The Grapefruit League season marches on and today we’ll see two important firsts: DJ LeMahieu at third base and Tommy Kahnle in general. LeMahieu has not played third base since 2014, not even in Spring Training, and even that was a small 38.1-inning sample. The Yankees are planning to use LeMahieu as a super utility infielder though, so third base is part of the job, and today’s our first chance to see him away from his familiar second base.
As for Kahnle, he’s making his spring debut today, and it’s an important spring for him. He is out of minor league options and that’s not enough to guarantee him an Opening Day bullpen spot. The Yankees have enough power arms to cast Kahnle aside if he’s not throwing like he did in 2017. The YES Network broadcast has velocity readings in Spring Training, though I don’t know how accurate they are. Still, a few 96s and 97s would be a welcome sight, even in late-February. Here is the Phillies’ lineup and here are the players the Yankees will use today:
- LF Brett Gardner
- DH Aaron Judge
- RF Giancarlo Stanton
- 1B Luke Voit
- 3B DJ LeMahieu
- C Austin Romine
- CF Estevan Florial
- SS Kyle Holder
- 2B Tyler Wade
RHP Masahiro Tanaka
Available Position Players: C Kellin Deglan, C Francisco Diaz, 1B Mike Ford, 1B Chris Gittens, IF Angel Aguilar, IF Thairo Estrada, IF Wilkerman Garcia, IF L.J. Mazzilli, OF Billy Burns, OF Rashad Crawford, OF Clint Frazier, OF Matt Lipka. Gittens, Aguilar, Garcia, Mazzilli, and Crawford are up from minor league camp for the day.
Available Pitchers: RHP Chance Adams, LHP Zack Britton, LHP Rex Brothers, RHP Cale Coshow, LHP Danny Coulombe, RHP Tommy Kahnle, RHP Brady Lail, LHP Stephen Tarpley.
Bad news: There’s rain in the forecast today. Quite a bit, actually. It’s really supposed to pick up not long after first pitch, and once the heavy stuff starts, it’s not supposed to stop until sometime later tonight. Today’s game might be a short one. That’d stink. Anyway, today’s game is scheduled to begin at 1:05pm ET and you can watch on YES and MLB.tv live. There are no MLB.tv blackouts in Spring Training. Enjoy the game.
Update (12:45pm ET): Well, so much for that. Today’s game has been rained out, the Yankees announced. It won’t be made up because lol at making up a Spring Training game. Too bad one of the televised games was rained out. The team’s next broadcast is not until Sunday.