On Monday at 1:00 p.m. ET at Yankee Stadium, shortstop Derek Jeter will not be in the Yankees' Opening Day starting lineup for the first time since 1996 and third baseman Alex Rodriguez will return for the first time since September of 2013.
The New York Yankees will host the Toronto Blue Jays today in Opening Day's first game. New York's Masahiro Tanaka will square off against Toronto's Drew Hutchison in a matchup of division rivals, which will mark the first time in six seasons that CC Sabathia will not be on the hill for the Bronx Bombers to open the season.
Tanaka has been on the road to recovery after suffering a partial tear in his UCL last July. Instead of opting for Tommy John surgery, doctors suggested Tanaka rehab the tear and he has remained on schedule since making two starts at the end of September. He rested much of the offseason and made four starts in spring training, finishing 1-2 with a 3.07 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and 13 strikeouts in 14 2/3 innings.
Manager Joe Girardi named Tanaka the Opening Day starter on March 27 after it was determined Sabathia would not be on schedule to start the team's first game.
The Yankees' lineup will feature third baseman Chase Headley, shortstop Didi Gregorius and second baseman Stephen Drew as the club's newest Opening Day starters. Relievers Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller will also split the duties in the closer role following the departure of David Robertson.
Outfielders Jacoby Ellsbury, Brett Gardner and Carlos Beltran will be ready to go after dealing with injuries this offseason.
As for Toronto, they lost their top starter in Marcus Stroman earlier this offseason to a torn ACL and Hutchison will start in his place. The 24-year-old Hutchison finished 11-13 with a 4.48 ERA, 1.262 WHIP and 184 strikeouts in 32 starts (184 2/3 innings) last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery the season prior.
The Blue Jays will have a number of new starters compared to last year's Opening Day lineup, including third baseman Josh Donaldson (acquired from the Oakland Athletics), catcher Russell Martin (signed $82 million deal), second baseman Devon Travis (prospect), first baseman Justin Smoak and outfielders Kevin Pillar and Dalton Pompey (prospect).
Their lineup also consists of sluggers Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion as well as shortstop Jose Reyes, who are coming off successful 2014 campaigns. Toronto hopes to make the postseason for the first time since 1993 in a wide open AL East division.
You can check out the live stream of today's game here as well as the live radio broadcast here.
