Clarke Schmidt was so-so and the Yanks bats were a bit quiet as the Yanks (10-15-1 in spring training) lost to Washington Wednesday, 5-2.
Notes
Peraza 0 for 4. #3 prospect. .188 in spring training, as for me, Volpe should be starting SS. Stanton 1 for 3, scored a run. Cabrera 2 for 3. SB Elijah Dunham 1 for 1, RBI. #18 prospect. Rafael Ortega 0 for 2, RBI. .161 in spring training. Does he make team? I’d go with Calhoun. Willie Calhoun 0 for 1. Not as versatile in OF as Ortega, but .306 this spring training Estevan Florial 0 for 3, 2 strikeouts. .167 in spring training, and out of options. Could be DFA’d soon.
Schmidt (L) 3 2/3 IP, 3 R, 6 H, 2 W, 1 K. King 2 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K. Krook 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 1 K. Has good chance of making team as 2nd lefty in bullpen. Danish 1 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 0 W, 0 K. Gave up 1 HR. No chance of making team with a 33.23 spring training ERA.
It was not a good outing for Domingo German, who gave up 7 runs on 4 HR and 2 HBP in an outing that lasted less than three innings. The Yanks (9-12-1 in spring training) lost to Detroit, 8-7.
The lineup featured mostly prospects and minor leaguers. The most notable thing was IKF in CF.
Volpe 0 for 4 #1 prospect. Benjamin Cowles 1 for 1, 2-run HR. Peraza 1 for 3, was HBP. #3 prospect Hicks 2 for 3 with walk but made his third bad fielding play of spring training. Kiner-Falefa (IKF) 1 for 3 Spencer Jones 2 for 2 #5 prospect Estevan Florial 2 for 4, 3 RBI Wilmer Difo 2 for 4, 2-run HR Mickey Gasper 1 for 1
German (L) 2 2/3 IP, 7 R, 9 H, 0 W, 1 K. Gave up 4 HR. 2 HBP. Krook 2 1/3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 2 W, 3 K. Gave up HR Deivi Garcia 2 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 W, 3 K. Danish 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.
The Yankees (9-9-1 in spring training) hit 5 HR, 3 in the first inning, in beating Toronto 10-3 Tuesday night.
Andres Chaparro is having a heck of a spring, and it makes me wonder. I’m not too sure about his defense at 3B, but could he be putting himself in the mix to be the 3B in 2024? Josh Donaldson is 37 and I don’t see the Yanks picking up his option for 2024. Of course the Yanks could go with LeMahieu or Cabrera at 3B in 2024, but what if they want them both in a super-utility role? What if they don’t want to move Torres or Volpe to 3B? In any case, Chaparro is making the Yanks take notice.
D.J. LeMahieu, Donaldson and Estevan Florial all homered in the first inning, and Oswald Peraza added one later on.
LeMahieu 2 for 4, solo HR leading off bottom of first. Chaparro 3-run HR. Donaldson 3-run HR. Peraza solo HR. Florial 2-run HR.
Cole (Winner) 4 2/3 IP, 3 R, 6 H, 0 W, 6 K. Gave up 1 HR. King 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. Peralta 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K. Hamilton 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K. Danish 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K
In order to get more versatility out of their players (and be better prepared for injuries) the Yanks will try out IKF in CF in an upcoming spring training game. IKF already is a C (bet you didn’t know that), SS, 3B, 2B … so ….
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.
It wasn’t a good day for the Yankees (3-2 in spring training) and especially not for pitcher Tyler Danish as the Yanks were hammered today by Tampa Bay, 12-0.
The Yanks only had five hits, all singles. They struck out 11x.
UPDATED PROSPECT RANKINGS
Boxscore notables:
Gleyber Torres 0 for 3 with a strikeout and an error Oswald Peraza 1 for 3 as he tries to grab the SS job. #3 prospect. Jose Trevino 1 for 3 with a strikeout. Everson Pereira 1 for 3 with a strikeout. #6 prospect. Spencer Jones 0 for 2, 2 strikeouts. #5 prospect having rough spring so far.
