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Orioles spring training game thread: vs. Yankees, 1:05

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The Grapefruit League rolls on. The Orioles take on the Yankees on Tuesday afternoon. The game is one of the few of spring that will be on MASN, so enjoy it if you can.

The Orioles are back on TV again, at least for today. That may not do you much good if you're at work while they play the Yankees, leaving you no way to watch MASN. Sorry.

As it's a Sarasota game, we get another lineup that, with the exception of Matt Wieters being the DH, looks a lot like one we'll be seeing through the regular season. With the O's playing the Yankees, it's also the chance to see one of their well-regarded prospects who's in the starting lineup, extremely tall outfielder Aaron Judge. Seriously, he's really tall.


Lineup

BALTIMORE ORIOLESNEW YORK YANKEES
Manny Machado - 3BDidi Gregorius - SS
J.J. Hardy - SSChris Young - CF
Chris Davis - 1BChase Headley - 3B
Adam Jones - CFMark Teixeira - 1B
Matt Wieters - DHJ.R. Murphy - C
Delmon Young - RFJose Pirela - DH
Travis Snider - LFStephen Drew - 2B
Ryan Lavarnway - CAaron Judge - RF
Jonathan Schoop - 2BRamon Flores - LF
Wei-Yin Chen - LHPChase Whitley - RHP


Spring training game 9: Yankees vs. Orioles

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Chase Whitley gets his first shot to prove himself as a viable starter for the 2015 season when he takes on the Baltimore Orioles and Wei-Yin Chen. The game starts at 1:05 PM, but will air on a delay on the MLB Network. Today's lineup looks a little more like a spring training game than yesterday's Opening Day-quality lineup:

Lineup

NEW YORK YANKEESBALTIMORE ORIOLES
Didi Gregorius SS
Manny Macahdo 3B
Chris Young CF
JJ Hardy SS
Chase Headley 3B
Chris Davis 1B
Mark Teixeira 1B
Adam Jones CF
John Ryan Murphy C
Matt Wieters DH
Jose Pirela DH
Delmon Young RF
Stephen Drew 2B
Travis Snyder LF
Aaron Judge RF
Ryan Lavarnway C
Ramon Flores LFJonathan Schoop 2B

Looks like we have this year's Nordstrom sushi menu:

We have a new injury:

And an old one seems to be on its way back:

Thankfully we do get to see a few innings of Aaron Judge, John Ryan Murphy, and Ramon Flores. Replacements include Gary Sanchez and Rob Refsnyder, but no Greg Bird :(

Out of the bullpen will be Chasen Shreve, Jacob Lindgren, Nick Rumbelow, Nick Goody, and Jose Ramirez, so we'll be seeing some interesting reliever options.

Yankees 1, Orioles 3: Gary Sanchez's home run prevents the shut out

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A ninth inning home run by Gary Sanchez was the only thing keeping the Yankees from being shut out by the Orioles Tuesday afternoon in Sarasota. Chase Whitley pitched three scoreless innings in which he walked three batters and struck out one before being relieved by Esmil Rogers. Rogers, the other potential (and likely) long reliever, struck out two on his way to pitching a scoreless inning. Branden Pinder fared slightly less well, being responsible for two of Baltimore's three runs. Chasen Shreve was responsible for the only other run of the game. Jose Ramirez and Jacob Lindgren completed the day's pitching with the latter living up to his nickname and striking out two batters in the final inning of the game.

The Yankees did manage to pick up six hits against the Orioles' pitchers but failed to score until Sanchez's big fly. Chase Headley led the way with three hits including a double. Mark Teixeira singled and worked a walk as the only other regular to reach base. There were additional scoring opportunities, but those seldom go well when you have Stephen Drew up with two outs and the bases loaded. That went exactly how you'd expect it to. Jose Pirela kept up his hot hitting with another single. He's now batting .462 this spring. With Brendan Ryan's status for Opening Day still up in the air, Pirela could find a way to hit his way onto the team as the utility infielder. Aaron Judge started the game and went hitless, but he did make a very nice diving play in foul territory to make up for the lack of offense.

