Gerrit Cole’s christening as a player for the New York Yankees could be an attractive opening day, facing off against Juan Soto and World Series champions Washington at Nationals Park.
The Yankees and Nationals will meet when the season delayed by the coronavirus pandemic gets underway next month, a person familiar with the plans told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of not being identified because no official announcement has been made.
The New York Post newspaper was the first to report on the Yankees-Nationals duel.
MLB will launch a 60-game campaign on July 23 or 24. Work is still going on on the schedule – there could be a match or two on the first day, or a full batch.
Cole started the last game at Nationals Park. He led the Houston Astros to a 7-1 victory over the Nationals in October, putting them up 3-2 in the World Series.
But Howie Kendrick, Anthony Rendón and the Nationals won the last two games in Houston to clinch their first championship. Max Scherzer started the seventh game and fellow ace Stephen Strasburg was established as the MVP of the October Classic and one of them could be the starter of the first day.
Cole signed a nine-year, $ 324 million contract with the Yankees as a free agent. Rendón signed a $ 245 million, seven-year contract with the Los Angeles Angels.
The Yankees and Nationals met twice in the preseason this year, with New York winning 6-3 on March 12, the last day of practice before the pandemic break.
Players will begin reporting for a summer preseason on Wednesday. Gleyber Torres, Gary Sánchez and other New York players will train at Yankee Stadium. Trea Turner, Patrick Corbin and Washington will work at Nationals Park.
The Yankees are confident that their slugger Aaron Judge has fully recovered from the rib ailment that affected him during spring training in Florida.
The calendar plans for the clubs to play 10 games against each of their four division rivals. 20 interleague matches will be staged, with the idea that the East, West and Central clubs remain in their regions. AP (HN)