the same 26 players who were in Cincinnati two weeks ago boarded the flight. There are a lot of important numbers from the first 12 games, nine of which have been wins, but the one that stands out the most might be zero. 

Through two weeks, the Giants haven’t made a single roster move. They’re one of just four teams in the big leagues with their original 26-man roster intact. 

“There will be moves that are made this year, but also I think it’s important to read the room,” president of baseball operations Buster Posey said on Thursday’s “Giants Talk” podcast. “These guys are close already and they’ve created a pretty cool atmosphere in that locker room. We are off to a nice start, so I think we take all of those things into account when myself, Zack (Minasian), Jeremy (Shelley) and Bob (Melvin) are considering some of these decisions. It’s not that we won’t make moves, but consistency is important to me as well.”

There are reasons beyond personal preferences for the lack of roster churn. The Giants had two off days over their first eight days of the season, and they somehow escaped Cincinnati without dealing with any of the usual weather issues that can lead to another pitcher or two being added. Their starting pitchers are giving them quality innings, and it’s certainly easier to be patient with slumping hitters when you’re winning.

There’s also the fact that the Giants have been remarkably healthy going back to the start of the spring. Tom Murphy and Jerar Encarnación went on the IL before the opener, but nobody has gone down since the season started. 

But a big part of this is personal preference. The front office and coaching staff want clubhouse continuity, and there’s no doubt that the vibes within that room are significantly better this season.

“We’re trying to establish a little bit more of a set type of lineup,” Melvin said. “Now look, lineups change as it goes along — we’re going to have subtle moves with lefties and righties (pitching) — but I think Buster is trying to just create some stability here. So far, so good.

Melvin has used his Opening Day lineup five times through 12 games, with the only notable shift being a two-spot drop for Patrick Bailey, who is off to a slow start. LaMonte Wade Jr. has a .146 on-base percentage but remained atop the lineup Wednesday, with Willy Adames (.465 OPS) right behind him. Melvin scoffed when asked about making big changes after back-to-back shutouts, noting that it was just two games and he still likes the composition of his lineups. 

At some point, the Giants will adjust with players who are slow to come around, but the focus early on has been on patience. That’s been particularly important with young players. 

Casey Schmitt had a rough debut at first base last week, but when he was thrown back out there Tuesday, he cut off a run with a heads-up play on a squeeze. He also had two hits, and afterward, Melvin was asked if Schmitt might get more time at second base. The manager said he has faith in Tyler Fitzgerald, who has a .546 OPS through 10 games.

Fitzgerald’s rookie season was a great example of the importance of giving some leeway to young players. He got picked off in the ninth inning of a tie game against the Dodgers last May 13 and was put on ice for a full week before getting optioned back to Triple-A. When the Giants gave him an everyday shot later in the summer, he flourished. Fitzgerald mentioned several times this spring how much trust he has in the staff right now.

“You saw what happened last year,” Melvin said. “He was moving around a little, got sent down, now we make a move at short (with releasing Nick Ahmed) and he gets to play short every day and it was a lot better. I think for young players, it certainly helps to know that it’s probably not going to be knee-jerk.” 

Fitzgerald is one of three young right-handed-hitting infielders on the roster, along with Schmitt and Christian Koss. The Giants are short on left-handed bench options, but they’ve used just eight total pinch-hitters so far. They also have just one left-handed reliever, but that hasn’t bothered Melvin late in games yet. He views Tyler Rogers as someone who can neutralize tough lefties, and the submariner has started his year with seven straight scoreless appearances. 

With an extra spot in the bullpen, the Giants have been able to stick with Hayden Birdsong, who didn’t appear in the first five games of the season. Birdsong threw three sharp innings Tuesday and has seven shutout frames over the past seven games. The Giants eventually will stretch him back out, but with their rotation looking strong early, they’re going to use Birdsong as a multi-inning threat right now.

