March 5th, 2024: Rizzo, Volpe, Bullpen, Davis, Spring Breakout

We began our season preview series at CBS on Monday and I wrote our Yankees preview. I’m writing for a different audience there, so it’s not particularly in-depth, but that’s there if you’re interested. We are three weeks and two days away from Opening Day. Slowly but surely, we’re getting there. Here now is today’s post as George Lombard Jr. and his father exchange the lineup cards.

1. Grapefruit League observations. I know it’s only Spring Training, but man oh man do I love Juan Soto. The guy’s at-bats are must-see television. “I knew I would enjoy watching him, but, like, I love watching him,” Gerrit Cole told Greg Joyce after Soto went 2-for-2 with a walk, a double, and a homer Friday. He went deep again Sunday. If the Yankees don’t re-sign this guy, we riot. Here are a few thoughts on the last few Spring Training games.

Rizzo’s two taters

Turns out Anthony Rizzo can still hit when he has a functional brain. I’m not even joking. Rizzo was lost following the collision with Fernando Tatis Jr. last year. He couldn’t recognize pitches and the swings he took were nothing particularly close to his “A” swing. Rizzo hit one homer – one! – in 46 games and 192 plate appearances after the collision. He hit two homers in two at-bats Friday night (video).

“Not that I’m a superhero, but I feel like I’ve got some superpowers back,” Rizzo told Bryan Hoch following Friday’s game. “I can see the ball the right way again and feel like I can do damage.”

Rizzo is 4-for-9 with the two homers in the early going this spring. It’s March 5th though. Stats and wins don’t matter. What does matter is Rizzo looks healthy. Could he have hit Spring Training pitching after the collision last year? I don’t think so. He looked that bad. Rizzo looks like himself at the plate now, not like the imposter who played through post-concussion symptoms for two months last summer.

Soto and Aaron Judge are the stars of the show. They’re the headliners and the guys the other team will gameplan around, but man is Rizzo important. He figures to hit cleanup behind Soto and Judge, and those two are going to create a lot of opportunities. Rizzo is the perfect kinda old school RBI guy to hit behind them. Seeing him look this good early in camp is so encouraging. It's exactly what I hoped to see.

“I know who’s hitting in front of me,” Rizzo told Hoch. “... It’s very, very comfortable. I’ve hit behind Judge pretty much since I’ve been here, so there’s a comfort hitting behind him. Now with Soto in front of him, it’s just a whole other layer of an at-bat.”

Volpe’s new flat swing

Objectively, Anthony Volpe’s rookie season was not good offensively. He was the first Yankees rookie to go 20/20 and that’s cool, but .209/.283/.383 (84 wRC+) with a 27.8% strikeout rate is not good. It’s not good for a rookie, it’s not good for a shortstop, it’s not good for a rookie shortstop. Specifically, Volpe had trouble with elevated fastballs and anything with spin away.

Adjustments will be necessary for Volpe to improve his offense and he showed up to Spring Training with a swing that has been described as flatter through the zone. It’s only March 5th, so we don’t have too many swings to look at, but here are before and after GIFs:

I did the best I could to find two similarly located pitches, but again, we only have so many swings to work with this spring. Here is the point of contact, and yeah, it does look like Volpe’s swing is flatter this spring, and not as uphill as it was last September.

“I feel comfortable with it. I’m not thinking about anything, just going out there and playing. That’s always a nice feeling,” Volpe told Joyce two weeks ago. “... The goal is just making me the hitter I know I can be and I know I should be. I think the best hitters have high average and don’t strike out, so that’s the goal.”

Volpe was, quite clearly, looking to elevate the ball last season. To a fault, the Yankees preach maximizing exit velocity, and the best way to do that is pulling the ball. The swing adjustment is designed to get Volpe away from that, and to use the entire field. That means Volpe is trying to become a new hitter. He’s always pulled the ball a ton. The numbers:

From 2021-22, Volpe had one of the 10 highest pull rates in the minors. He had a lot of success with that pull heavy approach in the minors, but big league pitchers exploited it last year, and now Volpe is trying to adjust. That’s good. It has to be done. Will it work? Hard to say. He is 6-for-15 with one strikeout and a 27% pull rate this spring, but it’s only 16 plate appearances. Let’s not start making conclusions yet*.

