For the New York Yankees and all the MLB teams, a baseball season of 60 games became official last night as the players agreed to Commissioner Rob Manfred’s imposed season. That means 60 Yankee players will make there way to Yankee Stadium in the Bronx by July 1, for a spring training 2.0 that will start training on the 3rd. Initially, all 60 players will report, which includes the 40 man roster and 20 extra players.
To lessen the load and avoid too many players training in the Bronx in close proximity those extra players (shuttle squad) will at some point be moved to the Yankees minor league triple-A facility at Scranton Wilkes/Barre where the Rail Riders normally play. The minor league season was canceled earlier over the coronavirus. The Yankee players will be excited to train for a regular-season which will begin on or about July 24th, giving them three weeks to ramp up.
It will be an entirely different season this year!
After the Yankees complete their ramp to the regular season, their travel will be limited as they will only play series against east coast teams. They will play most of their series against traditional AL rivals, the Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, and the Tampa Bay Rays. Those games will likely be three or four-game series to even out a season of just sixty games. But this year they will also play shorter series against National League teams. The cross-town New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, the Washington Nationals, Atlanta Braves, and Florida Marlins will all see the Yankees.
The Yankees will not see Luis Severino, Domingo German, but will they see slugger Aaron Judge?
Ace pitcher Luis Severino will not play this year for the Yankees as he had Tommy John surgery during the first part of spring training. He remained at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa for rehab. Whether he will join his, teammates, in the Bronx is unknown. Domingo German has got to serve out the remainder of his suspension, which is equal to the total season. However, during this quick three week training period, all eyes will be on Aaron Judge who’s rehab has been slow from a rib fracture late in the 2019 season. It is very possible he will miss some games early in the season. Some reports indicate he may not play at all as he has yet to swing a bat.
Yankee pitchers will not be pushed as the bullpen is expected to play a big part in the season.
The New York Yankee fans can’t wait to see their new ace pitcher Gerrit Cole pitch at Yankee Stadium. Pitchers take several games to gain arm strength, so the Yankees at least at the start will depend on their excellent bullpen to pitch a few extra innings. Yankee Manager Aaron Boone won’t have to worry about the overuse of the bullpen in a shortened season.
Early in games, the fans can expect to see Luis Cessa, Jonathan Loaisiga, and possibly Clarke Schmidt in long relief, with Tommy Kahnle, Adam Ottavino, and Chad Green in late relief. Zack Britton will be the most likely setup man as Aroldis Chapman will close most games.
Adam Ottavino recently talked about the role of the bullpen in a short season. Ottavino had a 1.90 ERA while relieving in 73 games. His relief will likely be cut to as many as just 50 games.
“I’ve pitched in both ends of a doubleheader a few times in my career. It’s fine. It’s just like, then you can’t pitch the next day. So, luckily for our team, we have so many good pitchers, and we have some good young ones coming, that we were able to kind of help each other out and lighten each other’s loads and get us where we need to get to be fresh for the playoffs.â€
Some Yankee players may not be happy with the short season
The shortened season will mean different things to different players; it has the most effect on those players that will become free agents at the end of the season. Masahiro Tanaka, James Paxton, Brett Gardner, Adam Warren, and DJ LeMahieu will all become free agents. JA Happ has a vesting option. He absolutely will not hit (165 innings pitched), so we can add him to the list as well. How these players perform in this short season will be paramount to if the Yankees offer them contracts. However, DJ LeMahieu seems like a sure bet. Gardner does have a 2021 option that can be bought out for just $2.5 million.
Yankee players may play with an intensity not seen, only in the postseason
The New York Yankees are still the favorite to go to the World Series this year. The Yankee players are aware of that and will be playing with an intensity that you usually only see in the postseason. The intensity is caused by a short season that will see every game as a must-win. Each game will be two to three times as valuable. To get to the World Series, the Yankees must win almost every game against weak teams like the Baltimore Orioles and the Florida Marlins and most games against the more challenging teams.
This year they lost the Detroit Tigers but picked up the Marlins so that challenge has not changed much. But this year the Yankees will also have to face the Mets, Phillies and the World Champion Washington Nationals. They can’t afford to fail against those teams. In a traditional season, long stretches of playing poorly are not uncommon for any team, but for the Yankees, that can’t happen if they want to contend for their 28th World Championship.
Further details on the season will be forthcoming and what the expanded postseason will look like will be released shortly so stay with EmpireSportsMedia for all the latest New York Yankee news.