“We monitor his workload, but look, Hayden Birdsong is a baseball player. When I say baseball player, he wants to do whatever he can to help the team win,” Posey said. “I do see him long-term as being a great big league starter but he has taken to his role in the ‘pen. I’m not surprised with how well he has taken to it so far.”

The flight to New York on Wednesday kicked off a three-city, 10-game trip against teams off to good starts, and also marked the start of 17 consecutive games without a break. At some point over the next two and a half weeks, a roster move will be required. There will be changes to the lineup and fresh arms for the bullpen. But for now, the clubhouse is enjoying the continuity, and crediting the closeness for some of this early success.

“It’s about as much fun as I’ve ever had on a baseball field,” Mike Yastrzemski said after his walk-off homer on Wednesday. “It’s an unbelievable group. Even when things got tough the last two days when we’re not scoring any runs, we’re still having fun, smiling, we’re not letting it affect us. I think these are learning curves even for veteran guys. It’s a nice reminder to just keep fighting.”

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Young Yankees right-hander Clarke Schmidt made his second, and presumably final, rehab start with the Somerset Patriots on Thursday night.

In his first inning on the mound, Schmidt allowed just one walk but pitched a scoreless frame. He'd strike out the first batter he faced in the second, freezing Keaton Anthony on a curveball at the knees. He then picked up two groundball outs to end the inning.

Schmidt would pick up two more strikeouts in the third -- both looking -- to work around a one-out single. In his final inning of work, Schmidt started with the fourth and final strikeout of his night, and although he allowed a double, the right-hander did not allow them to score.

The 29-year-old completed his second rehab start, pitching 4.0 scoreless innings on 61 pitches (45 strikes). He allowed three hits but did not walk a batter, showing his command of the strike zone.

"For me, it's just getting back in the in-game feel, back in the competitive spirit, pitching in different counts, mixing and matching and getting creative out there and I felt we did that," Schmidt said of his outing. "We were getting into our areas and executing tonight. So I'm happy with that."

Clarke Schmidt threw 4 scoreless innings in his rehab start for Somerset tonight

4.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K (61 pitches)

3 of his 4 strikeouts came on curveballs looking 👀 pic.twitter.com/nZdXkTmmHU

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 10, 2025

In Schmidt's first rehab start back on April 5, he was dominant, allowing just one hit and one walk across 3.1 scoreless innings while striking out seven batters. Schmidt threw 51 pitches (37 strikes) in that first start.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said they are penciling Schmidt to return to the rotation either April 15 or 16, when the team hosts the Kansas City Royals early next week. Of course, that's only If Schmidt comes away from Thursday's start feeling good.

"I don't want to put a target date on it. But we feel really good with where we're at and the expectation or the hope, potentially, is this upcoming week," Schmidt said.

New York will have to figure out where Schmidt fits in. They can option youngster Will Warren to the minors or designate for assignment veteran Carlos Carrasco, who has struggled to start the season after an impressive spring. A decision likely won't be made until the start of the Royals series on Monday.

Suarez pitches 3 scoreless innings in first rehab start originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

ATLANTA — A night after Taijuan Walker took his second turn in the Phillies’ rotation, Ranger Suarez began a rehab assignment with Single A Clearwater.

Suarez threw 33 pitches (24 strikes) over three scoreless innings, allowed one hit and struck out four. His first two fastballs of the night were 92.6 and 92.5 mph and he sat mostly 90-92, right in line with his career norms.

Suarez suffered a back injury early in spring training and was limited to just five innings in Grapefruit League games with four more on the back-fields at Carpenter Complex. The Phillies have been careful with him because he’s had a history of back injuries, but it’s a promising sign that the velocity is already where it should be.

Suarez will likely need at least two more rehab starts, perhaps three. He basically needs a full spring training. It helps that Walker has pitched 10⅔ scoreless innings in his place. All Walker needs to do during this stretch is keep the Phillies in games and he’s done that and more.

