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1. Spring Training opens. Pitchers and catchers reported Wednesday and the Yankees had a surprise player in camp: Didi Gregorius. He’s been working out at the minor league complex as he gets ready to play for the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic (here's grainy video of Sir Didi taking BP). Now 35, Gregorius is still playing. He hit .288/.346/.389 in the Mexican League last year.
“I feel like I sit up here every year and talk about the AL East, and for good reason,” Aaron Boone said when asked to size up the division (video). “There’s no question that it’s going to be tough. The division is real. We think we’re one of those teams that can go out and win it. But again, it’s February. All of us and them have a long way to go.”
Everyone who is supposed to be in camp is in camp. No delays or visa issues. The first Grapefruit League game is a week away. Until then, it’s bullpens and BP, and hoping no one feels a pop in their elbow. Here is what went down in Tampa the last few days. (I’ll put together a spreadsheet with the Spring Training broadcast schedule soon, I promise.)
Injury updates
The start of Spring Training is a happy time until the injury announcements roll in. It’s been a rough week around the league. Corbin Carroll, Jackson Holliday, and Francisco Lindor have hamate injuries. Anthony Santander needs shoulder surgery and will miss most of the season. Shane Bieber’s forearm is acting up. Spencer Schwellenbach is already on the 60-day IL with elbow trouble. Brutal, man.
The Yankees, knock on wood, appear to have escaped the offseason with no new major injuries. “As far as I know, I think we’re in a good spot,” Boone said. Cam Schlittler has some back inflammation and is limited to throwing on flat ground for now, per Erik Boland. Tests came back clean and it’s not considered serious (famous last words). Here are updates on the guys we knew were injured going into the winter:
Gerrit Cole (elbow) has thrown several bullpens and is a few weeks away from facing hitters in live BP. Boone floated the possibility that Cole will get into games before the end of spring. We'll see.
Anthony Volpe (shoulder) will start hitting in a week or so. That’s the last phase of his rehab. He’s been lifting weights, taking grounders, etc. (The injury is to his non-throwing shoulder.)
Carlos Rodón (elbow) isn’t far behind the other starters with his throwing program.
Aaron Judge (flexor) and Giancarlo Stanton (elbows) are good to go. No issues there.
Just to be clear on Rodón, he’s not behind on his throwing. His rehab is going well and he isn’t far behind where the healthy starters are at this point in the spring, if that makes sense. Also, Volpe is just moving on to the next phase of his rehab with the hitting. He’s not close to returning. It just means hitting is the last thing he got the okay to do. He and Rodón will miss the start of the season. Nothing’s changed there.
Last year Clayton Beeter (shoulder), Jake Cousins (forearm), and Trent Grisham (hamstring) all got hurt over the winter and we didn’t know about it until reporting day. Fortunately, there were no such surprise injuries this year. Now the Yankees just need to navigate the minefield that is the 34-game exhibition season. Fingers crossed they don’t lose three starters like they did last February/March.
Who’s doing what
Bullpens and live BPs and all that are underway. Here’s who did what this week (this is not complete, this is just what I’ve been able to glean):
Tuesday: David Bednar, Bryce Cunningham, Elmer Rodríguez, Max Fried, and Ryan Yarbrough threw live BP.
Wednesday: No idea.
Thursday: Brendan Beck, Luis Gil, and Adam Kloffenstein threw live BP.
Gary Phillips says Gil hit 95 mph on the scoreboard during his live BP, and these days they show Statcast data on the scoreboard. It’s legit (pitch and exit) velocity, spin, all that. 95 mph this early in the spring is encouraging. Gil’s velocity was down after the lat strain last year and the Yankees were being weird with the whole “he’s holding back to throw more strikes, trust us" thing. We’ll see what Gil looks like in actual games soon.
Anyway, Boone wasn’t asked about it, but I assume Fried will get the Opening Day start. Even this early in camp, you can read into who pitches when. Gil throwing two days after Fried lines him up to start Game 2 of the regular season (there’s an off-day after Opening Day). We have an entire Grapefruit League season to play. That is not set in stone. That’s just how the Yankees have those two lined up at the moment.
The first guys to throw live BP are the first guys to appear in Grapefruit League games. The minor leaguers, anyway. Veterans like Bednar and Fried (and probably Gil at this point) typically do more side work before diving into games. Rodríguez will surely make a start or two before leaving for the WBC. He’ll be in Puerto Rico’s rotation (I think) and the Yankees have to get him ready for that 65-pitch limit in the first round of the WBC.
