The Yankees tied Bryce Harper and the Phillies tonight. Harper went 0-for-2 with a strikeout and reached on a catcher’s interference. See? He’s already turning into Jacoby Ellsbury. Anyway, Giancarlo Stanton hit a home run that cleared the left-center field scoreboard according to everyone in Tampa. He had a single as well. So did Brett Gardner, Luke Voit, Gary Sanchez, and Greg Bird.
Opening Day starter Masahiro Tanaka allowed two runs in 3.2 innings before hitting his pitch limit. He struck out six. Chad Green faced two batters and gave up a solo homer. I believe Green is the first projected big league reliever to pitch back-to-back days this spring. Adam Ottavino allowed an unearned run in his inning and Tommy Kahnle tossed a perfect frame. Here’s the box score and here are the day’s notes from camp:
- Despite the supposed first base competition, Aaron Boone is already talking about batting Voit cleanup this year. “I could see him possibly being in the three hole, too. I’m definitely considering him in a couple places. You could see him anywhere from third to sixth,” he said. Does Voit at cleanup mean Aaron Judge and Stanton will hit back-to-back? Hmmm. [Bryan Hoch]
- Anthony Seigler, last year’s first round pick, is currently sidelined with a quad strain. Farm system head Kevin Reese said it’s nothing serious, but Seigler is now likely to begin the regular season in Extended Spring Training rather than Low-A Charleston. Bummer. [Sam Dykstra]
- Mike King (elbow) is playing catch at 90 feet as he works his way back from the stress reaction in his elbow he suffered early in camp. “He started his throwing program. He feels good and hopefully we’ll have no more setbacks on that,” said Reese. [DJ Eberle]
- If you’re interested, Conor Foley has the day’s minor league camp lineups and workout groups. Don’t read anything into who is at what level. Those are only Spring Training workout groups, not regular season assignments. Josh Stowers hit a homer today. [Sam Dykstra]
- And finally, the Orioles announced Alex Cobb will start Opening Day, so it’ll be Tanaka vs. Cobb at Yankee Stadium two weeks from tomorrow. I imagine Andrew Cashner and Dylan Bundy will start the second and third games of the season for Baltimore in either order.
The Yankees will be on the road tomorrow afternoon to take on the Blue Jays. Luis Cessa is starting and Brendan Kuty says Troy Tulowitzki will make the road trip to face his former team. Tomorrow’s game will be televised live but not on YES. It seems the game was dropped and will not be broadcast. Groan.