Yankees Fire On All Cylinders Again – Thump The Jays 7-2

The Yankees jumped off to an early lead at George Steinbrenner Field this afternoon against the Blue Jay and did not relinquish it. Once again, the Baby Bombers in the lineup came up big.

The Yankees have now won two of their first three games of the Spring Training schedule. It means nothing, but it means everything. And for the first time, Gleyber Torres does not steal the headlines, but that’s only because he didn’t play in the game.

Starlin Castro, however, did play and his three-run shot got the Yankees off to a lead they never relinquished. Later, Billy McKinney, the often forgotten acquisition of the Yankees in the deal last year that rented Aroldis Chapman to the Chicago Cubs for their title run, added a two-run shot that cemented the victory.

Yankees Developing The Winning Formula

Hopefully, a formula is developing that provides for different players to step up on different days, with no one individual feeling the load of carrying the team on his back. So far, it’s working.

Gary Sanchez, who is hitless in the young pre-season, throws out two runners attempting to steal and it becomes a positive day not only for him but the team as well. Veteran Matt Holliday adds a RBI and scores a run, while Aaron Hicks contributes a double and comes around to score. Put it all together, and it spells a good day for the Pinstripes.

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But, perhaps, the biggest news of the day was the performance of starting pitcher Luis Severino, who went two flawless innings minus a base on balls and took a step towards securing a place in the Yankees starting rotation. The Yankees believe in his ability, and they are desperately rooting for him to take the ball and run with it.

If this is a portent of what’s to come, voila! The Yankees have something, and some of those questions about their suspect pitching go out the window.

The trouble is, though, that no one has failed in the starting role. Adam Warren and Luis Cessa duplicated what Severino did today in their starts. So in a sense, it’s back to square one regarding who’s in and who’s out. But, it’s much too early to make those decisions, and the Yankees are fortunate to have an extended Spring Training this year due to the World Baseball Classic to figure it all out.

Next: Jacoby Ellsbury Is Sounding A Little Testy These Days

Looking ahead, on Monday, the Yankees travel to play the Baltimore Orioles at Sarasota, 1:05 p.m. The Yankees are scheduled to start RHP Chad Green (2-4, 4.73 ERA in 2016) and the Orioles will counter with RHP Ubaldo Jimenez (8-12, 5.44 ERA in 2016). The game will be televised on the MLB Network subject to blackout restrictions.