4 surprise players who could steal a roster spot with 2023 Yankees

The New York Yankees start a new spring training season this weekend, kicking off with games on Feb. 25. If that feels stunningly soon to you, with Opening Day fast approaching on March 30 ... you're not wrong!

The Yanks only started their cute little stretching circles and Mario Kart videos a few days ago and it's already time to get down to brass tacks. Flesh out the pitching staff. Polish off the bench. Find a left fielder. GO!

Aaron Boone and Co. have plenty to sort out, even though you'd be crazy not to automatically bank on a bounce back season from Josh Donaldson with no evidence. Crazy!

Though everything feels fated, at this point in time (Aaron Hicks, welcome to left field), there are always a few surprise names who could steal the show when game action begins. Sometimes, the Yankees even make room for a non-roster invitee to shock the world and climb onto the Opening Day roster (Lucas Luetge and Manny Bañuelos were the requisite heartwarming stories the past two offseasons).

This time around, given the holes at the margins of the roster (and one big one in the outfield), these are the four players most likely to swipe a roster spot out of (pardon the pun) left field.

4 Yankees who could steal 2023 Opening Day roster spots

Jhony Brito, RHP

Even though the bullpen is fairly stacked top to bottom, it's officially Jhony Brito Season as soon as the sixth inning of the first spring game rolls around.

Need a bridge reliever between the Yankees' main bullpen arms and the non-roster also-rans? Look no further than Brito, a 25-year-old Triple-A arm who was protected on the 40-man this offseason.

Don't take his singular at-bat against (lol) Josh Donaldson as gospel, but it's still worth watching to get an idea of the zip on his stuff.

Brito's 2022 season began with eight masterful starts at Double-A Somerset (5-2, 2.36 ERA, 38 Ks and just 11 walks in 42 innings), and he maintained his stuff at Triple-A, though the whiffs decreased a bit (53 in 70.2 additional innings).

The adjustment period between levels was nonexistent; Brito allowed just two earned runs across 17.1 innings in his first three Triple-A starts. If the Yankees like what they see and believe he's mastered the level, they might want to give him one final kick up the food chain to serve as the Domingo Germán-style swingman in the 'pen -- if Germán makes the rotation, that is.

Rafael Ortega, OF

We'll keep banging this drum until it actually comes to fruition (or doesn't, at which point we'll be waiting for Ortega to make some Triple-A noise before getting loud again).

The Yankees need a left fielder. They need a productive left fielder. They need a left-handed bat with some pop built for the short porch. Ortega was all of these things in 2021, when he burst onto the scene as a 30-year-old with the Cubs and posted a 121 OPS+ and .823 OPS, launching 11 blasts from the left side of the plate.

His 2022 follow-up didn't go quite as well, but even in a down year, Ortega was still good for a 95 OPS+ and 90th-percentile walk rate/82nd percentile whiff percentage. Hicks? His OPS+ was just 86 last year, and Ortega can nearly match Hicks' primary strength. The incumbent's walk rate is in the 95th percentile, but his whiffs fall in the 41st.

Sometimes, it's about more than on-field performance, too. The Yankees could use a narrative adjustment in left field after Hicks essentially opted out of chasing a fair ball last September and earned himself a temporary benching for all home games. Add in the wrist injury that might've forever altered his batted-ball profile and sapped his strength (we have very little evidence to the contrary), and Ortega could be a welcome breath of fresh air ... as long as he opens eyes in spring training action.

Matt Krook, LHP

Stolen from the Rays and stashed on the back portion of the Yankees' 40-man roster, Matt Krook is the latest project who could potentially fill an Opening Day role in the Luetge/Bañuelos mold if the Yanks are blown away by his contributions.

If not? More time at Triple-A is hardly a punishment for Krook, whose 40-man spot means he's a baked-in favorite to be this summer's Scranton Shuttle guy, considering he hasn't used a single big-league option yet.

The 28-year-old went 10-7 with a pedestrian 4.09 ERA last season at Triple-A, but most notably struck out a large number of batters, whiffing 155 in 138.2 innings. In 2021, his first year in the organization, things went even better; Krook split time at Double-A and Triple-A, whiffing 132 in 106 innings pitched, posting a 2.89 ERA.

No matter who you believe it'll be, the one thing Yankees reporters seem to agree on is that a mystery name like Luetge will sneak up on everyone in the bullpen competition. There will naturally be attrition. Someone will get dinged up. The riser could be Greg Weissert and his frisbee slider after he flashed plus stuff last fall. NJ.com's Randy Miller thinks it'll be ex-Seattle farmhand Nick Ramirez and his left-handed slider.

Our bet's on Krook and his sweeping breaker, considering he's already got the 40-man spot.