As A Rough Spring Training Ends, New York Yankees Did Get Some Positive Developments
Spring training was a nightmare for the New York Yankees, especially on the health front with the loss of Gerrit Cole for the entire season and into next season along with the loss of Giancarlo Stanton for an indefinite period of time coinciding with Luis Gil missing at least three months with a high-grade lat strain after throwing 151 innings and winning Rookie of the Year.
A cloud seemed to hang over the Yankees in terms of serious injuries with Cole getting Tommy John surgery on his elbow about a year after inflammation in the elbow cost him the first 75 games along with the revelation of Stanton having injuries in both elbows that started last season and prevented him from swinging after sometime in January.
Despite those, there were a few positive developments for a team entering a season as defending AL champions for the first time since 2010.
Among them were Austin Wells growing comfortable into his new role as a leadoff hitter. A catcher hitting leadoff is extremely uncommon since there were five games last season when a catcher started out of the leadoff spot (three by Milwaukee's William Contreras, one by Minnesota's Ryan Jeffers and one by Baltimore's Adley Rutschman. For the Yankees, no catcher has started out of the leadoff spot in their history and Wells seems likely to start there on Thursday against the Milwaukee Brewers in the season opener.
Wells acquitted himself well in the role and is hitting .329 during exhibition games after homering Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays. Wells was put into the leadoff spot on Feb. 28 in a move manager Aaron Boone was curious to see how he would respond in lineups against right-handed pitching.
'I've really liked him in that spot,' Boone told reporters last week. 'I think he profiles well for it. But there's also a number of guys I could still envision being in that role. That hasn't changed necessarily. It's more the fact that I just really like what I'm seeing with Austin and think he can be pretty dynamic there.'
Wells positive production in the role is giving the Yankees another option for the top of the order. Last season, Yankee leadoff hitters provided a .249 average with 16 homers and 64 RBIs as Gleyber Torres held the role at the beginning and the end of the season and Anthony Volpe hit .242 in his 77 games there.
Seeing a catcher become comfortable in the leadoff spot was hardly the only positive development for the Yankees, who are hoping to figure out how to compensate for Juan Soto's departure to the New York Mets.
Backup catchers can be a small role but often who gets those jobs has an interesting backstory and this year J.C. Escarra will hold the role at the start of the season. The 29-year-old made his way on the Yankees' radar last season when he batted .302 in Triple-A, won a batting title in the Dominican Winter League.
Those accolades earned him a spot on the 40-man roster, and he is hitting .333, to earn the job a few years after spending time as a rideshare driver and a substitute teacher in his native Miami area.
The Yankees told him he made the team and in one of those nice social media clips, Boone told the 29-year-old former Orioles' minor leaguer: 'You're going to the big leagues. You've earned it. What a journey. It's just getting started.'
'I'm sure a lot of people have been counted out at one time, or been through some tough times,' Escarra said to reporters 'It's a cool, feel-good story. But at the same time, I want to show that I'm a prospect of some sort, I can help the team win and that I'm here to stay.'
Another option the Yankees hope can remain with the team to stay is Ben Rice, whose first opportunity in the major leagues was replacing Anthony Rizzo after the first baseman fractured his forearm in a collision at Fenway Park June 16.
Rice is a converted catcher and a novice to first base when he replaced Rizzo and his first taste of the majors saw him hit three homers against the Boston Red Sox on July 7. Other than the fun power display, Rice batted .171 with seven homers and 23 RBIs.
In spring training when the Yankees were seeking bats to replace Stanton, Rice was deemed among their options, and he will make the team due to a .278 average with five homers and nine RBIs in 17 games. It is his way onto the team since Wells is the regular catcher and Paul Goldschmidt entrenched as the regular first baseman and the Yankees are hopeful what occurred in the past month translates into the regular season, especially since his exit velocity was frequently high.
Whether or not any of these positive developments carry into the six-month march to what the Yankees hope is a postseason berth remains to be seen, but they are enjoyable developments in a month when two of their most prominent games went down for lengthy periods.
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