The Phillies’ eyes will remain on the Threshers Friday night when top prospect Andrew Painter pitches in a minor-league game for the first time since September 2022. Painter is expected to throw two innings and/or 35 pitches. He will start once a week and likely stick to the 35-pitch range for a little while not just because the Phillies want to play it safe with him but also because they want to preserve as many innings as possible for him to help them in the majors in the second half.

While it’s been 2½ years since Painter last pitched in the minors, he did throw 15⅔ innings in the Arizona Fall League, where he excelled, threw in the upper-90s, missed a ton of bats and took home a Pitcher of the Year award.

While the New York Rangers still have four games, but the inevitable is already crystal clear and they are just running out the clock. 

With their loss on Wednesday night against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Montreal Canadiens now just need to get one point in their next four games to officially eliminate the Rangers from playoff contention. 

The Rangers’ nightmare of a season that has been filled with trades, drama, dysfunction, and heartless play is finally about to end. 

There will be some major turnover whether it’s a change in management, coaching or drastic trades and free agent signings to drastically shake up the roster.

We are officially about to witness some meaningless games for the Rangers and let's see how they handle it. 

If we can take any lessons from the atmosphere in the locker room after Wednesday night’s loss, it appears as if the Blueshirts no longer have any hope and are frustrated beyond belief. 

This next batch of games feels like the calm before the storm. A whirlwind of change is coming and it will likely come very quickly upon the season’s end. 

That being said, pay close attention to the way the Rangers conduct themselves over the last four games of the regular season.

We’ll see by their body language on the ice, compete level, and quotes after games to see where they are at mentally and how fed up they are with the whole year.

(This article was written with the assistance of Castmagic, an AI tool, and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy. Please reach out to us if you notice any mistakes.)

During a lively discussion in the latest episode of "Baseball Bar-B-Cast," Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman ventured into a very fun and totally hypothetical exploration of cloning the versatile Tommy Edman and fitting multiple of him into the Dodgers' roster.

Through two weeks of the 2025 regular season, one of the biggest reasons of concern for the Dodgers is their defense, which has been subpar at almost every position. As Mintz put it, "I think they only have one above-average, very good defender in the field at any time. And it's just where Tommy Edman is, right?"

This led to the delightful hypothetical: If the Dodgers could clone Edman, who can play shortstop, second base and outfield at a high level, just how many Edmans would L.A. want?

"You obviously don't want 26 because then he's going to pitch. You obviously don't want 13 because you'd rather have Shohei Ohtani," Mintz stated. "How many guys on this roster would you be like, 'Thanks for the memories, but I'm going to take Tommy Edman No. 7?'"

According to the hosts, the Dodgers would still need Austin Barnes or another backup catcher, and they're not displacing any of their stars. But they could have Edman cover second base, center field and most of the bench, replacing Kiké Hernández, Andy Pages, Miguel Rojas, Chris Taylor and Hunter Feduccia. The hosts debated Michael Conforto but decided the Dodgers would probably keep their offseason addition.

Including the actual Tommy Edman, that adds up to six Edmans on the Dodgers' hypothetical roster.

As Shusterman said, "I think the line's around 5.5 or 6.5 Tommy Edmans that you would want, even on this team."

Taking it one step further raises the question of just how many Tommy Edmans would other MLB teams want?

"The White Sox would take all Tommy Edmans but the catchers," Mintz said.

All hypotheticals aside, through 14 games, Edman is tied for the Dodgers' lead in home runs with five.

To listen to the full episode and more, tune in to "Baseball-Bar-B-Cast" on Apple, Spotify or YouTube.

Alec Bohm moved down to 7th in Phillies' lineup — is it temporary? originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

ATLANTA — The Phillies moved struggling Alec Bohm down three spots in the lineup for Thursday’s series finale at Truist Park.

Bohm bats seventh against Braves right-hander Spencer Schwellenbach.

