TAMPA — Nestor Cortes started picking up frequent flier miles in an attempt to finally get past his shoulder issues.
The Yankees left-hander may not be fully out of the woods just yet from the rotator cuff strains that derailed his season last year, but he is feeling good in the first week of spring training thanks to a change in his offseason rehab regimen.
After taking November off from throwing — he had built back up to throw two bullpen sessions by the end of October after the second rotator cuff strain ended his season in August — Cortes began throwing again Dec. 3 back home in Miami.
About 10-15 days into his throwing program, though, he felt like he wasn’t making any progress with his shoulder.
“[So] I decided to come here to Tampa with the [Yankees’] training staff and work on some stuff to potentially get over the hump with my shoulder,” Cortes said Friday. “It worked out great.”
New York Yankees starting pitcher Nestor Cortes #65, throwing in the outfield during practice at Steinbrenner Field, the Yankees Spring training complex in Tampa Florida. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
Cortes got into a routine of flying from Miami to Tampa every Sunday or Monday, spending the week rehabbing and working out at the Yankees’ player development complex, and then flying back home on the weekends.
The Yankees’ training staff knew Cortes’ arm and how it moves best, which made it better for them to prescribe exactly what he needed in order to strengthen it.
He would do shoulder stretches in the morning, then lift weights, “almost to fatigue just to get that shoulder stronger.”
“I think it spooked him a little bit, but in a good way,” pitching coach Matt Blake said of Cortes needing to get past the hump with his shoulder. “Sometimes they get scared straight on stuff like that — and it’s better to have all the resources around you so that if you do have questions, they can get answered. You do get all the treatment. I think he just knows how important it is for him to be able to stay on the field. So it was great that he made that decision [to come to Tampa].”
So far, the results have been encouraging to Cortes and the Yankees.
Cortes’ troubles last season — when he posted a 4.97 ERA across 63 ¹/₃ innings — stemmed from having a hard time recovering in between starts.
He is still early in the process of building up his workload this spring (he threw two innings of live batting practice Wednesday), but his recovery has not yet been an issue.
“I feel good about where he’s at,” Blake said. “Obviously, he’s got to keep building volume and that’s always the scariest part of the year for anyone. I think it’s just making sure that he is doing everything he needs to do in between while the build is still going up and managing the volume increases.”
Cortes said there was not a point during the offseason when he considered having shoulder surgery.
New York Yankees starting pitcher Nestor Cortes #65, with pitching coach Matt Blake, during practice at Steinbrenner Field. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
Those thoughts came toward the end of the season, when he wasn’t getting any better “and I was a little scared.”
But he asked for second and third opinions, none of which recommended surgery immediately.
The consensus, he said, was that rehab could fix his issues, even if it took him a little while to “get over that hump.”
“I think sometimes it’s a little bit you keep the governor on because you’re unsure,” Blake said. “So I think coming in here, getting reassured, getting the full treatment and starting to feel better, then it manifested in the right direction.”
The Yankees plan to give Cortes an extra day between starts on occasion this spring, but still expect him to build up fully to around 90 pitches by the time the team breaks camp.
His recovery in between outings will bear watching as camp progresses, but Cortes is hopeful that the work he put in during the offseason will allow him to stay healthy.
“Seeing all these guys here motivated me to come [to the Yankees’ complex] even more because I saw they were getting ready and I wanted to make sure I checked all the boxes so if I did get hurt, I know it wasn’t because I didn’t try,” Cortes said.
Nestor Cortes is hoping to “get over that hump” as he works his way back. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
The Yankees certainly need the healthiest version of Cortes, too, especially as part of a rotation that has some question marks behind Gerrit Cole.
Cortes believes he is still capable of pitching like he did in 2022 when he was an All-Star with a 2.44 ERA across a career-high 158 ¹/₃ innings.
“Once I’m healthy, once I feel everything is right, I can be as good as anybody,” Cortes said. “That’s my mentality.”
