Spring training games are officially under way and just like that the 2024 MLB baseball season begins. The Yankees took on Detroit at Joker Merchant Stadium and blew away the Tigers in a 22-10 victory. I know it is only one game and it is only spring training, but the win was exciting because the lineup was filled with newbies and hungry athletes looking for a chance to battle in the big leagues this year.
According to SNY, "The Bombers' offense came out flying during their first game of the spring, as they struck for nine runs on eight hits and six walks over the first five innings. Trent Grisham, the secondary piece acquired in the Juan Soto trade, got his Yankee career off to a loud start with a 421-foot three-run home run in the top of the second."
The offense was absolutely explosive as Spencer Jones pinch-hitting for Grisham in the top of the fifth, smashed a towering 470-foot homer. The 22-year-old center fielder is 6-foot-6 and expected to start the season with the Double A Somerset Patriots. He was the Yankees first round pick in 2022 from Vanderbilt University.
“Looking forward to him being in big league camp,” Boone said before Saturday’s game. “It’s part of his development, part of that growth process to be around guys he’s going to get to be around here. Hopefully getting in big league spring action and getting [at-bats] and stuff like that. It’s an important part of the development,” wrote the New York Post.
Other members of the lineup who contributed to the Yankee offense included outfielder Oscar Gonzalez, who was picked up on waivers from the Cleveland Guardians, Luis Torrens went 2-for-3 with a home run and 22-year-old infielder Jorbit Vivas also hit a dinger.
The Yankees saw strong pitching from 25-year-olds Luis Gil and Clayton Beeter. Both had good first innings but later gave up a couple of home runs. Recall that Gil missed a majority of 2022 and 2023 after undergoing Tommy John surgery in May 2022. He rehabbed at Single-A Tampa at the end of last season. "In a report from Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said that the team wants to "find out about [Gil] as a starter" but didn't rule out using him in the bullpen. The current book on Gil is that he has excellent strikeout stuff, but still needs to improve his command; according to Boone, Gil is focusing on exactly that during the spring."
Beeter will likely start the season where he ended last season with Triple A Scranton. "According to MLB.com scouts, he has an effective slider, a potentially dominant fastball and an emerging plus curveball. With three pitches, that could make him an effective starter or long reliever at the MLB level."
Day one is a success. And as fans, we all know this is going to be a slow roll and a long season. But with hope like this, we have to remain positive. There is a lot of negativities out there and certainly some of it has come from me. But right now, I feel optimistic—until the Yankees and their brass show me otherwise. For now, it is positive vibes only.
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--Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Senior Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof
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