The New York Yankees faced off against the Detroit Tigers on Friday afternoon, picking up their 12th loss of spring training 8-7. The Bombers went down early, giving up a 7–0 lead by the 3rd inning, but the backups fought resiliently, nearly completing the comeback.
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Good news for the Yankees:
Despite the loss, there were a few stand-out performers, notably Deivi Garcia, Tyler Danish, and a few offensive outings. We will start with the pitching today, as García lasted 2.0 innings, giving up two hits and a walk, striking out three batters in the process.
After Domingo German and Matt Krook gave up eight earned runs across the game’s first five innings, Garcia was a breath of fresh air who continued to strike out batters at an impressive rate.
Offensively, Oswald Peraza contributed a hit and two runs across three at-bats, elevating his batting average to .240 with a .387 OBP. Aaron Hicks contributed two hits, striking out once, seeing his numbers elevate to .276 with a .323 OBP this spring, and Estevan Florial was excellent.
Florial, across four at-bats, contributed two hits and three RBIs, courtesy of a single to right field and a ground out to second that drove in Oswald Peraza in the 7th inning. Wilmer Difo also got on the board, posting two hits, including a two-run homer in the 7th, driving in former first-round pick Spencer Jones.
The offense did enough to win this game, collecting 15 hits, but the pitching with simply inadequate, which is where we’re headed next.
Bad news for the Yankees:
German is expected to fill a starting rotation slot for the Yankees, with Frankie Montas and Carlos Rodon already missing time. German hosts an 8.71 ERA this spring, allowing seven earned runs and four homers across 2.2 innings against Detroit on Friday. This was easily one of the worst performances from any Yankee pitcher during spring training, and German will surely be looking to forget all about it.
Krook had a few decent moments, but one bad pitch stained his stat line. In the 5th inning, he gave up a homer to Andrew Knapp, who smacked two on the day. The pitchers gave up 13 hits and posted eight strikeouts with five homers allowed across 8.0 innings. A slight case of amnesia might do them well after today’s loss.
Offensively, there weren’t many bad performances, but Anthony Volpe failed to reach base across four at-bats, striking out once. This was easily Volpe’s worst day of spring training, but we are willing to let it slide since he’s been dominant over the past few weeks, hitting .294 with a .415 OBP.
One last point: While Hicks did have a much better day offensively, he endured one mind-blowing defensive error, calling off Volpe in the outfield on a fly ball and completely misjudging it, allowing it to fall to the ground. The Tigers ended up scoring two runs because of the error.
The Yankees will look ahead to Saturday when they take on the Toronto Blue Jays at 1:07 PM.