1. Kyle Schwarber, DH (L)
2. Trea Turner, SS
3. Bryce Harper, 1B (L)
4. Nick Castellanos, RF
5. Max Kepler, LF (L)
6. J.T. Realmuto, C
7. Alec Bohm, 3B
8. Bryson Stott, 2B (L)
9. Brandon Marsh, CF (L)

Is the change temporary?

“We’ll see,” manager Rob Thomson said. “I’m just trying to take a little heat off of Bohmer and Casty’s swinging the bat good. That’s really what it comes down to.”

“(He’s) probably disappointed. He likes hitting where he’s hitting. But I think he also realizes that he’s not swinging the bat the way he normally does.”

Bohm went 0-for-5 with four strikeouts in Wednesday’s 4-3 win and is 4-for-35 (.114) without a walk or extra-base hit in his last eight games.

He hit a two-run double in extra innings in the Phillies’ Opening Day win in D.C. but has gone 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position since.

Part of it has been bad luck. Wednesday was his worst night of the season but Bohm actually has a career-high rate of hard-hit balls and barrels so far. He’s lined out or flied out to deep center and right-center nine times — that’s one-fifth of his plate appearances. If even three of those balls fell in, he’d be hitting 66 points higher.

“I think a lot of hitters get into that at times where they’re hitting the ball hard and not getting any results and then they start tweaking things because they think they’re not doing something right,” Thomson said. “I’m not saying that’s what he’s doing but that’s what happens. You have to look at it realistically and know that things are good, it’s just bad luck right now.

“Just reminding him that he was an All-Star last year with 97 RBIs and a high batting average. It’s not like you want to move guys around but sometimes there’s a need for it and sometimes it helps the guy to just kind of relax and put himself on auto-pilot and just go play.”

It helps that Castellanos has been hitting. He’s looked comfortable at the plate since Opening Day, batting .308/.372/.538 with three doubles, two home runs, seven RBI and four walks.

The Phillies will hope to play fast on Thursday night. Heavy rain is expected anywhere from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. in Atlanta and is expected to remain consistent through the night once it begins.

Andy Pages shook his head with a grin, raised his clasped hands to the sky, then gave thanks with a much-needed sigh of relief.

It didn’t matter that the Dodgers were getting blown out on Tuesday night. Or that his fifth-inning home run did little to halt the team’s unexpected skid on this week’s road trip.

For one moment, for one at-bat, the second-year slugger had finally experienced a moment of reassurance, hitting a two-strike slider beyond the reach of two leaping Washington Nationals outfielders for his first long ball of the season.

"It was definitely a sense of relief,” Pages said in Spanish through a team interpreter after the game. “Just like a big, major breath of fresh air, for sure."

Read more:Dodgers snap three-game losing streak behind early burst, seventh-inning rally

Up to that point, the 2025 season had begun ominously for the 24-year-old center fielder. He was four for 35 at the plate. He had made several mental mistakes on defense and the base paths. And he’d grown increasingly burdened by the precariousness of his situation, inching ever closer to a James Outman-esque trajectory of regressing from a productive rookie season to a disheartening sophomore campaign.

Pages didn’t show those simmering emotions as he left the batter’s box Tuesday. He kept his head down and face straight as he trotted around the bases.

But back in the dugout, the once highly-touted prospect finally let himself feel some self-satisfaction. For weeks, pressure had been building around him. This was a sudden release.

“It gave me a lot more confidence,” Pages reiterated. “To get some results … was a major lift off my back.”

Despite batting .248 with 13 home runs and 46 RBIs last season — a promising, if inconsistent, rookie performance punctuated by a two-home run, four-RBI performance in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series — Pages knew he’d have few certainties with this year’s title-defending team.

From the beginning of spring training, he said, “the team told me that I didn’t have a guaranteed spot, that I had to work my way to get a big-league spot.”

Although Pages broke camp as the club’s primary center fielder, his early-season struggles had been weighing on him.