* And let’s be real here, Volpe is the poster child for Spring Training performance not carrying over into the regular season.

If it works, the flattened swing figures to cut into Volpe’s power output some, but make up for it with more base hits and fewer strikeouts. The best possible outcome would be maintaining the 20-homer power while also racking up more hits. I will keep my fingers crossed for that. For now, Volpe’s flattened swing is definitely a thing to watch the rest of the spring, and into the regular season.

“Just more adjustability,” Aaron Boone told Joyce about Volpe’s swing. “Flatter in the zone. Little more margin for error.”

The bullpen competition

The projected big league relievers are beginning to get into Grapefruit League games. Ian Hamilton made his spring debut last Thursday, Caleb Ferguson debuted Sunday, Victor González debuted Monday, and I would expect Clay Holmes and Jonathan Loáisiga to get into games later this week (Tommy Kahnle is being brought along slowly after last year’s shoulder issue, so he’s a little further behind, per Joyce). Relievers usually only need 6-8 innings in Spring Training to get ready for the season.

Anyway, the Yankees have an open bullpen spot because of Scott Effross’ back surgery, and they’re also looking for someone to fill Mike King’s multi-inning role. That last one will be tricky because it’s a difficult role, and I’d rather not force someone into it if they’re not up to it, but the Yankees will see what they have this spring. With that in mind, a few bullpen observations:

Ron Marinaccio and Nick Ramirez lead the Yankees with three pitching appearances each in the early going. Both guys spent a lot of time in the bullpen last season and the Yankees put them in games relatively early this spring, and they’re working a lot. Seems to me the Yankees considered them the two leading candidates for the bullpen spot vacated by Effross entering the spring, and treated them accordingly. (Marinaccio is not helping his case at all: 2.1 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 5 BB, 2 K)

Ian Hamilton threw two innings and 28 pitches in his spring debut last week (he went only one inning in his second outing Monday night). Two innings on Feb. 29th for a guy locked into a bullpen spot is a fairly large workload. Matt Blake mentioned Hamilton as a candidate to fill King’s multi-inning role over the winter and the two-inning spring debut suggests they’re preparing him for the possibility. Hamilton got at least four outs in 20 of his 39 appearances last year. He got at least five outs 17 times and at least six outs 14 times.

Luke Weaver has made two appearances: two innings and 25 pitches on Feb. 25th, then two innings and 31 pitches on March 1st. He’s on a starter’s schedule (i.e. five days between appearances) but he didn’t increase his workload in his second appearance. It was just another two innings. Blake mentioned Weaver as a candidate to fill King’s role too, though I’m surprised Weaver didn’t throw a third inning last time out. Still plenty of time to build him up to 75 pitches or so before the regular season, of course.

The numbers are solid so far (2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 K) and Nick Burdi has been impressive in his two appearances. I guess that’s not a surprise, he’s always had a great arm. He’s just rarely healthy. Burdi has yet to pitch in a Statcast park. When he does, I’ll write more about him. He said he’s lowered his arm slot because it reduces the stress on his arm, yet there’s been no negative effect on the quality of his stuff. Burdi seems like the top candidate to crack the Opening Day roster among non-roster guys.

Every non-roster reliever except Yerry De Los Santos and Art Warren has gotten into at least one spring game. Warren is coming back from elbow surgery and may not be game ready yet. De Los Santos is on the travel roster for Tuesday’s game (per Hoch), so he’ll make his spring debut later today. It's a bit unusual that a non-roster guy was held out of games so long, but maybe he was banged up or something.

It’s still early in Spring Training and you can only take so much away from reliever usage at this point. I do think it’s notable Marinaccio and Ramirez have worked as much as they have, and that Hamilton threw two innings in his Grapefruit League debut. There’s a chance this is all just noise though. There's still a lot of time for these things to shake out.

First (and second) roster cuts

The Yankees announced their first round of roster cuts Sunday. Actually the first and second rounds. They sent out a few players before Sunday’s game, then a few more after Sunday’s game. Here are the latest roster moves:

• RHP Luis Gil and RHP Yoendrys Gómez optioned to Triple-A Scranton.
• C Josh Breaux, RHP Joey Gerber, RHP Chase Hampton, C Ben Rice, and RHP Art Warren reassigned to minor league camp.
• IF Jordan Groshans cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A. (I figured that would happen.)

