Three Florida keys for Yankees' spring training
DJ LeMahieu of the Yankees throws to first base during a game against the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium on July 17, 2021. Credit: Jim McIsaac
THE HEALTH OF JAMESON TAILLON AND LUIS SEVERINO
One of these two is likely to slot in behind ace Gerrit Cole in the rotation, but each enters spring training with significant questions. Severino, 28, has pitched only six innings in the big leagues since returning last September from Tommy John surgery performed in February 2020. The one-time ace-in-waiting has appeared in seven games (three starts) and thrown a combined 18 innings since signing a four-year, $40 million extension in February 2019. Taillon, 30, answered many of the questions about him when he entered 2021 spring training, going 8-6 with a 4.30 ERA in 29 starts, but he’s coming off October surgery to repair a tendon tear in his right ankle.
WHAT TO DO WITH DJ
The Yankees at last pulled the plug on their Gleyber Torres-at-shortstop experiment in September, shifting him back to second base, where he had earned two All-Star bids. But that meant general manager Brian Cashman entered the offseason needing a shortstop — a pursuit that hasn’t yet been consummated — and that DJ LeMahieu would be something other than a full-time second baseman, a position at which he won three Gold Gloves while a member of the Rockies. LeMahieu, 33, is a more than capable third baseman and first baseman.
Coming off sports hernia surgery after experiencing a mostly miserable 2021 at the plate, he is a good soldier, but it’s unlikely that rotating among three positions is his ideal situation.
SEEING IF HICKS IS ALL RIGHT
Aaron Hicks, like Severino, received an extension in February 2019 (Hicks’ was a seven-year, $70 million deal). Like Severino, Hicks hasn’t been healthy. He has played in a total of 145 games since inking that deal, including the 32 games he appeared in last season before a tendon sheath tear in his left wrist led to season-ending surgery. Though he has an easygoing demeanor, the 32-year-old switch hitter is super-competitive but simply hasn’t been able to stay on the field. Though by all accounts Hicks is entering spring training healthy, it’s worth noting that former Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira (like Hicks, a switch hitter) had a similar procedure in July 2013, and though he played in 2014, the wrist didn’t feel completely right until 2015.
