Yankees Playing with More of an Edge Early This Season

The New York Yankees know they let a lot of easy wins go last year, and they want to make sure that doesn't happen this season.

Mar 28, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) walks towards the dugout after the Yankees defeated the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images | Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

The numbers say the New York Yankees are off to a historic start. According to Katie Sharp, they are one of seven teams since 1900 to score one or fewer runs in the first three games of the year. Then, on the pitching end, Max Fried and Cam Schlittler were the first starter duo since Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte in 2003 to put up back-to-back scoreless outings.

While these say a lot about the team's potential, if there's one number they're looking at as a whole, it's three. That's the wins they have in the first three games of the year, sweeping the San Francisco Giants at home, and overcoming the likes of Logan Webb, Robbie Ray, and what ended up being a solid effort by Tyler Mahle and the Giants' bullpen.

Once the Yankees took game two off the backs of Schlittler and their two veteran sluggers, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, they wanted to make sure that they walked out of San Francisco with that sweep. The captain, who contributed two homers this series, said as much.

"That was one thing the past couple years we struggled at, is finishing out series and sweeping series," Judge said, according to the Daily News' Gary Phillips on X. "We talked about it. We gotta close out a series, and that's what's going to make the difference between winning the division or ending up tied and losing it."

Mar 27, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) tosses his bat after hitting a home run against the San Francisco Giants during the sixth inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

2025 As Motivation

The Yankees still have last season's follies on their minds, and they're using it as motivation. Fair enough, because there's no reason that, one year removed from being handled by the Blue Jays at every turn, they have a repeat of last year. They saw firsthand what losing winnable games did to them at the conclusion of 2025.

Even after a long swoon, which was kicked off by the Yankees blowing a seven-game division lead at the start of the summer and going 5-8 against Toronto, there was still a chance for the Yankees to take the American League East. Despite an eight-game winning streak to close out September, they had to settle for a tie, with Toronto holding the tiebreaker.

Sep 28, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays players and staff pose for a team picture after defeating the Tampa Bay Rays and clinching first place in the American League East Division at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images | Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images

That was a Yankee team that watched leads dissolve at the hands of their bullpen — most notably by Devin Williams and Luke Weaver — and had they won just one of those games, the East would have been theirs. Whether that changes what happens in the playoffs is another thing. Though playing at home seemed more favorable for them than starting a series in Toronto, which proved to be a house of horrors for the Yankees last year.

There's no way to change what happened in 2025. They can just be better than they were last year, and that seems important to them.

To learn more about the Yankees from Opening Day and beyond, subscribe to All Yankees Talk, where new episodes are featured twice a week!