March 25th, 2025: Goldschmidt, Smith, Yarbrough, Rodón, Leiter

I forgot to mention this a few weeks ago: When Max Fried made his Grapefruit League debut on March 3rd, it was his first time pitching at George M. Steinbrenner Field since way back on March 2nd, 2018. Do you know what Fried did that day? He struck out Russell Wilson. The Yankees traded for Wilson’s baseball rights that spring and had him come to camp for a few days to speak to their minor leaguers, and they gave him a token at-bat. Fried, then a 24-year-old rookie, was on the mound for the Braves that afternoon. The Yankees still control Wilson’s baseball rights, I believe. He’s been on the minor league restricted list since March 7th, 2018, indicating he’s in the organization but not taking up a roster spot. First Billy Crystal, then Russell Wilson. I wonder which random celebrity the Yankees will parade around Spring Training and give an at-bat to next? Here are my 2025 bold predictions and here now is today’s post. It's a busy week, so let’s stick to the news and notes.

1. Grapefruit League observations. Smart move by the Yankees getting their worst loss of the season out of the way in Spring Training. They took a 7-0 lead into the ninth inning Saturday, then the Phillies scored eight runs against Eric Reyzelman and Leonardo Pestana (box score). Robert Moore, Dayton’s son, hit the go-ahead three-run homer off Pestana. The Yankees put the first two runners on base in the bottom of the ninth, then, in true Yankees fashion, banged into a rally-killing double play. They finished Grapefruit League play with a 14-13-5 record and +16 run differential, and a 10.80 ERA in the ninth inning. Yeah, that tracks. The minor leaguers had some wretched ninth innings this spring. Here are a few thoughts on the last few days.

Goldschmidt at leadoff

Paul Goldschmidt returned to the lineup Saturday (one day later than expected) after being slowed by an achy back last week. And in his first game back, Goldschmidt hit leadoff. It wasn’t a “get the veteran more at-bats in Spring Training” thing either. The Yankees faced lefty Jesús Luzardo on Saturday and they’re at least considering Goldschmidt at the top of the lineup against southpaws.

“I’m sure I have. Obviously it’s been a while. I’m sure before my professional career, maybe in the minors or something,” Goldschmidt told Gary Phillips about hitting leadoff, adding he told Aaron Boone he’ll hit wherever they want him. “But I’ve led off plenty of innings. It’s just that first at-bat, which sometimes can be a little different, but I’ve hit second plenty and done it, so it’ll be fun.”

Goldschmidt hit .295/.366/.473 (134 wRC+) against lefties last year (88 wRC+ vs. RHP) and that’s a guy you want hitting high in the lineup against southpaws. The leadoff spot makes it more likely he’ll get that third at-bat against a lefty starter compared to keeping him in the cleanup spot. It’s unconventional and he’s never done it, but sure, Goldschmidt leading off against lefties makes sense to me.

My question is what the heck is the lineup against lefties after Goldschmidt and Aaron Judge? Is it this?

1. 1B Paul Goldschmidt
2. RF Aaron Judge
3. CF Cody Bellinger (106 wRC+ vs. LHP in 2024)
4. LF Pablo Reyes
5. SS Anthony Volpe
6. 2B Jazz Chisholm Jr.
7. DH Jasson Domínguez
8. C Austin Wells
9. 3B Oswald Peraza

Chisholm and Wells both had issues with lefties last year (and Jazz throughout his career), and the right side is Domínguez’s weaker side. Same with Oswaldo Cabrera, who’s on the bench for Peraza in that scenario. Maybe the Yankees should just keep Ben Rice at DH against lefties, keep Domínguez in the outfield, and put Reyes at third? The 1-2-3 is pretty solid. The 4-9 spots against lefties are a mess.

Over the weekend Brian Cashman told Bryan Hoch he is “definitely keeping the phone lines open” before Opening Day, with a righty bat of particular interest. I mean, duh. Look at that lineup. The Brewers traded Mark Canha, who was on a non-roster deal, to the Royals over the weekend. He would’ve helped against lefties for sure, but would’ve been an imperfect roster fit as a first base/corner outfield guy.

