The Yankees gave us all a nice little surprise today. This afternoon’s game was not on the YES Network’s original spring broadcast schedule, but they decided to pick up the game at some point, so we’ll be able to watch Masahiro Tanaka’s second Grapefruit League start today. Hooray for that. Nice way to start the weekend.
Tanaka, who is coming off offseason surgery to remove a bone spur from his elbow, is scheduled for three innings and 45 pitches or so this afternoon. At this point Tanaka is no longer rehabbing. He’s a healthy starter preparing for the upcoming season. Tanaka is currently lined up to start Opening Day — with an extra day of rest between his remaining spring starts, of course — and that’s good news. He’s kinda important.
The Orioles made the 60-mile trip up from Sarasota for this afternoon’s game and they sent a roster that can generously be described as a skeleton crew. I wonder if they’ll get fined for not sending the required four MLB regulars. Here is the O’s lineup and here is the Yanks’ lineup:
- CF Jacoby Ellsbury
- 3B Chase Headley
- DH Alex Rodriguez
- 1B Mark Teixeira
- C Brian McCann
- 2B Starlin Castro
- SS Didi Gregorius
- RF Aaron Judge
- LF Chris Denorfia
RHP Masahiro Tanaka
Available Pitchers: RHP Nick Rumbelow, LHP Chasen Shreve, RHP Vicente Campos, LHP Tyler Olson, and RHP Kirby Yates are all scheduled to pitch after Tanaka. RHP Johnny Barbato, RHP Nick Goody, RHP Mark Montgomery, and RHP Branden Pinder are the extra arms.
Available Position Players: C Gary Sanchez, 1B Dustin Ackley, 2B Pete Kozma, SS Tyler Wade, 3B Ronald Torreyes, LF Lane Adams, CF Slade Heathcott, RF Ben Gamel, and DH Carlos Corporan will come off the bench to replace the starters. C Santiago Nessy, C Eddy Rodriguez, SS Jorge Mateo, and OF Dustin Fowler are also available if necessary.
It’s a bit cloudy in Tampa but there’s no rain in the forecast, which is good enough for me. This afternoon’s game will begin a bit after 1pm ET and you can watch on YES locally and MLB.tv anywhere. There are no local MLB.tv blackouts in Spring Training. Enjoy the game everyone.
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