The Major League Baseball season is still in the early stages. The conclusion of the first half on July 14 is two months away, and 16 more weeks of the schedule lie ahead before the regular season ends.  

Even so, the Yankees are positioned where many pundits predicted they would be coming into this campaign. A lot can happen between now and their final regular season game on Sept. 29, but as for now, they had the third best record in MLB at 28-15 going into last night against the Minnesota Twins on the road. Only the Philadelphia Phillies (30-13) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (29-15), both of the National League, were above them for the top overall mark.

The Yankees were in first place in the American League (AL) East, and led the young and gifted Baltimore Orioles (26-14), last year’s division champions, by a half-game. The Yankees finished fourth last year at 82-80. They have accumulated a high win total with two mainstays. Pitcher Gerrit Cole, last season’s AL Cy Young Award recipient, and infielder DJ LeMahieu have yet to play a regular season game due to injuries they picked up in spring training. Cole was shelved with right elbow inflammation and nerve pain. LaMahieu’s 2024 debut has been delayed by a non-displaced right foot fracture after hitting a foul ball off of it on March 16.

Both have been rehabbing at the Yankees complex in Tampa, Florida. No exact timetable has been publicly communicated by the Yankees for when either will rejoin the active roster, but according to the team’s manager, Aaron Boone, the signs are encouraging.

“Gerrit, everything went well,” said Boone after a recent throwing session by Cole. In the meantime, the Yankees starters Nestor Cortes, Carlos Rodon, Luis Gil, Marcus Stroman, and Clarke Schmidt have been strong with a collective ERA of 3.318 before meeting up with the Twins last night. And closer Clay Holmes had 12 saves, a 0.98 WHIP, and a remarkable 0.00 ERA in 18 appearances.

At the plate, right fielder Juan Soto has been on an MVP mission, leading the Yankees in batting average (.313), RBI (34), and hits (51). Center fielder Aaron Judge, the 2022 AL MVP, topped the team in home runs with 10.

The Yankees will play three games against the Chicago White Sox this weekend on the road, then take on the Mariners in Seattle for four games Monday through Thursday. 

The post The Yankees meet expectations to start the season appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.

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Taiwan-based bubble tea chain Chicha San Chen—which has garnered a devoted fanbase over the past two decades for serving allegedly stronger tea than its competitors, a result of growing and hand-picking their own tea leaves—is soft-opening its first New York City location tomorrow, May 16, in Manhattan’s Chinatown. And the brand is celebrating the big news by hosting a grand opening party with freebies this weekend. 

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Debuting at 72-74 Bayard Street near Mott Street, the international import will fete its grand opening on Saturday, May 18 from 11:30am to 8:30pm. The first 100 who attend the opening soiree will get to take home free Chicha San Chen merchandise upon the purchase of a bubble milk tea. (Note: drinks will be limited to two cups per person during the soft opening and grand opening event.) 

And speaking of bubble tea, Chicha San Chen offers a variety of flavors, including Green Tea, Osmanthus Oolong Tea, High Mountain Pouchong Tea, and Cassia Black Tea. The shop’s teas are so quality, they’ve been awarded what’s referred to as the equivalent of three Michelin stars by the International Taste Institute, designated as “a product that has gone through a sensory evaluation of each of the above 5 criteria by professional taste-experts” and achieved an average score above 90 percent.

You can order the brand’s teas a la carte or explore the NYC location’s exclusive new Tea Tasting Area, where tea lovers can enjoy a curated five-tea flight and take part in tea-tasting demonstrations, to learn about and sample variations of Chicha San Chen’s Oolong Tea that hails from the Lishan Mountains in Taiwan.

Chicha San Chen is the just latest in international bubble tea brands that have been making moves into Manhattan as of late: HeyTea, the originator of cheese tea from Jiangmen, China, opened its first NYC location in Midtown this past December and Nana’s Green Tea—the modern Japanese cafe specializing in green teas and matcha desserts—debuted its first NYC location this past April at 1250 Broadway in Koreatown. 

* This article was originally published here