Former New York Yankees prospect Raimfer Salinas was suspended for 80 games Monday under baseball’s minor league drug program following a positive test for the performing-enhancing substance Nandrolone.
Nandrolone is a type of anabolic steroid.
The 22-year-old outfielder was released by the Yankees’ Class A Tampa Tarpons on Thursday.
He was 0-for-4 with an RBI groundout against Lakeland on April 8 in his only game this season after hitting .225 with five homers and 25 RBIs in 64 games for Tampa last year.
Salinas signed with the Yankees in December 2017 for a $1.85 million bonus as one of the top international free agents available at the time.
He split 2018 with the Dominican Summer League Yankees and the Gulf Coast Yankees but a broken ring finger ended his season early. Salinas spent 2019 with the GCL team and 2021 with the Florida Complex League Yankees.
The Venezuela native hit just .236 overall during his minor-league career with 14 homer runs and 71 RBIs with a.706 OPS. His best season came in 2019 in the Gulf Coast League where Salinas hit.270 with a .745 OPS in 159 at-bats as the team’s regular center fielder, but there were questions about his plate discipline.
Salinas is one of six players who have been disciplined under the minor league program this year.
They include pitchers Richard Cardoza (Mets), Jeremy Castro (Royals), Ricardo Estrada (Giants), Jose Serrano (Astros), Miguel Gonzalez (Diamondbacks), and infielder Christian Suarez (Braves). All six were suspended for 60 games.
CLEVELAND — The Yankees were down two key regulars Wednesday for their series finale against the Guardians.
DJ LeMahieu and Gleyber Torres were held out of the lineup because of injuries — quad tightness for LeMahieu and hip flexor tightness for Torres.
Torres said Wednesday morning he was feeling much better than Tuesday night, when he first started experiencing soreness while running the bases on a hit in the ninth inning and then was pulled in the bottom of the frame.
LeMahieu, meanwhile, began feeling tightness in his quad during Tuesday’s game, according to manager Aaron Boone, and was still feeling some lingering tightness Wednesday morning.
“Don’t want to force anything there,” Boone said. “I do think it’s a day-to-day kind of situation, but something obviously we gotta pay attention to.”
Boone said no tests were planned for LeMahieu as of Wednesday morning.
DJ LeMahiieu is out for the Yankees in the series finale against the Guardians.Getty Images
“We’ll see where we’re at [Thursday] with it,” Boone said. “We’ll just kind of take it day by day right now.”
With LeMahieu and Torres — the two batters Boone has used to hit leadoff this season — out, Anthony Volpe was set to bat first in the series’ rubber match.
A toe injury derailed the second half of LeMahieu’s season last year, but Boone did not believe the quad tightness had anything to do with compensating for his toe.
Gleyber Torres on the field for the Yankees on April 10, 2023.Getty Images
CLEVELAND — Three batters into the bottom of the first inning Tuesday night, Gerrit Cole had already given up three hits and was pitching with a deficit for the first time this season.
Twenty-one outs later, Cole walked off the mound after seven quality innings on the way to his third win in as many starts in the Yankees’ 11-2 blowout of the Guardians at Progressive Field.
Cole shook off the two-run first inning and then mostly cruised the rest of the night to turn in yet another fine outing.
“I think his fastball profile wasn’t where he wanted it, but he was just so much in command and in control of the game,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Even in that first inning, I just felt like nothing sped up. It was like, ‘Alright, let me see where I need to make my adjustments.’ Him and [catcher Jose Trevino] did a great job of making those adjustments and then he got in control.
“The lead started to swell for him and he went out there and pitched like you like to see a guy pitching with the lead. Another in-command, in-control outing, especially when it didn’t go his way initially.”
Through three starts this season, Cole (3-0, 1.40 ERA) has thrown 19 ¹/₃ innings and given up just three runs, pitching like the ace the Yankees need him to be, especially with three members of the rotation injured.