“That’s added a little bit of stress to my day-to-day,” he acknowledged. “I feel good. It’s just some of the things that I’ve been working through haven’t worked out.”

Blunders in the outfield (where he has misplayed several fly balls, including a rocket from Philadelphia Phillies star Bryce Harper last weekend) and on the bases (where he has run through stop signs and been caught twice on over-aggressive base-running decisions) were the most glaring moments of failure over the season’s first two weeks.

Read more:Without Blake Snell, Dodgers' highly touted pitching depth falters in loss to Nationals

“Some plays that I just need to make,” Pages said, “I haven’t made them.”

At the root of his frustrations, however, has been his early inability to consistently produce at the plate — where, even after collecting four hits and two home runs in his last three games, he is batting just .171 with a .648 OPS.

After all, the main reason Pages is on the big-league roster over other triple-A options such as utilityman Hyeseong Kim (the slick-fielding offseason signing from South Korea who opened the year in the minors to work on revamping his swing) and outfielder Esteury Ruiz (the 2023 American League stolen base leader the Dodgers acquired from the Oakland A’s last week) is because of his bat.

Thus, even over an exceedingly small sample size entering this week’s series in Washington, his lagging overall numbers had become cause for concern.

“I’m trying to do the things that I can do every day, to work hard, to get better at the plate, making adjustments,” Pages said on Monday, when manager Dave Roberts kept him out of the lineup to let him reset mentally.

“I’ve been doing a lot of good things,” he insisted. “But balls aren’t falling.”

To Roberts, Pages’ slump had less to do with swing mechanics, and more with “passivity” in his offensive approach.

An aggressive hitter ordinarily, Pages had seemed too cautious in the box in the early going this year. Batting near the bottom of the Dodgers lineup — often, in the No. 9 hole with Shohei Ohtani behind him in the leadoff spot — he started taking more pitches than usual, and shortening his swing to go the other way.

It has helped Pages walk more, drawing free passes at double the rate he did last year. But the pop in his bat had gone missing. Routine fly outs to right field were an overly common occurrence.

“Just to be a little bit more aggressive, shifting the field a little bit more towards the center, the big part of the field, I think would be more beneficial,” Roberts said.

Tuesday’s home run, hit on an arching line to the left-center-field bullpen, served as a long-awaited first example.

Another came on Wednesday afternoon, in two starkly contrasting mid-game at-bats.

In the fourth inning of the Dodgers’ series finale against the Nationals, Pages took three consecutive thigh-high, center-cut sinkers from right-hander Jake Irvin, kicking himself after going down looking with Ohtani looming on deck.

“I'm not used to hitting in that part of the order, and I'm trying to see as many pitches as I can,” Pages said, concurring with Roberts’ assessment of his overly conservative early-season approach. “Sometimes I get too passive for that reason, which isn't good for me.”

Thus, his next time up in the top of the seventh, Pages swung at three straight sliders from reliever Eduardo Salazar. The first two, he whiffed on. But the third, which was left up in the zone and out over the plate, he launched to the left field seats for a game-tying blast — his second home run in a 24-hour span.

“I just tell him to go aggressive,” said veteran teammate Teoscar Hernández, who has become a close mentor of Pages’ since early last season. “He’s an aggressive hitter. So just get ready to hit.”

Roberts agreed, noting Pages is still “calibrating” the right balance of patience and aggression.

“He needs to kind of figure out where his strengths are in the hitting zone,” Roberts added, “and if he sees it there, then just be as aggressive as you need to be.”

Read more:After 'honor' of White House visit, Shohei Ohtani picking up where he left off in 2024

It’s all part of the continuing education for Pages; the kind of growing pains the Dodgers are willing to tolerate, for now, in hopes he can blossom into a more consistent offensive force as an everyday big-league player.

There are still defensive fundamentals to drill home, and baserunning mistakes to eliminate.

There are still alternatives down the depth chart, too, if Pages can’t turn this week’s two-homer outburst into a more prolonged period of success.

