We are about three weeks from the start of a 2020 pandemic shortened season. It's hard to imagine what baseball will look like when it isn't a normal 162-game season, but we are about to find out, hopefully. We always say baseball is a marathon, not a sprint to the finish line. This year, our guys are gonna have to adapt and perform well in more of a sprint instead. The Yankees are gonna have to come out of the box running hard and hopefully they can adapt quickly.
A 60 game season leaves little to no room for error. The usual "relax, it's only May and it's still early" argument for a struggling team no longer applies. So the pitching and hitting needs to be ready to go. Too bad it's not as easy as a light switch that can be turned on with the easy flick of the wrist. That's one thing I will be watching closely as Spring 2.0 gets started this week, and ex-Yankee Mike Stanton will be also.
Stanton talked to the New York Post over the weekend HERE, and said "I think this has a chance to be anemic offensively," let's hope he's wrong. But he has a good point. Our guys have half the time to get ready. Pitchers have to get loose and our hitters have had a long break from live game repetitions. I'm sure the Yankees have their own plan but Stanton offered his own, "I would want all pitchers to throw live batting practice, 40 pitches. I didn't want game intensity but pitchers throw that many pitches in bullpens. The hitters should take live batting practice from Day 1. I would want the hitters to see as much live BP as possible."
Not a bad idea as long as they don't over do it in the first week. The Yankees already have a lot of guys coming back from injuries but I like his thought process. Players are creatures of habit and very regimented so this is going to be a challenge but these guys will need to have the stamina and be stretched out enough. We can't afford a slow start. I think Stanton is right, the last week of training camp is going to be crucial.
It will be interesting to see how Matt Blake the Yankees new pitching coach approaches Spring Training 2.0. I wonder if his strategy will be anything like Stanton's and how hard will the Yankees push Gerrit Cole in his last Spring Training start before starting the season in Washington against the Nationals. We know these guys have already been throwing to a certain extent.
We've seen videos of Cole pitching, those have been floating around social media. Adam Ottavino has also been throwing, but what about Jordan Montgomery? He's coming back from a lost season and will be an important anchor in the Yankees rotation.
And we will wait and see how Aaron Judge holds up now that he is finally starting to hit again. He started hitting off of a tee but hey, it's progress. Hopefully he stays healthy with no setbacks and we get him back in the lineup sooner rather than later. Spring is important to all of these guys, but especially him. The Yankees set their Spring 2.0 roster late yesterday afternoon, here is the list in case you missed it.
--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @nyprincessj
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