Gerrit ColeUSA TODAY Sports via Reuters
“Anytime you can put your team in a position to win the game, it feels good,” Cole said. “This was important for us today to try to put us in position to win the series tomorrow. So it feels good to do your job.”
The Guardians jumped on Cole with Steven Kwan’s leadoff single to center field, Andres Gimenez’s single that just got past the backhand of Gleyber Torres and Jose Ramirez’s RBI double to right.
But beginning with the next batter, Josh Naylor — who hit a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0 — Cole retired 19 of the final 23 batters he faced, exactly what Guardians ace Shane Bieber had done to the Yankees the night before.
“The stuff was a bit down for whatever reason, especially the fastball,” Cole said. “But the breaking balls were good. Then we spotted the fastball when we needed to as the game went on, and I actually thought it got better.”
Cole only struck out three — a combination of his stuff being down and the Guardians being tough to punch out, he said — but instead found a different way to be effective as his encouraging start to the season continued.
“He seems like he’s in a really good place physically and mentally,” Anthony Rizzo said. “It’s been fun to play behind it. … It’s good for him [and] it’s definitely good for us.”
A four-seam fastball that averaged 96.4 mph last year came through at 93.8 mph, and stuff that had been often unhittable was plenty hittable.
“Mechanically, it feels like my timing’s a little off,” King said after he allowed four hits and two inherited runners to score while recording four outs. “I feel like I’m trying to generate power early in my mechanics.”
King said he might be trying to “muscle up” to gain velocity that has disappeared since early in spring training, which is hurting his mechanics. He said his right elbow feels fine, though, which is the silver lining.
Michael King delivers a pitch during the Yankees’ 4-1 loss to the Phillies.Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
Not that he wanted to find a silver lining after entering the game in the fifth inning, replacing Domingo German with two outs and two on base.
The Phillies did not crush King, but they did find holes.
Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber hit back-to-back RBI singles, which turned a 2-0 deficit into a 4-0 hole that the Yankees never escaped.
“I’d much rather give up my own runs than Domingo’s,” said King, who was one of the Yankees’ most valuable players in four months of last season, pitching to a 2.29 ERA. “I felt like I spoiled a pretty good start and then blew the game open.”
King, who allowed two runs in 1 ²/₃ innings against the Giants in his season debut Saturday, said he and pitching coach Matt Blake will do a deep-dive into his mechanics to find out what is wrong.
Aaron Judge’s ninth-inning walk extended his career-best on-base streak to 38 games. In the past 19 seasons, only Luke Voit and Mark Teixeira (both 42) have had longer on-base streaks.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone hopes the new pitch clock, which is saving time for everyone around the game, can save players’ legs, too.
Boone pointed out a hidden benefit of game times shrinking as the pitch timer forces pitchers to deliver pitches more rapidly: There is less time for players, particularly big stars who could use a break, to be standing.
“You add up the time off their feet, on the bus, in a hotel room, in bed — whatever it may be,” Boone said. “You keep knocking off 20, 25, 30 minutes 162 times, that’s a lot of time that hopefully serves the players well — not only over the course of a season, but over the course of a guy’s career.”
Through the early days of this season, there has been significantly less time for players such as Judge and Giancarlo Stanton to stand on their feet in the outfield. The Yankees have only played one game in their first five that exceeded three hours.
Last season, on average, nine-inning MLB games were 3 hours and 3 minutes.
Boone said of the new rules that have been implemented this season, the pitch clock is his favorite.
Aaron Boone talks with the home plate umpire during the Yankees’ loss.Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
“I think guys have adjusted even quicker than I maybe anticipated,” Boone said. “I think that’ll continue to get more and more seamless to where it’s second-nature for everyone. At what point in the season? I don’t know…. And then the results of that I think are going to be really good for our product and for player health.”
Against lefty Matt Strahm, lefty first baseman Anthony Rizzo received his first day off of the season.
