S.T. Game 28. Afternoon (home) game of split squad. Volpe homers, Cole sharp, Abreu not. Yanks lose, 6-4.

The Yanks had split squad games, one at home in the afternoon and one on the road at night.

This is the afternoon game. Anthony Volpe (more on him in a bit) homered, and Gerrit Cole was in midseason form, but Albert Abreu blew a Yankees lead late and the Yanks (10-16-2 in spring training) lost to the Twins, 6-4.

Meanwhile it was reported that Carlos Rodon should be ready in early May. He will miss the first month of the season.

The race for the SS job may come down to the last day, but as far as I’m concerned, I’d go with Volpe. A few tidbits, most if not all by Bryan Hoch of MLB.com.

Volpe, if he is the opening day starter, would be the youngest opening day starter since Derek Jeter in 1996.

He would be making his MLB debut. Since 1951, the only Yankees to make their MLB debut on opening day have been Mickey Mantle in 1951, Jerry Lumpe in 1956 and Hideki Matsui in 2003.

The last Yankee players who had rookie qualification to be in the Opening Day lineup were Aaron Judge in 2017 and Brett Gardner in 2009.

Aaron Judge was in LF and threw out a runner at second today. I don’t think CF or LF would be a problem for him.

Volpe 1 for 4, HR, 2 RBI #1 prospect. Will be interesting to see if he is opening day SS. I think he should be.
Willie Calhoun 1 for 4. Will be interesting to see if he makes the team.
Jose Trevino 2 for 3.
Estevan Florial 1 for 2, 2 RBI.

Those are all five of the Yankees’ hits. They were 1 for 10 w/RISP.

Cole 5 2/3 IP, 1 R, 5 H, 0 W, 3 K.
Cordero (H) 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 3 K. Will he make the bullpen?
Abreu (BS, L) 1 1/3 IP, 5 R, 4 H, 1 W, 0 K. Gave up 2 HR.
M. Gomez 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.

S.T. Game 24. Yanks fall to O’s, 5-3.

Gerrit Cole had one bad inning (he’s had a good spring training) and as a result, the Yanks (9-14-1 in spring training) lost 5-3 to Baltimore on Sunday.

Now is around the time I really pay attention to results. Because now most of the minor leaguers have been sent down and others cut.

I read from Jon Heyman that he thinks the best Yankees infield would be Rizzo at 1B, Volpe at 2B, Peraza at SS and D.J. at 3B. Fine, but what then happens with Donaldson and Gleyber? It’s basically a given right now that IKF will serve as a utility man.

My thoughts. I think Rizzo, Gleyber, Volpe and D.J. would be best. Peraza could still go to the minors until the infield glut is resolved. Maybe there will be a trade soon. But Donaldson is hitting just .179 this spring, and despite manager Aaron Boone’s confidence that Donaldson still has something in the tank, concerns abound after Donaldson’s off year in 2022 and with Donaldson’s age (37). Maybe at the trade deadline Gleyber would be dealt, opening a spot for Volpe or Peraza, whoever doesn’t make the Opening Day cut. But in order to get Peraza and Volpe on the team, someone has to go.

As far as LF is concerned, Hicks will probably be there, but I’d prefer Cabrera. Hicks is hitting .290 this spring but mostly with no one on. When there are RISP, then nothing. Actually, the best hitter among the LF candidates has been Willie Calhoun. (.344). Rafael Ortega can play all OF positions, but after a hot start to spring training, has cooled off. Jasson Dominguez (#2 prospect) isn’t a consideration. He’s only played five games at AA, and that is where he’ll probably start the season. He isn’t far away, though.

So, my choices? Gleyber at 2B, Volpe at SS, Cabrera in LF. Until Bader is over his oblique injury, the OF alignment won’t be what I’d like (who plays CF? Hicks? Judge? Cabrera? Heck, IKF was out there the other day. Ortega?)

Boone says that Volpe is a leadoff or middle of the order hitter. As of now, he is committed to LeMahieu leading off. I beg to differ. I’d have Volpe lead off for a few reasons.1) He’d be helped by Judge behind him. No pitcher wants runners on base with Judge coming up. He wouldn’t want to walk Volpe. Volpe would see better pitches to hit. 2) Volpe would disturb pitchers more than DJ. He is a better SB threat. If the pitcher is concentrating on Volpe, there is less concentration on Judge. 3) Volpe is more likely to get the extra base, like scoring from first on a Judge double, or going first to third on a Judge single, than DJ. I’d have DJ batting fifth.