Players on the 40-man roster get optioned and players not on the 40-man get reassigned. They all go across the street to minor league camp. I count 59 players still in big league camp.

Gil and Gómez both pitched in the Grapefruit League opener on Feb. 24th and that was it. Hampton got into one game last week, and Warren hasn’t pitched yet as he works his way back from elbow surgery. Rice had a relatively quiet camp: 2-for-11 with three walks and five strikeouts. Gerber threw one inning from 2021-23 because of injuries and it showed this spring: 1 IP, 1 H, 5 R, 4 BB, 2 K, 2 HBP.

These players can always be brought back for a day to appear in a Grapefruit League game, so just because they’ve been sent to minor league camp, it doesn’t necessarily mean we’re done seeing them this spring. They’ll just do their work away from the big leaguers now. The Spring Breakout prospect showcase is coming up too. I would bet on Hampton and Rice being there. (More on Spring Breakout in a bit.)

Up next

Here is the upcoming schedule and pitching probables (here’s the Grapefruit League broadcast schedule):

• Tuesday at Mets: Tanner Tully (ESPN)
• Wednesday vs. Rays: TBA (YES)
• Thursday vs. Tigers: TBA (YES app)

(FYI: I’ve been able to watch the YES app games on MLB.tv. The YES app is clunky and I’ve been watching on MLB.tv for ease of access.)

Cole and Carlos Rodón line up to pitch Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. The Yankees could have Cole throw a simulated game rather than face a division rival, but he did face the Blue Jays last week, and I’m not sure how many regulars the Rays are planning to send on the road. That’s who’s lined up to pitch when though.

Thursday is a night game. Lotta night games so far this spring, no? The Yankees only have two more, so I guess it’s just a scheduling quirk. They squeezed four of the six Grapefruit League night games into an eight-day span. Whatever.

Miscellany

Cole made his Grapefruit League debut Friday. He gave up a two-run homer to Dan Vogelbach and got rolled in the first inning, but otherwise he looked fine. Like a veteran pitcher getting his work in on March 1st. Most notably, Austin Wells was behind the plate. It was the first time the two hooked up in a game of any kind (Spring Training, regular season, etc.). I’m glad the Yankees paired Cole with Wells. If Wells is going to be on the MLB roster, he has to be able to catch the ace in the event Jose Trevino gets hurt … Speaking of Trevino, he’s getting close to appearing in a game as he works his way back from a calf strain. He went through a heavy workout Sunday and is on track to make his Grapefruit League debut later this week. That’s good news … Oswald Peraza’s shoulder issue has gone from being described as “tightness” to “pinching,” and he has not played since last Sunday. An injury being worse than the Yankees originally let on? We’re back, baby. “I don’t think it’s anything too extreme, but he’s probably not where he needs to be just getting it across the diamond,” Boone told Joyce on Friday. We’ll see you when we see you, Oswald … Spencer Jones is up to 82 pitches without a swing and miss this spring … And finally, Marcus Stroman was terrific for four innings Saturday, and he has been told he will start the home opener (per Hoch). The Yankees open the season with seven road games in seven days, then they have an off-day, then they come home. This reaffirms Stroman will start the third game of the regular season, and that the Yankees won’t do anything unusual like use six starters the first time through the rotation. It’ll be Cole, Rodón, Stroman, Nestor Cortes, and Clarke Schmidt in that order to begin the season, assuming there are no injuries (or a Blake Snell signing) before Opening Day.

2. Giants sign Chapman, likely to trade Davis. Another Scott Boras client has taken a short-term deal. The Giants signed Matt Chapman to a three-year, $54M contract with two opt outs over the weekend. He gets $20M in 2024, $18M in 2025, and $16M in 2026. In November, Scott Mitchell reported Chapman turned down a nine-figure extension, so that decision backfired. He’ll have to get by on a $20M salary this year.

Chapman always seemed least likely of the top free agents to get a big long-term contract because he’s a flawed hitter who swings and misses a lot and has seen his defense slip in recent years. His defense is still above-average though and the glove alone should make Chapman worth the contract. But getting something like, say, Kris Bryant’s contract was unlikely to happen, and ultimately it didn’t.

