New York Yankees: Biggest takeaways from first televised intrasquad game

For the first time in months, the New York Yankees were able to be watched on television as they took the field at Yankee Stadium for an intrasquad game. As they get ready for the unorthodox season of only 60 games, pitchers and hitters need to see as many live reps as they can since they are only 16 days away from Opening Day.

This game wasn’t intense in any means, as the players are still coming off a three-month delay. With that being said, it’s expected that the players aren’t at fully game-ready. However, there were still positive things to note from the intrasquad.

Clark Schmidt looked sharp

Just two seasons in the minors, Clarke Schmidt may be called upon early to help out the Yankees. Throwing two innings in the intrasquad game, Schmidt looked great. He had great command of his fastball, and his offspeed pitches looked sharp and game-ready. In 2.1 innings pitched (seven hitters faced), he fanned three batters and only allowed one hit.

“I think that I can produce at this level, I think I can get outs at this level,” Schmidt said after his outing. “I hold myself to a high regard, I always have. I’m a very confident kid.”

Hicks and Judge’s swings look healthy

Although they had no hits between both of them, Aaron Hicks and Aaron Judge both looked healthy swinging the bat. Coming off two major injuries that costed them significant time, there was a concern that both of these key players wouldn’t be ready for Opening Day. It’s tough to tell from just a few at-bats if they’re 100% healthy, but their bat speed and swing looked normal—Hicks especially, who flew out to deep right field in two at-bats.

JA Happ looks promising

Throwing two innings in the intrasquad, JA Happ looked sharped through his short outing. He fanned six batters, giving up no hits and allowing just one walk. There was some concern with Happ entering the season as he struggled with keeping the ball in the park last year, but both his outings in Spring Training and Summer Camp have looked promising for the Yankees.

Thairo Estrada goes deep

Middle infielder Thairo Estrada who played just 11 games in the Major Leagues last year, took Tommy Kahnle deep to left field. For a game that didn’t have much hard contact, this was exciting to see.

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Voit, Stanton, Wade, Torres all with base knocks

There wasn’t much-batted ball in play during this intrasquad, but these four sluggers found themselves with a base hit—Stanton and Voit, especially, who ripped the ball into centerfield. With no players playing the field, it’s tough to say if these hits would actually drop in a real game. However, they all had good swings on the ball.