Sean Boyle (L) 3 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 2 W, 3 K. Gave up 1 HR. #29 prospect Matt Krook 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 3 K. 1 HBP competing for a bullpen spot. Nick Ramirez 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 3 K. also competing for a bullpen spot Tyler Danish 0 IP, 6 R, 4 H, 2 W, 0 K. Faced six batters, didn’t record an out, all six scored. Kaleb Cowart 1 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 1 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR. Sean Hermann 2/3 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 1 W, 0 K. Alex Mauricio 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.
An interesting development. Dodger SS Gavin Lux was injured, tearing an ACL and will miss the whole season. So IKF could be on the trading block, being that the Dodgers need a SS and the Yanks may want to go with Oswald Peraza or Anthony Volpe at SS.
Gleyber Torres and Jasson “The Martian” Dominguez homered, and Oswaldo Cabrera had a 2-run RBI bloop single, but the Yanks fell to the Phillies 7-4 yesterday in their first spring training game.
Torres will soon be leaving the Yanks to join Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic. Also leaving the Yanks soon will be Kyle Higashioka (USA) and Jonathan Loaisiga (Nicaragua).
Dominguez, who turned 20 just a few weeks ago, is the youngest player in Yankees camp. He will probably begin the season at AA. He hit a hard (102.7 MPH off the bat) as he grounded out his first time up batting lefty, homered (about 110 MPH and 420 ft) batting righty his second time up, and popped up batting lefty his last time up.
Of the nine Yankees pitchers used, Ryan Weber pitched in five games last year for the Yanks, being on the shuttle and DFA’d a few times. Greg Weisssert was up and along with Nick Ramirez, is looking to make the Yanks’ bullpen. Randy Vasquez is a top pitching prospect who struggled yesterday. Alex Mauricio looked good, as did Ramirez.
Highlights:
Kiner-Falefa 1 for 3, double. Torres 2 for 3, double and solo HR. Cabrera 2 RBI but misplayed a ball in LF Dominguez solo HR (#2 prospect)
Weber 1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K. Vasquez 1 IP, 2 R, 6 H, 1 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR. #14 prospect Mauricio 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 3 K. Weissert 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 1 K Danish (BS) 1 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 0 W, 2 K. Ramirez 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. Snelten (L) 2/3 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 H, 3 W, 1 K. Pestana 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K. Fitts 1 IP, 1 H, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR. #29 prospect.
These rule changes could cause problems. I don’t like a lot of them. I understand Manfred is trying to speed up the game, but the beauty of baseball is that it doesn’t have a clock. Now there is one. And imagine if this happened in the regular season:
In the Red Sox/Braves exhibition game yesterday, it was tied in the bottom of the ninth. Two outs, full count on the batter, and since the batter wasn’t ready in time, strike three was called ending the inning (and since it was just a spring training game, it ended the game as well). Can you imagine that happening in a regular season, or worse, a postseason game? What a travesty!
I understand the desire, but is the time to get ready too short? You know I hate the extra innings rule with that “man starts the inning on second” rule. I understand the desire to speed the game along and save pitchers arms, but…. and I wonder if the clock—by not allowing pitchers to compose themselves—will hurt more pitcher’s arms.
I can live with the bigger bags. I like banning the shift. And those, along with another change I don’t like which I’ll mentioned next, are going to make the speed game more important. I understand (again) the desire not to turn baseball into a beer-league softball game where HRs decide everything, and to put speed and athleticism back into the game. But limiting the pitcher to only two step-offs or pickoffs, then giving the runner the base if the third try is unsuccessful is too much. Maybe after five, ok. But this is another rule I don’t like. And how will records be affected? Will someone steal 100 bases in a season in which 15 of those are actually bases he was given because of a third unsuccessful attempt at a pickoff? Will a pitcher lead the league with 250 strikeouts in which 15 are because of the batter not being ready in time? What about consistency of records over time? How will those records stack up against these new rules?
I see the intent. But with all these changes will it still be baseball or morph into something unrecognizable and unlikeable?
The Sommer Frieze 