DJ LeMahieu got the start at first base and Aaron Hicks manned left field over Oswaldo Cabrera for a second straight game.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa made his second career start in center field, where he made several routine plays.
“He looks real comfortable,” Boone said of the former everyday shortstop. “His first step, which is a real strength of his as a shortstop, also appears to be the case in the outfield as well.
“I think his athleticism, with his attention to that first step. should serve him well out there.”
The Portland Trail Blazers signed Justin Minaya — the son of Yankees senior adviser (and former Mets GM) Omar Minaya — for the rest of the NBA season.
Justin, a former Providence star, had been playing in the G-League.
The Yankees finally settled on their 26-man Opening Day roster — for Thursday’s game anyway.
After making their signing of outfielder/first baseman Franchy Cordero official, the Yankees opened the season Thursday with a roster that included 14 position players and 12 pitchers — one arm short of how they will typically operate during the season.
But manager Aaron Boone indicated the Yankees would soon add a 13th pitcher — meaning an eighth reliever — with the club having a “potential deal” for another arm.
That deal appeared to come Thursday night when the Yankees acquired right-handed reliever Colten Brewer from the Rays in exchange for cash considerations.
“A pitcher could be in play for us that we add or not, but then whether or not we do [that], we’d be in a position to pull from the minor leagues too,” Boone said before the Yankees’ 5-0 win over the Giants.
The Yankees acquired Colten Brewer in a trade with the Rays.AP
It was not immediately clear whether the Yankees planned to add Brewer to the 26-man roster ahead of Saturday’s game, but he will be added to their 40-man roster, per the Tampa Bay Times.
Brewer, 30, did not allow an earned run in 9 ¹/₃ innings with 15 strikeouts this spring for the Rays.
Otherwise, the Yankees could look to call up reliever Ian Hamilton, who impressed in spring training then pushed back his opt-out date (which triggers if he is not added to the roster) to next week.
In the meantime, Estevan Florial was still on the roster for Thursday’s game, pinch running for Giancarlo Stanton in the eighth inning and playing center field in the ninth.
The Yankees could move on from Estevan Florial.Steve Nesius/UPI/Shutterstock
Florial could be on the move before the Yankees play again on Saturday, though, since he is out of minor league options.
Cordero, who does have options remaining, hit .413 with a 1.099 OPS this spring with the Orioles before being released, but the Yankees scooped him up and signed him to a major league contract.
“The biggest thing is it’s an opportunity to create some more depth,” Boone said. “Like what he brings from the left side of the plate against right-handed pitching. Feel like he has the ability to play a really good corner outfield, also fill in at first base if you need him. But the biggest thing is a guy with talent that adds more depth to the organization that inevitably you know you’re going to have to lean on.”
Anthony Volpe wearing No. 11 on Opening Day.Charles Wenzelberg/NY Post
“Getting the chance to see 11 back on the field, no better guy to keep that legacy of Gardy going on than Volpe,” Judge said. “He’s got that same tenacity and excitement. I’m hoping he can steal 50 bases just like Gardy can.”
Oswaldo Cabrera drew the first start of the season in left field after competing with Aaron Hicks and others for the job in spring training.
“Oswaldo’s earned it,” Boone said. “[Hicks] is going to play a huge role. This is just Opening Day. But I just felt like Oswaldo is a guy that has earned that right to be in there.” Cabrera went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts.
Before Thursday’s game, the Yankees recalled Jhony Brito, who will start Sunday’s game against the Giants.
They also placed Harrison Bader (strained oblique) and Ben Rortvedt (shoulder aneurysm surgery) on the 10-day injured list, put Luis Severino (lat strain), Lou Trivino (UCL sprain), Tommy Kahnle (biceps tendinitis), Carlos Rodon (forearm strain) and Frankie Montas (shoulder surgery) on the 15-day IL, and placed Scott Effross (Tommy John surgery) and Luis Gil (Tommy John surgery) on the 60-day IL.