So my lineup would be:

Volpe SS #1 prospect
Judge RF
Rizzo 1B
Stanton DH
LeMahieu 3B
Torres 2B
Cabrera LF
Bader CF
Trevino C

Today’s highlights:

LeMahieu 2 for 3
Judge 1 for 4, double.
Rizzo 0 for 2, RBI, walk.
Stanton 1 for 3
Donaldson 0 for 3
Cabrera 2 for 3, RBI.
Hicks 1 for 2
Peraza 0 for 3 #3 prospect.
Calhoun 0 for 2
Trey Sweeney 1 for 2 #7 prospect

Cole (L) 5 IP, 4 R, 6 H, 1 W, 7 K. Gave up 1 HR. 1 HBP. All runs in fifth.
Abreu 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.
Cordero 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K.
Marinaccio 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 1 W, 3 K.
Ramirez 1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K.

S.T. Game 21. Schmidt perfect, bullpen not in Yanks 9-6 loss.

Clarke Schmidt was perfect in his five innings of work, but the bullpen wasn’t as the Yankees (9-11-1 in spring training) lost to Pittsburgh Thursday night, 9-6.

15 up, 15 down with 7 K’s for Schmidt. Jasson Dominguez continued his hot spring with a double.

LeMahieu 2 for 4
Judge 1 for 4, double, RBI.
Stanton 2 RBI
Dominguez 1 for 1, double. #2 prospect
Donaldson 1 for 3, RBI double.
Peraza 1 for 2, walk. #3 prospect

Schmidt 5 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 7 K. 15 up, 15 down.
Cordero 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K.
Peralta 0 IP, 3 R, 3 H, 0 W, 0 K. gave up HR.
Abreu (BS) 1 1/3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K
Evans (L) 1/3 IP, 4 R, 5 H, 0 W, 1 K.
Norwood 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K.

S.T. Game 17. Yanks tie, kids impress again.

The Yanks (8-8-1 in spring training) tied Boston Sunday, 3-3, but once again, the show was the kids.

#1 prospect Anthony Volpe went 2 for 4 with a double and HR, and #2 prospect Jasson “The Martian” Dominguez was 1 for 2.

Others:

Aaron Hicks 1 for 3, but I have noticed in spring training that a bad habit of his is continuing. He gets his hits with no one one, but continues to struggle with RISP.

Rafael Ortega 1 for 3 as he fights for an OF spot.

Isaiah Kiner-Falefa, who could be on the trade block, especially if Volpe wins that SS job, 1 for 2. I read where IKF, who made a lot of soft contact last year, put on 18 pounds of muscle in the offseason. Nice, but hope it doesn’t affect flexibility.

Andres Chaparro 1 for 3, RBI. Hmm. Donaldson is 37, and I don’t expect his option to be picked up after this season. Could Chaparro play himself into a 3B spot for 2024?

Jake Bauers 2 for 2, RBI.

Yoendrys Gomez 3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 3 W, 4 K. 1 HBP. #11 prospect.
Cordero (BS) 1 1/3 IP, 3 R, 4 H, 1 W, 1 K. gave up HR. Hurt himself today in trying for bullpen spot.
Abreu 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K
Marinaccio 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 3 K.
Weissert 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 3 K.
Evans 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K

S.T. Game 13. Yanks lose 11-7, but bigger news is that 3 pitchers (including Rodon) join Montas on the IL.

Forget the score today. It’s only spring training. I’ll get to today’s game in a moment. The bigger news is that three more pitchers join Frankie Montas on the injured list to start the season. They are Tommy Kahnle (strained biceps), Lou Trivino, and Carlos Rodon.

Rodon has a mild strain in the forearm, which set off Tommy John surgery concerns, but it doesn’t affect the UCL. He won’t throw again for 7-10 days.

So, with Montas down, and also Rodon for a short time, it appears as if the rotation on Opening Day will be Cole, Severino, Cortes (himself just getting over a hamstring issue), German and Schmidt.

Clarke Schmidt pitched today, and so far, his spring training has been meh. (8.10 ERA) He gave up 2 runs (2-run HR) in 3 IP today as the Yanks (7-6 in spring training) lost 11-7 to Boston. Tyler Danish has had an atrocious spring training (ERA 94.50!), and that continued today.

Jasson “The Martian” Dominguez continued to have a hot bat, hitting a 3-run HR. The 20-year-old is targeted for AA, but we can dream about him making the big leagues soon. Also homering was Andres Chaparro, who also is having a hot spring. Chaparro has shown a good bat, but when he goes back to the minors, he needs to work on his defense. The minor league numbers for the 3B/1B defensively don’t look good. Improve that, continue to hit, and maybe he can be a future option. After all, Josh Donaldson is 37 and the Yanks probably will not pick up Donaldson’s option after this season.

