The New York Yankees return to the Bronx and all of their 2015 Opening Day action Monday will be carried in live online video, as the Yankees face the Toronto Blue Jays to kick off what both teams desperately hope will be a season of renewal after a dismal 2014.
Details on how to watch streaming video of the Toronto Blue Jays vs. New York Yankees Opening Day matchup from Yankee Stadium can be found below.
Despite the addition of a second wild card team in 2013, the Yankees missed the postseason both that year and in the following season, making 2014 the first time since 1993 (not counting the 1994 season which was aborted mid-season due to a players’ strike) that the Yankees failed to make the playoffs in two straight seasons.
In fact, the Yankees qualified for the postseason in every year of the expanded playoffs, Wild Card era which began in 1995 — until they finally missed out in 2008, only to bounce back and win the World Series the following year.
The 2015 season is also the first since 1995 that the Yankees will start without Derek Jeter as their shortstop. From 1996 when Jeter won American League Rookie of the Year honors, through his retirement year of 2014, the future Hall of Famer was a fixture at short for New York — and became the face of the modern Yankee dynasty, playing on five World Series winning teams and 16 playoff teams.
But when the Yankees take the field April 6, 25-year-old offseason acquisition Didi Gregorius will occupy the shortstop position. Picked up in a three-team deal last December, the most remarkable thing about the former Arizona Diamondback and Cincinnati Reds infielder is that he is one of just nine Major League Baseball players in history to be born in the Netherlands.
Masahiro Tanaka takes the mound Opening Day for the Yankees, despite a nagging elbow injury that he has elected to pitch with, rather than miss the season with Tommy John surgery. How effective Tanaka can be this season and how many innings their pricey Japanese import can give the Yankees is one of the key issues facing the franchise this season.
For the Blue Jays, 24-year-old Drew Hutchison will be a last-minute Opening Day starter after Marcus Stroman, coming off a solid rookie season in which he won 11 games and posted a 3.65 ERA, suffered a knee strain.
Online video of the Toronto Blue Jays vs. New York Yankees streams live from Yankee Stadium at 1:05 p.m. Eastern Time, and will be carried by WatchESPN at this link, or on mobile devices via the WatchESPN app. MLB.TV will also carry the Yankees Opening Day game at this link, but requires a paid subscription.
[Image: Jim Rogash/Getty Images]