4 Yankees players taking the most advantage of 2024 spring training

Yankees Spring Training: It doesn't matter 'til it does.

If you've been watching the Yankees throughout camp, you know they've delivered on many of the offensive promises Brian Cashman and the embattled 2023 roster made this offseason. Anthony Volpe's swing is extremely different (it's working). Giancarlo Stanton's body has changed, and so has his stance. Juan Soto looks ready for the opener, and Aaron Judge has nothing more to prove, even if he's continued to hold crack-of-dawn workouts to help inspire his teammates to strive for something more.

When it comes to properly evaluating march, throw the record out the window, but don't pretend Carlos Rodón giving up homer after homer is meaningless. The burden of proof is on each player to either shake their chief concern or sustain it.

These four Yankees, in a heightened spotlight, have all delivered resounding arguments in their favor, and even if we won't see them on Opening Day, they've all made significant statements regarding their readiness to contribute.

4 Yankees who've stood out and stolen the spotlight at spring training

Anthony Rizzo

Most established veterans don't need a powerhouse spring training in order to open eyes that have already been opened to them for years. Anthony Rizzo, coming off the concussive aftereffects that blurred his vision and led many casual observers to believe he was verging on retirement five years ahead of schedule, is an entirely different case.

Forget about the numbers -- they've been extremely impressive, but forget about them. Rizzo entered camp having to prove his body could still react at the speeds necessary to play the toughest sport in the world (miss me with hockey). He drilled a grand slam and a second home run last Friday night against the Blue Jays, doubling up his home run total from the post-concussion two-month span he slogged through in 2023.

It's still in there, and if Rizzo can represent another lineup lengthener from the left side, between Judge and Stanton or Judge and Torres or Judge and Volpe, then the Yankees have gotten that much more dangerous.

Spencer Jones

Jones' spring with the Yankees is likely over; the next time fans in Tampa can see him on the field will probably be in MLB's Spring Breakout showcase for top prospects.

But, after an offseason where he was given two somewhat conflicting goals -- cut down on strikeouts and work on lifting the ball, which typically results in additional Ks -- Jones did the best he possibly could to put his work on display in camp.

After posting a 28.9% whiff rate last year between High-A and Double-A, he went 7-for-15 with a 470-foot homer in his first at-bat of camp. Perhaps more impressively, he didn't swing and miss a single time before his eventual demotion.

While he didn't stick around past early March, and nobody with grounded ambitions is currently clamoring for him to break camp with the team the way they advocated for Jasson Dominguez last season, the 6'7" Jones got the most pivotal year of his career so far off to an eye-opening start, making mammoth adjustments look almost too easy.

Clarke Schmidt

A lesser man than Clarke Schmidt would've heard the name "Blake Snell" reverberating in his ear canals every time he took the mound like a drunken war chant.

Schmidt, in direct opposition to the buzz claiming he isn't good enough, has arguably looked like the most comfortable Yankees starter of their quintet.

Quibble with the rotation's lack of depth if you'd like. That's perfectly valid. Worry about Carlos Rodón's ability to compete every fifth, sixth or seventh day without his best fastball. Signing Snell would've been an interesting (and high-profile) solution to the Yankees' developing depth conundrum. But there is no reason to slander Schmidt as a result of fears about the rest of the rotation, and coming off his career-high (by miles) in innings pitched, the only current worry should be that Yankee fans might not get to enjoy enough of Schmidt this season.

Of course, how did he follow up his first two excellent outings? Getting rocked by the Braves' starters on Sunday. Even the Yankees' most impressive starter in camp needed a baptism like the rest of his rotation mates, we guess. If you'd like to mentally sub in Marcus Stroman here, we get it. But we already knew what we were getting from him, when healthy. Schmidt carving up the opposition has mostly been a much-needed distraction, though he could still stand to miss more bats.