Hicks and Josh Donaldson both heard boos and grumbles from the crowd when they were announced during pregame introductions.
The new starting shortstop will be the only Yankee to have an extra patch on his sleeve to signify his MLB debut, part of a league-wide initiative that is beginning this season.
Following Volpe’s first game in the major leagues Thursday, the small red, white and blue patch reading “MLB Debut” will be authenticated and then put into a 1-of-1 rookie card in a future Topps set, as part of a partnership between Fanatics Collectibles, MLB and MLB Players Inc. (the business arm of the Players Association).
Every player who makes his MLB debut this season – a group that on Opening Day includes Volpe and Cardinals top prospect Jordan Walker – will wear one of the patches on his jersey.
Anthony Volpe makes his Yankees debut on Thursday with a new number and a special patch.Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
After the first game the player gets into, the debut patch will be removed and turned into the relic trading card.
“A Major League player’s debut day is a cause for great celebration and the culmination of many years of hard work,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “Topps has been a great partner to Baseball for decades, and I think this particular initiative is crucial to the development of deeper fan engagement.”
“For a player there is no bigger moment than the first time they step onto a field for their Major League debut,” MLBPA executive director Tony Clark said. “The Debut Patch is one way to capture the timeless nature of this moment and provide fans the opportunity to be part of it by collecting a player worn item.”
Anthony Volpe’s MLB debut will be commemorated with a jersey patch that will be turned into a 1:1 trading card.Fanatics
We know who has earned jobs in February and March. Soon we will learn how tenuous those jobs can be for players desperately clutching onto roster spots in April and May.
The Yankees and Mets are leaving sunny camps in Tampa and Port St. Lucie, respectively, but a handful of players will bring especially hot seats wherever they go.
Among Yankees and Mets, who will feel the most pressure to perform as soon as the regular season begins this week?
Josh Donaldson: At 37, he is on a quest to prove he still has more in the tank. If he doesn’t, Yankees fans who no longer have Joey Gallo around as a piñata will find the next outlet for their frustration.
Josh Donaldson has tried to retool his swing after striking out in 27.1 percent of his plate appearances last season.Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
Here are Donaldson’s OPS numbers the past four seasons — see if you notice a trend:
2019: .900 2020: .842 2021: .827 2022: .682
Last year, he played excellent defense at third base, but his bat never got going. It is possible the 2015 MVP simply does not have the bat speed any longer, but the early returns for what Donaldson hopes will be a bounce-back season have shown some hope.
Donaldson has demonstrated solid punch in the Grapefruit League, with four home runs in 15 games. Donaldson retooled his swing in the offseason, and appears to have a less dramatic leg lift, perhaps a concession that he needs to get his bat off his shoulders sooner.
And he will need to hit soon. If he is batting .200 without much power in mid-May, the Yankees could make DJ LeMahieu their everyday third baseman.
Aaron Hicks: Another possible heir to the dreaded Gallo throne. Hicks’ ninth season in The Bronx will be a pivotal one. The longest-tenured Yankee has been a mess at the plate (and occasionally in the field) the past two seasons: He has played a combined 162 games, hit .211 and knocked 12 home runs. His power and his on-base proclivities have abandoned him.
Oswaldo Cabrera will start the season as the Yankees’ primary utility man, but could find himself with a regular outfield role should Aaron Hicks falter.USA TODAY Sports
At 33, the outfielder will try to show that after his 2021 season was ruined by a wrist injury, 2022 was an aberration. Hicks, feeling healthy, is the likely Opening Day left fielder, and should see time in center, too, with Harrison Bader out for at least a few weeks to open the season.
If Hicks does not hit, the boos would arrive quickly. His competition will include fan favorite Oswaldo Cabrera and a fourth outfielder — the winner of a late roster battle among Estevan Florial, Willie Calhoun and Rafael Ortega.
Gleyber Torres: The second baseman is 26, a two-time All-Star and coming off a solid season in which he drilled 24 home runs and posted a .761 OPS. He is probably the fourth-best hitter on a very good hitting team.
