CLEARWATER, Fla. — Yankees right-hander Adam Warren normally heads straight to the clubhouse after his spring training outings.
His Saturday routine changed.
Ellsbury’s cliche answer to lineup demotion query
After working two perfect innings as the Yankees’ starter in their 5-4 loss to the Phillies, Warren hung around in the dugout to watch the five Baby Bombers who were in the starting lineup get another at-bat.
“You kind of stick around a little bit longer and say, ‘Let me see what these guys have got,'” Warren said. “It’s a lot more enjoyable just to see the talent out there and how they compete.”
Most of the Baby Bombers did something to be noticed.
Gleyber Torres, a 20-year-old shortstop who is a top 5 prospect in baseball, was the Yankees’ star of the day with two doubles and impressive hustle in the fifth inning when he scored from second base on a wild pitch.
Third baseman Miguel Andujar, a hero in Yankees’ 9-4 win over the Phils in Tampa with a double and triple as a reserve, contributed again in his first start with a single and run scored in two at-bats.
Clint Frazier, also one baseball’s best outfield prospects, started in left and was 1-for-2 with a bloop single.
A day earlier, the Baby Bombers contributed seven of the Yankees hits and seven RBIs in the club’s winning spring opener, the highlight a long homer to left-center by rookie right fielder Aaron Judge that hit the scoreboard at Steinbrenner Field.
Yankees veterans have taken notice.
“There’s a little bit of buzz,” Warren said “I’ve seen Judge’s home run about 20 times already on the highlights. I think there’s a buzz and a little bit of energy with those guys. … It is spring training, but to come on a bigger stage and act like they’re just playing in the backyard, it’s pretty neat how mature they are.”
NOTABLE
— The Phillies scored three sixth-inning runs off lefty Daniel Camerena to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 5-3 lead. The tie-breaker came on an inside-the-park homer by Maikel Franco, then Rhys Hoskins followed with a homer to center to make it 5-3.
— Franco also homered in the third off lefty Dietrich Enns to tie the game 1-1.
— Warren retired all six batters that he faced on 27 pitches, 17 of them strikes. He’s one of five right-handers competing this spring for two open rotation spots, but assured of a middle relief spot if he isn’t in the rotation.
— Slugger Chris Carter a February free agent signee, debuted with the Yankees by going 1-for-3 batting cleanup and DHing. With the Phillies in a heavy left-side shift, the right-handed-hitting Carter rocketed a ground single between two infielders for a leadoff hit in the fourth.
— The Yankees’ three runs scored on two wild pitches. Andujar and Torres both crossed the on the second to give the Yanks a 3-2 lead in the fifth inning.
JOB FIGHT AT CATCHER?
Maybe Austin Romine isn’t a sure thing to be the Yankees’ backup catcher again this season.
Kyle Higashioka, a defensive whiz whose 21 homers in Double-A and Triple-A last season tied for the best among all Yankees minor leaguers, is a candidate for the job, manager Joe Girardi said in his Saturday morning presser.
“Oh yeah,” Girardi said. “Here’s another kid that was drafted (in the seventh round in 2008) … Maybe he didn’t get to where he wanted to get to at a certain point he had envisioned — (he) went through an arm injury, came back — but he’s really put himself on the radar and he’s going to catch in the big leagues, too, at some point.”
Romine made his spring debut Saturday and was 0-for-3 at the plate with a grounder to second and can-of-corn flyball to right.
LOOKING AHEAD
Sunday: Toronto Blue Jays at Yankees in Tampa, 1:05 p.m. LHP Brett Oberholtzer (3-3, 5.89 ERA in 2016) vs. RHP Luis Severino (3-8, 5.83 ERA in 2016), YES/WFAN
Monday: Yankees at Baltimore Orioles at Sarasota, 1:05 p.m., RHP Chad Green (2-4, 4.73 ERA in 2016) vs. RHP Ubaldo Jimenez (8-12, 5.44 ERA in 2016), MLB Network
Tuesday: Yankees (split squad) at Boston Red Sox in Fort Myers, 1:05 p.m. TBA vs. RHP Luis Cessa (0-0, 0.00, 2 IP in spring)
Tuesday: Detroit Tigers vs. Yankees (split-squad) in Tampa, 1:05 p.m., TBA vs. Masahiro Tanaka (14-4, 3.07 ERA in 2016).
Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.