But, “for him to start getting results is good,” said another veteran teammate, Kiké Hernández. “I know what it is to be young and struggling in the big leagues. There’s people behind you trying to take your job. I know how that feels. But once you start getting a little more calm and loose — that’s what it seems like with his at-bats right now. He’s starting to get in a rhythm.”

Added Teoscar Hernández, with a wide smile after Pages’ home run on Wednesday helped lead the Dodgers to a come-from-behind win: “He's gonna hit. He's a good hitter. He's gonna be fine. And he's gonna help us a lot this year, too.”

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Here are five things to watch and predictions as the Mets and Athletics play a three-game series in Sacramento beginning on Friday at 10:05 p.m. on SNY.

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Preview

How much more leeway does Brett Baty have?

Baty's offensive struggles continued during the Mets' series against the Marlins, and he also had a major defensive miscue -- with his errant throw to second base leading to two Marlins runs during Wednesday's loss.

As far as his issues at the plate, Baty continued to routinely fall behind in counts, expand the zone, and make weak contact.

After Wednesday's game, he said part of what's hurting him is "indecision," adding that it could also be "pinned" to confidence.

Through 27 plate appearances over 10 games, Baty is slashing .111/.111/.148 with 11 strikeouts.

Jeff McNeil is expected to begin a rehab assignment this weekend, meaning his return could come within the next 10 days or so. That means Baty doesn't have much time left -- at least this time around -- to prove he can hit at the big league level.

Is Kodai Senga about to be unleashed?

Senga, coming off a season mostly lost due to injury, has understandably been treated with kid gloves a bit during his first two starts.

That included his outing against the Marlins on Monday, when he tossed 5.0 shutout frames but was pulled at just 77 pitches.

Senga's first start also ended after 5.0 innings and 77 pitches.

His results have been strong, though, with Senga carrying a 1.80 ERA (2.80 FIP), 1.10 WHIP and 10.8 strikeout rate into Sunday's tilt against the A's.

Given that Senga has two starts under his belt and will be pitching in much warmer weather in Sacramento compared to the frigid Citi Field, now seems like the time to start stretching him out.

Welcome to Sacramento

The A's, who are without a true home for the next few years as they wait for their ballpark in Las Vegas to (hopefully) be ready after they sadly left Oakland in the dust, are playing this season at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento.

The ballpark, which is the home of the Giants' Triple-A affiliate and has a capacity of roughly 14,000, has been a hitter's haven during the Athletics' first six games there.

In those six games, there have bee a combined 18 home runs hit and 70 runs scored. So this could possibly be an inviting scenario for the Mets' offense, and maybe a coming-out party power-wise for Juan Soto.

The A's, meanwhile, remain not very good.

They are 5-8 overall, 3-7 over their last 10 games, and have a -17 run differential that's the worst in the American League and third-worst in baseball.

The Athletics' lineup has some serious threats, including Tyler Soderstrom and Brent Rooker -- two players the Mets should be careful with in an effort to exploit the weaker parts of the lineup.

Pete Alonso is sizzling

Alonso remains locked in.

He's slashing .333/.451/.667 with three home runs and five doubles in 51 plate appearances over 12 games. And Alonso is hitting the ball incredibly hard -- his average exit velocity, barrel percentage, and hard hit percentage are all in the 99th percentile.

Just as encouraging as Alonso's results: the process.

He has been totally in control in most of his at-bats, showing an elite ability to put the barrel on the ball and terrific patience -- something that is even more apparent when you look at his strikeout rate (he's in the 92nd percentile) and walk rate (83rd percentile).

Hello, Luis Severino

Severino, one of the starting pitchers who helped the Mets make their memorable run to the NLCS last season, signed a two-year deal with the A's during the offseason that contained a player option for 2027.

It's been a mixed bag for Severino during his first three starts for the Athletics.

