The Publish’s Joel Sherman previews the AL East:
1. New York Yankees
O/U wins: 89.5
Key participant: Max Fried. He not solely must pitch like an ace however a wholesome ace, with Gerrit Cole (elbow) out for the season and 2024 AL Rookie of the Yr Luis Gil (lat) sidelined for 3 months. Fried has had forearm points every of the previous two seasons. When he’s touchdown his greatest curveball, he may yell to batters that it’s coming and nonetheless thrive.
Participant who’ll must step up: Jasson Domínguez. In case you are questioning why Alex Verdugo was jobless till late March, then know he was the first offender within the Yankees producing out of left discipline the fewest homers (15), third-worst OPS (.649) and fifth-fewest steals (eight). So The Martian doesn’t have out-of-this-world numbers to beat to enhance the membership on this place. He has 20-20 potential — will he attain that (or higher) whereas capably fielding the place?