Miscellany
Rule 5 Draft pick Cade Winquest told Phillips that he’s added a sinker. In the Top 30 Prospects piece, I noted Winquest “aligns perfectly with what the Yankees develop well, specifically low release point guys with room to add a sinker,” and it seems that happened. Is it a good sinker? We’ll find out when we see it in games … The Yankees had a meeting Thursday about the ABS challenge system and how they want to use it. I’ve had something on ABS on my to-do list since the start of the offseason and I’ll get to it at some point, but I do think the impact is being overstated. In the moment, getting a call overturned could be enormous, though over the long haul it won’t turn Aaron Judge into a .400 hitter or meaningfully chip away at the value of pitch-framing. Maybe I’m wrong. I dunno. There will be times it swings a game. Absolutely. Overall, it won’t change that much, will it?
2. Five more prospects worth knowing. Spring Training is underway and there is no better time of year to watch prospects. I published my annual Top 30 Prospects List last week and nine of the 30 will be in big league camp either as 40-man roster players or non-roster invitees. That includes five of the top six. Spring Training is the best time for prospect watching.
In addition to my Top 30, I also ran my Not Top 30 Prospects last week, and looked at the five prospects who fell out of this year’s Top 30 for whatever reason this week. Now I'm going to wrap up my annual prospect jaunt by highlighting five prospects who are worth knowing even though I don’t consider them among the system’s best. They’re prospects I feel like writing about, basically, so let’s get into ‘em.
OF Wilberson De Pena
Date of Birth: Nov. 10th, 2006 (age 19)Acquired: Oswald Peraza trade with Angels (July 31st, 2025)2025 Stats: .204/.320/.447 (92 wRC+), 5 HR, 9 SB, 13.1 BB%, 22.1 K% (122 PA in DSL)
The Yankees turned Peraza, who managed -0.3 WAR in 145 games with the Yankees, into an interesting enough prospect last summer. That slash line certainly doesn’t stand out, especially not as a Dominican Summer League repeater, but De Pena is super toolsy and ran a 104 mph 90th percentile exit velocity last year. That’s tippy top of the scale for his age group (18-year-old players averaged 100 mph in 2025).
De Pena looks the part in a uniform at 6-foot-2 and 185 lbs. He’s a great athlete and a great runner who is still learning the outfield after spending more time as an infielder as an amateur. The big drawback is his pitch recognition and chase tendencies. De Pena doesn’t swing and miss a lot, but he swings A LOT, so much so that it’s a problem. Hone the approach and he’ll become very interesting very quickly.
RHP Brian Hendry
Date of Birth: Oct. 11th, 1999 (age 26)Acquired: 2023 10th round, No. 312 overall ($47,500 bonus)2025 Stats: Did not pitch (Tommy John surgery rehab)
A senior sign out of Oklahoma State, Hendry has thrown only 18.2 innings as a pro because of injuries. He made three starts in April 2024, missed four months with an unknown arm injury, returned to make four starts that August and September, then blew out and had Tommy John surgery. It was his second UCL repair (also 2021). Hendry is either done or nearly done with his rehab, and will be ready to pitch soon.
When healthy, Hendry had banger stuff, touching 100 mph as a college reliever (it was more 93-94 mph as a starter in 2024) with an above-average slider and a show-me changeup. Given the injuries and his age, it’s about time to make Hendry a full-time reliever. Let him air it out for an inning at a time and keep pushing him up the ladder as long as he’s healthy. It’s top 10% stuff with bottom 10% durability.
RHP Andrew Landry
Date of Birth: Feb. 2nd, 2002 (age 23)Acquired: 2023 16th round, No. 492 overall ($150,000 bonus)2025 Stats: 4.34 ERA (4.14 FIP), 21.2 K%, 10.5 BB%, 41.3 GB% (112 IP at LoA, HiA)
Landry, a pitch data over performance prospect, was Will Warren’s teammate for a year at Southeastern Louisiana. After sitting 93-94 mph most of last season, Landry had a velocity spike late in the year, and was closer to 95-96 mph in September. He gets far down the mound, which creates a low release point and gives his fastball great angles. It gives hitters fits up in the zone.
Landry also has a curveball, a slider, and a split-change that was his best bat-misser in 2025. That 10.5 BB% does not tell the story about his strike-throwing. He has good command across the board and is one of the better locators in the system. Landry was in the Top 30 mix, and if the velocity spike holds early this year, then he’s suddenly an pretty interesting dude to track in 2026.
