Bomber Bites for March 24th
By Joe Vitulli
David Manning-USA TODAY Sports
- Off Day: Monday is an off day for the Yankees with no games scheduled. There will be no workouts and the players are supposed to rest while the Yankee brass meets to discuss the final roster.
- Except for Ivan Nova and Francisco Cervelli: Nova will pitch a minor league game and Cervelli will be the catcher. The Yankees want to keep Nova on a five-day schedule and stay consistent as Opening Day approaches.
- Ellsbury Update: Jacoby Ellsbury is scheduled to play in a minor league game on Tuesday. With the season starting in just over a week and Ellsbury’s injury apparently taking it’s time to heal, we will not see him in another Grapefruit game this spring. Should his injury linger, forcing him to start the season on the DL, the Yankees will want to add him to the list retroactively. Something they would not be able to do if Ellsbury appears in an official game this week.
- ManBan lights up the gun: Manny Banuelos threw three innings in a minor league game on Sunday. It was his longest outing since undergoing Tommy John surgery. While his final stat line may end up being meaningless (3 innings, 2 hits, 2 strikeouts, 0 runs on 46 pitches), he hit 95 mph on the radar gun.
- Ramirez to Bullpen: Minor league prospect Jose Ramirez will be transitioned this season from a starter to a reliever according to GM Brian Cashman. “Jose Ramirez is a power right-hander that’s been a starter throughout his minor league career, but because of injuries we’re going to stick him in the bullpen,” said the GM. “He has a chance to move very fast.” This move potentially gives the Yankees another power arm primed for a mid-season call up should the need arise along with Mark Montgomery, Fred Lewis and Dellin Betances (assuming Betances doesn’t open the season with the big league club).
- Time for the Captain to hit the panic button?: It may just be spring training, but Derek Jeter is flat out not hitting. His 0-for-3 performance on Sunday left his batting average at .114 with only a single extra base hit. Manager Joe Girardi shrugged off concerns about his soon to be 40-year-old shortstop stating, “It is spring training. He was off almost like a year and a half. He feels better at the plate, his timing feels like he’s closer, so I’m not too worried about it.” However, in Jeter’s final season, if he is not producing it will leave Girardi in the awkward position of potentially repeating the same disaster that occurred with Jorge Posada‘s last season. Girardi may be forced to drop Jeter down in the order or push him out of the lineup entirely.