Volpe 0 for 3. #1 prospect.
Judge 1 for 1 with a walk.
Dominguez 1 for 2 with a walk and a 3-run HR. #2 prospect
Chaparro 2 for 2, solo HR. He and Dominguez went back-to-back.
Peraza 1 for 3 #3 prospect.
Trevino 1 for 2, 2 RBI

Schmidt 3 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 0 W, 3 K. Gave up HR.
Cordero 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. With Trivino and Kahnle out, has shot at opening day roster.
Marinaccio (H) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K.
Danish (BS, L) 1/3 IP, 6 R, 6 H, 0 W, 0 K. Gave up 3 HR. As mentioned, a brutal spring training. ERA 94.50.
Jennings 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K.
Evans 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR.
Vasquez 2 IP, 2 R, 1 H, 1 W, 2 K. Gave up 1 HR. #14 prospect.

S.T. Game 11. Judge homers in Yanks’ 9-2 win.

Aaron Judge hit a 3-run HR and Domingo German looked sharp at the Yankees (7-4 in spring training) beat the Pirates 9-2 Monday night.

Highlights

LeMahieu 2 for 3, 2 RBI
Judge 1 for 2, 3-run HR
Florial 1 for 2, walk, 2 SB
Rizzo 1 for 3
Donaldson 1 for 3
Volpe 1 for 2, 2 walks, SB but also was picked off. Nice defensive play. #1 prospect.
Hicks 2 for 3 but an error in the field.
Calhoun 2 for 3. Interesting. Non-roster player hitting .571 this spring in trying to win LF job. Intriguing.
Pereira 1 for 2 #6 prospect
Trevino 1 for 2 RBI
Dominguez 1 for 2 #2 prospect.
Ortega 0 for 1, 2 walks. Also after LF job. (Along with Hicks (the favorite), Calhoun, Cabrera, Florial)

German (Winner) 3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 4 K. Probably the favorite for the #5 rotation spot.
Cordero 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. Trying to win bullpen spot.
Hamilton 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K.
Yoendrys Gomez 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. #11 prospect.
Norwood 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K
Bowman1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR.

S.T. Game 7. Yanks hit 3 HR in 9-1 win over Pirates.

Two players with fair to decent shots of maybe making the team homered, and the first eight of the nine pitchers the Yankees used gave up no hits as the Yanks (5-2 in spring training) beat Pittsburgh 9-1 on Thursday.

#1 prospect Anthony Volpe, fighting for the SS job, led off the game with a HR, and Rafael Ortega, fighting for the LF job, hit a 2-run HR in the third. Andres Chaparro hit a grand slam in the ninth.

Gleyber Torres had a tooth extraction, so he was out of service for today,

Volpe 2 for 3, solo HR and also a walk. Fighting for SS job
Chaparro 1 for 2, grand slam
Oswald Peraza 0 for 1, walked, scored 2 runs (#3 prospect) also fighting for SS job.
Jasson Dominguez 0 for 2 (#2 prospect)
Ortega 2 for 3, 3 RBI. 2-run HR and RBI triple.
Jake Bauers 2 for 2
Estevan Florial 1 for 2, RBI double battling for LF job. Out of options
Everson Pereira 1 for 2, double (#6 prospect)

Pitching:

Trivino 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 2 K
Peralta 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 3 K.
Holmes 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 1 HBP
Abreu 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K battling for bullpen job. out of options.
Cordero 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K. trying for a bullpen job.
Chase Hampton 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K. #26 prospect.
Norwood 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 0 K.
Santos 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K.
Bowman 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 1 W, 1 K. Gave up HR. Rough S.T. for him so far.

S.T. Game 4. Yanks beat Tigers, 8-5.

The Yankees beat the Tigers 8-5 Monday night to go to 3-1 in spring training.

Some boxscore highlights:

Jesus Bastidas 2 RBI
Willie Calhoun 1 for 2, walk (trying to grab LF job)
Spencer Jones 0 for 1 struck out #7 prospect
Oswaldo Cabrera 1 for 3, RBI. Nice D play at 3B, but also an error.
Harrison Bader 1 for 1, RBI on SF
Anthony Volpe 0 for 2, GIDP both times #1 prospect
Jasson Dominguez “The Martian” 1 for 1, also walked, SB, scored 2 runs. #2 prospect.
Tayler Aguilar 2 RBI and threw a runner out at home from RF.

Luis Severino struggled in the first, giving up 3 runs, 2 on a HR.

Severino 2+ IP, 4 R, 3 H, 1 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR.
McGarity 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 2 K. Gave up 1 HR.
Peralta 1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K.
Cordero 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H. 0 W, 0 K. trying to get bullpen job.
Hamilton 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K.
Norwood (Winner) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K.
Tully (H) 1 IP, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K.
Hampton (S) 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 0 K.

Free agency begins. Some Yankees moves.

From Major League Baseball Trade Rumors.com

The Yankees announced they’ve selected pitchers Jhony Brito and Matt Krook onto the 40-man roster. New York also outrighted outfielder Tim Locastro off the roster, and the speedster elected minor league free agency upon clearing waivers.

