Another week in the books and another impressive showing from the Yankees at Spring Training. The team currently leads the Grapefruit League at 13-4. For the most part, everyone you want to see perform well at this time of year is. This week’s list has some returning candidates still struggling, as well as new additions.
WHO’S HOT
Aaron Judge — 29AB, 9H, 2HR, 4BB, 7SO — Judge started the spring scalding hot but has cooled off a little since. Still, he’s kept the strikeout numbers down, added another home run, and has seen a decent share of walks for someone his size. The opposite field HR he hit on Friday was impressive, and tailor made for Yankee Stadium.
Pitch a shutout? ✅
Hit a couple of HRs? ✅
Get the W? ✅
RECAP: https://t.co/Pi4gDFqAAx pic.twitter.com/iaaSR4v70o— New York Yankees (@Yankees) March 10, 2017
Gary Sanchez — 26AB, 9H, 3HR, 9RBI, 1.140OPS — What can’t this guy do right now? Not only has he been tearing the leather off the ball, he’s been gunning runners down at 2nd base all spring. There’s going to be some regression from his numbers last year, but so far he hasn’t shown it.
Greg Bird — 25AB, 10H, 3HR, 1.403OPS — Bird stays on the list from last week thanks to doubling his hit total. His three home runs came in the first week, but he’s also added 4 doubles. His OPS is insane right now. So far so good for the returning first baseman.
Prospects — They’re less important than the starters for now, but it’s been encouraging to see a number of the high profile prospects performing well against major league talent. Billy McKinney, Tyler Wade, and Gleyber Torres — who hit his first HR over the weekend — are all hitting over .400. Clint Frazier is hitting .280 and ditched his hair. Miguel Andujar is also hitting in the .280s.
Masahiro Tanaka — 9IP, 3H, 13K, 0BB, 0.00ERA — Tanaka has been dominating this spring and never more so than his last appearance. The Japanese hurler struck out six consecutive batters to start off the game. What’s better? He has yet to walk a batter and has given up just three hits.
Other Candidates — Matt Holliday, Jacoby Ellsbury, Starlin Castro, Pete Kozma
WHO’S NOT
Brett Gardner — 29AB, 6H, 5R, 1HR, .504OPS — The ranking veteran on the team has struggled at the plate early this spring. Outside of his one home run, he has no extra base hits.
Chris Carter — 25AB, 4H, 1HR, 13K, .556OPS — More of the same here. Carter has now struck out in over half of his at-bats while hitting just one home run. Like Gardner, he has no other extra base hits. Could the Yankees leave camp without him if he continues the trend?
Chase Headley — 23AB, 4H, 1HR, .514OPS — Headley continues to slump, which remains worrisome thanks to his slow first half of the season last year.
CC Sabathia — 2.2IP, 8H, 3K, 13.50ERA — CC had a solid first outing but was absolutely rocked in his second showing on Sunday. Against Atlanta, he lasted just two thirds of an inning while getting shelled for six hits and a walk to the tune of six runs. He had some shoddy defense, but you never want to see six hits in an inning.
4th and 5th Starting Competition — Nobody in the starting competition this spring has seemed to separate themselves from the pack. Each starter experience difficulty after their first initial strong start. Luis Severino, who’s been the recipient of much praise from teammates and coaches, has yet to really translate that praise into results. Positives? Results don’t matter much in spring, and it sounds like his change-up is making progress. He also has 5K in 4.1 innings.
Other Candidates — Rob Refsnyder, Jorge Mateo, Ronald Torreyes, Jonathan Holder