With an infield deep in players and prospects, the Yankees might find Gleyber Torres is more useful in a trade than on the field.Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
But Torres has grown into a solid major leaguer rather than a superstar, and the Yankees’ infield depth could prompt some difficult decisions. If Donaldson hits, where would LeMahieu’s at-bats come? If Oswald Peraza tears up Triple-A pitching, would the Yankees find a spot for the 22-year-old at the big-league level?
The Yankees have plenty of infielders, and Torres would have a trade market if the Yankees decide to cash him in.
Eduardo Escobar: The Mets’ version of Torres. Escobar is a fine major leaguer — even with his struggles last season, his 106 OPS+ indicates he was 6 percent better than the average hitter — but the options behind him offer more upside.
After hitting .325 this spring, Mets third-base prospect Brett Baty may not be in Triple-A for long.AP
Brett Baty, who is the future at third base in Queens, hit .325 this spring before getting sent to minor league camp. Mark Vientos will try to show at Triple-A Syracuse that he can be a major league defender somewhere — whether at an infield corner or in left field — after a loud Grapefruit League season in which he hit everything hard.
Escobar, who was nearly replaced by Carlos Correa, will hear the footsteps if he doesn’t hit immediately. He struggled the first few months of last season before a torrid September buoyed his numbers. In the Grapefruit League, the 34-year-old is hitting .118.
Tommy Pham: Ruf was designated for assignment, which made Pham a contender for plenty of DH at-bats against opposing lefties and a contender to absorb the boos that would have been directed at Ruf.
Tommy Pham appears to be in line for DH at-bats against lefty pitchers, as well as being deployed by Buck Showalter as a fourth outfielder.Corey Sipkin for the NY Post
Like Ruf, Pham is on the older side (35) and arrived in Queens with a history of hitting southpaws well (a .784 OPS against lefties last season). And like Ruf, Pham has had a poor spring, batting just 7-for-45 (.156) with a double as the only extra-base hit.
Unlike Ruf, Pham can play a decent corner-outfield spot and thus is a bit more valuable. But if he does not swing well quickly, the shouts would get louder that Vientos can handle left field and, more notably, can manhandle lefty pitching.
Julius Randle added 26 points, RJ Barrett finished with 19 and Mitchell Robinson contributed a few ferocious blocks to stop the Rockets, who were blown away in the second half and look fully ready for their shot at Victor Wembanyama.
Immanuel Quickley had tongues wagging with a 40-point outburst in the Knicks’ no-fuss win over the Rockets.Getty Images
The fifth-place Knicks (43-33) moved 2 ½ games up on the idle Nets and Heat, and the Heat (after playing Tuesday night in Toronto) invade the Garden on Wednesday.
If the Knicks beat Miami, they not would only gain further separation, but would take the season series, which would be the first tiebreaker in the case of a tie.
And while it’s too soon for the Knicks to look ahead to Friday, it’s never too soon for us: Tom Thibodeau’s team will head to Cleveland to face off against the current No. 4 seed, with Donovan Mitchell & Co. likely awaiting the Knicks in the first round.
The best player in the sport against the best team in the sport.
Friday night box office at the Final Four.
West Des Moines’ Caitlin Clark led Iowa to its first national semifinal in nearly 30 years with a logo-3-draining, dime-dropping, crowd-hyping 41-point triple-double Sunday night — the first NCAA Tournament triple-double of 30 or more, women’s or men’s — that would be called bravura if it weren’t nearly routine for college basketball’s marquee attraction.
Iowa guard Caitlin Clark left little doubt she is the biggest star on the college basketball stage with a 41-point triple-double to get the Hawkeyes into the Final Four.USA TODAY Sports
And standing in her way now is juggernaut South Carolina, the undefeated (36-0) defending national champions who won their 42nd game in a row by dispatching Maryland, 86-75, in the Elite Eight on Monday night.
