ESNY’s New York Yankees Bomber Buzz, we take a look at the latest developments surrounding the team just three days away from Opening Day.
The New York Yankees have a lot to decide before they open the 2017 season on Sunday, and information on how the roster will shape up was teased more than it was revealed.
Firstly, manager Joe Girardi announced that he will take advantage of an off day-heavy start to the year and go with a four-man rotation.
This comes as no surprise as this further shortens the game (with eight bullpen arms) and doesn’t shorten the rest in between starts for the arms that will make the rotation.
Speaking of arms that make the rotation, general manager Brian Cashman took to the Michael Kay Show and announced that he has made a decision on who will take the fourth rotation spot behind Masahiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia and Michael Pineda.
Cashman, while stating he has made the decision, said that the player who won the fourth starter role has been informed but he will not reveal the winner until it’s “convenient” for Girardi. It appears as though the competition has come down to Luis Severino, Jordan Montgomery or Bryan Mitchell.
Believe it or not, the right field battle has also received a ton of attention and on Wednesday, Girardi announced that Aaron Judge will likely start in Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to get everyday at-bats if he doesn’t win the right field job over Aaron Hicks.
In addition to that, the Yankee manager has called the competition “too close to call” and that it will come down to the wire.
Judge owns a .345/.406/.569 slash line with three home runs and six RBI’s through 23 Grapefruit League contests. In Wednesday’s win over the Toronto Blue Jays, the 24-year-old went 2-for-3, including an RBI single. Hicks, on the other hand, owns a .264/.361/.528 slash line with three home runs and seven RBI’s through 23 games as well.
One is also a top prospect with monstrous power and an even higher ceiling while Hicks, at this stage, is a prototypical fourth outfielder. This race shouldn’t be as close as the Yankee manager is hyping it up to be.
New York will play its second-to-last game of the spring (and final Grapefruit League contest) on Thursday against the Philadelphia Phillies. Severino, who could very well open up the 2017 season as a member of the rotation, will get his final nod of the spring.
First pitch will come your way at 1:05 p.m. ET from Spectrum Field in Clearwater, Florida. CSN Philly will be broadcasting the game, which can be caught on MLB.TV.