In an early afternoon game at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida, the New York Yankees took on the Toronto Blue Jays in a game that I said they shouldn’t win because they didn’t start with a top of the line pitcher and put up their “B” lineup to face Jay’s pitching. I was dead wrong. The Yankees won the game 5-1 because the lineup stepped up to the job, and the Yankees got excellent pitching from six Yankee pitchers.
Gleyber Torres hit two homers in the game
In a game without leadoff hitter DJ LeMahieu and no Judge, Stanton, or Voit, the Yankees should have had their hands full trying to score against the Blue Jays enough to win a game. But win, they did. Gleyber Torres was the MVP of the game. He doubled and later in the game hit two home runs driving in 3 runs.
Mike Ford also hit a homer and went 4 for 4 on the day. Estevan Floria shined in the game defensively and at-bat. He also drove in a run.
We all know that Gleyber Torres can be an MVP type player but really suffered last season, hitting only 3 home runs after hitting 38 long balls in 2019. With the screwed-up spring training last season, he let himself get out of shape, and when the season started, he had to play catchup. With such a short season, he never did. This season he came into spring training totally healthy and ready for the season. If his performance in spring training is any indication, he will have a big season for the Yankees. After hitting only 3 home runs last season, he has hit 5 in spring training with 9 RBI’s.
Mike Ford shows off on and off the field
Mike Ford got cut from the 40 man roster two days ago. You would think after having an impact at the major league level the last two seasons, you would have heard some snarky comment from Ford. But no, he just went about his business and stayed ready.
Before today’s game, he was called up to be in the lineup facing the Blue Jays. I can’t imagine what must have been going through his head. But whatever it was, it caused heads to turn when he had one of the best games he has ever had in the majors. Early in the game, when a hit was surely going foul, Ford hustled to the right-field stands, reached over, and made the out. He also had two singles, a double, and a home run in the game, going 4 for 4.
Today’s performance by Ford probably won’t change any minds, he will probably still start the season at Scranton, but 162 games is a long season, fans of Mike Ford can be assured you will see him back at Yankee Stadium this season.
Yankee pitching was outstanding
With spring training waning, the Yankees didn’t waste any of their premium pitchers on today’s game. The Yankees only have two more games to play in spring training. The Yankees started instead with Jhoulys Chacin. Chacin was great through 2.2 innings; he did not allow a single hit while striking out two Jays.
Chacin was followed by Luis Gacia, who ended up getting the win. He pitched 1.1 hitless innings. Lucas Luetge allowed one hit in his scoreless inning while striking out 2 Jays. Kyle Barraclough and Albert Abreu both pitched hitless innings. The New York Yankees chose Tyler Lyons to close out the shutout game, but he gave up the only run in the game for the Jays.
Overall, the New York Yankees pitching was superb in today’s win over one of the American League’s best lineups. In eight innings of play, the Yankees had 5 1-2-3 innings. The performance today by these pitchers shows the tremendous depth the Yankees have on the pitching staff. With this type of performance, the Yankees should be pretty well set up for backups if there are any injuries.