(Nice work by the Blue Jays losing Chapman on that team-friendly contract and replacing him with Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who will make only $12.5M less than Chapman in 2024.)

The Giants now have more right-handed hitting third basemen than one team could ever need – Chapman is the starter, J.D. Davis and Wilmer Flores are on the bench, and Casey Schmitt is ticketed for Triple-A – so it is no surprise then that the trade rumors have begun. Multiple Giants reporters say Davis, Chapman’s former college teammate, is most likely to go given his $6.9M salary and one year of team control.

“Definitely surprising. I don’t really have much to say because I haven’t spoken to (POBO Farhan Zaidi) and I don’t know what the game plan is, so I don’t want to put my foot in my mouth and say something I haven’t had any discussions about,” an obviously displeased Davis told Shayna Rubin after the Chapman signing. “... I didn’t get a phone call, Brandon Crawford didn’t get a phone call (before the Carlos Correa non-signing last winter). It is what it is. It’s part of the business. I know every management is different in how they handle things and that’s just one of the characteristics you just have to live with.”

Davis, 31 in April, slashed .248/.325/.431 (104 wRC+) with 18 home runs last year, and his defense at third base was either terrible (-11 DRS) or above-average (+5 OAA). That +5 OAA is an outlier compared to the rest of his career. He’s never been positive in any defensive stat in any other year. Davis has also played a bunch of first base and some left field, and he’s an exit velocity dude. His 2022-23 numbers:

• Average exit velocity: 91.6 mph (MLB average: 89.0 mph)
• Hard-hit rate: 48.5% (MLB average: 39.2%)
• Barrel rate: 12.0% (MLB average: 8.1%)

We know the Yankees prioritize exit velocity – they get tunnel vision at times – and we know they don’t love their bench. They made a run at Enrique Hernández last week, and Jon Heyman says the Yankees “offered close” to the $4M the Dodgers gave Hernández. Maybe one of these days someone will get to the bottom of why players keep taking more money to go to the Dodgers. A real mystery there.

ANYWAY, the interest in Hernández tells us the Yankees are willing to spend some money on their bench. They could also use depth at third base, where the soon-to-be 36-year-old DJ LeMahieu is penciled in as the starter, and the unproven Oswald Peraza is Plan B. The Yankees could use more depth at first base too. Anthony Rizzo’s coming off a concussion, and don’t forget, he also has a long history of back trouble.

You’re smart, you know where this is going. Should the Yankees call the Giants about Davis? Alex Pavlovic notes San Francisco is bumping up against the first luxury tax threshold – FanGraphs has their luxury tax payroll at $230.5M, not far below the $237M threshold – and they would like to shed money so they can add more pitching. Look at their rotation depth chart:

1. RHP Logan Webb (stud)
2. LHP Robbie Ray (out until second half with Tommy John surgery)
3. RHP Alex Cobb (will miss the first few weeks with hip surgery)
4. RHP Jordan Hicks (converted reliever)
5. LHP Kyle Harrison (top prospect threw 102.1 innings in 2023)
6. RHP Keaton Winn (dealing with an elbow issue this spring)
7. RHP Tristan Beck (out indefinitely with an aneurysm)
8. RHP Sean Hjelle (swingman who’s allowed 44 runs in 54 career MLB innings)
9. RHP Mason Black (good prospect who isn’t on the 40-man roster)

The Yankees don’t have any spare pitching to trade the Giants – does anyone? – though they could send them a prospect and take on Davis’ salary. Davis’ $6.9M would come with an additional $7.59M luxury tax charge, so all-in we’re talking $14.49M. That’s $14.49M for J.D. Davis. A useful player, but a limited one. A player who might get 300 plate appearances for the Yankees in a perfect world.

Then again, how often is the world perfect? Never. You don’t have to try too hard to see how “that’s a lot of money for an okay player” in March becomes “where would the Yankees be without Davis???” in June. His power would very likely play up in Yankee Stadium and away from Oracle Park, and it wouldn’t be difficult to hide Davis’ glove. For example:

• Start him behind fly ball pitchers Gerrit Cole, Nestor Cortes, and Carlos Rodón.
• Replace Davis for defense late, when the ground ball heavy bullpen comes in.
• Do not, under any circumstances, play Davis behind Marcus Stroman.