IF Jackson Lovich
Date of Birth: Nov. 18th, 2003 (age 22)Acquired: 2025 16th round, No. 494 overall ($150,000 bonus)2025 Stats: .636/.692/1.000 (351 wRC+), 0 HR, 3 SB, 15.4 BB%, 11.5 K% (26 PA in LoA)
Drafted out of Missouri, Lovich went on quite the heater after signing. He went 4-for-4 in his first pro game and had multiple hits in five of his six games, and an extra-base hit in five of his six games. Lovich hit the absolute crap out of the ball during his limited time with the Tarpons. Nine of his 19 balls in play were at least 100 mph, and 13 of the 19 were over 95 mph. Only five ground balls too.
The small sample size data matches the scouting report. Lovich is a bigger guy (6-foot-4 and 192 lbs.) with long levers and big power. The approach and contact rates are not great, which is why he was a 16th rounder and not a third or fourth rounder. Lovich played first base after signing because Tampa’s infield was crowded, though he played short in college and has experience all around the infield. We need to see him against better pitching, but when you hit the ball this hard, you’re on the radar.
RHP Bryce Warrecker
Date of Birth: Sept. 13th, 2001 (age 24)Acquired: 2023 20th round, No. 612 overall ($150,000 bonus)2025 Stats: 2.05 ERA (2.22 FIP), 28.2 K%, 6.0 BB%, 40.6 GB% (57 IP in HiA)
The third-to-last player drafted in 2023, Warrecker is a college starter turned pro reliever who spams his slider heavily. I think it’s two different sliders (a sweeper and a traditional slider that breaks more down), but, either way, he throws the slideball A LOT. You might remember Warrecker showing up on Pitching Ninja a few Spring Trainings ago:
The fastball isn’t anything special (low-90s), but Warrecker is a massive human (6-foot-8 and 225 lbs.) with big extension down the mound and an arm angle that is uncomfortably low for righty hitters. Guys like this tend to wind up on a 40-man roster and go up/down a bunch, even if they’re just righty specialists. Double-A hitters will be a good test for Mr. Warrecker this summer.
3. Rapid fire thoughts. We’re still not done with the World Baseball Classic roster moves. Yerry De Los Santos (Dominican Republic) and Tim Hill (USA) are in the Designated Pitcher Pool, per Michael Clair. They can be added to the active roster after each round. It’s not just an injury substitution thing. They can be added for strategic/performance reasons. If Hill gets the call and joins David Bednar (USA), Fernando Cruz (Puerto Rico), and Camilo Doval (Dominican Republic) in the WBC, the Yankees would have their top four relievers in the tournament. That is not exactly ideal, but it is what it is … Anthony Banda, who I mentioned as a possibly lefty relief target the other day, was traded to the Twins for international bonus pool money Thursday, so forget that. I am curious to see more of Brent Headrick, but I would welcome more lefty relief depth … And finally, the competition committee and the owners voted to enforce the rule that first/third base coaches have to stay in the coach’s box, per Jesse Rogers. Similar to the sticky stuff ban, this is not a new rule. MLB will just ramp up enforcement of a rule that is ignored. This is a thing now because coaches have started positioning themselves in a way to pick up on a pitcher’s tell, including looking directly into his glove to see his grip. The Yankees have done this. Remember all the arm waving at second base last year? That was done at times because first base coach Travis Chapman picked up the pitcher’s grip, relayed it to the runner at second, who then relayed it to the hitter. Now the base coaches have to stay in the box until the pitch is delivered. For the best.
Mailbag Questions of the Week
Craig asks: When was the last time (at least in the FA era) that the Yankees ran out a roster and starting 9 so much the same from one year to the next? With what result? It was the norm for decades but a total rarity now, right?
If not for Anthony Volpe’s shoulder surgery, the lineup to start the season this year would be the same lineup the Yankees ran out there in last year’s ALDS. That little turnover is rare but not unprecedented, even in the free agency era. Other than DH, the 2011 and 2012 Yankees had the same Opening Day lineup (position-wise, not batting order-wise):
C Russell Martin1B Mark Teixeira2B Robinson CanóSS Derek Jeter3B Alex RodriguezLF Brett GardnerCF Curtis GrandersonRF Nick SwisherDH Jorge Posada (2011) and Raul Ibañez (2012)
Those were the Opening Day lineups and also the Game 1 lineups in the postseason. The only in-season change either year was Ichiro Suzuki taking over left field in 2012 because Gardner missed most of the season after hurting his elbow diving for a ball in April. Also, the 2011 and 2012 rotations were almost the same too. Hiroki Kuroda replaced A.J. Burnett in 2012, otherwise Freddy Garcia, Phil Hughes, Iván Nova, and CC Sabathia were in the Opening Day rotation in both 2011 and 2012.
