The Yankees are expected to name a
fifth starter by the weekend. Adam
Warren will be starting on Friday and if he doesn't have a terrible game it
looks like he will win the competition.
Esmil Rogers who pitched on Tuesday night was bad again for the second
game in a row. Warren has been good all
spring and unless they suprise everyone and go with someone like Scott Baker
who has been pitching pretty well it looks like it is Warrens job.
Alex Rodriguez continues to be a
non story, he has shown enough now that he is going to be the opening day
DH. It will now be a question of does he
bat sixth or seventh in the lineup and how often does he play the field. I am guessing he will play third base about
once a week and maybe a little first in an emergency but otherwise he will be
the DH for the most part. Garrett Jones
will back up Mark Teixeira and he could also play right field with Chris Young
when Carlos Beltran needs a break.
Beltran could see some time at DH as well. Rodriguez has performed well which ended some
speculation about him getting through spring training and being able to play
etc, he now will have to get through some of the season but he looks pretty
good right now.
The Yankees youngsters have been
good all spring and Tuesday night was no different. It looks like Ramon Flores has impressed. Joe Girardi said "If something was to happen to one of our
outfielders , I think he'd be a pretty strong candidate."
Betances was sitting at 93-94
according to the Yes network gun. He
wasn't throwing upper 90's all spring last year and Girardi said he isn't
worried although the results haven't been very good. Betances said he just has to trust whatever
stuff he does have and that the velocity will come. He said he isn't trusting it as much this
year compared to last and he is going to have to do that.
Chris Young has been playing well
lately and he has been hitting lefties which the Yankees will be looking for
from him this season. Didi Gregorius has
been hitting lefty pitching lately and that is a good sign. The Yankees want him to be the everyday guy
and if he can hit like he has been lately that will be the case. His glove is gold glove caliber so if he can
hit a little they are going to be really happy with him.
Nathan Eovaldi pitched in a minor
league game on Tuesday afternoon. He said
that when he gets in trouble he tends to speed up which he did in the first
inning but then slowed it down later in the game and was better. He said he is working on that as he continues
his progression to being a complete pitcher now. He pitched pretty well again and the Yankees
are excited about what he could bring this year. Girardi said he wouldn't comment on the
Opening Day starter but he did acknowledge that Sabathia wouldn't start on
short rest so that would eliminate him from Opening day leaving Masahiro Tanaka
unless something unforeseen happens.
Tanaka will pitch on Wednesday afternoon and then have five days rest
before pitching one more game before Opening Day.
No comments:
Post a Comment