“I’d be happier if I could line up some choices for our manager,” Cashman told Phillips. “… There’s a lot of teams looking for right-handed balance throughout the game. Not just us.”

We know the Yankees have a thing for roster moves right before Opening Day. It was Jon Berti last year, Franchy Cordero the year before, etc. Peraza hasn’t impressed this spring and I wonder if the Yankees would cut bait on him, rely on Cabrera/Reyes as the backup infielder, and use Peraza’s roster spot on a bigger righty bat. Garrett Cooper came up in the mailbag recently. Buddy Kennedy didn't make the Phillies and will be traded or DFAed. Maybe it's one of them?

I understand Giancarlo Stanton got hurt and that took away an important righty bat, but dudes, Stanton missing time is not a surprise. The Yankees had issues with lefties last year too. The need for a righty bat didn’t pop up out of nowhere. If only teams stopped playing games for a while, giving the front office a chance to address any roster needs. A period of time when the season is “off,” perhaps. Alas!

Latest roster moves

The last weekend of Spring Training is always busy. Here are the moves the Yankees have made since Friday’s post, which brought the Opening Day roster into focus but did not entirely set it just yet:

• Signed Ryan Yarbrough to a Major League contract. He’s in the bullpen.

• Dom Smith used his opt out clause. Today’s the deadline to add him to the 40-man roster.

• Carlos Carrasco was added to the 40-man roster to prevent him from using his opt out.

• Gerrit Cole was placed on the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot for Carrasco.

• Luis Gil was placed on the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot for Yarbrough.

• J.C. Escarra was informed he’s made the Opening Day roster.

• Colten Brewer, Geoff Hartlieb, Ismael Munguia, Wilking Rodríguez, Andrew Velazquez, and Rob Zastryzny were reassigned to minor league camp. 

• Braden Shewmake was optioned to Triple-A Scranton.

Here’s Boone telling Escarra he made the team and here’s Escarra telling his family. What an awesome moment. The guy nearly quit baseball two years ago, he had to work as an Uber driver while playing independent ball to pay his rent, he did some substitute teaching along the way, and now he’s a New York Yankee. Pretty darn cool. Here’s more on Escarra’s story.

“I mean, how can I (not think about quitting) when I was making $400 every two weeks in indy ball, playing overseas, playing winter ball, having all those odd jobs just to provide for my family?” Escarra told Phillips. “There was a time I was going to hang it all up. And I believed it. I believed it was time to move on and see what’s next. But I’m glad I didn’t.”

The Carrasco move was expected. Smith too. He’s redundant with Escarra and Rice, two similar lefty hitting first base/DH types, except those two can also catch. Smith seems like a swell guy who genuinely enjoyed his time with the Yankees this spring, but there’s not really a role for him. The Yankees need a righty bat with versatility, not another lefty landlocked at first base. Unless there’s an injury we don’t know about, they’ll let Smith go today.

Two weeks ago I mentioned Yarbrough had an opt out coming up and said he would make sense as a second lefty/swingman, and now here he is. He opted out of his Blue Jays deal over the weekend and landed in pinstripes. It was my favorite type of free agent signing: Yarbrough walked into the clubhouse in Tampa on Monday and told the beat reporters he’d just signed a big league contract. 

"There were other teams, but this was by far the team I was most interested in,” Yarbrough told Chris Kirschner. “I've heard a lot from the pitching side. What they've been able to do with guys. That was exciting and intriguing to me.”

Now 33, Yarbrough had a 3.19 ERA (4.64 FIP) in 98.2 relief innings with the Dodgers and Blue Jays last year. The last pitcher to throw that many innings while making zero starts was (surprise!) Scott Proctor. Joe Torre had him throw 102.1 relief innings in 2006. Yarbrough is a bit redundant with Tim Hill as a funky soft-tossing lefty, but the Yankees just need innings at this point, and he can give them. A rubber-armed swingman is a good add.

