The shortstop competition has been the center of attention this spring. Both Anthony Volpe and Oswald Peraza's impressive spring seems to have pushed IKF out of the shortstop position, which is no surprise. The Yankees have also experimented with putting IKF in the outfield, which I just don't see. Now the Yankees have a third potential position for him, which might make more sense. Maybe....
On Wednesday, IKF had catcher's gear on him as he prepared to get some work in behind the plate. It's rare to have a utility player who can catch as needed, but the Yankees could benefit from this idea and it sounds like IKF suggested it. "I think they expected me to bring it up when I did," Kiner-Falefa said of the team’s reaction when he mentioned doing some catching drills. "If I’m gonna do this, I want to be the best utility player I can be. I don’t want to do it halfway." read more HERE.
I will say this, I do love his attitude with this. "I just want to win. That’s all I’m worried about right now. I am ready for whatever I need to do," he said. At least he is embracing his new role as a utility player. In this case, maybe a multi-purpose super utility player.
Either way, this could work. It might make more sense than throwing a guy with a below average arm in the outfield where he has less experience. IKF has some experience catching, he last played behind the plate in 2019 with the Rangers and started in 31 games. He's caught 73 games in his MLB career.
The Yankees are lacking some catching depth right now. Jose Trevino is battling a wrist injury and Ben Rortvedt and Austin Wells are both also hurt. That leaves Kyle Higashioka the only healthy catcher so IKF could provide some needed depth there. At least he has some experience.
BYB Senior Managing Editor
Twitter: @nyprincessj
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