For those in panic mode about how the presumed starters have hit this spring, today's game isn't going to do anything to bring you back from the ledge. However, the calendar still says it's March 10th. That means there's just a hair under a month to go before Opening Day. The pitching continues to be a strength so far, even if it looks kind of precarious on paper. Maybe they'll be okay? Time will tell.

Boston will visit Tampa tomorrow as the Yankees take on the Red Sox at Steinbrenner Field at 1:05 pm. Chris Capuano gets the start.

Box score

Schoop, Machado shine for Orioles in 3-1 win over Yankees

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Wei-Yin Chen brought a new change-up grip to the yard and Manny Machado and Jonathan Schoop sparkled in the field and on the plate as the Orioles beat the Yankees, 3-1, on Tuesday.

For the second straight day of spring training, Orioles pitchers allowed only one run to the opponent. The difference Tuesday is that they actually scored some runs against the Yankees, beating their division rival 3-1 in a home game in Sarasota. That brings the O's Grapefruit League record up to 3-6.

It's not a very impressive record, to be sure, but the Orioles are having a successful spring training thus far in that no one has gotten hurt. Knock on wood! I mention this most every day because it's important every day. Not every team is successful in this. Just today, the Blue Jays announced that Marcus Stroman had torn his ACL during a bunt drill and would be out for the season. The O's could lose every spring training game and still have a better spring training than the Jays if they stayed healthy.

That said, it's more fun when they win, even when the games don't count and they air in the middle of the day on MASN. Any day the Orioles beat the Yankees is a good day, no matter how many regular players the Yankees sent on the road trip. It was actually a decent number as these things go, maybe four regulars and some others who will be on the bench and see big league action. They didn't mow down a bunch of scrubs all game.

The game was a relatively boring scoreless affair until the bottom of the fifth. Catcher Ryan Lavarnway got things started with a leadoff single. He advanced on a wild pitch by the Yankees' Brandon Pinder. Jonathan Schoop drove in the first run of the game with a double. Manny Machado followed up with a single to bring Schoop home and give the O's their second run. J.J. Hardy added a single to give the O's first and third and still with none out, but the heart of the order (Chris Davis, Adam Jones, Matt Wieters) went down in order without getting any more runs in.

Machado had himself a good game, going 3-3 with a stolen base. He also made one of his trademarked sparkling plays in the field. It's hard to even be surprised any more. A cue shot off the bat of Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius landed on the dirt in foul territory but rolled back fair. Machado charged, barehanded the ball in fair territory, and threw out the runner. He looked comfortable at the plate and in the field. It was only a one game sample size, of course, but it is encouraging to see him doing well.

Schoop also had a nice game, turning in a 2-3 at the plate with a double and an RBI.

Rey Navarro scored the third O's run of the game with a solo home run in the seventh inning off of a pitcher named Chasen Shreve, who has probably endured more jokes about his name than most of us will ever have to do in our lives.

All of Davis, Jones, and Wieters were hitless on the day. Wieters has yet to get a hit in spring training. Appearing in a mid-inning MASN interview after being replaced in the game, Jones joked that he was actually helping the team by not being on the field. Remember, it's March 10. There's no point in worrying yet, about anyone.

Five Orioles pitchers combined to hold the Yankees scoreless until the ninth inning. Wei-Yin Chen started the game off with three scoreless innings. He breezed through them with such efficiency that he had to throw some more pitches in the bullpen to get to his targeted pitch count. Kevin Gausman added a pair of scoreless innings, followed by Jason Garcia, who kept the Yankees off the board despite two hits and a walk allowed.

Tommy Hunter pitched the seventh and Steve Johnson pitched the eighth. Johnson had two strikeouts and also made a slick play on a hard comebacker, gloving the ball as it tried to shoot right past him. The play itself was slick and also amusing: On MASN, Gary Thorne was in the middle of interviewing Schoop and he exclaimed, "Whoa!" Schoop, who couldn't see the field from the interview spot, briefly thought Thorne was reacting to something he'd said.