Yarbrough got stretched out to two innings and 42 pitches with the Blue Jays this spring before opting out. “At this point, I’m ready to rock and roll,” he told Jorge Castillo. Set the minimum to 700 innings, and here is the exit velocity leaderboard since 2018, Yarbrough’s first MLB season:

1. Ryan Yarbrough: 85.1 mph
2. Zack Wheeler: 86.2 mph
3. Kyle Hendricks: 86.2 mph
4. Tyler Anderson: 86.8 mph
5. Max Fried: 86.9 mph
(MLB average since 2018: 88.7 mph)

Unlike Hill (and Fried), Yarbrough’s not a ground ball pitcher. He’s a fly ball/pop up guy. He’s been around. If you’re reading this, you’ve seen Yarbrough shut the Yankees down at some point. If you can’t beat him, sign him, right? Castillo says Yarbrough gets a $2M salary with $250,000 in incentives. Those are the same terms as his Blue Jays contract. Add in the 110% luxury tax rate, and Yarbrough will cost the Yankees $4.4M this year.

Cashman said Clarke Schmidt (shoulder) and Ian Hamilton (infection) will begin the season on the injured list because they’re still getting built up. Schmidt came through last Thursday’s live BP well and threw his usual between-starts bullpen Sunday. Hamilton pitched Sunday. It was his second spring outing. Schmidt and Hamilton are healthy and on their way back. They just won’t be ready for Opening Day.

Hamilton’s injury knocked the Yankees down to five Opening Day bullpen locks: Fernando Cruz, Tim Hill, Mark Leiter Jr., Luke Weaver, and Devin Williams. Yarbrough is No. 6. I think we can safely assume Yoendrys Gómez is No. 7. He had a really good spring and he’s out of options. The Yankees can carry Gómez a little longer and see how things go. No need to rush into a roster decision now.

Brewer, Hartlieb, Rodríguez, and Zastryzny being sent to minor league camp means Yerry De Los Santos and Brent Headrick are the last candidates standing for the final bullpen spot. The Yarbrough signing is probably bad news for Headrick. The Yankees don’t need to carry two lefty long men, do they? Headrick hit 97.8 mph (!) last Friday, you know. Prior to this spring, the fastest pitch of his career was 95.5 mph. Hmmm.

There is still time for the Yankees to add another arm from outside the organization. The Rangers put Dane Dunning on waivers over the weekend. He stunk last year, but had a 3.70 ERA (4.27 FIP) in 172.2 innings in 2023, and is the kinda sinker/changeup guy the Yankees prefer. If they’re willing to take on $5.586M ($2.66M salary plus $2.926M luxury tax), Dunning’s worth a claim. He has an option remaining too. Would the Yankees commit close to $10M on Dunning and Yarbrough? Seems unlikely, but maybe.

Optioning Shewmake and letting Smith walk means either Pablo Reyes will be on the bench, Alex Jackson will be on the bench, or the Yankees will add a hitter between now and Thursday. There’s no reason to carry a third catcher. Sorry, Alex. It’ll be Reyes or someone new. Or maybe Oswald Peraza goes? I dunno. As of Sunday, he had yet to be informed about his roster status.

“They haven’t told me anything. We still have two more games left. For me, it’s just to focus on my job,” Peraza told Greg Joyce on Sunday. “… Just waiting to see. Definitely a decision that’s not up to me. Just looking for the opportunity. If it’s there, I’ll be right there to take advantage.”

Even after putting Cole and Gil on the 60-day injured list, the Yankees still have 40-man roster flexibility. Jonathan Loáisiga said he hopes to return in late May/June, so he’s another 60-day injured list candidate. Probably Stanton too, and maybe even a few others. Shewmake is easily DFAable. If the Yankees want to add a righty bat or bullpen arm, making room on the 40-man will be a piece of cake.

The only remaining Opening Day roster questions are whether De Los Santos or Headrick gets the final bullpen spot (or the Yankees make another pitching addition, I suppose), and which two of Peraza/Reyes/outside addition are on the bench alongside Escarra and Trent Grisham. The roster at the end of the season rarely looks like the roster that starts the season. Feels like that will be especially true this year.

