New York Yankees: Spring Training does NOT matter

Spring Training, especially for the Yankees, is an exciting time for baseball players and fans alike. Both enjoy the tease of the regular season being a month away.

Yankees fans get to see their hopefully new and improved team, while the player’s experience leisure baseball, free of concern from failed playoff runs and hostile critics. At least for some.

For the veterans who have a secure role on a team and unfathomable financial security, Spring Training is all fun and games. But for the young guns, it’s intense and agonizing. Trying out for a major league ball club is no easy task.

Are the performances of these young players, vying for some playing time in the coming season, enough? Are .400+ batting averages in a small sample size enough to propel a newcomer past an old reliable? Especially for the Yankees this year.

Considered a young team, the Yanks do have a handful of players that are over the hill. Plus, some young players have claimed starting roles on the team with authority.

Take Aaron Judge for example. He took over the starting right field position last season, and it doesn’t seem as though he will ever lose it; hitting 52 home runs in a season is pretty impressive.

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Still think preseason performances matter? The Yankees have seven catchers with at least one at-bat this Spring Training, but only one can start. If you were to look at just the stats, you would think that career backup Austin Romine would receive starter duties. Romine is hitting .667, best of all Yankees’ catchers, has previously proved his defensive capabilities — and is more of a veteran catcher than the rest.

However, Romine will not steal the job from Gary Sanchez. So, what is training camp good for?

Spring Training is first and foremost a month of team bonding. It allows the players to get to know each other, to get familiar with each other’s style of play and personalities.

But let’s not say Spring Training is a waste of time. Competition does exist in camp. Position battles do occur, especially for the Yanks, with an open infield starting spot. And I believe any backup spots on the active roster are also up for grabs.

For those who already have a particular job on the team, this month of baseball does not mean much. Aaron Judge, one of MLB’s best hitters, has just seven at-bats and a .143 batting average. Does this mean Judge will have a poor season? Perhaps, but most likely not.

Last Spring Training, Dellin Betances posted an abysmal ERA of 4.91 in just 3.2 innings pitched, but finished the coming 2017 season with an ERA under 3.00, while striking out 100 batters for a fourth-straight season; also resulting in All-Star honors for the strikeout machine.

This Spring Training, although not too far along, Betances is yet again struggling, but is still expected to pitch a majority of relief innings for the Yankees in the regular season.

I understand that March is more for the young players to prove themselves against some higher-level competition, while the older, more established players, take it easy.

For these reasons, the Yanks do not have much to solve this spring. With Miguel Andújar already assumed to have a big league roster spot, and Gleyber Torres also expected to rise to the major league team at some point, the Yankees seem settled on these solutions.

The only actual battles that should be anticipated are in the bullpen. Accounting for the Yankees’ current state of the roster, I would assume there is at least one, maybe two relief positions yet to be decided upon.

That is why Spring Training does NOT mean much in the sense of regular season performances. And if you still don’t believe me, since 1984, just around 60 percent of World Series winners had a Spring Training record above .500 before the regular season began.

Next: Yankees: Aaron Judge should never bat leadoff

So, while it may be nice to for the Yankees to have a good spring record, it is nowhere near necessary nor all-telling of an excellent 162-game season to come.

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