New York Yankees Bomber Buzz, 3/31/17: Girardi Announces Spring Winners
Feb 22, 2017; Tampa, FL, USA; New York Yankees relief pitcher Jonathan Holder (65) throws a pitch during a rain shortened MLB spring training workouts at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

ESNY’s New York Yankees Bomber Buzz, we recap the winners and losers of this year’s Spring Training competition.

The New York Yankees closed the book on the Grapefruit League following Thursday’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies. However, the Yankees had one more thing to do before heading to Atlanta.



All Spring we’ve watched multiple competitions come into fruition, and for the most part, the Yankees ended the mystery behind who would end up on the Opening Day roster.

After the Yankees organization trolled their fans by hinting Aaron Hicks would be the starting right fielder, they officially announced Aaron Judge won the right field competition. Honestly, Judge in right field was a no-brainer, especially since there was an 80 point difference between Judge and Hicks’ batting average entering play on Thursday.

The starting rotation competition hasn’t been completely settled yet, but the Yankees have announced their fourth starter in the rotation. After having a spring where his pitches lacked command, Luis Severino bested Bryan Mitchell, Adam Warren, Luis Cessa, Chad Green and Jordan Montgomery for one of the two spots.

Cessa was already sent to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre last week, and Montgomery will follow him. However, Green will head to Double-A Trenton to begin the season.

Before you say the Yankees have gone crazy, they have a method to their madness; Green and Montgomery will continue battling for the fifth starter competition in the minors. Both pitchers will start on April 6th and April 11th for their respective teams, and the Yankees will make a decision on the fifth starter competition by April 16th.

Ronald Torreyes will be the starting shortstop for the Yankees in the absence of Didi Gregorius, but many wondered who was going to be the backup utility infielder. After much speculation, Pete Kozma will head north with the team while Rob Refsnyder will start the season in Scranton.

Finally, the Yankees announced the eight relievers that will head north with the team. Aroldis Chapman, Dellin Betances, Tyler Clippard, Jonathan Holder, Tommy Layne, Adam Warren, Bryan Mitchell and Chasen Shreve all made the Opening Day roster.

The only glaring omission from the pen was Ben Heller, who posted a 0.69 ERA in 11 innings. So what was the reason the Yankees decided to go with Shreve over Heller?

Shreve–or Holder–had better consistency than Heller? Okay, then.

The Yankees will christen the new home for the Atlanta Braves in an exhibition game tonight. Michael Pineda, the official number three starter, will start for the Yankees, and Bartolo Colon will start for the Braves.

First pitch will come your way at 7:35 p.m. ET on the YES Network from SunTrust Park in Atlanta, Georgia.


When Delia isn't writing about baseball, she's watching baseball. When she's not watching baseball, she's reading about baseball. And when she's not reading about baseball, she's writing about baseball. Delia is currently a contributing writer for the New York Yankees. She also the lead writer for the Yankees website Bronx Baseball Daily and occasionally covers games for the Staten Island Yankees.