Both Brito and Krook have played seven seasons in the minor leagues. That’d have given the right to elect free agency this evening if the Yankees didn’t place them on the 40-man roster. New York clearly values both enough to keep them from hitting the open market, with each player cracking a 40-man for the first time.

Brito, 25 in February, is a former amateur signee out of the Dominican Republic. He’s a quality strike-thrower, and Baseball America wrote this summer that he could develop into a back-of-the-rotation starter. The righty split this year between Double-A Somerset and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, working to a 2.96 ERA through 112 2/3 combined innings. He only struck out 20% of opponents but had a tiny 7.7% walk rate.

Krook spent the whole year in Scranton, starting 22 of 29 appearances. The University of Oregon product, a fourth-round draftee back in 2016, pitched to a 4.09 ERA over 138 2/3 frames. He had a solid 25.7% strikeout percentage but walked an elevated 12.1% of batters faced. The left-hander is generally regarded by evaluators as a likely future reliever.

Locastro, a 30-year-old outfielder, has seen sporadic action for the Yankees in each of the last two seasons. He appeared in 38 games this year but worked mostly as a late-game entrant based on his speed and defense. Locastro hit .186/.239/.349 in 46 plate appearances this year and is a career .227/.325/.331 hitter. He spent most of the season in Scranton, putting up a .240/.332/.395 line over 47 games.

The Yankees announced that they have added right-hander Jimmy Cordero to their 40-man roster.

Cordero, 31, logged 83 innings of MLB action across the 2018-2020 time frame, putting up a 4.55 ERA in that time. Unfortunately, he required Tommy John surgery in March of 2021, wiping out that entire season. The White Sox outrighted him at the end of that campaign.

He signed a minor league deal with the Yankees for 2022 and was able to return to the mound by June. He eventually made 32 appearances for the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. In 38 2/3 innings, he posted a 2.09 ERA, along with a incredible 31.8% strikeout rate and 51.7% ground ball rate.

Based on that strong showing, he’s earned his way back onto a 40-man roster. He has one option year remaining, which will allow the Yankees to use him as an optionable depth arm in 2023. He has between two and three years of MLB service time, meaning they can keep him around for years to come if he continues to hang onto that roster spot.

Also (and not from MLBTR) the Yanks are reportedly interested in Masataka Yoshida from Japan, who I wrote about a few days ago. Lefty hitting OF. Good bat-to-ball contact. Think Benintendi with more power.

The Yanks offered the qualifying offer to Anthony Rizzo ($19.65MM). We will see if he accepts or wants a little more, like 2 years/$40MM.

To no surprise, Aaron Judge added the Silver Slugger award to his Hank Aaron Award. We wait for all-MLB and MVP awards.

AA Somerset wins Eastern League title in impressive fashion. 15-0 with a combined no-hitter.

Usually, I start at the highest level and work my way down. Not today.

AA Somerset won the third and deciding game of the Eastern League Finals in commanding and historic fashion, scoring 9 runs in the bottom of the first inning on way to a 15-0 blowout victory.

In doing so, they threw a combined no-hitter. What a way to win the Eastern League title.

Somerset starter Randy Vasquez (I thought they’d go with Clayton Beeter, but they went with Vasquez) retired the first 19 batters he faced before giving up a walk. Vasquez pitched 8 innings, and Carson Coleman finished up for the combined no-hitter.

Jasson Dominguez (“the Martian”), the Yankees 19-year-old #2 prospect, hit 2 HR, one from each side of the plate, and drove in 6 runs in the victory.

CF Jasson Dominguez 3 hits, 2 HR, 6 RBI #2 prospect.
3B Andres Chaparro 2 hits, RBI. Solo HR.
RF Jeisson Rosario 2 hits, 2 RBI 2-run HR.
2B Jesus Bastidas 2 RBI
1B Mickey Gasper 2 hits, 2 RBI
LF Brandon Lockridge 2 hits #28 prospect.

Randy Vasquez (WIN) 8 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 8 K. #16 prospect
Carson Coleman 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 1 HBP


AAA SWB closed out their season with a 3-0 win. They finished at 83-67, and finished in second place in the IL East, 3 games back.

2B Derek Dietrich solo HR (3)

Between AA and AAA, Yankees #1 prospect Anthony Volpe hit .249-21-65 with 50 SB.

Boyle (W, 5-1) 5 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 0 W, 5 K. 1 WP 3.61
Abreu (H, 2) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 2 K. 2.70 REHAB
M. Gomez (H, 9) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 4.84
Guzman (H, 1) 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 2 W, 1 K. 0.00 Position player. SWB 1st baseman.
Barnes (H, 3) 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 2.57
Cordero (S, 6) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K. 2.09