3 questions Yankees have already answered at spring training, 1 they haven't

The New York Yankees are approaching two full weeks of spring training games, which have felt joyous if a little meaningless from oh, say, Game 2.

The first game of spring training represents rebirth and renewal. We've waited oh so long to get here. All the familiar sights and sounds are greeted with reverence. Oh, a chopper to short! Straighten that out, but otherwise, it was beautiful!

Once you finish Game 1? Every spring contest mostly just feels like an unnecessary injury risk. But that hasn't stopped these Yankees from playing them anyway, allowing them to powerfully answer a few of the questions that hung over the roster when the curtain first rose. Obviously, spring performance doesn't dictate much about the regular season, but it's at least a solid indicator of whether a player can or cannot accomplish a task. Hitting .438 in the spring doesn't mean someone's going to win the batting title, but powering a 430-foot home run off the scoreboard proves a slugger still has that in him.

Early in camp, the Yankees have answered three offseason questions reasonably well, but -- forgive the pessimism -- one familiar refrain still looms.

3 Yankees questions they've answered at spring training, 1 lingering issue

Is Anthony Rizzo still able to contribute, if healthy?

This is not to say that Anthony Rizzo will be healthy, or will be the Yankees' long-term first base solution, or will replicate his spring training output as soon as the regular season starts.

It's simply worth noting that Rizzo proved, in his two-homer game on Friday night, that he has physically recovered from post-concussion effects to perceive pitching and strike the baseball with the same force he did before the injury.

Against the Blue Jays, Rizzo smashed a pair of home runs and worked a walk -- almost as impressive, given where he ended last season -- in three plate appearances. Following the concussion that destroyed his vision and depth perception last May, he hit a grand total of one home run in the months of June and July (July 23 against the Kansas City Royals). When Rizzo got off the schneid, it was treated humorously last summer. Nothing, in fact, was funny at all about his blurred vision and the medical malpractice involved.

Two home runs in spring training wouldn't mean nearly as much to any other Yankee as it does to Rizzo. Add in the patience he's displayed, and it's clear that a Rizzo bounce back is now physically possible.

Are we sure the Yankees printed enough bullpen arms?

One of the easiest predictions of the offseason was that someone previously lurking in the shadows would rise through the Yankees' ranks to absorb important bullpen innings this season.

Still, after Scott Effross' back injury was revealed on Day 1 of camp, just after Wandy Peralta's departure had become official, it was somewhat fair to wonder ... how long the Yankees were allowed to have the reputation for "printing bullpen arms" if their established bullpen arms continued to disappear. At some point, the well would run dry and they'd need outside help ... right?

Well, so far, Nick Burdi appears to have answered the call, blazing 100 MPH heaters and otherworldly sliders past unsuspecting competition this spring. Cody Poteet and Cody Morris have both shown flashes. Luis Gil, recently demoted to minor-league camp, showed off his trademark heater in the spring training opener against Detroit. Who knows which of these players will have an outsized impact on the Yankees' bullpen this year, but it now seems relatively certain they still have the horses to cover innings six-through-nine (even if you're not familiar with those horses' names).

Lingering Question: Can Yankees count on Carlos Rodón?

Until Rodón steps foot on the mound in the regular season, then rocks and fires 97 to the outside corner like we were promised (based on early spring bullpen work), this question will remain unanswered. And, even then, fans will demand a larger sample size, after being burned time and again in 2023.

Rodón's first season in pinstripes finished with its lowest moment; the lefty ace's turn in Kansas City, where he did not retire a batter and turned his balky back on Matt Blake, might've been the worst singular start in franchise history. Just when it seemed he might've turned a corner, too.

In an effort to live up to his long-term pact, he reported to camp in January, and his early side work portended a return to form. His first start of the spring didn't feature 97, but there was no reason for him to ramp things up unnecessarily; 95.9 MPH was plenty good enough, and his fastball had the requisite life to miss big-league bats, given proper location.

But that's what was missing last season. Even his "stuff" seemed to stack up, according to Stuff+, to with his 2021-22 Cy Young campaigns. Year-over-year, he was the same pitcher throwing the same pitches displaying vastly inferior command, likely hindered by his developing back condition.

As long as he makes it out of camp healthy and bounces back properly between outings, the Yankees should chalk that up as a win -- an appropriately low bar. But ... what happened during the live BP he threw on Friday, when four minor-leaguers homered off him in three innings of work? Was he trying to get the cutter right? Did his command regress once more? Was something bothering him that wasn't manifesting itself earlier in the spring?

Right now, fans have one positive data point, one strange one, and a whole lot of glowing reports from several weeks ago, all of which came across our desks second-hand. This powerful, looming question has not been answered yet.