Miscellany

We finally got another look at Carlos Rodón on Friday. The Opening Day starter has done most of his work in live BP and sim games this spring because his turn kept coming up on road trips. Friday was his first Grapefruit League game since Feb. 27th and he pitched well enough against a representative Tigers lineup: 4.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K (video) on 77 pitches. Rodón’s next start will be the first game of the year that counts … Mark Leiter Jr. returned to the mound Saturday after being slowed by a sore back. He struck out all three batters he faced, threw the two fastest pitches of his MLB career (94.3 mph and 94.4 mph), and got four whiffs on four swings. Bottle that guy up and send him to the Bronx. Leiter’s thrown the five fastest pitches of his MLB career this spring and he’s only thrown 3.2 innings. Huh … Random minor leaguer who stood out this spring: Brendan Jones, last year’s 12th round pick. He won my Best Pro Debut award and went 5-for-16 (.313) with a double, four walks, and four strikeouts this spring. Jones really battles at the plate. I was impressed with his at-bats. Hopefully he builds on this spring and becomes a nice late-round find … And finally, this has nothing to do with on-field action, but I have to mention it. The Yankees’ social media team put out a video over the weekend asking the players about their favorite places to eat in New York. Most of them named a high-end steakhouse or whatever, then Andrew Velazquez said he’d get a bacon, egg, and cheese for breakfast, and pizza and a peach Snapple for lunch. That gave me a good laugh. You can tell he’s from the Bronx, eh?

Injury updates

Nothing new to report on Stanton (calf, elbows). He’s receiving treatment and not doing much of anything baseball-wise. "We're all hopeful that we can get him back him down the line, but that's not in the near-term,” Cashman told Kirschner (subs. req’d) … DJ LeMahieu (calf) is hitting off a tee and taking ground balls, and that’s about it. He’s not close to returning either … Clayton Beeter (shoulder) will be out “a while,” Cashman told Kirschner (subs. req’d). Beeter’s shoulder began acting up over the winter and he resumed throwing a few weeks ago. Cashman saying he’ll be out “a while” makes me think Beeter had a setback, but I don’t know that for sure. Either that or they’re really slow playing his build up, which isn’t unreasonable given his injury history.

Up next

One more exhibition game, then it’s Opening Day. Here’s what’s coming up this week:

• Tuesday at Marlins: Will Warren (1pm ET at loanDepot Park, no TV)

• Wednesday: off-day

• Thursday vs. Brewers: LHP Carlos Rodón vs. RHP Freddy Peralta (3pm ET on ESPN)

No, today’s exhibition game will not be televised. The game is being played in a Major League stadium and there is no broadcast because the Marlins are cheap asses. Maybe the Yankees should have sent a YES crew to Miami, but it is only an exhibition game. This isn’t on them. This is on the Marlins. There’s a game involving MLB teams in their stadium and they’re not broadcasting it. Weak, man.

The Yankees will see Peralta, Nestor Cortes, and Aaron Civale in that order in the Brewers series. I hope Nestor gets a nice hand during Opening Day baseline introductions. He was a good Yankee. Rodón, Max Fried, Marcus Stroman, and Warren will start the first four games in that order. The Yankees are still deciding where to slot in Carlos Carrasco. Off-days give them flexibility for Games 5-7.

And finally, yes, Opening Day at Yankee Stadium is an ESPN exclusive. Joe Buck, Joe Girardi, and Brewers analyst Bill Schroeder will be in the booth, not the usual Sunday Night Baseball crew. YES will have pregame and postgame, but not the Opening Day game itself. The first YES broadcast of the regular season will be Game 2 on Saturday, after Friday’s off-day.

2. Rapid fire thoughts. Terrible news came across over the weekend: Brett Gardner’s youngest son, Miller, died in his sleep Friday after falling ill during a family vacation, the Gardners announced through the Yankees. He was only 14. Here are the family’s and team’s statements. I can not possibly imagine what Brett and his family are going through. How awful.