HOUSTON — If the high-priced trio of Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran is going to fix the Yankees offense, it’s going to take more than one game.
The offseason free-agent acquisitions managed just a pair of hits in the Yankees’ 6-2 loss to the Astros in the season-opener, but did play a role in a belated rally in the eighth.
“This wasn’t the way we wanted to start, but this is a group with a lot of experience,” Ellsbury said. “We’ll bounce back.”
Ellsbury, who signed a $153 million deal this offseason, suffered through an injury-plagued spring and was immediately tested in the bottom of the first, when Dexter Fowler ripped a fly ball to Minute Maid Park’s cavernous center field.
“It felt good,” Ellsbury said of the tight right calf that sidelined him in the spring. “It was tested right from the get-go. We were pretty confident it would hold up. I didn’t even think about it to be honest.”
That was one of the few bits of consolation, though Ellsbury did draw a walk to start the eighth inning. He later came around to score the Yankees’ first run.
McCann, the $85 million catcher who was signed to stabilize things behind the plate, also picked up his first hit in the eighth to knock in Ellsbury. That came after he threw wildly to third base after a CC Sabathia wild pitch in the first inning.
“We got off to a slow start, but you can’t overreact to one inning or one game,” McCann said.
Beltran misplayed a ball in right field in the second inning for an error that helped lead to a run. He did, however, get the Yankees’ first hit after they went hitless against Houston starter Scott Feldman through three innings.
It was hardly what the Yankees expected as they headed into the opener.
“I feel good about this team,” general manager Brian Cashman said before the game. “Obviously, I feel good about all the guys we brought in.”
Mark Teixeira, who was part of a similar infusion of talent in 2009 when he joined Sabathia and A.J. Burnett in The Bronx, sounded confident his new veteran teammates would fit in.
“We’re ready,” Teixeira said before the game. “It’s all about health. If we’re healthy and on the field, everything will work out. We’ve all done it in the past.”
True, but not with the Yankees.
“It’s not that big of a change,” Teixeira said. “It’s just that more people care, so things are magnified, both good and bad.”
The new Yankees likely will find that out soon enough.