James Paxton started and was very good, striking out five and allowing three hits in 3.1 scoreless innings before reaching his pitch count. Adam Ottavino struck out three in 1.2 innings. He and Paxton struck out eight of the 19 batters they faced, or 42.1%. Pretty cool. Jonathan Holder tossed a perfect inning and Danny Farquhar had a scoreless inning as well. It was his second Grapefruit League appearance. Here are the box score and video highlights, and here are today’s Spring Training notes:
- Aaron Boone pretty much shot down the possibility of a first base platoon. “It’s tough for me to envision us having two first basemen, especially when I feel like (DJ) LeMahieu would be that guy that gets backup reps there,” he said. That means either Luke Voit or (more likely) Greg Bird is going to Triple-A. [Bryan Hoch]
- So far, so good for CC Sabathia during his bullpen sessions. “We are just trying to build up enough time, the knee is fine … I feel great,” he said. Sabathia is expected to begin the season on the injured list as he builds up his arm strength and stretches his pitch count. [George King]
- Tyler Wade’s versatility will be a factor when the Yankees pick someone for their final bench spot, Boone said. That doesn’t surprise me. Wade has played second base, shortstop, third base, left field, and right field so far this spring. [Lindsey Adler]
- Aaron Hicks (back) did some running and throwing today, and he’s aiming to be back in the lineup this weekend. Boone said Hicks has “significantly improved,” so that’s good. [Bryan Hoch]
The Yankees are back in action with a night game tomorrow. It’s their second night game of the spring. They’ll host the Tigers at George M. Steinbrenner Field at 6:35pm ET. Masahiro Tanaka is the scheduled starting pitcher. Tomorrow’s game will be televised live.