With chilly temperatures and harsh winds expected in New York and other parts of the country, the Yankees “discussed” whether they should alter their schedule this week, a team source told the Daily News on Tuesday. Alas, an internal club meeting determined it was best to keep things as they are for now.
“We didn’t view this weather as being any type of unprecedented cold for April,” the source said, adding that it was the Yankees’ choice to leave the schedule as is. “We didn’t feel like we were getting into temperatures that were dangerous for fans or anything like that. It’s April in New York. This happens often. It happened last year.”
With Tuesday’s series-opener against the visiting Athletics scheduled to begin at 7:05 p.m., the first-pitch temperature was expected to be about 42 degrees, depending on one’s preferred weather-tracking service. The forecasted “feels-like” temp, meanwhile, was about 28 degrees, and conditions were only supposed to get colder throughout the evening.
According to the source, the Yankees have played “upwards of a dozen games the last couple of years where temperatures were similar, if not worse” than what was expected on Tuesday night. They said that in 2025, the team played five home games with first-pitch temperatures of 43 degrees and below, as well as four such games on the road. The lowest first-pitch temperature the Bombers began playing at last year was 40 degrees.
While the Yankees decided to stand pat, a few other teams altered their schedules, including the Mets.
The crosstown rivals announced Monday that scheduled 7:10 p.m. starts against the Diamondbacks at Citi Field on Tuesday and Wednesday had been changed to 4:10 p.m. “As an appreciation to the fans for their understanding, commitment and flexibility,” the Mets offered a limited number of complimentary tickets to each game.
Those were offered on a first-come, first-served basis.
The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate, postponed their home opener, initially scheduled for Tuesday night, to Wednesday night “due to forecasted cold temperatures and below-freezing wind chills.” In a press release, the minor league club added that the decision was made “out of an abundance of caution for players, fans, and staff.”
The Somerset Patriots, the Yankees’ Double-A affiliate, had their Tuesday night game in Binghamton postponed as well. The Binghamton Rumble Ponies, the Mets’ Double-A affiliate, cited “cold temperatures and wind conditions.”
The Cleveland Guardians and Chicago White Sox also changed scheduled night games to afternoon starts on Tuesday.
While the decisions of other clubs did prompt the Yankees to weigh their options, they ultimately decided adjusting their own schedule wasn’t worth it.
“If there was rain in the forecast, that would have had a bigger impact on us,” the source said, though the Yankees waited out a long rain delay on Sunday with the Marlins, a one-time visitor, in town. “This level of cold didn’t warrant us changing.”