How Sweep It Is!: Reviewing the New York Yankees' Big Series Win

A tide is turning, folks!

I looked forward to the 2024 Major League Baseball season, because there's always something special about Opening Day, well, the Opening Week overall. One reason, of course, involved the New York Yankees. I entered this season optimistic about the Yankees' 2024 season, because, well, we have nowhere else to go but up. The Yankees are coming off a 2023 campaign that saw us miss the postseason for the first time since 2016, as well as the first time overall with Aaron Boone as skipper. Also, the Yankees had a new superstar to show off: in the form of Juan Soto.

So who were the Yankees' first opponents? None other than the Houston Astros. A four-game set in Texas' largest city. Oooh boy! So the 2024 Yankees were put to the test from Game One, Series One. We were facing the very team who plagued us at every turn in October, and the same team who was coming off yet another appearance in the American League Championship Series. Even though baseball lasts 162 games, pretty much every Yankees fan saw this series as the very thing that would determine the fate of our season.

So did we pass the test? In the immortal words of a Texas Hall of Famer, "OHHH HELL YEAH!!!"

A four-game sweep! A four-game sweep!!! The Yankees entered Minute Maid Park and absolutely owned the Astros from beginning to end! Juan Soto definitely delivered as advertised, hitting .529 in the series, driving in a run in each game, homering in the second game, driving in the winning run in the fourth game, and eliminating the tying run from Houston in the first game. It's safe to say that Soto is definitely living up to his abilities for sure. Another big bat to go with Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton.

Speaking of the Dynamic Duo, Stanton homered in the series, though Judge had a bit of a slow start. He'll pick it up though. However, here is the true star of this four-game set:

22 is not too young to be a dad. Just ask Oswaldo Cabrera, who is currently the Houston Astros' daddy right now. The Yankees' first home run of 2024 was hit by Cabrera. Not Judge, not Soto, not Stanton. Not even Gleyber or Rizzo. Oswaldo Cabrera hit the Yankees' first home run of the 2024 season, and he would homer again in the third game of the series. Cabrera's stats in the series: .438 BA, 2 HR, 6 RBI, and this includes a four hit performance in the second game!

Some amazing trivial tidbits about this series sweep. The Yankees scored first only once, doing so in the fourth game. The other three games were all comeback wins, including being down 4-0 in Game 1 and winning 5-4, with the newly acquired Alex Verdugo driving in that winning run via a sac fly. In addition, this was done despite Aaron Judge going 1/16 in the series. Remember: the very thing that plagued the Yankees in 2023 was our inability to do...well...anything during the period that Judge was sidelined.

Now to any and all of my fellow Yankees fans reading this, I have two words for ya: calm down. Two years ago, I came to a realization when comes to Yankees fans: we are all in with our emotions. When the Yankees are red hot and win games at the right time, it's "Plan the parade!" When the Yankees lose just a couple of games, it's "Fire everybody!" There is no gray area with most Yankees fans. Am I over the moon with this amazing start? Yes. Am I elated that we swept the Astros? Hell yes! However, there are 158 of these things left to go. We have to take this one month at a time. Even so, this is one hell of a start for the Bronx Bombers!