Gerrit Cole

It was an open question whether Stroman would open the regular season in New York's starting rotation at the outset of spring training, but he's now an essential component following injuries to Gerrit Cole (elbow), Luis Gil (lat) and Clarke Schmidt (shoulder). The 33-year-old veteran gave up a first-inning run, but managed to settle in afterwards and got plenty of run support from New York's fully operational Death Star of a lineup. Unfortunately, he was unable to complete five frames and was forced to settle for a no-decision. Still, he gave the Yankees a chance and their bullpen responded by getting the final 13 outs without giving up a run. He'll face off against the free-falling Pirates on Saturday in his next outing.

The Phillies haven t opened the 2025 season just yet, but one Hall of Famer believes their pitching will guide them deep into October. Hall of Fame baseball writer Jayson Stark was a guest on 97.5 The Fanatic s The Best Show Ever, and he was very bullish on the Phils, particularly the starting pitching, a group that features a pair of additions at the back end to an already strong top four: hard-throwing Jesus Luzardo, added via trade from Miami, and top prospect Andrew Painter, who expects to arrive sometime around the middle of the season. I think the upside is best rotation in baseball, Stark said.

Here are the five big storylines to watch as the Yankees start the 2025 MLB season, including the starting rotation without Gerrit Cole and Jasson Dominguez getting his first big shot.

Warren will occupy one of the final rotation spots with Gerrit Cole out for the season and Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt on the injured list to start the year. The 25-year-old right-hander finished spring training with a 4.19 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 19/5 K/BB ratio in 19 1/3 innings. He has moderate appeal in mixed fantasy leagues, but is a must-roster player in AL-Only leagues.

The move opens up a 40-man roster spot, and the Yankees used that space to add Carlos Carrasco to the active roster. Cole will miss all of 2025 after undergoing Tommy John surgery, and he could miss a portion -- potentially a significant one -- of the 2026 campaign as well.