Rivera a few days ahead of schedule

TAMPA, Fla. -- Mariano Rivera both reported to spring training and threw his first bullpen session earlier than expected. It wasn't scheduled that way. It's what he chose to do.

Rivera, 42, took the mound early Sunday morning in chilly temperatures -- low 50s -- and light rain. He threw 22 pitches as Joe Girardi and pitching coach Larry Rothschild watched.

"It was good," Rivera said.

The closer said he has a simple goal for his first bullpen session. "Try to stay sharp, find my strike zone and try to repeat the same pitch over and over, that's what I tried to do here," he said. "For the first time [it was fine]."

Rivera is expected to throw his typical six to eight exhibition innings. "I'm pretty sure he knows what he needs to do," Girardi said. "When he says he's ready to go out there, he's ready to go."

Romine has MRI

Austin Romine, trying to win the backup catcher's spot, had an MRI on his sore back Saturday that revealed mild inflammation. "He'll be down a little bit, but it's something where he'll be back," Girardi said. "We're going to make sure it's knocked out before we send him back out."

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Said Romine: "You know when something's really wrong, and I don't have that feeling. It's not something I'm worried about."

Swisher on Lin

It was Nick Swisher's turn to talk about the Jeremy Lin phenomenon. "It's absolutely crazy," he said. "I think it's great for the game, I think it's great for sports. He's a great role model for young kids. Man, you have the Giants who won the Super Bowl. Let's get the Knicks to win the NBA championship and then we'll just do that triple dip, winning that World Series, and I think New York would be pretty proud of us at that point."