New York Yankees: 1 winner and 1 loser in tie with the Philadelphia Phillies

New York Yankees, Deivi Garcia
USA Today

The New York Yankees faced off against the Philadelphia Phillies in the final exhibition game of summer camp on Monday evening. With young pitcher Deivi Garcia taking the mound for his first action in the majors, the expectations were high.

Garcia struggled with location and testing hitters with his offspeed stuff. Despite his deficiencies, the Yankees were unable to provide any run support as Phillies‘ pitcher Vince Velasquez dominated the first six innings of play. He allowed just two hits and struck out six batters, including Aaron Judge twice.

New York Yankees winner and loser from the loss:

LOSER: Deivi Garcia

Garcia was simply affected by the jitters and his first action at Yankee Stadium. He only lasted 1.2 innings, allowing for hits, two runs, one hour, and walked two batters. His two pickoff attempts were errant. One of his throws went past Luke Voit by a fair margin, and the other hit Phillies’ Roman Quinn in the back.

It was clear that Garcia was not comfortable on the mound and struggled with his accuracy. He tossed over 30 pitches in the first inning, which was problematic and forced manager Aaron Boone to make a change shortly after. David Hale replaced Garcia, pitching 2.1 innings, allowing two hits, three walks, and striking out one batter.

WINNER: Mike Ford

While the Yankees only scored two runs in their final exhibition game of the season, they were saved by the bell, or rather Mike Ford in the bottom of the ninth inning. Ford stepped in as a pinch-hitter, sending a moonshot into right field to tie the game.

In Ford’s first season with the Yankees in 2019, he posted a .259 batting average with 12 homers and 25 RBIs. He supplemented regular starter, Luke Voit, at first base when he went down with a sports hernia. His clear offensive quality was on display at times last year. He showed us a glimpse of what he’s capable of in 2020 against the Phillies.

I estimate that Ford will be the next man up at first base if Voit needs rest this season. He’s a quality power hitter and fits right into a slugger-centric Yankees batting order.