The New York Yankees dropped a game this afternoon 4-2 to the Tampa Rays in Port Charlotte, during a fast-paced game of 2:22.
Just because the Yankees boarded their Spring Training bus for the 80-mile ride without Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, and other high salary Yankees, did not mean the game was not still packed with intriguing players for the 2024 season and beyond.
The front-loaded starting lineup featured returning 2023 players with raised 2024 expectations. Anthony Volpe, Austin Wells, Everson Pereira, and Oswaldo Cabrera formed the first four batters with a wildcard for the 2024/2025 seasons of Spencer Jones in the 7th spot. Projected number five starter Clarke Schmidt took the bump starting the game for the Yankees with Wells at catcher hoping to show he can handle the Yankee veteran pitchers to earn more time behind the plate this season. Wells needs to prove he can catch Yankee Ace Gerrit Cole to really make an undeniable mark for 2024.
Schmidt is a workhorse and more valuable than most give him credit for. He started 33 games last year and had 159 IP, which trailed only Gerrit Cole who had 33 GS and 209 IP. Cole and Schmidt were the only 2023 Yankees starting pitchers with at least 150 IP/30 GS.
Schmidt looked sharp over two innings allowing one earned run, striking out two with an easy fastball in the upper 90-mph range and paired with a sharp cutter. The Yankees hurlers spread 10 Ks through 8 IP across the Rays lineup.
A noticeably thicker Volpe went 1-3 with a triple in the top of the 6th to knock in Brandon Lockridge knotting the game up at 2-2. That triple highlighted the box score for Volpe, Wells, Pereira, Cabrera, and Jones who went a combined 2-14 on the day with one RBI, and 6 K’s. It was a hard hit pitch, up and out in the zone, as Volpe drove it the other way placing right fielder, Ruben Cardenas, in untenable no-man’s land as he dove for the ball, missing it and allowing the ball to keep rolling as the speedy Volpe glided into third.
One of the hopes for the shortstop his sophomore season is that he can maintain being a 20-home run, 20 stolen base player while making more consistent contact to raise his batting average, on base percentage and reduce his strikeouts. The more Volpe is on base, the more he can wreak havoc on the basepaths to help ignite the Yankee bats.
The Yankee bats remained quiet after the Volpe triple, and the bullpen combination of Ramirez and Burdi allowed two runs in the 6th and 7th for the Rays to overtake the Yankees.
Chase Hampton, looking to make an impact this year for the Yankees, came in to pitch the bottom of the 8th, pitched into and out of trouble allowing one hit, one wild pitch, one walk, and striking out two Rays. The next Yankees Spring Training game is Thursday evening against the Miami Marlins at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.
