The Yankees were all business in the series opener against Pittsburgh, putting nine runs on the board with none other than Aaron Judge launching another home run. That’s six bombs in seven games for the Captain now, as he’s on an absolute tear to start the season. The offense is clicking around him as well, and despite dropping the last series to Arizona there’s not a lot to complain about with the early results from this Yankees team.

It’s a busy day leading up to the late afternoon first pitch, starting with Nolan giving us a preview of the Low-A Tampa Tarpons to close out our circuit of the main four minor league levels. Sam has a double-feature, first covering the Yankees’ rivals and what they accomplished on Friday before jumping into the past and the start of an ugly 2000 campaign for David Cone. Nick Power ponders on how legitimate Ben Rice’s emergence is, and then Estevão closes us out with a look at the newest depth signing the Yankees made in Cooper Hummel.

Today’s Matchup:

New York Yankees at Pittsburgh Pirates

Time: 4:05 p.m. EST

TV/Streaming: YES Network, SportsNet-PIT

Radio: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280

Venue: PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA

Questions/Prompts:

1. It’s still a bit early, but if we’re witnessing a re-run of Aaron Judge’s MVP season without his terrible April start where would that performance rank all-time?

2. The Yankees have 23 home runs as a team entering today. How many will they collectively have by the end of April?