(What, you didn’t think we were talking about San Diego State or something ridiculous like that?)
South Carolina’s size, rebounding and defense tend to grind opponents to dust, and Dawn Staley has a roster so deep, her second five probably would have made the Sweet 16.
The Gamecocks have Aliyah Boston, last season’s player of year who’s ready to go No. 1 in next month’s WNBA draft. And they have Brea Beal, an All-America-caliber defender who likely will draw the Clark assignment.
But Clark is unguardable right now. She’s bending the dimensions of the game with her shooting and playmaking. She’s drawing new viewers with her hype, and living up to every bit of it.
And Friday night — at 9 p.m. (more like 9:30) on ESPN — she’ll try to pull off her more impressive feat yet by dethroning the champs.
— Jonathan Lehman
Checking the Darin Ruf trade receipts
Acquired last year in hopes he lift the Mets’ offense, Darin Ruf was released by the team Monday after hitting .152 in 28 games.Corey Sipkin for the NY Post
J.D. Davis: In 49 games with the Giants, Davis morphed back into the slugger he once was. Davis finally got consistent playing time and drilled eight home runs en route to posting an .857 OPS.
To begin this season, though, Davis will face the same problem he could not overcome with the Mets: staying ready while not in the lineup every game. The Giants are expected to start David Villar at third, LaMonte Wade Jr. at first and Joc Pederson at DH. But they expect Davis to see plenty of time against lefties and while spelling the regulars.
Thomas Szapucki: The young lefty pitched well with the Giants last season, allowing three runs in 13 ⅔ innings (1.98 ERA) out of the bullpen, but he recorded just one out in spring training. Szapucki felt arm discomfort that is being called left arm neuropathy. He is expected to see a doctor this week in St. Louis, and could need surgery to address thoracic outlet syndrome.
J.D. Davis has been a revitalized hitter in the Giants lineup, but appears slated to largely play as part of a platoon.Getty Images
LHP Nick Zwack: The lefty starter was rising through the Mets’ system — needing just four outings in Low-A St. Lucie before a promotion to High-A Brooklyn — when he was dealt. The Giants kept Zwack as a starter in High-A, and he pitched to a 3.99 ERA in 29 ⅓ innings in San Francisco’s system. In all, he struck out 132 hitters in 105 ⅔ innings last season.
RHP Carson Seymour: Like Zwack, Seymour made quick work of St. Lucie and was beginning to master High-A competition when he packed his bags. The 6-foot-6 righty with high-90s heat thrived in the Giants’ system, where he struck out 43 batters in 29 ⅓ innings, including a 6 ⅓ -inning, two-hit, 13-strikeout gem in late August. At 24, he is still a few steps from the majors, but the Giants will let him grow.
TAMPA — The Yankees will have a 21-year-old New Jersey product starting at shortstop on Opening Day.
Anthony Volpe has won the shortstop battle the Yankees held during spring training, consistently showing off his all-around game and the high potential that team officials had been raving about since drafting him in the first round in 2019.
Volpe entered camp seemingly with the longest odds to win the job, with Isiah Kiner-Falefa the incumbent and Oswald Peraza ahead in his development path after making a one-month cameo at the end of last season.
Unlike Kiner-Falefa and Peraza, Volpe was not on the 40-man roster and had only played 22 games at Triple-A, a knock because the Yankees typically like their prospects to conquer each level of the minor leagues before moving up.
Anthony Volpe will be the Yankees’ Opening Day shortstop.Charles Wenzelberg/NY Post
The Delbarton grad never let his foot off the gas pedal, making it just about impossible for the Yankees not to carry him on the roster immediately out of camp.
Yankees captain Aaron Judge all but foreshadowed the move earlier this spring when asked about Volpe’s lack of Triple-A experience, saying the best players should be up with the Yankees regardless of age.
Since then, Volpe has only continued to make a loud case for the job.
