NEW YORK – The Yankees say their ace Masahiro Tanaka is fine and dandy. He was only a little off. And only in the third inning at that.

Yeah, that's the ticket.

Well, this we can say this for sure: The Yankees are slightly sparing in their candor about Tanaka.

Even the scoreboard wasn't revealing anything. For one inning, anyway, the Yankees' big stadium scoreboard gave only the velocities of Jays starter Drew Hutchison (90-93), and not Tanaka.

Thus came the very first conspiracy theory of the year.

But if anyone ordered the scoreboard radar shut off for Tanaka, no one was copping to it. Not Tanaka ("I have nothing to do with that," he said with a laugh). Not anyone.

It is, of course, eminently possible the scoreboard operator was just off to a slow start, sort of like the Yankees, who looked punchless, listless, even mindless on Opening Day against an upstart Blue Jays team that features six rookies and real hope.

Anyway, the first game in the post-Jeter era was nothing short of an unmitigated disaster – a 6-1 defeat to Toronto in which Tanaka lasted only four innings and the Yankees gathered only three hits (including one by returning hero Alex Rodriguez -- yes, he was treated like a hero.)

Beyond the loss, the game raised questions about 1) Tanaka, 2) the Yankees offense, and 3) the unfortunate sap charged with the impossible job to replace the great Derek Jeter. That chap's name is Didi Gregorius, a nice young fellow with a winning smile and an impossible task.

"I don't think anybody can be like Jeter," Gregorius said after the game. No one disagreed.

It's never easy replacing a legend (Jeter is so big the Yankees section of the New York Times baseball preview section was all about the guys who's no longer here, the guy who's now in the "journalism" game – yes, Jeter himself). Meanwhile, his replacement pulled the sort of memorable gaffe Jeter never made in 20 years.

Get this, and it is hard to believe this happened in a major-league game. Gregorius was thrown out trying to steal third with the Yankees down by five runs in the 8th inning, two outs and cleanup man Mark Teixeira up. The cameras flashed at that moment to Yankees manager Joe Girardi on the bench, and he looked like he had just swallowed the storied team's 27th World Series ring.

Didi Gregorius
Didi Gregorius had a debut to forget on Opening Day. (USATSI)

Gregorius explained afterward that he thought he'd take advantage of the shift that's killing the Yankees at bat to take the extra base. But third baseman Josh Donaldson got back to third easily, and catcher Russell Martin, the Jays' other imported star, easily gunned him down. At that moment the Yankees' chances to win went from 1 percent to basically zero.

Afterward, Girardi, whose instinct is always to say everything is hunky dory even when it's anything but, called it a "very good learning experience." Though that begs the question why that wasn't learned by junior high.

"It happened in game one," Girardi said in a fit of candor, "and let's hope it never happens again."

Though it's hard to recall a major-league player attempting something quite so foolish, certainly not in his debut with a new team, nor while replacing the perfect player. But say this for Gregorius. He didn't run away and hide.

"You can't run around," Gregorius said. "You guys are going to find me."

That's the problem with the major leagues. It's all right there in front of us all. And what you see with the Yankees just doesn't look very encouraging right now.

Girardi, as is his style, talked about the team before the game, saying he liked what they all assembled. And this is only one game, of course. But the reality is, they didn't hit very much last year, we all know Tanaka is pitching with a torn UCL and there just isn't a very compelling reason to think right now this will prove to be a playoff team.

Just like with a book and its cover, you can't judge a season by its opener. But it's a stretch to think Girardi will be getting a ring for a 28th championship to replace the one he may have just swallowed.

There are some good signs, like the wonderful spring pitching of Michael Pineda and Nate Eovaldi. But right now Tanaka isn't one of them. While Yankees people are all talking like he can recapture the greatness he showed before rupturing his elbow ligament, that kind of talk is borne mostly out of hope.

They hope, and they pray.

"I think he can still get back to what we've seen in the past," Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild said.