The day was full of broadcast hijinx. That's what you can get away with in spring training. Thorne and Mike Bordick also interviewed Chen through an interpreter after his start was over. They spoke about a new grip on his change-up and Chen's desire to improve his efficiency so he can throw 200 innings. As the interview concluded, Chen said in English, "Thank you, Gary."

Thorne went on afterward to speak of his desire to get Chen speaking an interview in English with all the fervent belief of someone who thinks Stevie Wonder isn't really blind. Never change, Gary! During the Schoop interview, Thorne pressed him on whether Schoop preferred Hardy with or without facial hair, but Schoop would not commit to an answer: "He looks good either way."

The Yankees got their lone run of the day in the ninth inning against Logan Verrett. One-time Yankees stud prospect Gary Sanchez led off with a home run that was crushed over the fence in left-center field. Verrett sent the next three Yankees batters down in order to close out the spring training save in a 3-1 O's victory.

Next for the Orioles is another home game tomorrow against the Blue Jays. That game will not be televised, but it will be broadcast on 105.7 FM in Baltimore, so if you can listen during the day, you will get a little dose of Joe Angel and Fred Manfra in your life.

Yankees rumors: New York asked Braves about Jason Heyward and Andrelton Simmons

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Adding Heyward and Simmons would have been a hell of an improvement for the team, but the Braves would not agree. Oh well.

Coming to you live from the juicy off-season rumors department, Andy Martino of the Daily Newsreported yesterday that at one point early in the off-season, the Yankees and Braves engaged in some pretty heavy trade talk that would have dramatically changed the course of the Yanks' future transactions. According to two major league sources, the Yankees tried to get the Braves to trade them right fielder Jason Heyward and shortstop Andrelton Simmons.

It is not known what the Yankees offered for these two 25-year-old talents, but since the Cardinals dealt established major league starter Shelby Miller and former Top 100 prospect Tyrell Jenkins for Heyward and reliever Jordan Walden, it would have had to be an impressive return. Heyward will be a free agent at the end of the 2015 campaign, while Simmons is entering year two of the seven-year, $58 million extension he signed after his breakout 2013.

Had the Yankees pulled off this trade, they would not have acquired Didi Gregorius from the Diamondbacks, and Martino states that they would not have asked about Garrett Jones in the deal with the Marlins headlined by Nathan Eovaldi. Heyward would have become their right fielder with Carlos Beltran moving to a much more appropriate DH-centric role. That should say something about how the Yankees regard Alex Rodriguez at this point--they're right to not trust him to be able to tackle a DH role by himself at this point in his career after a pair of hip surgeries.

It's hard not to dream about how fun this blockbuster deal would have been. Sure, the prospect cost would have been sizeable, but Heyward is one of the most underrated players in the game. The former top prospect in the game by Baseball America, Heyward has hit .262/.351/.429 with 125 doubles, 84 homers, a 117 wRC+, and 24.5 WAR in his five years with the Braves, helping them secure three playoff berths. His medical history has mostly been limited to freak hit-by-pitch injuries, and publicly available defensive metrics rate him among the best right fielders in baseball. It seems like he's been around for quite awhile, but he's still a year and a half younger than 2014 rookie standout Dellin Betances.

Simmons, meanwhile, has long haunted me because he was selected by the Braves in the second round of the 2010 MLB Draft. Since debuting in the middle of 2012, the Curacao native has hit .252/.297/.372 with and 27 homers and an 84 wRC+, but where he's caught the most attention has been in the field. Simmons is almost unquestionably the best defensive shortstop in baseball. He is absolutely ridiculous out there. Look at Simba go:

Take all that defense and add a bat that has a little bit of surprising pop, and you get a valuable asset, even though Simmons slumped to a .244/.286/.331 triple slash with a "2014 Jeterian" 71 wRC+. Still, with defense like that, he's more than worth it, especially since the year before, he smacked 17 homers with a much better 91 wRC+. Meanwhile, the round before the Braves took Simmons, the Yankees took... Cito Culver, who can only dream of hitting like Simmons and has yet to appear above A-ball. Yippie.