The 2011 Yankees went 97-65, won the AL East, then lost to the Tigers in the ALDS. Kuroda (and Michael Pineda) was the only notable offseason addition, so the Yankees more or less ran it back the next year. (They didn’t sign Ibañez until after Spring Training opened.). The 2012 Yankees then went 95-67, won the AL East, beat the Orioles in the ALDS, then got swept by the Tigers in the ALCS. Similar to 2011-12, the 2026 Yankees are hoping the bones of a very good 2025 team will take them into October.
Effectively Wild did a Stat Blast recently on teams with high and low roster turnover rates (here’s the spreadsheet) and found teams with little roster turnover tend to do better the next year than teams that rip their roster apart. There is selection bias there (bad teams are more willing to change things, good teams tend to stick with it, etc.), but stability is generally a good thing. As much stability as the 2025-26 Yankees? I’m not sure, at least not as far as the bullpen goes.
Anonymous asks: Is it the time to train Judge at first? While he's a good defender, he probably won't be for long and do you want your 34 year old giant outfielder running around out there? The Yankees have a glut of outfield options and nowhere to put them. This will protect Judge long term and also allows for more flexibility with G still at DH.
I don’t think it’s necessary yet. The Yankees could take a long-term approach with this and have Aaron Judge start working out there now in preparation for a move a year or two (or more) down the line rather than expecting him to pick it up in an offseason, but I don’t think it absolutely has to happen right now. Judge is still plenty good in the outfield and first base is crowded now. My guess is Judge will be the most of the time DH once Giancarlo Stanton is gone, but why not see if first base is viable first? Maybe there can be an intermediate step between right field and DH.
Kany asks: Aaron Judge was a strikeout machine in the minors and early in his MLB career. We know Spencer Jones has the same problem, maybe worse. Judge has become maybe the greatest RH hitter ever and he made tremendous progress in this area. What are Judge and Jones strikeout %, chase rate and other related comparables in the minors? Can there be any expectation that Jones can improve in this area in the way that Judge has, especially given their similar height?
We didn’t have chase rate and things like that back when Judge was in Triple-A. All we had back then was regular old strikeout rate and swinging strike rate, which is misses per pitch, not misses per swing. 2016 was Judge’s age 24 season. He started that year in Triple-A and finished it in MLB. Last season was Spencer Jones’ age 24 season. He started it in Double-A and finished it in Triple-A.
Here’s what we have for Judge then and Jones now:
2016 Judge in Triple-A: 23.9 K% and 11.7 SwStr%2016 Triple-A average: 20.0 K% and 10.8 SwStr%
2025 Jones in Triple-A: 36.6 K% and 19.7 SwStr%2025 Triple-A average: 23.1 K% and 12.4 SwStr%
Judge’s strikeout and swinging strike rates back then were much better than Jones’ are now, both overall and relative to the rest of the league. What were Judge's chase and whiff rates against individual pitches? I do not know, though I would hazard a guess they are better than what Jones showed last year.
I get why it happens (they’re both tall hitters with huge power and great athleticism for their size) but we have to stop comparing Jones to Judge. Judge is 1-of-1 and it is neither fair nor reasonable to expect anyone to follow his path. We have to let Jones be Jones. He strikes out and swings and misses much more than Judge did in Triple-A back then, and it’s really hard to be a good hitter while whiffing this much.
Lou asks: I wonder if at this point, given all the RHB OF of note left are all scrubs, and Goldy was out there, the signing is more about using his inflexibility to try to find a viable option elsewhere on the roster? We know Rice can catch, and we know that right now their 4th OF is either Stanton or a Utility guy if Dominguez doesn't make the team (and if he isn't playing every day, he shouldn't, IMO), so maybe if they can find someone more versatile than Escarra for the time being, they do it (Schuemann?) and see if something like Franchy Cordero or Lyle Overbay shakes loose at the end of ST? It might, it might not, but I also wonder if they do that knowing yeah, if we need an OF in a pinch, we have Cabby/Schuemann/Rosario on the bench and still have Goldy to play first if we need to move Rice behind the plate? Given that we've seen Pablo Reyes and Jahmai Jones at the end of the bench the last few years, maybe this different approach is something?
