MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: Brian Cashman spoke to reporters before yesterday’s game against the Blue Jays, and he reiterated his belief in this team, stating that they’re “capable of great things.” He pointed to the electrifying stuff many of their pitchers have shown early in camp, from Ryan Weathers touching 99.8 mph, to young prospects Carlos Langrage and Elmer Rodríguez demonstrating their immense potential. And of course, Cashman pointed to Gerrit Cole, who’s already run his fastball up to 97 mph against live hitters, 11 months removed from Tommy John surgery.
MLB.com | Jason Foster: Speaking of reasons for optimism, Carlos Langrage authored another great spring outing, this time fanning four batters in three scoreless innings on Friday against Minnesota. Langrage pushed his fastball a hair above 102 mph, and according to MLB Pipeline, he’s thrown the three fastest pitches across spring training thus far:
MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: Cody Bellinger is dealing with a back issue again, seemingly a similar ailment to one that bothered him early last season. “He’ll probably, I’m guessing, (miss) a couple of days,” Boone said Saturday. “He’s quite a bit better today. So we don’t think it’s anything.” Boone noted that Bellinger could be back in the lineup by Tuesday.
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New York Daily News | Gary Phillips: There aren’t many positional battles to follow in camp for the Yankees this year, with the main competition coming down to the underbelly of the bullpen and the end of the bench. As far as the bench goes, Amed Rosario and Paul Goldschmidt are locks as right-handed platoon bats, but the last two spots are still up for grabs. J.C. Escarra has a leg up as the likely backup catcher, but Ben Rice’s ability to catch gives the Yankees flexibility to break camp without a backup backstop. Oswaldo Cabrera would also figure to be a favorite, but Phillips writes the Yankees are “easing him along” and that the utility player may not be ready for Opening Day. That may open things up for Randal Grichuk, who just made it to camp and could be another right-handed bench option for New York.
New York Post | Greg Joyce: ($) The Yankees have two lefty relievers in camp who are likely to make their bullpen, Tim Hill and Ryan Yarbrough. If they want a more powerful lefty option, though, there seems to be a clear choice: Brent Headrick. The left-hander showed flashes in brief spurts in the Bronx last year, running his fastball up to 95 mph by the summer, while also posting a 2.63 ERA in Triple-A. With the team’s low-leverage bullpen slots unspoken for, Headrick has every chance to make the team with a solid spring.