“He just shows up ready to work,” Judge said Saturday after Volpe came up a home run short of the cycle. “He’s prepared. Very rarely do you see that at such a young age. There’s usually some — a little immature, a little unprepared or the moment’s too big. But he seems ready to go every single game I’ve played behind him.”
Anthony Volpe impressed the Yankees throughout all of spring training.USA TODAY Sports
Volpe will be the first rookie in the Yankees’ Opening Day lineup since Judge in 2017.
He will also be the youngest Yankee to start on Opening Day since a 21-year-old Derek Jeter did so in 1996, according to MLB.com.
Volpe had a scheduled day off on Sunday, but through 17 Grapefruit League games, he was batting .314 with a 1.064 OPS and five steals.
The addition of Volpe to the Yankees lineup could inject some needed athleticism, especially in the first season in which the bases will be bigger and pickoffs will be limited.
Anthony Volpe after hitting a home run against the Twins on March 24, 2023.AP
Last season, when those rules were already in place in the minor leagues, Volpe stole 50 bases in 132 games between Double-A Somerset and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
While scouts are split on whether Volpe’s long-term future is at shortstop or second base, there is little doubt about his offense, baseball IQ or how he carries himself on and off the field.
“He just comes to beat your ass,” a National League scout who has seen Volpe often in the minor leagues said recently. “He’s just that guy who’s in the middle of anything good that happens almost every day — offensively, defensively, baserunning.”
TAMPA — Gerrit Cole got through his fifth and final Grapefruit League start on Friday feeling healthy and ready for the regular season.
Next up is Opening Day in The Bronx.
Cole tossed 5 ²/₃ innings of one-run ball against the Twins, working his pitch count up to 84 without issuing a walk and striking out three in his final spring tuneup.
“It was a good day,” Cole said after the Yankees’ 6-4 loss at Steinbrenner Field.
Cole’s fastball averaged 96.4 mph — down a tick from where it was earlier this spring — but neither he nor manager Aaron Boone was concerned.
“I saw a lot of 94-95, but I saw some sevens and eights, too,” Boone said. “I think he was wanting to do some different things, wanting to get his changeup involved a little bit more today, do some things from a sequencing standpoint. I thought it was a good day for him of things he wanted to accomplish heading into Opening Day.”
Gerrit Cole pitches against the Minnesota Twins in the first inning of a spring training game.AP Aaron Boone is not concerned about Gerrit Cole’s decreased velocity. Getty Images
After walking off the mound in the sixth inning, Cole got a high-five from his son, Caden, who was waiting in the stands just next to the dugout.
Across five starts this spring, Cole posted a 3.32 ERA with 27 strikeouts and only one walk in 21 ²/₃ innings.
Aaron Judge’s arm works just as well from left field as it does from right field.
Making his fourth start of the spring in left field on Friday, Judge got much more action than he did in the first three games, including a chance to throw out Twins infielder Edouard Julien as he tried to stretch a single into a double.
Judge went back to the left-field wall to field the ball on a bounce, then turned and fired to nab Julien at second base.
Aaron Judge makes a throw from left field during the Yankees’ spring training game against the Twins. USA TODAY Sports
Judge, who could start at times in left field at Yankee Stadium so Giancarlo Stanton can play in right, also tracked down an array of fly balls and handled them well.
“Those are classic tester left field balls,” Boone said. “The slicer over towards the line, the slicer back in the gap, obviously a great throw. Good to see him have some balls unique to left field. Thought he looked really comfortable.”
Jimmy Cordero threw 1 ²/₃ scoreless innings in relief of Cole and struck out three, further strengthening his case to make the Opening Day roster. His spot seems all but locked up.
“Cordero has put himself right there in a good spot,” Boone said.
Carlos Rodon (forearm muscle strain) came out of a bullpen session Thursday feeling good and will likely throw another bullpen session on Monday, when he will mix in breaking balls. If he continues to feel healthy, a live batting practice session would come next.
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