This afternoon, Mariano Rivera will make the first appearance of his final season as a player. The long-time closer officially announced he will retire at the end of the season this morning, meaning the farewell tour is underway. Today will be his last first Spring Training appearance and tomorrow will bring another last first something. It’s bittersweet.
The exciting thing is that Rivera will not be the only legacy Yankee to make his Grapefruit League debut today. Derek Jeter is also in the lineup for the first time and will unsurprisingly DH. It will be a few days/weeks before he gets back on the field and plays shortstop in a game following his offseason ankle surgery. Here’s the lineup.
- DH Derek Jeter
- RF Ichiro Suzuki
- SS Eduardo Nunez
- 1B Juan Rivera
- 3B Jayson Nix
- LF Matt Diaz
- C Chris Stewart
- CF Melky Mesa
- 2B Corban Joseph
And on the mound is the organization’s 12th best prospect, right-hander Jose Ramirez. No word on the second stringers, but Rivera will indeed pitch today.
This afternoon’s game is scheduled to start a little after 1pm ET and it can be seen on both YES and MLB.tv (no local blackout). Enjoy.
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