San’ blaster
Girardi to shift red-hot catcher around lineup
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — The Yankees didn’t bring Brett Gardner or Jacoby Ellsbury to Charlotte Sports Park on Tuesday, so that gave Joe Girardi a reason to hit Gary Sanchez second in the lineup.
And it’s becoming obvious the catcher will hit wherever he is in the order. He went deep again in a 10-6 loss to the Rays, sending one out to rightcenter off Jake Odorizzi. It was Sanchez’s fourth homer of the Grapefruit League season as he has shown no signs of slowing down after last year’s historic start to his career.
“He’s had a really good spring training,” Girardi said. “It’s important we get him through it healthy.”
There seems to be little doubt Sanchez will be able to continue to hit at a high level in his first full season in the majors. He’s 10-for-29 with six extra-base hits. And Girardi is already trying to come up with how to get the most out of him.
“I’m going to look at everything,” Girardi said of the lineup. “I talked about maybe breaking up the left-hand hit- ters. It’s something that as we get a little bit further on, another week or 10 days when your lineups are completely together more, you’ll talk about doing what you foresee.’’ Mason Williams played his first game of the spring after being out with a strained left patella and went 0-for-2, while getting the start in center.
Once one of the organization’s top prospects, Williams has battled knee and shoulder injuries and played just 20 MLB games.
He’s 25 now, but Girardi remains high on the lefty swinger.
“I still think he’s a good pros- pect and player,’’ Girardi said. “He hasn’t had consistent time, but, you know, he got hurt. When he’s been up, he’s played pretty well. I’ve seen there’s more life to his bat. The big thing for him is to stay healthy.”
That’s something he has not been able to do. Girardi admitted he “holds his breath a little bit” when tuning in to watch the WBC. Dellin Betances is pitching for the Dominican Republic, a good bet to make a long run in the tournament. Considering how much the Yankees have used him over the past three years — and his importance to the team — it’s understandable why Girardi might be concerned about the right-hander.
He’s helped by the fact his first base coach, Tony Pena, is managing the Dominican squad.
“There’s a lot of pressure on those managers — not only to win, but probably more important how they handle the pitching staff,’’ Girardi said. “It’s really difficult. Tony understands what he needs to do. He’s going to try to protect everyone as much as he can, without having to forfeit a game.” And the fact Masahiro
Tanaka is in Tampa and not in the WBC is a relief.
“When it comes to it, you want to give your players the opportunity, but you don’t have a problem with it when they say no,’’ Girardi said.
James Kaprielian threw a light side session and could make his Grapefruit. League debut as soon as Thursday, according to Girardi.