With the relieving news that Gerrit Cole might have avoided a worst-case scenario, the Yankees would press on in a game against the Red Sox at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Taking the mound for the Bronx Bombers was Carlos Rodón coming off of a disastrous outing against the Tampa Bay Rays where he allowed three runs in three innings of work. Searching for a confidence booster and an uptick in velocity, he would check both of those boxes, flashing a mid-90s fastball and looking nearly flawless in his four innings of work.
The offense would feature multiple everyday regulars, and they’d get some encouraging performances from some of their key position players as they walk away with a 9-4 loss against the Boston Red Sox.
Carlos Rodón Bounces Back in Yankees’ 9-4 Loss
The news on Gerrit Cole still leaves some unknowns regarding how long they’ll be without their ace, but the New York Yankees are certainly hoping someone can step up. Carlos Rodón is even more crucial to their success this season than before, and the team is hoping that he can bounce back in the biggest way possible. This outing certainly helped bring some optimism, as the southpaw delivered four innings of one-run baseball, but more importantly, he was sitting between 94-95 MPH on the radar gun.
His stuff looked sharp and the command, outside of one home run to Triston Casas, was pristine, as he continued to ramp up for the 2024 season. The Yankees are not moving him out of his spot as the second starter for the regular season according to Aaron Boone, so the candidates for them now are Nestor Cortes, Marcus Stroman, and Clarke Schmidt. One would imagine that Stroman, who was the Opening Day starter for the Chicago Cubs last year, is the name that makes the most sense, but as evidenced by last season when Jhony Brito was their third starter, the order is based on rest days.
Nick Ramirez and Ron Marinaccio would both surrender runs as they followed the Yankees’ presumed two starter, but the game would be blown wide-open by the Boston Red Sox in the seventh inning. Oddainer Mosqueda, who had been having a strong campaign in Spring Training up to this point, couldn’t keep the Red Sox off the bases, surrendering five runs in the inning. Clay Aguilar would have to finish the inning, getting the Yankees out of further trouble there. The Red Sox would tack on another in the eight as an error by Kevin Smith booted what could have been an inning-ending double play.
Trystan Vrieling, who is the 24th-ranked prospect in the Yankees’ organization according to MLB.com, was on the mound for that botched play but looked impressive nonetheless. His four-seamer was sitting between 94-96 MPH with good vertical life, flashing a promising cutter as well, and overall looking composed in his first outing of Spring Training. The right-hander is not expected to factor into the big-league equation this year, but seeing two innings of work with two strikeouts is certainly encouraging.
On the offensive side of the ball, Anthony Rizzo would continue his red-hot spring with a perfect 3-3 day at the plate, driving in an RBI as well. The left-handed first baseman is hitting .522 thus far and has consistently done damage to the baseball, an encouraging sign that he isn’t dealing with ailments from his concussion last season. A resurgent year from the former All-Star would greatly boost this Yankees’ lineup, which will be relied upon to put up big-time numbers with the discovery of Gerrit Cole’s elbow injury.
READ MORE: Yankees: Initial tests show no tear in UCL for ace; will miss 1-2 months with additional testing
Giancarlo Stanton, whom the Yankees are also hoping can rebound this season, added two hits in three trips including a double, as he’s starting to turn things around after a slow start to his spring. The new swing is supposed to lead to a better bat path, and we’ll wait and see how it plays when the games start counting in Houston. Gleyber Torres would deposit a baseball over the centerfield wall for a solo blast, as he’s quietly having a solid Spring Training as well, and hopes to build off of an excellent 2023 season where he hit 25 home runs and cut his strikeout rate below 15%.
Youngsters Anthony Volpe and Austin Wells both hit rocket doubles this afternoon, as the pair have had a strong showing in the Grapefruit League and are hoping to round out the bottom of the order with quality play. Overall, it was another productive showing for the Bronx Bombers, who will head to Lakeland to take on the Detroit Tigers as Marcus Stroman takes the bump against Casey Mize at 1:05; there isn’t a TV feed for this game, but there will be Statcast data.