James Paxton started and went through the motions for 5.2 innings until reaching his pitch limit. He struck out five and allowed two runs. Next time we see him will be next Saturday, in the second game of the regular season. Luis Cessa was betrayed by his defense and charged with a run in 1.1 innings in his final tune-up outing of the spring. All in all, a good day. Here are the box score and video highlights, and here are the day’s notes from Spring Training:
- Luis Severino (shoulder) played catch at 90 feet again today. He’ll stretch it out to 120 feet next. “Moving in the right direction. Today was a good day,” said Aaron Boone. Severino played catch two days in a row, rested the third day, then played catch two days in a row again. Based on that, I assume tomorrow’s rest day. [Bryan Hoch]
- Aaron Hicks (back) still hasn’t resumed baseball activities. The hope is the Yankees can “start ramping him up” with his core work tomorrow. Hicks and the other injured players are staying behind in Tampa to continue their rehab work, which I guess means we won’t see them during the Opening Day baseline introductions. Lame. [Coley Harvey]
- In case you missed it earlier, the Opening Day roster has been finalized and it will include Stephen Tarpley and newly acquired Mike Tauchman. The official roster announcement will come in a few days. Tauchman will join the Yankees in Washington tomorrow. [Randy Miller]
- Tyler Wade was optioned out today. “It blindsided me … Just the way I performed this spring, I did everything they asked me to do. I played well. I made the adjustments offensively, and now it’s my defense that’s not good enough,” said the refreshingly candid Wade. This feels like the Francisco Cervelli/Chris Stewart situation back in 2012. [Coley Harvey, Erik Boland]
- And finally, Orioles righty Alex Cobb left yesterday’s start with a groin issue. He will see how he feels during a bullpen session tomorrow. Andrew Cashner made an abbreviated two-inning tune-up start today in case he’s needed to start Opening Day on short rest. Long story short, the Yankees might see Cashner rather than Cobb on Thursday. [Joe Trezza]
So long, Florida. The Yankees are done with Grapefruit League play and will close out the spring season with an exhibition game at Nationals Park tomorrow, weather permitting. There is rain in the forecast throughout the evening. Nestor Cortes is scheduled to make that start. I assume J.A. Happ will stay behind in Tampa and pitch in a minor league game to avoid having his final spring tune-up start rained out. Anyway, tomorrow’s game will be televised live, assuming they play.