The New York Yankees will be on a train this morning on their way to Nationals Park in Washington D.C. Aaron Judge has talked about why he was comfortable at spring training in Tampa, Florida, and at summer camp at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. When the spring training was shut down by MLB and the coronavirus, Judge elected to stay at the Steinbrenner training complex in Tampa. He stated that he felt most comfortable there, and reiterated the statement about being at Yankee Stadium.
When he talked about traveling to different ballparks during the regular season, he had this to say:
“Leaving that bubble is going to be a little difficult, but this is what we signed up for,†Judge said. “We wouldn’t have signed up for this if we weren’t aware of the risk and what we had to face these next couple months. The Yankees have prepared us well; they’ve given us the do’s and don’ts. As a team and organization, we’re going to do our best to keep everybody safe.â€
The Yankees are taking the train to Washington, D.C. They are scheduled to take their first flight of the season when in Baltimore. They will fly from Camden Yards to Tropicana Field home of the Tampa Bay Rays on August 4th in their chartered Delta Airlines jet. The Yankees players are expected to stay in their hotel rooms and be bused back and forth from the games to the hotel during the season.
Masahiro Tanaka progressing but not ready for his first start
Tanaka threw a 20 pitch bullpen from the mound Tuesday. At first, he was nervous about that first pitch, even though he opted not to use a screen. When that first pitch crossed the plate, the smiling Tanaka had a sign of relief. It was the first time he faced hitters since July 4th.
Tanaka, on July 4th, was hit in the head by a 112mph comebacker off the bat of slugger Giancarlo Stanton. Tanaka immediately hit the ground and lay motionless for minutes before being helped off the field. He was taken to the hospital where tests were negative. Nevertheless, he was put on the concussion protocol after the incident.
It is expected that he will be ready for his July 31 start but not for his first scheduled start of the season this Sunday. The New York Yankees are likely to use an opener in the game and have mentioned, Chad Green who has a lot of experience doing that as he did it 15 times last year with the Yankees winning 11 of those starts. Manager Boone has also mentioned Jonathan Loaisiga and Michael King for the job.
Pitching sensation Michael King makes Opening Day roster
One of the New York Yankees up and coming pitchers Michael King has made the 40 man roster for Opening Day. Manager Aaron Boone has said the King was outstanding in spring training and summer camp. With being assigned to the roster, he will be under consideration to pitch as an opener in Sunday’s game with the Nationals.
“He really needed to show something, and I feel like he more than did that,†Boone said. “I feel like he’s in a great spot right now. I feel like he’s throwing the ball really well. I feel like he has a chance to really impact our club this year.â€
Judge shines, Deivi Garcia Struggles in an exhibition game
Aaron Judge homered for his second night in a row in the last exhibition game against the Philadelphia Phillies. The night before, he had two homers in the Mets game. Judge is showing no signs of discomfort from his healing rib fracture. Manager Boone said he is definitely ready for the season.
Starting against the Phillies right-hander Deivi GarcÃa struggled mightily in a 1 2/3-inning effort, permitting back-to-back doubles to Didi Gregorius and J.T. Realmuto in the first inning that accounted for the Phils’ first run. Then he allowed a Roman Quinn run-scoring hit in the second that followed an off-center pickoff attempt. For his effort, he got sent down to Scranton Wilkes/Barre to work on his continued development.