The New York Yankees took on the Boston Red Sox Sunday afternoon, securing a 3–3 tie. The Bombers featured Yoendrys Gomez on the mound, who performed well over 3.0 innings. In fact, the Yankees had a solid game, tallying 11 hits and eight strikeouts over 34 at-bats. There were a few stand-out performers, notably some of the top prospects.
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Good news for the Yankees:
Let’s start out with the Yankees’ top performer from Sunday, Anthony Volpe. Volpe has been tremendous this spring, recording another two hits across four at-bats. In fact, he slapped a homer to right field, elevating his batting average to .320 this spring with a .433 OBP and .680 slugging percentage. The way Volpe is playing, the Yankees may have no choice but to elevate him to the MLB, which would increase the likelihood of a trade for one of the Yankees’ infielders. Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Gleyber Torres stand out as the primary candidates.
In addition, the Yankees received two hits from Jake Bauers and an RBI single from Andres Chaparro, who’s hitting .333 with a .429 OBP this spring. As for the pitching, Gomez posted 3.0 innings of action, striking out four batters, walking three, and allowing one hit. He hosts a 1.13 ERA this spring, potentially putting himself in a position to make the 26-man roster. Ron Marinaccio had a flawless inning of work, striking out all three batters, utilizing his nasty fastball and change-up combination.
Greg Weissert had a successful inning of work, striking out a batter, and Demarcus Evans closed the game, giving up a hit and tallying a strikeout over one inning. Aside from Jimmy Cordero returning to earth, the Yankees’ pitching was stellar on the afternoon.
Bad news for the Yankees:
Before the game began, the Yankees scratched Anthony Rizzo due to a back issue. Management is taking precautions with Rizzo’s back ahead of the regular season. Aside from that unfortunate news, the Yankees had a few tough outings against Boston, notably Aaron Hicks, who struck out twice over three at-bats and lost a fly ball in the sun that landed fair in the field of play.
Hicks continues to bury his chances of offering reliable and consistent play, and with Rafael Ortega logging a ground-rule double over the right field wall, he’s making a strong push for the starting left field job. In addition, Cordero, who we referenced above, gave up three earned runs and four hits across 1.1 innings.
The Yankees enjoyed plenty of consistent performances in this match-up, but Hicks is the primary negative, presenting a liability in multiple facets, which has to be getting the attention of manager Aaron Boone, despite his confidence in the veteran.