It is possible, of course. But nothing that's happened since the tear was discovered would lead a non-pinstriped person to have much faith. While five out of five doctors recommended Tanaka to try rest and rehab, and ultimately to try to pitch through the injury. But the reality is, this is his third game back, and the fellow who appeared on his way to a Cy Young Award as a rookie, has been awful in two out of three of them.

One of the Yankees' marketing points was that Tanaka was very good in two out of four innings. But as we know, a major-league game is nine innings, so being effective in two innings isn't the standard for a pitcher whose team invested $175 million to win him.

Tanaka barely threw the fastball, and looked like a junkballer for the most part. While the radar gun, once revived, suggested his four-seamer was in the 90-92 range, which isn't terrible, he threw it quite infrequently. Whether it's because he's hurt, or he fears he might become hurt isn't known.

For now, Tanaka says his new pitching strategy is more about a game plan. He suggested in an interview just before the opener that he isn't sure the velocity's coming back soon, and it's clear he has little faith he can overpower major-league hitters now. But to him (and the others), it isn't about stuff. It's about location and deception.

"If I'm able to make a little bit of an adjustment I should be able to get back into the form I hope to," Tanaka said.

There you go, that makes it unanimous.

At least in the Yankees clubhouse, everyone believes Tanaka is fine. Outside it, there are considerable questions. That's only natural when a dominating right-hander attempts to transform himself into an off-speed specialist, at a prime age of 26 no less.

As for the everyday team, there are considerable questions there, as well. The offense that was one of the least dangerous in baseball last year came up almost empty against second-year Blue Jays starter Hutchison and two relievers, with only a Brett Gardner dinger doing real damage.

One positive note was the performance of Rodriguez in his long-awaited return engagement. Rodriguez provided one of the few highlights and all of the buzz on a fairly buss-less day in the Bronx.

Rodriguez, the most candid Yankee right now, admitted he isn't certain what he can bring, which is only natural considering all the obstacles. "I'm not sure," he said when asked if he can play like he did before he went away. "I haven't played in a long time."

Rodriguez, who received mostly cheers in his first game back after serving his record 162-game ban for his extensive involvement with Biogenesis and the steroids they sold, worked a walk in his first plate appearance, roped a single in his second and lined out to right in his third trip up. He didn't look like a guy who was, A) rusty, 2) 39 going on 40, or C) in needs of 'roids.

Rodriguez batted seventh, and I'm not sure if that was part of his punishment, but it was reminiscent of the time iconic Yankees manager Joe Torre batted him eighth in a playoff game against the Tigers a decade or so ago. That became a cause célèbre. This won't be.

Coincidentally, Torre was back to throw out the first pitch on Opening Day, a nice link to what seems like a bygone era. Rodriguez is, oddly enough, the only Yankees player remaining from a Torre era that ended not all that long ago, as the great franchise has had quite a bit of turnover from its glory days. It isn't sure how they greeted each other, but Torre wasn't all that complimentary of Rodriguez in his book.

Current Yankees management didn't act like it loved A-Rod when he arrived to camp this year, offering the unusual complaint that he was early. But the fans have spoken, and they clearly do want A-rod around. The cheer-to-boo ratio was about 80-20 when he was announced, and only positive things were heard later, when folks started to see Rodriguez can at least put together a game full of good at-bats.

A-Rod said he wasn't sure he deserved the adulation. But he did appreciate it, he said.

Rodriguez's job to regain his form in his middle age isn't easy. But Tanaka and Gregorius may have even more difficult tasks ahead of them. While a few pitchers have thrown effectively for a while with a tear in the UCL -- Adam Wainwright comes to mind -- the list isn't a long one.

As for Gregorius, he will have many chances, as Yankees people love his defense, and frankly, there aren't a lot of great shortstop alternatives right now. At least it's a great sign that he handled his faux pas with aplomb.

But that doesn't mean this will be easy. Nothing of the sort.

"Putting on the pinstripes are a little different," Rodriguez noted.

The pressure certainly is greater here. And it has to be that much greater when you're standing where Jeter once built his legend.