It would have been entertaining to see this trade go down, but it always takes two to tango. The Braves would likely have been asking for a big return, and would it have been worth it? Who knows. Nonetheless, it's fun to see these rumors leak from time to time.

Who will be this season's version of Yangervis Solarte?

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Last year Solarte's hot spring earned him a spot on the roster and sent Eduardo Nunez packing. Who will be this season's Solarte?

Last season, previously unknown journeyman Yangervis Solarte had such a tremendous spring training (.429 batting average) that he ended up making the team instead of longtime favorite Eduardo Nunez. Solarte was able to stay hot until June, then he slumped significantly and was eventually traded to the Padres. Now that we're a couple of weeks into spring training, some prospects are starting to standout. Who will be this season's version of Yangervis Solarte?

Early signs point to Jose Pirela, who's off to a nice start. In just five games, Pirela is hitting .455 (5-for-11) with three RBIs. One advantage is that besides second base, Pirela also has experience playing nearly every other position, which would make him a useful utility man. The closest competition could be between himself and Rob Refsnyder, but Refsnyder hasn't been doing himself any favors with his glove so far, as he's already made a handful of errors since games started last week. There could be some truth to all the rumors that he needs more work at second base. Plus, it would be easier to go with Pirela over Refsnyder since the former is already on the 40-man roster.

Speaking of the roster, if anyone should be worried about losing their spot it should be Brendan Ryan. For the second year in a row, Ryan is dealing with an injury that has occurred during spring training. Last season it was his neck, this season it's his back, which he hurt doing bicep curls, of all things. He's expected to resume normal baseball activities sometime this week, but last year's neck injury went on way longer than originally anticipated, so we'll have to wait and see if that happens. He's clearly a waste of a roster spot when injured, but even when healthy Ryan has very little purpose. He is a good defender, but his defense hardly makes putting his bat into the lineup worth it. With the way things currently stand, Ryan could block Pirela from making the 25-man roster if the Yankees opt to add another arm to the bullpen instead of another bat to the bench.

There's still plenty of spring training left for someone else to throw their hat into the ring. Refsnyder has been hitting well, so maybe he'll be able to show the team that his bat makes up for his glove. At this point, I'm just hopeful that someone (anyone) will have a good enough spring training to force the Yankees to cut Ryan. Plus Solarte was part of the reason that April was so fun to watch last year, so it'd be nice to see someone take spring training by storm and sneak onto the roster, if only so we don't have to depend on the rotation and bullpen for all of our excitement.

Who do you think will be this year's version of Yangervis Solarte? Does Refsnyder stand a chance? Will it be someone besides Ref or Pirela?

Around the Empire: Yankees News - 3/11/15

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New York Daily News | John Harper: Reggie Jackson might think that Jose Pirela is the organization's best hitter, but GM Brian Cashman disagrees. He gives that honor to first baseman Greg Bird.

Wall Street Journal | Daniel Barbarisi: New York City Football Club is set to begin games at Yankee Stadium soon, worrying some of the players about what condition the field will be left in. Outfielder Brett Gardner prefers a soccer match to a concert or boxing match, both of which the stadium has played host to in the past.

New York Times | David Waldstein: 2009 World Series MVP Hideki Matsui has taken a job in the Yankees' front office, serving as adviser to Brian Cashman. He'll be traveling through the minor leagues to advise players, managers, and coaches on hitting.

NJ.com | Brendan Kuty:Derek Jeter met with some of the organization's best prospects this offseason to answer any questions they might have about baseball. Jeter being there was a surprise to the prospects, but they all praised his openness in answering their questions and wanting to hear from them in return.

New York Post | Joel Sherman: Ex-Yankees ace Chien-Ming Wang is battling former top Yankees prospect Manny Banuelos for a spot in the Atlanta Braves rotation after news that Mike Minor will begin the season on the disabled list.

