Yes. The Yankees have depth. I know. Right. I am complimenting the stack the Yankees are piecing together in an intentional way. Let's take a deeper look at how the 2022 Yankees have the depth that will serve them well.
The Yankees will carry 16 pitchers into the first series of the season with longtime rivals The Boston Red Sox. Besides the obvious ones, the Yankee pitchers will include right-handers Clarke Schmidt and Ron Marinaccio and lefty JP Sears. The Yankees will likely drop back to 13 pitchers when the expanded roster ends on May 1st. This expanded roster gives teams some flexibility due to the shortened spring training.
"Schmidt, 26, went 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA in three appearances (two starts) this spring. He led all Yankees pitchers with 11 strikeouts and 9 1/3 innings pitched. Schmidt is a former first-round pick (16th overall) of the Yankees in the 2017 Draft," reported MLB.com
Schmidt will likely be used in a variety of roles this season. He could be a long reliever, a starter. [Maybe] a day where he gives us some serious length," Boone said. "But there may be a scenario where he is in an inning-plus situation as well. You never know how the games unfold."
In addition to the talent and versatility in the Yankee pitching, there are the hard-core utility players. The standout is switch-hitting Marwin Gonzalez. "Gonzalez will be part of the three-man bench after hitting .375 (9-for-24) with three home runs and 10 RBIs this spring. However, his ability to play several positions in the field will be even more useful to the Yankees early in the season than his bat," reported MLB.com
"Marwin's versatility gives up pretty good coverage everywhere," Boone said before an exhibition Tuesday against the Detroit Tigers. "Just early on, got to make sure we protect and build up the arms properly. We'll make it work, and if we have to change on the fly a little bit, we'll do that," reported ESPN.
The Yankees were scheduled for a 1:05 PM start on Thursday at the Stadium, but Mother Nature is not in agreement. Game 1 of 162 is postponed to Friday as the rains won't let up enough for the start of the much anticipated 2022 season. Better for our pitchers honestly, but I know we all were looking forward to having baseball back. On the bright side, the Bombers' depth could serve them well this season. Let's hope they can really use this depth as an opportunity to rise above rather than a stop gap for injuries.
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--Suzie Carbonaro
BYB Senior Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof
Nice article.
ReplyDeleteCongrats.