I know this is only the fourth Grapefruit League game of the year, but this feels like the most anticipated Yankees game in a long time. Probably since Jesus Montero made his debut in 2011. Masahiro Tanaka will pitch in a game for the Yankees the first time this afternoon, though he isn’t starting. He’ll follow CC Sabathia and Hiroki Kuroda as the team’s top three starters make their spring debuts.
Everything we’ve heard about Tanaka these last two or three weeks has been overwhelmingly positive. He looks great in the bullpen, he looks great in simulated games, he’s handling the attention well, he’s adapting to the culture and getting along with teammates, so on and so on. It’s all been good. Hopefully Tanaka comes out today and dominates in his limited action, but I’m not gonna lie, part of me hopes he gets creamed just to see the silly overreactions to a Spring Training outing. The single most important thing is that Tanaka gets through the day healthy, that’s all. If he does that, today will be a success.
The Phillies made the short trip over from Clearwater and will have Ben Revere, Jimmy Rollins, Domonic Brown, and Marlon Byrd in the lineup. Bobby Abreu is also starting as he attempts a comeback. Cuban right-hander Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez, who has received underwhelming reviews so far this spring, is scheduled to pitch at some point. Here is Joe Girardi’s starting lineup:
- LF Brett Gardner
- SS Derek Jeter
- DH Brian McCann
- 2B Brian Roberts
- C Frankie Cervelli
- 3B Kelly Johnson
- RF Ichiro Suzuki
- 1B Corban Joseph
- CF Mason Williams
And, as I said, Sabathia is the scheduled starter. He’ll be followed by Kuroda and Tanaka. All three guys will be limited to two innings or 35 pitches, so Tanaka figures to throw innings five and six. Girardi confirmed Kuroda and Tanaka will not enter the game in the middle of an inning.
Available Pitchers: LHP Cesar Cabral and RHP Dellin Betances are also scheduled to pitch. RHP Robert Coello, RHP Chris Leroux, and RHP Yoshinori Tateyama are available to clean up innings if needed.
Available Position Players: C J.R. Murphy, 1B Jose Gil, 2B Addison Maruszak, SS Dean Anna, 3B Yangervis Solarte, LF Zoilo Almonte, CF Antoan Richardson, and RF Adonis Garcia will all come off the bench. C Peter O’Brien, C Gary Sanchez, C Francisco Arcia, UTIL Jose Pirela, IF Zelous Wheeler, and OF Ramon Flores are also available.
It’s a great day for baseball in Tampa, with temperatures in the low-70s and not a cloud in the sky. This afternoon’s game will start a little after 1pm ET and can be seen live on YES, MLB Network, and MLB.tv. The game is also being shown live on three different networks in Japan even though it’s 3am on Sunday over there. This is kind of a big deal. Enjoy the game.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.