Yankees baseball returns today. It’s only Spring Training but I don’t care. Grapefruit League games are fun in their own way. Time to put the baseball-less winter behind us and watch an actual game. I hope someone hits a homer. I hope someone makes a silly base-running mistake. I hope someone makes a web gem. I want to see it all.
Since this is only the first spring game, don’t expect to see the big league regulars too much today. The pitchers aren’t stretched out and the position players will only get two, maybe three at-bats. Two of the Yankees’ top three and three of their top nine prospects (according to me) are scheduled to play this afternoon, so that will be fun. That’s the best part of Spring Training games, seeing prospects you rarely get to see otherwise.
The Tigers made the 45-minute bus ride down from Lakeland for this afternoon’s game at George M. Steinbrenner Field. As you can imagine, they sent only the bare minimum four big league regulars on the road trip this early in Spring Training. Here is Detroit’s lineup and here is the first Yankees lineup of the year:
- SS Didi Gregorius
- 2B Starlin Castro
- C Brian McCann
- 1B Mark Teixeira
- CF Aaron Hicks
- DH Dustin Ackley
- RF Aaron Judge
- LF Ben Gamel
- 3B Donovan Solano
RHP Luis Severino
Available Pitchers: RHP Nick Rumbelow, RHP Tyler Cloyd, LHP Tyler Olson, RHP Mark Montgomery, RHP Johnny Barbato, and RHP Nick Goody are all scheduled to pitch following Severino. LHP James Pazos, RHP Kirby Yates, and RHP Vinnie Pestano are the extra arms in the bullpen.
Available Position Players: C Austin Romine, 1B Chris Parmelee, 2B Ronald Torreyes, SS Jorge Mateo, 3B Deibinson Romero, LF Lane Adams, CF Dustin Fowler, RF Cesar Puello, and DH Kyle Higashioka will come off the bench to replace the starters. C Francisco Diaz, C Santiago Nessy, C Gary Sanchez, C Sebastian Valle, IF Jonathan Diaz, IF Rob Refsnyder, and OF Slade Heathcott are also available if needed.
It is a bit cloudy in Tampa with temperatures in the mid-70s, so it’s not great baseball weather, but it’s good enough for me. This afternoon’s game will be broadcast live on YES locally and MLB Network nationally, as well as on MLB.tv. There are no MLB.tv blackouts in Spring Training, which is always nice. Enjoy the game, folks. Baseball’s back.
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