MLB.com | Ian Browne: George Lombard Jr.’s strong spring continued Wednesday as he took Red Sox ace Garret Crochet deep to lead off a Grapefruit League game. The Yankees’ top prospect pulled the ball 392 feet and it exited his bat at 104.2 mph. Crochet was “just trying to push it up in the zone instead of just throwing it up in the zone,” the 2025 AL Cy Young runner-up said after the game of the pitch that led to the long ball. “But that was a good swing, because it was still a good bullet by me.”
Lombard has flashed the leather at shortstop throughout camp, though he’s not expected to be in play for an Opening Day roster spot.
SNY | John Flanigan: Cam Schlittler has gotten the go-ahead to make his spring debut Friday against the Rays, easing concerns about his back. The starting pitcher was delayed earlier in camp due to back inflammation. Given his later start, it’s expected that he might only get stretched out to 65-80 pitches to start the season. Still, with fellow starters Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, and Clarke Schmidt expected to begin the season on the IL, the Yankees will take all the Schlittler they can get.
MLB.com | Alfred Santasiere III: In light of Schlittler’s scheduled return, what better time for a profile on the young right-hander? The sophomore touches on adjustments to big-league competition, evolving his pitch mix, and closing out the season strong. But the lion’s share of the Q&A provides a remarkably in-depth, sometimes inning-by-inning, breakdown of his instantly legendary performance in Game 3 of the Wild Card Series against his hometown Red Sox.
The Athletic | Chris Kirschner: ($) After the Dodgers’ repeat title last year, their blockbuster offseason acquisitions of Kyle Tucker and Edwin Díaz intensified backlash from many around the game decrying the lack of parity in today’s game. Don’t count the Yankees’ biggest stars among the detractors of LA’s approach. “They’re trying to get the best product on the field and finding a way to maximize whatever they can to get the best players,” says Aaron Judge, adding (perhaps pointedly), “I wish a lot of teams found a way to do that.”
“They’re maximizing their efficiency,” ace Gerrit Cole said in typically analytical fashion. “They are getting contracts that are making them better quality. It’s within the rules.”
Giancarlo Stanton lauded the Dodgers for creating “good buzz for baseball.”
Lastly, a couple Yankees went deep in World Baseball Classic exhibition play yesterday, with Aaron Judge launching a 453-foot moonshot for Team USA off the Rockies’ Kyle Freeland …
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… Paul Goldschmidt joining the Team USA slugfest by homering off John Brebbia …
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… and Jazz Chisholm Jr. belting a bomb of his own for Great Britain against Padres righty Eli Villalobos:
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