SAN FRANCISCO, CA — The Yankees win on Opening Night in the Bay Area by a score of 7-0. They open the season with a 1-0 record in 2026.
Max Fried made his first start of 2026, and it was a good one. He turned in 6.1 scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and striking out four. It was not his most dominant outing command-wise, but he was able to work around it to turn in a clean outing.
Max Fried had a night in the Bay pic.twitter.com/mM8wT04nmM
— The 4 to the 7 Podcast (@4tothe7pod) March 26, 2026
Jake Bird was the first out of the Yankees bullpen to follow Fried. He retired the side in order. Brent Headrick was the next out of the bullpen and did not allow a run.
Aaron Judge went 0-5 with four strikeouts at the plate today. It was his first four-strikeout game since September 28th, 2024. Even with Judge’s poor performance, the Yankees were able to touch up Logan Webb for seven runs (six earned).
In the meantime, let’s review the most impactful plays from the game, per Wins Probability Added on Baseball Savant:
3. Ryan McMahon with a Two-Run Single
McMahon has struggled offensively in his career. Throughout his career, he has had good career numbers against Webb, and he carried that into game action tonight.
MCMAHON ADDS ON! pic.twitter.com/RcE3stFAKg
— The 4 to the 7 Podcast (@4tothe7pod) March 26, 2026
McMahon lined a ball up the middle to score two Yankee runs in the second inning to extend their lead. McMahon did work this offseason on his offense with some of the Yankee coaches and plans. His approach looked good this spring, though the surface numbers were not that good overall.
Spring stats don’t matter; it’s the regular season stats that do. And for McMahon, it’s good for him to get off to a good start because any positive offense that comes out of the third base position for the Yankees is an improvement from 2025.
2. Trent Grisham with a Two-Run Triple
The Wall Street Journal did an analysis this week of doubles and triples being down across baseball. Grisham did not get the message.
GRISHAM WITH A 2-RUN TRIPLE! pic.twitter.com/gxXEMH43fa
— The 4 to the 7 Podcast (@4tothe7pod) March 26, 2026
Grisham lined a ball into the gap to score two runs for the Yankees and make it 5-0 early. Against Webb, runs come at a premium, so the Grisham at-bat was essential to the Yankees getting two runs in the frame.
1. Jose Caballero with an RBI Double
The Yankees had two runners on with one out against Webb, one of the better pitchers in baseball. Caballero is getting the chance to take over the Yankees’ shortstop at-bats with Anthony Volpe starting the season on the IL.
CABBY GETS THE BOMBERS ON THE BOARD! pic.twitter.com/0B2p30iT0y
— The 4 to the 7 Podcast (@4tothe7pod) March 26, 2026
In his first at-bat of the season, he lined an RBI double down the left field line. He got to second after the ball deflected off him, something his speed helped with. He was able to score Stanton from second base, which was encouraging for the Yankees.
Caballero, taking advantage of getting shortstop reps, would benefit the Yankees because they have not gotten too much offense out of the shortstop position since 2018, when Didi Gregorius manned the position.
Next:
The Yankees will have an off day tomorrow in San Francisco before playing Friday at 4:35 pm on the YES Network. Young flamethrower Cam Schlittler will get the ball for the first time in 2026.