Yankees prospects: Does high praise from Reggie Jackson mean anything for Aaron Judge?

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Reggie Jackson had some impossibly high praise for Aaron Judge, but can it possibly mean anything?

Ex-Yankee and current special advisor for the Yankees organization Reggie Jackson had some very, very high praise for Aaron Judge recently. He compared the 22-year-old prospect with just one professional season under his belt to Hall of Famer Dave Winfield, citing the athleticism they both possessed despite their large size. He also rattled off a ridiculous number of names that Judge reminded him of, specifically mentioning Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell and Willie McCovey and bringing up their easy power. But why do we care about this?

All this seems to be doing is turning the crank on the Yankees hype machine. Is that what Jackson is paid to do? He's done it before and it was just as meaningless then as it is now. Go back to last season when Peter O`Brien was still hitting bombs in the Yankees system. Reggie Jackson went to go see him play in Double-A Trenton and not only did the Hall of Famer compare O`Brien to himself, but he also mentioned Willie McCovey again, as well as All-Stars Dave Kingman and Dick Allen. At the time there was really no question about O`Brien's power, in fact, that might have been the surest thing about his game, as many questions arose about his plate discipline and defensive abilities behind the plate. Even as a roving evaluator, Jackson didn't really offer much with his comments, but what they essentially served to do was place O`Brien on a higher pedestal to the media than the organization ultimately had him on. Two months later, O`Brien was traded to the Diamondbacks for Martin Prado and that was that.

What Jackson is doing is nothing short of sensationalizing young 20-year-old kids who are just trying to make it to the majors. That's tough enough, but now they're being mentioned in the same sentences as all-time greats, as All-Stars, as Hall of Famers, and it's honestly not fair to them. The media is going to do what they do and run with the story of this kid being the next so-and-so and that's how prospects get hyped. I'm not entirely sure what Reggie Jackson does for the organization, but this seems to be how he makes it into the news these days. Soon we'll hear that Greg Bird is the next Don Mattingly and Luis Severino is the new Roger Clemens and somehow Jorge Mateo is the second coming of Cal Ripken Jr., or dare I say Derek Jeter himself? It's incredibly lazy and it's probably even more damaging in the long run and it's all part of the plan.

It's likely that the Yankees want him to feed this type of propaganda to the press. Every prospect is a potential trade chip, and while other organizations have their own scouts out there making their own evaluations, the Yankees want everyone to know how much they value their top talent and what they could mean for the organization. Does anyone remember the time Brian Cashman (jokingly) referred to Albert Pujols as being Jesus Montero-like? He obviously wasn't serious, but it was all part of the rouse to get organizations to think that their top prospect was actually a catcher, was actually a can't-miss bat, and was actually comparable to the best players in baseball. One month after he made that comment, Cashman pawned Montero off on the Mariners. It was all part of the plan.

So what are we supposed to get from these comments about Aaron Judge? Hopefully nothing, since he also went on to say that Jose Pirela is the best hitter in the organization. So maybe Reggie Jackson isn't a mouthpiece for the organization. Maybe he just says whatever he wants and then the Yankees clean up things from there. Cashman provided damage control by saying Jackson was wrong, but then he used the opportunity to sell another Yankee prospect–Greg Bird–as the best hitter in the organization. While that has a pretty good chance of being true, let's hope the praise stops there and doesn't go into MLB comparisons. If that happens then it might be time to get suspicious.

Don't take Reggie Jackson's comments at face value because either the organization is just using him to hype up their players or he's gone rogue. Most of the time teams can see through comments like these, but it's the fans who get caught up in the storm and things get out of control. It seems that Jackson's comments either are used to boost the value of a player through the media, like with O`Brien, or mean absolutely nothing, like with Pirela. Does this mean Judge is on the trading block? I personally hope not, but Cole Hamels isn't going to be acquired with anything less.

