Via NYP: Hideki Matsui will be with the Yankees at Spring Training as a guest instructor this year. The team invited him to camp last year, but he declined because his wife was due to give birth to their first child. Matsui was working with the Yomiuri Giants during their pre-season workouts recently and he spent time with various minor league teams last year, so it seems like he really enjoys helping out younger players. Maybe he’s heading for a coaching career.
Jeter takes live batting practice, fields grounders at short for first time
Via the AP: Derek Jeter took live batting practice on the field and fielded ground balls at shortstop at the team’s minor league complex in Tampa today, both firsts as he works his way back from an injury-marred 2013 season. “Everything is good so far, knock on word,” he said. “This offseason is like a normal offseason. I’m four months ahead of where I was last year. Last year, quite honestly, I want to forget about it.”
Jeter, 39, started hitting off a tee and taking ground balls on the infield grass late last month. He didn’t start doing the stuff he did today until early-March last year, when he was recovering from his broken left ankle and subsequent surgery. I assume he will continue to ramp up his workouts in the coming weeks but the Yankees have every reason to be cautious and take it slow with their captain given his age and the nature of his injuries. There’s nothing exciting about a “normal offseason” but it’s very good news for Jeter.
Yankees announce 2014 Spring Training invitees
Pitchers and catchers are due to report to Tampa in two weeks and two days, and today the Yankees announced their non-roster Spring Training invitees. Last year the team brought a ridiculous 44 non-roster players to camp, but this year the number is a much more normal 26. As a reminder, players on the 40-man roster will automatically be with the big league team in Spring Training. Here’s the list of non-roster players:
CATCHERS
Francisco Arcia
Jose Gil
Peter O’Brien
INFIELDERS
Russ Canzler
Corban Joseph
Jose Pirela
Scott Sizemore
Yangervis Solarte
Zelous Wheeler
OUTFIELDERS
Tyler Austin
Adonis Garcia
Antoan Richardson
Mason Williams
RIGHT-HANDED PITCHERS
Bruce Billings
Danny Burawa
Robert Coello
Matt Daley
Brian Gordon
David Herndon
Chris Leroux
Jim Miller
Mark Montgomery
Yoshinori Tateyama
Chase Whitley
LEFT-HANDED PITCHERS
Fred Lewis
Francisco Rondon
* * *
The most notable ommission is probably UTIL Ronnie Mustelier, who was invited to camp last year and almost won a bench job before getting hurt just as the Yankees were preparing to head north. He had a good but not great minor league season (101 wRC+ at Triple-A), and if the team was unwilling to call him up to help that big league roster last summer, they probably never will.
One thing I am looking forward to this Spring Training is the bullpen competition. There are a lot of open spots and there will be a ton of young arms in camp trying to win one. If nothing else, they’ll be fun to watch in March as we wait for games that mean something.
Marchand: Yankees will hold fifth starter competition in camp
Via Andrew Marchand: The Yankees are planning to hold a competition between David Phelps, Adam Warren, Michael Pineda, and Vidal Nuno in Spring Training for the fifth starter’s job. This isn’t much of a surprise — Brian Cashman said the team is looking to add two starters even though they lost three to free agency (Hiroki Kuroda has since returned, so they only need one more starter now). I was hoping they’d bring in some veteran competition, but alas.
The Yankees have a knack for holding rigged competitions in camp (Phil Hughes as fifth starter in 2010, the catcher situation in 2013) but I do think this one is wide open. Phelps might have a leg up because he has the most big league experience of the group, but if Pineda shows up to Tampa and blows everyone away, I bet he’d get the job. Same with Warren and Nuno. Either way, the odds are strongly in favor of all four of these guys being needed in the rotation at some point next summer. Getting through the year using only five starters isn’t something you can reasonably expect.
Yankees announce 2014 Spring Training schedule
The Yankees announced their 2014 Spring Training schedule late last week. Pitchers and catchers are due to report on Friday, February 14th with position players to follow five days later. The first full squad workout is slated for Thursday the 20th. The Yankees will play their first exhibition game on Monday the 25th against Florida State, then Grapefruit League play opens the next day against the Pirates. The Bombers will play a pair of exhibition games against the Marlins in Panama City on March 15-16th, remember.
Spring Training season tickets go on sale today while individual game tickets will be available on January 10th. The full release is right here.
Open Thread: 3/30 Camp Notes
The Yankees beat the Army Black Knights in their final exhibition game of 2013 this afternoon. Both Brennan Boesch and Melky Mesa went deep while Vidal Nuno threw two scoreless innings. Boone Logan got roughed up, surrendering four runs in one-third of an inning. Other than that, not much else happened. Here is the box score and here are the final notes from Spring Training…
- Following the game, Joe Girardi confirmed Boesch, Cody Eppley, and Adam Warren have all made the team. The Yankees still need to clear a 40-man roster spot for Lyle Overbay. The deadline to finalize the roster is 3pm ET tomorrow. [Chad Jennings]
- Brian Cashman confirmed Alex Rodriguez will be at Yankee Stadium for Opening Day on Monday. It’s unclear if he’ll be in uniform and part of the pre-game introductions, but it’s not like the Yankees ever cared about A-Rod getting booed before. [Erik Boland & Bob Klapisch]
- Minor leaguers Craig Heyer and Evan DeLuca were released. Heyer made my 2011 Preseason Top 30 Prospects List while DeLuca never put it together after signing for $500k back in 2009. [Josh Norris]
- The next game the Yankees play will actually count in the standings. They’re off on Sunday and will welcome the Red Sox to the Bronx for a three-game set early next week. CC Sabathia vs. Jon Lester is your Opening Day pitching matchup for Monday.
Here is your open thread for the night. The Rangers, Devils, and Nets are all playing, plus MLB Network will air a Spring Training game as well. Talk about any of those games or anything else here. Enjoy.
Travis Hafner scratched from today’s game with “general stiffness”
3:56pm: Joe Girardi said during the YES Network’s in-game interview that there is no concern about Hafner on his part. They’re just playing it safe.
2:06pm: Travis Hafner has been scratched from this afternoon’s game against Army with what the Yankees are calling “general stiffness.” I’m guessing the team is just being cautious so close to opening day, but Hafner’s lengthy injury history means every little bump and bruise is worth monitoring. We’ll probably find out more after the game.
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 67
- 68
- 69
- 70
- 71
- …
- 125
- Next Page »