Predictions Entering Yankees Spring Training

Dust off your cleats and break-in your gloves, because today we’re kicking off New York Yankees Spring Training!

So why not celebrate by cooking up a few early predictions on this year’s Spring Training outcome to get the ball rolling?

Keep in mind that these predictions all imply a healthy roster. Even though it’s easy to guess certain players with a high chance to land on the DL, injuries usually pop-up from time-to-time, so let’s not play Baseball God.

The Yankees have an interesting array of battles for backup catcher, bullpen spots, and the 25th man on the roster. Today we’ll examine the values that players like Gary Sanchez, James Pazos, Branden Pinder, Yulieski Gourriel, and more all bring to the Yankees coming straight out of Spring Training for the beginning of the 2016 season.

Let us know what you think about the predictions in the comment section below!

Next: Who Will Backup Brian McCann Behind the Dish?

The Yankees will send Gary Sanchez to Triple-A, anoint Austin Romine as backup catcher

Although it may not put the best lineup depth on the field come April 4th, sending Gary Sanchez to Scranton makes a world of long-term sense for the Yankees. For starters, the team has four off-days scattered throughout April. This makes it easier to keep Brian McCann rested out of the gate and initially limits the backup catcher’s playing time. Sending Sanchez down for about a month will delay his free agency by one year, thus keeping him under team control longer. Since I don’t see a handful of starts in a backup role being the make-or-break moment for the Yankees’ playoff push, sending the prized catching prospect to Triple-A seems like the smartest investment.

Now it comes down to which catcher wins the backup job between Austin Romine and Carlos Corporan. Neither name generates much buzz among fans, but Austin Romine, known better for his defensive ability, held his own at the plate in the minors last season (.260, 7 HR, and 49 RBIs in 338 AB). Romine is out of minor-league options, so breaking camp with the Yankees–if he earns the job in Spring Training–will allow the team to keep their catching depth by stashing Corporan in the minors with Sanchez for the time being.

Next: James Pazos or Jacob Lindgren?

James Pazos will beat out Jacob Lindgren for an Opening Day bullpen spot

This theory is solely based on the premise of Aroldis Chapman receiving a suspension from MLB, although on Thursday morning reporters learned that Chapman plans to appeal any punishment that he may receive. For this article’s sake, let’s say that Chapman gets hit with one and is ineligible to begin the season on the roster. This would open another spot in the Yankees’ bullpen that only has cemented roles for Ivan Nova, Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller, and Chapman (when eligible). In particular, a Chapman suspension removes a left-handed pitcher from the mix and could leave the team looking at James Pazos or Jacob Lindgren to step in.

Last year, Pazos put up impressive numbers in the minors (1.27 ERA, 42.2 IP, 49 K, 15 BB) and fared nicely in a small sample size during his time in the majors (0.00 ERA, 5 IP, 3 K, 3 BB). He didn’t display the exceptional K/BB ratio that he had in the minors, but again he didn’t log that many innings with the Yankees so it could return to normality over a longer span. Lindgren, affectionately known as “The Strikeout Factory,” also posted exciting numbers in the minors, but was knocked around in his limited MLB exposure (5.14 ERA, 7 IP, 8 K, 4 BB). Too many of Lindgren’s pitches were either erratic or mistakes down the middle of the plate, at least up until June 21, when it was announced that the team’s top bullpen prospect would undergo surgery to remove a bone spur and be sidelined for the remainder of the 2015 season.

While Lindgren’s injury could have been nagging him well before the bone spur’s discovery, Pazos’ results outmatched Lindgren’s by a noticeable margin. “The Strikeout Factory” could benefit from shaking off some rust at Triple-A before jumping back into the big leagues. Meanwhile, Pazos should be a serviceable reliever until Chapman returns with his 100 mph fastballs.

Next: Who Rounds Out the Yankees Bullpen?

RHPs Branden Pinder and Nick Rumbelow will round out the Yankees’ bullpen

Branden Pinder was a standout reliever from the shuttle of right-handed pitchers that the Yankees used to plug vacant bullpen spots in 2015. His funky side-arm delivery and mid-to-high 90s fastball seemed to find a believer in Girardi, as the young right-hander posted a 2.93 ERA with 25 strikeouts over 27.2 IP. Pinder was also wild from time-to-time, serving up four home-runs and 14 walks.

However, Pinder showed enough poise to be given a bullpen job with a decent spring performance, and if he continues in the right direction he could find himself in the fray for meaningful late-inning outings as a segue to the Yankees three-headed monster.

Another name that received attention out of the Bombers’ minor-league bullpen prospects was Nick Rumbelow . His results with the MLB squad (4.02 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 15.2 IP) weren’t quite as sexy as Pinder’s, but Rumbelow could be of great value for the Yankees as a middle-innings reliever.

Since he’s been stretched out as a starter before in his professional career, Rumbelow can pitch multiple innings out of the ‘pen. Other than Nova, who’s currently slotted into the swing-man role, the Yankees don’t have many other relievers capable of giving them distance. In the event that Nova is used up in a previous game, Rumbelow can go out and pitch 2+ innings and be sent back and forth from Scranton as needed thanks to his remaining options.

Pinder and Rumbelow aren’t the strongest one-two punch in the game, but they can eat some innings and provide solid match-ups against right-handed hitters for the Yankees.

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A dark horse infielder will snag the final bench spot

With Starlin Castro still adapting to second base, Joe Girardi will focus on giving the majority of Castro’s reps there this spring. But the team is also trying to convert Castro into a capable backup third baseman, believing his shortstop prowess will transition well at the hot corner. If all goes right and Castro can handle it, then the 25th roster spot is wide-open for whatever the Yankees need at any given point. But mastering 2B and learning 3B on the fly within two months is a tall task for one player. If Girardi isn’t pleased by Castro’s progress he could look to carry some infield insurance heading into 2016.

That would put Donovan Solano, Pete Kozma, and Ronald Torreyes all in the mix for the final roster spot. All three were minor off-season pick-ups that can play the infield, and none of them are too great with a bat.

Realistically the spot could go to whichever player has the hottest spring performance, and if I had to put money on one from the trio it’d be Solano. He had a crummy 2015 season, but he does have more major league experience than Torreyes and better offensive potential than Kozma. Brendan Ryan (remember him?) and Kozma are both putrid when it comes to hitting a baseball, and considering that Kozma’s defense is a notch below Ryan’s, it doesn’t make a ton of sense for the Yankees to downgrade in the backup infielder role when they have other options this year.

Kozma and Torreyes should complete Scranton’s infield, while Solano finds his name in the Yankees lineup once a week or so.

Next: Opening Day Roster

Opening Day projected roster and lineups

Against RHPs:

Against LHPs:

Bench:

Hicks – OF, Ackley – UTL, Romine – C, Solano – INF

Rotation:

Tanaka, Pineda, Severino, Eovaldi, Sabathia

Bullpen:

Nova, Rumbelow, Pinder, Pazos, Shreve, Betances, Miller