Yeah, I think there’s something to that. The Yankees knew they needed a righty bat, didn’t really like any of the righty bats available, so they pivoted to Paul Goldschmidt figuring a) he’s more likely to hit lefties than the Randal Grichuk/Tommy Pham types, and b) they can make it work with the roster even though it’s an imperfect fit. The Yankees do tend to wait until late in the offseason or even Spring Training to address their bench (which leads to Franchy and Rougned Odor types) and, if you want a righty bat, I can see how you’d prefer Goldschmidt to everyone else. Unless the Yankees are comfortable with Ben Rice as the backup catcher or Amed Rosario as the backup shortstop, Goldschmidt will push Jasson Domínguez to Triple-A. There’s no room for him on the bench. That said, the roster doesn’t have to be set for six weeks. Don’t worry about that right now. I don’t think there’s much more to it than wanting a righty bat, considering Goldschmidt the best righty bat, and getting him and worrying about the roster later.
Brian asks: I know you wrote this week you were out on signing Goldy. To me, it’s whatever but when Stanton goes on DL, they CANNOT play Goldy everyday. Need to call up Jasson. I’m pre angry because we both know they will just play Goldy everyday. “He’s a veteran, he’s earned it. He’s so important to this squad.” Boone, probably.
We’ve been through it enough to know that, when Giancarlo Stanton goes on the injured list, the Yankees will rotate players through the DH spot. Ben Rice got most of the starts there early last season, but Jasson Domínguez and Aaron Judge got DH starts too. I assume that will be true again. If Paul Goldschmidt hits, then play him. If he’s not hitting and Aaron Boone keeps putting him in the lineup, then it’ll be a problem. I didn’t like the signing, but I’m not gonna get worked up about him playing too much until it happens.
Rob asks: Could you see the Yankees playing Jazz in the OF in his walk year (sparingly, not starting of course)?
I think something very bad would have to happen for Jazz Chisholm Jr. to play anywhere other than second base this season. Someone would have to get hurt or really underperform. Jazz would play the outfield if the Yankees asked (he might not like it, but he’ll do it, similar to third base last year), but I don’t see the need to do it. The outfield’s full and the Yankees have an actual third baseman now.
Steve asks: Now that football season is over it’s now time to switch to baseball. Yay! One of the things that caught my eye at the end of the nfl season was Mathew Stafford winning mvp. If you watched any dodger game this year you would know that him and Kershaw were best friends growing up in high school. How crazy is it that they both won mvp? Insane really when you think about it. I know it’s not Yankee related but have you ever heard of two athletes growing up together being as successful as the both of them? Any idea who Judge’s bff was growing up!? Heh.
Kershaw/Stafford is the most well known “star players in different sports who were pals in high school” thing right now, at least among MLB and NFL fans. All-time, the top pairing has to be Frank Robinson and Bill Russell, who were on the same high school basketball team. As good as Kershaw and Stafford are, Robinson and Russell were inner circle Hall of Famers in their sports. They're the kings of this genre.
Here are a few other pairings I was able to dig up:
Phil Niekro and NBA Hall of Famer John Havlicek were childhood friends in Ohio and high school classmates.
Jayson Tatum and Matthew Tkachuk were childhood pals in St. Louis. They threw out the first pitch together at a Cardinals game in 2024.
Davante Adams and Joc Pederson were on the same high school football team in the Bay Area. Pederson was a well-regarded wide receiver recruit. The Dodgers had to give him a $600,000 bonus as their 11th round pick in 2010 to get him to commit to baseball.
Amir Garrett and Anthony Bennett, the No. 1 pick in the 2013 NBA draft, were on the same high school basketball team in Nevada.
Donovan McNabb and Antoine Walker were on the same high school basketball team in Chicago.
Here’s more on the top high school athlete and classmate pairings. There are a lot of same sport pairings out there too. Kris Bryant and Bryce Harper were friends growing up in Las Vegas. Pete Alonso and Kyle Tucker were high school teammates for a bit. Max Fried, Lucas Giolito, and Jack Flaherty were high school teammates. Hall of Famers Eddie Murray and Ozzie Smith were high school teammates.
I have no idea who Aaron Judge’s pals were growing up, but you’d be surprised how many players cross paths before becoming big leaguers. Judge was teammates with Taylor Ward at Fresno State. In the Cape Cod League, he was teammates with Michael Lorenzen, Jeff McNeil, and Luke Weaver. Gerrit Cole, Aaron Hicks, and DJ LeMahieu were teammates in the Arizona Fall League in 2011. It’s a small world.
(Send your questions for Friday's mailbag to RABmailbag at gmail dot com. The random Yankee series is on hiatus, but feel free to send in requests for if/when it returns.)