It's hard to know where commentary like this, from both Jackson and Cashman, are headed, but some might say it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to land Hamels. The actual worst thing would be if this all turns out to be a whole lot of bad luck, like when Mariano Riveraplaced his blessing on Jose Ramirez only a year before he was moved to the bullpen forever.

Let's all take this with a heavy grain of salt, ok?


Spring training game 10: Yankees vs. Red Sox

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It's never too early to beat Boston, so do that.

The Yankees and Red Sox face off for the first time in 2015, and everything is on the line at Steinbrenner Field. That's why the Yankees made sure to get Cito into the lineup. The man is a menace. Of actual interest is Carlos Beltran and Alex Rodriguez playing in the field again. Huzzah? Also Greg Bird &Rob Refsnyder will be coming in for Garrett Jones and Jose Pirela at first and second, respectively. Although that would be funny to see Gregory at second base.

You can catch the game on the YES Network or MLB.tv at 1:05. No radio this time.

Go Yankees, go baseball, beat Boston.


Lineup

NEW YORK YANKEESBOSTON RED SOX
Jacoby Ellsbury - CFMookie Betts - CF
Brett Gardner - LFBrock Holt - SS
Carlos Beltran - RFAllen Craig - DH
Brian McCann - DHBryce Brentz - LF
Alex Rodriguez - 3BDaniel Nava - RF
Garrett Jones - 1BChristian Vazquez - C
Jose Pirela - 2BGarin Cecchini - 3B
Austin Romine - CTravis Shaw - 1B
Cito Culver - SSJeff Bianchi - 2B
Chris Capuano - SPJoe Kelly - SP

Heyman: Yankees likely to use Dellin Betances as their closer

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A worthy promotion for the consensus best reliever in the Yankees' bullpen. Go Dellin!

There are still several weeks to go until Opening Day, but from the sounds of it, the Yankees already seem to have their plan for closer set. Jon Heyman, who is about as close to the Yankees as any national beat writer, tweeted that while the Yankees aren't definitively saying anything for sure yet, they will likely tab 2014 sensation Dellin Betances as their closer over free agent import Andrew Miller:

Neither pitcher has ever closed before and similarly, neither had ever really reached the heights they did in 2014 prior to that season, so it was considered a pretty wide competition to see who the Yankees would choose to succeed David Robertson at the back of the 'pen. There really wasn't a bad choice to be made between the righty Betances and the lefty Miller since they are both expected to have awesome seasons for the Yankees. Regardless of who was chosen, the Yankees would have a formidable bullpen.

There was some thought that the Yankees would make Miller the closer since they're already paying him a nice chunk of change for the next few years and Betances would make more in arbitration when he gets there as a closer than as a setup man. However, it's only fair that the Yankees make the decision of who should close based on who the best overall talent is, not whoever will save them some coin down the line. They have the wallets to pay for it--I don't think we'll be seeing Hal Steinbrenner panhandling anytime soon. (Although I would never put anything past ol' Hank if he breaks out from his underground lair.)

Some have also suggested that the Yankees go with neither Betances or Miller as the closer and instead use them in a more fluid role, entering the game in the most important situation regardless of inning. So the "closer" tag would be on Adam Warren, David Carpenter, or one of other bullpen arms. However, that simply was never going to happen.

I don't think there's a single manager in baseball who would refuse to use either his consensus best or second-best reliever as closer. It would be nice if we didn't care about the save statistic as much, but that's how relievers get paid these days, especially in arbitration, and even though they probably wouldn't get public with it, I can't imagine Miller or Dellin (or their agents) would be happy about that. More importantly, relievers really like knowing around which inning they're going to pitch. We can bandy all we want about how relievers should never be inextricably linked to an inning, but although occasional flexibility beyond "8th inning guy" and "9th inning guy" is definitely appreciated, I don't see anything wrong with adhering to the players' wishes most of the time. As long as they're willing to come in a little early every now and then to clean up a jam, it's fine.

