The New York Yankees are already getting ready to roll down in their spring training complex. Pitchers, catchers, and position players are already in the site, stretching, throwing, running, and preparing themselves for a full campaign.
And after receiving an injury blow in the form of Clarke Schmidt’s elbow woes that will prevent him from throwing in the next month, they got some good news this week regarding one crucial position players: third baseman Giovanny Urshela.
When Urshela had to undergo surgery to remove a bone spur from his right (throwing) elbow in the fall, it was initially reported that the third baseman would potentially miss some spring training games and perhaps be somewhat limited for at least the first couple of weeks of the regular season.
He will be ready to help the Yankees soon
However, he is ahead of schedule, and is recovering well from the surgery performed back in October. The infielder, who has been a revelation for the Yankees in the last two seasons, said his strength is close to 100 percent, and “he expects to resume hitting in live batting practice within the next two days†per MLB.com’s Yankees beat writer Bryan Hoch.
In fact, there is a really good chance that Urshela doesn’t miss any spring training games like previously anticipated, which would be ideal.
Having Urshela back, locked, and loaded starting from the beginning of the season would be a boon to the Yankees’ prospects of having a great start in the standings. The man that usually handles the hot corner is a notable contributor on both sides of the ball.
During the shortened 2020 campaign, Urshela hit .298/.368/.490 with six home runs, a .365 weighted On Base Average (wOBA) and a 133 weighted Runs Created Plus, or wRC+. His defensive and offensive prowess helped him accumulate 1.6 fWAR over 43 games.