Yankees notes: Cody Bellinger can't believe 'lucky' catch; Aaron Judge's close call

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The New York Yankees left fielder had just watched a replay of the catch he just made, racing back and leaping toward the wall in the ninth inning of an 8-2 win over the Miami Marlins in the first game at Yankee Stadium this year on Friday. “I definitely got lucky,” he said. With no outs, Bellinger tracked Xavier Edwards’ long line drive, running back and looking over his left shoulder. He reached out for it over his head, but the ball kicked off the heel of his glove and began to fall toward the grass. In a split second, Bellinger swiped down with his glove and trapped it in mid-air. “He should have caught it the first time,” right fielder Aaron Judge told the YES Network’s Meredith Marakovits in a postgame interview broadcast over the stadium speakers. “No, just an amazing play out there. That’s why he’s got a Gold Glove, man. He’s one of the best outfielders in the game. That was a good one.” Reliever Ryan Yarbrough raised both hands to salute Bellinger, who took a moment to throw the ball back into the infield. After making the catch, he leaned with his back against the wall and exhaled. Then he looked up to the scoreboard and continued to look surprised through the next at-bat, smiling. After the win, Bellinger was still perplexed. “I feel like I had a good bead on it the whole way,” he said. “I think it caught off my wrist. I really don’t know. I’m just glad I came down with it.” HOW DID CODY BELLINGER CATCH THIS BALL?! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/g2JHdvX09V Here are two more takeaways from the Yankees’ win in their home opener: Marlins starting pitcher Eury Pérez hit Judge with a 98.9 mph fastball in the right forearm in the second inning with the bases loaded and the Yankees ahead, 3-1. Immediately after, Judge grimaced and walked around home plate, venturing almost between the mound and the plate. He also appeared to look at Pérez briefly before heading to first base. He was fine, but it was a close call. And it reminded him of when then-Royals pitcher Jakob Junis broke his wrist when he hit Judge with a 93 mph fastball on July 26, 2018. It caused him to miss about a month and a half of the season. “I’ve broken my wrist like that,” Judge said. “So that’s always your main concern. But once you feel like everything is intact, it’s just, ‘Hey, get to first,’ and let Bellinger do his job.” Manager Aaron Boone popped out of the dugout and kept his eye on Judge. “Right away,” Boone said. “I felt that he was probably OK. But I tend to jump up a little quicker when it’s him. … You always hold your breath there any time when it’s running kind of up and in like that.” After Friday’s win, the Yankees’ whole pitching staff has a combined 1.16 ERA. That mark is the best in the majors, with the next-closest belonging to the Atlanta Braves at 2.00 entering Friday. The Yankees began the day with a 1.01 ERA. That ticked up only slightly after Will Warren gave up just two solo shots in 5 2/3 innings, and four relievers (Tim Hill, Jake Bird, Brent Headrick and Yarbrough) kept Miami scoreless. “They’re just dictating the at-bat, I feel like,” Judge said. “They’re working ahead. They’re getting their pitches on the corners. If you get in good counts against hitters, it’s a tough at-bat.” The eight earned runs Yankees pitchers have allowed matches the fewest runs allowed by any major-league team through its first seven games of a season, tied with the 2002 San Francisco Giants and the 1993 Braves. Yankees starters have given up just four runs total. That ties the fewest runs by any major-league starting rotation through seven games since 1900. “It’s early,” Boone said, “but you love the fact that you get off to this kind of start. Wins are precious. To see the guys obviously pitching as well as they are, but I also think playing as well as they are. The all-around game. Even though we haven’t scored a ton of runs necessarily … I feel like we’re talking tough at-bats. We’ve faced some good pitching. We’re playing smart on the bases. We’re aggressive when we need to be. And, I feel like, we’ve done a really good job defensively.” Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Brendan Kuty is a Staff Writer for The Athletic covering the New York Yankees and MLB. He has covered the Yankees since 2014, most recently as a beat reporter for NJ Advance Media. Brendan was honored to receive the 2022 New Jersey Sportswriter of the Year award from the National Sports Media Association. He attended William Paterson University and the County College of Morris, and he is from Hopatcong, N.J.