Spring Training PT 2: Injuries and Updates
The Bombers are now on the tail end of spring exhibitions, and things have certainly changed since the chase for 28 began again just a few weeks ago.
None of the team’s issues are more crucial to their regular season success than the health of Luis Severino, who was scratched from what would have been his first appearance of the spring on 03/02. The Yankees were cautious, which comes as no surprise given its Spring Training, and Severino was shut down pending an evaluation. Upon visiting the doctors, the diagnosis for the 25-year old was rotator cuff inflammation, and a two-week break has been in place since the news broke.
While Tanaka has been named the Opening Day starter in his place, the backfill of rotation will probably feature Domingo German and Luis Cessa (accounting for CC as well, who had the delayed arrival to camp as well as a the suspension carry-over). This isn’t exactly what Yankees fans were pumping themselves up for before the season, but if it means the extended health of both Sevy and CC, I think everyone’s going to survive for a few weeks.
It’s important to resurrect a key fact about Severino before I continue — his fluid mechanics have helped him avoid serious injury throughout his professional career. Considering that nothing has changed on that front, I’m buying the positivity Sevy and the Yanks are displaying regarding the outlook on his recovery. It feels like the Yankees are stumbling out of the gate in 2019 without their young ace, but this also seems like a “better now than later” situation.
A close second to the health of Sevy, is the health of centerfielder Aaron Hicks. There is twisted irony in these two players facing injury shortly after signing extensions, but for Hicks, dings-and-doinks like this have written the book of his career. In this case, Hick’s back is concerning because of the personal history, and because backs have a reputation for being a nagging ailment. Since it’s spring, it’s easy to sit on both of these injuries and think, “better now than later”, but between the two situations, I predict that Hicks is more likely to have his injury resurrect at some point after his return.
Until Hicks finds his way back, expect Brett Gardner to take over the brunt of the centerfield duties. Hicks claims that he’ll be back for Opening Day, but I wouldn’t take those words with anything but a grain of salt. The good news is that bringing back Gardner, Ellsbury (allegedly) joining camp soon, and Florials impressive spring give the Yankees both time and options while waiting for Hicks to return to full strength.
When I started writing this post on the night of 03/13, I was prepared to argue for why Greg Bird be the opening day first basemen. That I was before I saw Bryan Hoch of MLB.com fire off these two tweets:
The battle for first base has been everything we could have wanted as fans. Both players have performed at a high level, and have made obvious adjustments to different parts of their game that have shined in the spring. It stinks that the Yankees wont be taking both players with them come spring’s end, but both players have proven themselves to be worthy of a big league roster.
All that said, this combination of words and actions makes it clear to me that the Yankees are going to be rolling with Voit in two weeks. I don’t think Voit has outperformed Bird by a significant margin, rather, it seems like Voit was just able to carry over and keep the separation he created between him and Bird from 2018.
So what would be the plan with Bird? While the Yankees have been adamant about carrying only one of these two first basemen, that doesn’t mean things can’t change in the next two weeks, so it wouldn’t be an idea to dismiss just yet. Injuries have plagued the Yankees the past two seasons, so at the very least, the Bombers are going to view Bird as an ideal insurance policy if he doesn’t break camp with the team.
However, if they do send Bird to Triple-A, I can’t see him being there beyond the July trade deadline. The Yankees will need to see Voit maintain his performance in the bigs before moving on from Bird all together, and if Voit continues to slug, there’s no reason Bird doesn’t become more of a trade chip as the season progress.
Honorable Mentions:
CLINT FRAZIER
I didn’t think it needed a lot of time, because its so clear, but Clint Frazier starting in Triple-A is the right move. I think Frazier is a much better player than he has shown in camp, but it’s important to remember that he missed a lot of time. Baseball (like most sports) is very much a game of feel, so I think a few months in Scranton with serve Clint well for when his number is called, as I’m sure it will.
ESTEVAN FLORIAL
We have something here folks. Flo has torn it up this spring, whether it be in the field, at the dish, or on the base-paths. At the very least, Florial has shown us that there is a potential 5-tool player in there somewhere, now it becomes a matter of chipping him out of the marble. I don’t want to focus on the numbers too much, as it’s still only spring training, but there’s a different feel to the game when Florial is on the field. In a few years, we might be talking about a player who becomes a staple in the Bronx.
