Clint: Give Yank bats a LITTLE time
Clint Frazier would like everyone to calm down. The Yankees starting left fielder said it’s just three games in the cold, so even though their bats looked lifeless in Sunday’s 3-1 loss to the Blue Jays at the Stadium, it’s not time to start worrying about the Bombers’ offense yet.
“To be honest, I don’t really feel like we’re clicking just yet,” said Frazier, who doubled and scored the Yankees’ only run Sunday. “I mean, obviously, it’s just a very small sample size. But there’s not really many pitching staffs that can really shut us down whenever we’re going.
“So I think it’s just a matter of getting back in the swing of things. And I think it’ll be good to have a night game tomorrow, just because the schedule hasn’t been the same as what we’re used to where we get to the field and get to take batting practice every day and go through the normal motions,” Frazier said. “So, I think it’s just a matter of time, obviously,”
In the three games against the Blue Jays, the Yankees hit .212 (22-for-104) with two home runs from Gary Sanchez. The Yankees were 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position Sunday and 4-for-24 for the threegame series.
“I mean, they held us down for the most part this weekend,” Aaron Boone said. “Obviously today we didn’t muster a lot of great scoring opportunities. It’s just a little bit of a cold weekend. Part of that’s them... we just were a little bit cold overall throughout.
“But these guys will get it rolling. I’m not too worried about it,” Boone said. “I mean, it’s frustrating anytime you don’t score runs, especially when you pitch pretty well.”
STANTON SITS
Giancarlo Stanton rested on Sunday after being the designated hitter in the Yankees’ first two games. Boone wanted to give him a day off and give Brett Gardner his first start of the season.
“G’s good, just wanting to get a lefty in there,” Boone said of Gardner, who played left field Sunday in the rubber game against the Blue Jays. “This is probably the best day to do that. I’m not gonna play G five days in a row, was kind of what I told him.”
The Yankees will do a lot of managing workloads this season as they try to get their injury-prone team through the season healthy. It will be a huge factor with their pitchers coming off last season’s strange pandemic-abbreviated season. It will also be a big factor in how Boone handles Stanton and Aaron Judge, both of whom have missed significant time to injuries over the past few years.
Boone said that he wants to ease Stanton into the season and the five-day rule is just for the beginning of the year.
“That’s just early. Going and trying to build these guys up smartly and safely, especially with wanting to get certain guys in the lineup too. Just trying to be a little strategic about that,” Boone explained. “I would expect him to be in there the next three days and then as we go out on the road trip and try and pick some spots here where I can get our guys that are obviously going to be playing every day, try and strategically get them a day to continue to build them up properly.”
Stanton went 0-for-8 with three strikeouts in the Yankees’ first two games. With him out, Boone used the DH to give Judge a day off his feet in the outfield. Clint Frazier, who made 27 starts in right field last season when Judge was injured, moved over there for a game.
BRITTON BUILDING BACK
Zack Britton is making progress in his rehab from surgery to remove a bone chip from his left elbow. The left-handed setup man had surgery last month and is expected out the first few months, but has already started building up to a throwing program.
“He’s doing real well. He’s got full range of motion, I think he is scheduled to start playing catch as early as this week,” Boone said. “But I would say he’s doing really well. He’s got, I think, full full range of motion back already. So the incision and the swelling and all that, which is the biggest hurdle to clear, initially is going really well for him.”
Britton is on the 60-day injured list, meaning he wouldn’t be available to come off the IL until at least the end of May. Boone says there is no rush.