Yankees have quality and quantity to choose from






TAMPA, Fla. — A week into spring training games, the Yankees’ offensive approach has stood out the most to Aaron Judge.
For Aaron Boone, it’s the overall depth of the roster.
The Yankees, who had the first off day of their Grapefruit League season Monday — they will resume Tuesday afternoon in Lakeland against the Tigers — are off to a 4-3 start.
Spring training records are completely irrelevant, of course, but a small amount of seeds can be sown at this time of year for a successful regular season.
"I think our plate discipline has been great," Judge said Sunday after the Yankees worked six walks in a 4-0 win over the Phillies. "I think offensively the guys came into camp ready to go, that’s the biggest thing I’ve noticed. I haven't seen those games where guys are [giving away at-bats]. Guys are swinging the bat and they're getting after it."
Boone, meanwhile, has seen the organizational depth he praised throughout the offseason meet those expectations.
"I think our depth’s something that's kind of stood out to me," he said Sunday. "I feel like we have a lot of really good players and kind of going through it today, trying to get our lineups in place over these next handful of days. We have a lot of good players to get in there."
Indeed, with no starting position player battles in camp, the toughest job for the coaching staff and front office during the rest of spring training might be figuring out the bench composition of the 26-man Opening Day roster.
Brett Gardner, re-signed shortly before position players reported, definitely will make the club as a reserve, but he is the only one pretty much guaranteed of a bench spot for Opening Day. Boone indicated a crowded field is pursuing the remaining slots.
Among those are Mike Tauchman, who is out of minor-league options, and Jay Bruce and Derek Dietrich, two players whom the Yankees like quite a bit because of their history of success, defensive versatility and, perhaps most important, status as lefthanded hitters. There also are Thairo Estrada, Tyler Wade, Mike Ford and Miguel Andujar.
It will mean, one opposing team scout said, "a lot of quality players of theirs starting [the year] in Triple-A."
Most of the questions about the 2021 Yankees surround the members of the rotation behind Gerrit Cole. Corey Kluber and Jameson Taillon — two pitchers who haven’t thrown much the last two seasons because of a variety of ailments — have health concerns that they are trying to put behind them. Jordan Montgomery remains unproven, and there also is the matter of who will emerge as the fifth starter.
A week-plus into games, it has been encouraging across the board, particularly in the cases of Kluber and Taillon.
Still, as general manager Brian Cashman said late last week: "It’s early. So far, so good, I guess, is all I could say. We're at such an early stage of the game."
Both Boone and Judge at the start of spring training mentioned an overall hunger in the club born from the postseason disappointments of the last handful of years, most recently in 2020, when the Yankees fell to the Rays in five games in the Division Series.
"That's what I've noticed in the games I've played is the guys are ready to roll and they’re focused," Judge said. "You just see this different level of attention to detail, I think."
Said Boone: "I really like the work that the guys have been putting in. There's a businesslike kind of hunger and I feel like a one-mindedness that's taking shape. And going back to the beginning, just really pleased with where guys came in physically, and that's kind of manifested itself so far."
Kluber throws
The Yankees were off Monday, but there was some limited action at the club’s minor-league complex. The main event was Kluber throwing a three-inning simulated game, which he appeared to get through with no issues. He struck out three in two perfect innings against Toronto last Wednesday in his exhibition debut.