He fired 6.0 shutout innings on Opening Day, but has been touched up for five earned runs in each of his last two starts.

Severino gets the ball against Senga in Sunday's series finale.

Predictions

Who will the MVP of the series be?

Mark Vientos

It's been tough sledding for Vientos so far, but he's reached base in five straight games and is seeing the ball much better.

Which Mets pitcher will have the best start?

Kodai Senga

Senga has been very effective so far despite still shaking off the rust.

Which A's player will be a thorn in the Mets' side?

Shea Langeliers

The backstop has already popped three homers this season.

Here are five things to watch and predictions as the Yankees return home to face the San Francisco Giants in a three-game series starting on Friday.

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Preview

Have the bats warmed up?

The Yankees are sure glad to be out of Detroit.

In a frigid three-game series, New York scored just five runs -- and four of them came in Wednesday's win. The Bombers faced some great pitching, including being blanked by reigning AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal, but this lineup should be putting up more runs than what they have done so far this week.

Perhaps returning home, despite the anticipated cold, wet weather, will help what ails this Yankees offense.

Facing elite NL West pitching

The last time the Yankees hosted an NL West team, two of the Diamondbacks' best three pitchers held them down in an eventual series win. It'll be just as tough when the 9-3 Giants come to town.

San Francisco will have former Cy Young winner Robbie Ray (3.18 ERA) start the series before Jordan Hicks (2.38 ERA) takes the mound. The series will finish Sunday with perennial Cy Young contender Logan Webb (1.89 ERA) on the bump. New York's bats will need to have warmed up to take on this trio of Giants starters, but it's also a great early-season measuring stick to test this lineup.

Will Warren's final start?

Warren has made two starts this season, one good and one not so much.

With Clarke Schmidt scheduled for his last rehab start on Thursday, one depth starter will lose his spot in the rotation. Is that Carlos Carrasco, Marcus Stroman, or Warren?

It won't likely to be Stroman -- who pitches Friday -- as his contract likely makes him safe for now. Carrasco's excellent spring hasn't carried over in the early going, while Warren has minor league options remaining. It'll be interesting to see which direction the organization goes, but Warren could make the decision even harder with a great performance on Saturday.

Can Devin Williams bounce back?

Williams has struggled to start the season. His last outing saw the dominant closer allow three runs and almost blow an eventual 4-3 win against the Tigers on Wednesday.

The former Brewer is a notoriously slow starter, so this could be just that. But having an easy outing this weekend would go a long way to boosting Williams' confidence with his new team and help ingratiate himself with the fans

Will Paul Goldschmidt's revival continue?

The most pleasant surprise of the early season has been Goldschmidt's effectiveness at the plate. The former NL MVP is hitting .383 with an OBP of .431 and an OPS of .942. Now, his power numbers aren't there -- just one home run and three RBI in his first 12 games -- but he's doing what the team is asking of him, and that's get on base.

He currently has a six-game hitting streak and has multi-hit games in his last three contests. Goldschmidt has hit in the leadoff spot in eight games this year and is batting 6-for-13 (.414) with two doubles, one home run, and has walked twice.

The Giants will have two righties on the mound this weekend, so Goldschmidt will likely not lead off every game. But when he does, we'll see if he can continue to be effective.

Predictions

Who will the MVP of the series be?

Aaron Judge

Whenever the Yanks need a jolt from the offense, Judge is not far behind.

Which Yankees pitcher will have the best start?

Carlos Rodon

Rodon has pitched pretty well this season, even when his stat line doesn't reflect that, and I see that continuing.

Which Giants player will be a thorn in the Yankees' side?

Willy Adames

Adames comes to the Bronx as a Giant for the first time after spending his first seven seasons with the Rays and Brewers. Playing with Tampa Bay, Adames grew familiar with the Yankees and Yankee Stadium. For his career in the Bronx, Adames is hitting .307 with eight doubles, five home runs, and nine RBI in 29 games.