YANKS TALK NEXT STEPS
Pitching coach Blake throws ideas at MLB on how to handle possible restart
TAMPA — Planning for what will be the most unusual season in MLB history, if there is a season this year, Matt Blake has to not only find the proper route back for his pitchers without risking injury, but he will need to find added depth in the organization to give them help. The Yankees pitching coach said this week that he has offered his opinion on a safe schedule for ramping up pitchers to MLB and that he feels the Bombers have the depth to get through it.
Blake and the Yankees had been preparing to start the season without James Paxton, who was working his way back from back surgery, and at least one pitcher had made his case to take the spot before the shut down.
“I think (Jonathan) Loaisiga was an interesting option. We kicked that around. Whether it was a full starter or opener or kind of a Swiss Army Knife role, but he had obviously really taken a step forward for us this year, which was exciting to see,” Blake said. “Seeing how J.A. (Happ) kind of evolved there in the spring from the work he had done [in] the offseason. So I think some of the guys that you are hoping we’re going to step up … [Masahiro Tanaka], in particular, had a really good spring to this point.
“So I think we were feeling really good about that group of Masa, Happ, [Jordan] Montgomery and Lo that we’re going to take the bulk of our innings in a certain way. And whether that fifth starter spot was solved at the end of spring training or not, it’s hard to say, but I know Lo would have been heavily involved in some part of that equation trying to find him the right amount of innings in different situations. But all those guys
were throwing the ball really well, so I think we’re feeling really good about the direction we’re heading in.”
And one silver lining in the delay of the season is that the Yankees might have more depth to start than they would have had the season started on schedule on March 26. While Luis Severino, one of the two pitchers who missed most of 2019 and sparked the Yankees’ changes, will obviously miss this entire year after Tommy John surgery, Paxton potentially could be back in the rotation for the new Opening Day.
After having surgery to remove a cyst from his spine in February, Paxton was optimistic that he could return in mid-May. He had just begun his throwing program when MLB shut down spring training on March 11. Blake confirmed that the left-hander’s progress has continued.
“So he’s been kind of building on that up in Wisconsin, and we’ve been able to keep tabs on this throwing program,” Blake said. “And overall, we feel really good about you know, his progression so far.”
But, Blake and the Yankees have to be careful protecting those pitchers in what will be the most unusual season in baseball history. The sudden stop and start of spring training because of the pandemic followed by an abbreviated ramp up and a heavy work schedule once the country is ready for baseball to return, is a recipe ripe for injuries, Blake admitted.
But at least, MLB is listening to the managers and coaches about what is best for the players. Blake and Aaron Boone gave the league some feedback about what they need to do to ramp back up. That includes a seven to 10day period of slowly getting the pitchers back on a mound and back up to intensity and watching how they bounce back.
“One thing that Boonie and I kicked around a little bit, you know, just trying to help … with the commissioner’s office, and they’re kind of crowdsourcing a little bit to have what’s necessary,” Yankees pitching coach said Wednesday. ”I don’t know if we need to play other teams, I do think that there’s probably a window where we should kind of have our own team together to kind of build up that first seven days or so before we throw them in competition against other teams just given that there’s too many variables that you can’t control in playing games against other teams.
“So there probably needs to be some level of flexibility early on, whether it’s in sim games against ourselves, or if you are going to play another opponent, you need to have some level of count control from the pitching standpoint to get guys the necessary work without overdoing it and running out of pitching because you’re kind of getting into these kind of unforeseen circumstances. So I do think there’s a window of time that as a group being together would be good just to kind of iron out some of the kinks of … then progress to those games.”