The New York Yankees were supposed to get off with first pitch of their series finale against the Kansas City Royals on Sunday at 1:35 p.m. ET. Instead, inclement weather and rain in the Bronx forced the game to start in a rain delay rather than the initially scheduled start time.
We are officially in a rain delay. Updated information will be provided as it is received.
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 19, 2026
Even earlier on Sunday morning, the Yankees knew that rain was going to be in the area, even sending out a message to fans that, while gates would still open at Noon ET, they were not anticipating the game starting on time. Indeed, that’s what turned out to be the reality at Yankee Stadium, but that left many Yankees and Royals fans wondering when the game will start after the rain delay.
Royals-Yankees start time: Projected first pitch for Sunday’s game
We’re projecting Royals-Yankees to start some time between 4:30 and 5 p.m. ET on Sunday based on the latest weather forecasts.
There are consistent rains and winds that are expected in the Bronx for several hours after the initially scheduled first pitch. Considering that we’re not waiting for electricity in the area in terms of lightning, we can safely assume that the Yankees will wait for the rain to subside so they can pull the tarp off of the field and get things ready for the game on Sunday. Based on what we’re seeing, around 5 p.m.-ish is when that seems most likely.
With that said, we can also assume that they’ll get the game started as soon as possible. Though the Yankees have an off day on Monday, the Royals will have to fly back to Kansas City tonight for a matchup with the Orioles on Monday.
Yankee Stadium weather forecast
Looking at the forecast when we’re projecting the new start time, it’s not hard to see why the game began in a rain delay. There has been consistent rain all morning and it’s not projected to stop until sometime between 4-5 p.m. ET
As of right now, there is still an 85 percent chance of rain forecasted for 3 p.m. ET and that only drops to 78% at 4 p.m. ET. That’s when we see the weather break, however, as the chance of precipitation drops to 40% at 5 p.m. ET, hence why we’re projecting the new start time for around then.
For anyone wondering, though, the rain moving out won’t exactly make it a beautiful day at the ballpark. The temperature at Yankee Stadium is only in the high 40s on Sunday, making it a chilly game, especially with winds consistently blowing around 15 mph for the day. But hey, at least the rain is on its way out and there will still be a baseball game fit in for the day, assuming the forecast holds.
Yankees probably should’ve had better foresight
In all honesty, given that the Yankees announced early on Sunday morning that fans shouldn’t expect an on-time first pitch, you have to wonder why they didn’t take a page out of the Boston Red Sox’ book. The same band of weather was supposed to hit New York’s rival at Fenway Park as well around this time, so the Sox made the decision to push the start time back by three hours on Saturday to better accommodate fans.
Sure, a rain delay is something that any baseball fan has to expect when it comes to a game, especially in mid-April and the inconsistent weather that comes with that. That being said, if a club can do more to make things better for fans, they probably should, and you then have to wonder why the Yankees didn’t just simply push the start time back initially instead of pushing forward and having a rain delay.
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