TAMPA — And just like that, Camp Snooze is over — at least the Florida portion.
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A year after enduring a spring training from hell, given a spate of key injuries, the Yankees left the sunny confines of Steinbrenner Field on Sunday following one of their most boring camps in recent years.
“It’s never boring,” Aaron Boone insisted with a grin.
OK, so perhaps uneventful is more apt, but either way, the Yankees made it through six weeks without any major injuries, controversies or problems popping up.
They still have two more exhibitions against the Cubs in Arizona on Monday and Tuesday before they get to Wednesday’s Opening Day against the Giants, but they left Florida feeling good about their spring overall.
Aaron Boone watches during batting practice Feb. 20. Imagn Images
“I think for the most part, I feel like it’s been a very good spring for us as far as overall health, guys getting the right amount of reps and things, some of our young guys pushing for roles and real playing time are looking the part,” Boone said. “Like the place that our depth’s in right now. Feel like we can withstand some things and still flourish. But we’ll see now.”
The Yankees are set to begin the season with four players on the injured list — Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, Clarke Schmidt and Anthony Volpe — but all four had surgery well before arriving at camp and their rehabs have all gone smoothly.
In fact, Cole’s comeback was arguably the most exciting part of camp, right up there with top pitching prospect Carlos Lagrange mostly dominating and showing he is closer to the majors than the Yankees thought entering the spring.
The good health has put their starting pitching and lineup depth in a strong spot.
Heck, the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders should probably be heavy favorites to win the International League at this point, given some of the talent the Yankees are sending there because there is not room on the big league roster, including Jasson Domínguez, Spencer Jones, Oswaldo Cabrera, Elmer Rodríguez and potentially Lagrange, among others.
The Yankees are set to open the season with a four-man rotation due to multiple off-days over the first two weeks, squeezing Luis Gil out for now despite his strong finish to camp, though they are still deciding whether he will be on the roster as a piggyback pitcher or start the season in the minors until they need a fifth starter.
Aaron Judge is pictured during the Yankees’ March 22 spring training game. Imagn Images
Gerrit Cole throws a pitch during his March 18 appearance for the Yankees in spring training. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
“Having the depth that we have in pitching, I don’t think we’ve had that in quite a long time,” Aaron Judge said. “Even if you count the guys that are injured coming back — Rodón, Schmidt and Cole, you add those guys back, we have 11-12 starting pitchers deep. So that’ll be nice. But we got a lineup that was tied for the most wins in the AL, the best record in the AL. So you add those pitchers, you get [Cody] Bellinger back for another couple years, it’s only going to equal a better season for us.”
The Yankees even survived sending nearly half of their Opening Day roster to the World Baseball Classic, with all of their participants — most significantly Judge — appearing to have avoided any calamities, though the jury is still out on if it will affect them at all over the course of a long season.
As the Yankees broke camp, the bullpen still loomed as the club’s biggest question mark entering the regular season.
They were still finalizing the last two spots as of Sunday, and while the Yankees could potentially fold some starters into the bullpen once the likes of Rodón and Cole return, they still have to withstand the early weeks of the season until that is a possibility.
“I just want, really guys taking and grabbing and establishing some bullpen roles,” Boone said. “However we break, there’s going to be a few guys that don’t have a ton of experience necessarily or that are in that mix of a lot of competition, we could go a lot of different ways. But hopefully guys taking opportunities and establishing and growing in roles down there.”
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