Anyway, this is exciting news. It was a thrill to watch Betances in 2014, and I'm excited to see what he'll do in this new role in 2015. It's awesome that the tradition of homegrown closers from Mariano Rivera to D-Rob will now continue with Dellin. Go Dellin go

GGBG Dellin jump

Yankees 6, Red Sox 10: Chris Capuano hurt, battle for fifth starter now wide open

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The Yankees lose the game, as well as their expected fifth starter.

The Yankees were beaten by the Red Sox at George M. Steinbrenner Field on Wednesday afternoon, but the bigger story was that Chris Capuano looks like he will be out for a considerable amount of time. With one out in the top of the first inning, Capuano pulled up lame after running to cover first. The early diagnosis is a strained quad, though we won't have a timetable for his return until MRI results come back. As Joe Girardi pointed out during his in-game interview during the YES broadcast, this is a setback not only due to the time it will take to rehab the injury, but for the time he'll lose to build up the arm strength necessary to start a game in the regular season. Early reports say he will miss at least a few weeks, so returning in time for Opening Day seems unlikely.

Capuano was the likely fifth starter that would bridge the gap for the Yankees until Ivan Nova's return, and now the competition is on among the remaining candidates in camp to earn the job. The obvious starters in the running are Adam Warren, Esmil Rogers, and Bryan Mitchell, and Girardi also mentioned that Kyle Davies, Chase Whitley, and Scott Baker will be in the mix.

The highlight of the game was Alex Rodriguez hitting his first home run of the spring. In the bottom of the fourth, Rodriguez smashed a 3-1 fastball off of Brandon Workman over the left-centerfield wall. He received a fairly resounding ovation as he rounded the bases.

aroddinger

GIF credit: Tanya

Carlos Beltran collected his first hit of the spring on an RBI single. The rest of the Yankee runs were collected on RBI singles from Jacoby Ellsbury and Jonathan Galvez and a two-run homer from Slade Heathcott in the bottom of the ninth. Jose Pirela continued his hot spring (and further validated Reggie Jackson's evaluation) with two more hits, including a double that rocketed off the wall in left field.

The Yankees had a few pitchers get roughed up a bit today, but none more than Mitchell, who allowed four runs on seven hits in two innings pitched and looked like he may have been all too aware that his chances of earning a big-league rotation spot became much more realistic just moments earlier. Andrew Miller gave up a home run in his inning, and both Chris Martin&Tyler Webb gave up two earned runs and three hits apiece. Dellin Betances, Nick Rumbelow, Jared Burton, and Diego Moreno had better success with scoreless outings.

All eyes return to Tampa tomorrow night when Masahiro Tanaka will make his debut against the Braves at 7:05 PM. The game will be on YES and MLB Network.

Box Score

Who is your favorite lesser known Yankee?

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We miss you, Mike Zagurski.

So far in spring training, the Yankees have used the likes of Nick Noonan, Jonathan Galvez, and Jared Burton. These are all players that probably won't make the opening day roster. But in spring training, they are Yankees' regulars. And in fairness, they would have been key players on the 2013 Yankees. I'm only half-joking about that. For this week's Pinstripe Q&A, I asked the PSA staff who their favorite lesser-known Yankees have been.

Q: Spring training is a time where non-everyday players get a chance to shine. Who is your all-time favorite lesser known, non-everyday Yankee?

Harlan

First name that comes to mind is utility infielder Alvaro Espinoza. With his awkward mustache and weird glasses he looked like he should be working at the DMV, not playing professional baseball. In 1991 he pitched a scoreless 2/3 of an inning in a blowout. The next day, he went up to Tom Seaver, who was broadcasting for the Yankees at the time and said "What's your lifetime ERA? Mine's 0.00."

Martin

I always had a soft spot for Homer Bush. If we're talking about guys who had a roster spot for a whole season but were lesser known and not everyday guys, I'd have to go Andy Fox in 1996. He looked a little like a skinny Babe Ruth, was terrible at mostly everything, but he helped them win a World Series. What's better than that? Honorable mention to Randy Velarde, Tim Raines and Steve Balboni.

