Alexander Wilson
Giancarlo Stanton spent the offseason hearing the usual questions about durability. Wednesday night in Tampa, he answered them with two baseballs launched into the Florida sky.
The New York Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays 8-1 at George M. Steinbrenner Field behind a big night from Stanton and a pitching staff that was genuinely fun to watch. Two home runs: 411 feet to left-center in the third, 415 feet to center in the sixth, three RBI.
On the mound, Cam Schlittler was sharp through 3.2 innings, and Carlos Lagrange closed the game out with four scoreless frames averaging 101.5 mph. For a team that has spent February answering rotation injury questions, Wednesday felt like an answer back.
Stanton Reminds Everyone What He Is
The third-inning burst started with a Trent Grisham RBI double to right, a Randal Grichuk double to left, and then Stanton clearing the rest with a shot off Eric Lauer that traveled 411 feet to left-center. The second homer, a solo in the sixth off an increasingly battered Blue Jays bullpen, confirmed the first was not an accident.
The Stanton conversation every spring circles the same concern: whether his body cooperates. He has cleared 90 games four times in seven seasons. When he is healthy and in the lineup, he is among the most dangerous DHs in baseball in an order that already features Aaron Judge. When he is not, there is a hole that nobody on this roster adequately fills. Wednesday was a look at the healthy version, and the healthy version is still good.
Schlittler Builds His Case
Cam Schlittler was pulled briefly from camp earlier this spring with lat and back discomfort, which is exactly the kind of news a rotation already missing Cole and Rodon does not need. So watching him go 3.2 innings with six strikeouts, and just 46 pitches, was a proper exhale for the Bronx.
He is slotted into the number two rotation spot behind Max Fried, and the Yankees need him planted there. Six strikeouts against a lineup with actual major leaguers, solid command, the ball coming out of his hand cleanly. This is what a healthy Schlittler looks like. The 1.50 spring ERA will not survive a full season, but a functional arm behind Fried will.
Lagrange Is Forcing a Conversation Nobody Expected Yet
The name to pay attention to: Carlos Lagrange. The 22-year-old minor leagueer entered from the bullpen and proceeded to close out the game with four shutout innings, averaging 101.5 mph on his fastball and striking out three Blue Jays who simply had no chance.
Lagrange was not supposed to be a 2026 story. Triple-A, work on command, check back in 2027. Four innings of relief at 101 mph in a big-league spring game is a different kind of résumé. The Yankees have a functional back end with David Bednar and Camilo Doval. But a 6-foot-7 arm throwing consistent strikes at triple digits reorganizes a bullpen. Aaron Boone has watched this from day one of camp. Something is building here, and the organization knows it.
The Rest of It
Jonathan Ornelas launched a solo homer to right-center in the seventh, his first of the spring. Zack Short followed with an RBI single in the same frame to score Ernesto Martinez. Cole Gabrielson added a solo shot in the eighth. Four home runs total for New York against a Toronto pitching staff that did not have one clean inning all afternoon.
The Yankees improve to 12-6. The rotation looked functional. Lagrange looked like something more than that.
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