DEEP THOUGHTS
Boone trusts depth of Yanks as they get back to work
The Yankees know the value of depth. After going through a record-number of injuries in 2019, the Bombers understand how quickly a roster can change. This year, with a conronavirus-shortened 60-game season, one injury could be devastating.
So, Aaron Boone is going to err on the side of caution early on in this reboot of spring training. When the Yankees manager finally has his players back in the same ballpark — albeit not all at the same time thanks to the new health and safety protocols — he will go easy on his regulars.
“As much as there’s the urgency of a 60-game season, an injury can wipe out a season in a hurry if you’re forcing a guy more than they’re probably ready for early on in the season,” Boone said Wednesday on a conference call. “You have an injury in a 60-day season, now all of a sudden maybe it cost them half a year, or the season for that matter.”
Last year, Giancarlo Stanton missed 144 games with a left biceps strain and a left knee injury before hurting his right quad in the playoffs. Aaron Judge missed 54 games after straining his oblique in April and Aaron Hicks missed the first 41 games of the year with a back injury in spring training. Hicks then suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament and ended up playing just 54 regular season games.
Any one of those injuries this year would wipe out the regular season.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, which shut down baseball on March 12, the Yankees had already invested in depth — particularly in the outfield. They brought back veteran outfielder Brett Gardner, coming off a career year, in anticipation of Hicks not being ready until midseason in a usual year.
They expected to give Mike Tauchman, an outstanding defensive outfielder who the Yankees acquired in a spring training trade last year, playing time as well as Clint Frazier, the one-time top prospect who is trying to break his way into a regular spot in the big leagues. They will even rely on Miguel Andujar, who lost his spot as the Yankees starting third baseman after a season-ending injury the first weekend of the 2019 season, after he took to playing in the outfield naturally this spring. Andujar will also get time at third base to keep Gio Urshela sharp. Stanton suffered a strained right calf and played in just one game during the first spring training and Judge never got on the field because of a fractured rib and a punctured lung he suffered last September. While GM Brian Cashman was hopeful that Stanton and Judge would be ready for the new Opening Day, there is still reason to be cautious in ramping them up.
And it won’t just be in the outfield. Gary Sanchez missed 38 games with three different trips to the IL last season, so Kyle Higashioka will be needed a couple times a week.
Mike Ford not only gives the Yankees a lefty-hitting option at first base, but a way to regulate the work load of Luke Voit, who missed 35 games last season after suffering a sports hernia. Tyler Wade will likely get time at short and second base as the Yankees look to keep Gleyber Torres and DJ LeMahieu healthy.
“The bottom line is we’re going to try and make evaluations on an individual basis about where we think guys are physically,” Boone said. “If we feel like they’re ready after this three-week stretch to go and do their normal workload and play every day, so be it.
“But we also know and trust in our depth. If you look at our team, and if we’re fortunate enough to be healthy at the end of this camp, we feel like we have a lot of players that are capable of being everyday players that won’t necessarily be that. We’ll lean on those guys, especially in the early days, to make sure we’re building guys up properly.”