John

I was always rooting for Juan Rivera. He and Nick Johnson always seemed to have to fight so hard for playing time; I was thrilled for him when he got traded to Montreal for Javy Vazquez v1.0. I saw a buddy at lunch that day and said, "The Yanks traded Rivera to Montreal for Javier Vazquez." Dude almost choked to death because he thought I meant Mariano Rivera.

But the greatest of all part time Yankees was Miguel "Spanish Bombs" Cairo. He was gritty and gutty before that got you a fan club.* He was a gamer. He played every position Joe Torre asked him to, including more starts at 1B than anyone with a slugging below .375 ever.* He hit the game tying double in the 13th inning of "one of the greatest games you'll ever see" on July 1st, 2004, while Derek Jeter was in the hospital getting his teeth re-installed after diving into the stands. Did Miguel ask for a share of the glory? No,* because he's too gritty for that. When the Mets stole him away before the 2005 season, Miguel's ears drooped all season long, like an orca in captivity.* In 2006, with the Yankees battling for the division, he appeared 4 times as a pinch hitter (he went 1-2 with a walk and a sac bunt, which means he hit .500!). In 2007, he started 17 games at first base because of the incriminating photos he used as leverage over Torre from their night together in Milwaukee.* Finally, Brian Cashman traded Cairo away when he realized that Cairo had convinced George to make him GM.*

* items marked with an asterisk may not be actual facts.

Jim

I think I'd have to go with Clay Bellinger. The super-sub played every position except pitcher and catcher for the Yankees, and even then he was the emergency catcher if the situation ever called for it. I remember thinking it was crazy when he became the starting center fielder (he was a shortstop by trade) when Bernie Williams got hurt towards the end of the 2000 season. He's also the second most famous alumnus of Rollins College after New York's own Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo.

Jason

GREGBIRD

Vince

Martin wrote about him a few weeks ago, but mine is Glenallen Hill. The first Yankee game I ever went to was on August 4, 2000 against the Mariners, and the newly acquired Hill's two-run home run in the seventh inning was the first I ever saw in person (A-Rod and Bernie both went yard in the first inning of that game, but I didn't arrive 'til the second). He held a sentimental place for me from then on, and I loved watching him punish baseballs for the rest of his brief stint in pinstripes.

Nikhil

Jose Molina THA GOD. You can't tell me he doesn't seem like the greatest guy. He clearly has a deep-rooted joy for the game of baseball despite never being good enough offensively to start. Not to mention, he was always known for being great with pitchers. In an ideal world, he, Bengie and Yadier will have 10 sons each and all of them will catch in the MLB, with one on each team.

Arun

Jerry Hairston Jr. was a valuable contributor on that 2009 Yankee team, the first championship run I really followed along properly, so definitely a bit of a soft spot there.

Runner-up: Raul Ibanez, for the comic value of his defense in all those gifs, then effectively serving as the MVP of that 2012 run, basically out of nowhere.

Greg

It use to be Brett Gardner, before he became known. I mean, Luis Sojo is always a solid answer. He wasn't an everyday player, but he definitely was known. So I'll go with Gerald Williams. Always liked him.

Andrew

Enrique Wilson: Pedro killer

Matt F.

Luis Sojo would be my answer if not for the fact that he got a go-ahead hit to clinch a World Series. That does kinds rule him due to the 'lesser known' criteria. Someone who a lot a people are likely to forget on Sporcle quizzes, who I quite enjoyed, was Greg Golson. He wasn't very good, as his career .195/.214/.244 line will attest. He was very much a "Hey, you're around and living" September call-up sorta player. (Although he did get earlier call-ups in both seasons with the Yankees, but they were too short for him to even get a cup of coffee.) Yet, he had one fantastcially memorable moment in his time as a Yankee. He had just 42 plate appearances in the big leagues, but he had one moment that, personally, I will never forget.

Those are our answers and now it's your turn. Who is your favorite lesser-known Yankee?





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