Other teams could use Davis more than the Yankees and my hunch is the Yankees would balk at the price tag. The Yankees aren’t opposed to paying a premium for bench guys (fourth outfielder Trent Grisham will make $5.5 million in 2024), though $6.9M for Davis plus another $7.59M in luxury tax is a tough sell. That is not really comparable to a $4M salary plus $4.4M in luxury tax for the ultra versatile Hernández.

Given the third base situation and Rizzo’s injury history, you can see how the Yankees would benefit from a player like Davis. The money is excessive though, plus the Yankees would have to give San Francisco a prospect (or something else of value) to complete the trade. Davis would be a decent enough backup plan at first and third bases, but I also don’t see him as a must have. My guess is he winds up in Milwaukee or Seattle.

(The Yankees could very likely sign former Yankee Donovan Solano, a similar righty hitting corner infielder with iffy defense, for much less than $6.9M. Solano hit .282/.369/.391 (116 wRC+) with five homers in 450 plate appearances with the Twins last year. He doesn’t have Davis’ pop, but his contact rates are much better, and he’ll come cheaper in terms of dollars and not having to trade something for him. Then again, Solano would be pretty redundant with LeMahieu, no? Very similar skill sets. I guess that’s not a bad thing.)

3. Predicting the Spring Breakout roster. This year, MLB introduced the Spring Breakout event, which is a four-day showcase of the sport’s best prospects. The Yankees and the other 29 organizations will put together a team of prospects, and they’ll play a game against another team later this month. The Yankees get the Blue Jays, and their Spring Breakout game is scheduled for 4pm ET on Saturday, March 16th.

“It’s really important for us to market our players before they get to the big leagues,” Rob Manfred told Todd Zolecki last month. “There’s a whole program in place, including things like having minor league games on MLB.tv. This is another part of that effort. The game has been so dominated by young players new to the game. We think it’s really important to give fans every opportunity to see them.”

The Yankees and Blue Jays will play the day’s regularly scheduled Grapefruit League game at 1pm ET on March 16th, then the Spring Breakout game follows at 4pm ET. One ticket gets you into both games. And this will take place at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, I should note. Spring Breakout is a home game for the Yankees this year. Here are some other details:

• Rosters will be 23-27 players and the game will be seven innings.
• Players with MLB time can play as long as they’re still rookie-eligible.
• The automated strike zone challenge system will be used.
• No three-batter minimum (so more pitchers can participate).
• The game will be on YES locally and MLB Network out of market.

Sam Dykstra says rosters will be “constructed using MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 Prospects list as its foundation,” and I’m not sure what that means, exactly. Are they simply going to take the top prospect at each position? I dunno. MLB Pipeline released their top 30 Yankees prospects list Monday, so that list is fresh. That will be the foundation of the Spring Breakout roster, whatever that means.

Spring Breakout rosters will be announced on MLB Network at 11am ET this Thursday. I want to get out in front of the announcement though, and take a stab at predicting who we’ll see on March 16th. Well, no, this is more like a list of who I hope to see at Spring Breakout more than a prediction of who I think will be there. Let’s go position-by-position, shall we? We shall. (Here's my Top 30 Prospects List, for reference.)

C: Austin Wells and Agustin Ramirez

Wells is rookie-eligible and thus Spring Breakout eligible, though he seems to have the inside track on a big league job. Would the Yankees hold Wells out of Spring Breakout so he could continue working with the big league staff, including possibly playing in the Grapefruit League game the day of Spring Breakout? In that case, Carlos Narvaez is the obvious candidate to step in alongside Ramirez. Ramirez feels like a lock for Spring Breakout.

1B: Ben Rice and T.J. Rumfield

The Yankees are short on bona fide first base prospects. Rice has caught more than he’s played first base in his career, though first base might be his position long-term, plus the Yankees are covered behind the plate for Spring Breakout. I’m sure Rice will be on the roster and putting him at first base seems like the best way to get the most talent on the field. Rumfield is the only other first baseman in the organization who comes close to qualifying as a prospect, plus he’s in camp as a non-roster guy, so the Yankees must like him.

2B: Jorbit Vivas and Jared Serna

Vivas has cooled since his hot start to Spring Training (0-for-8 with four strikeouts since starting 2-for-3 with two homers and two walks), but who cares about that? He’s a top 10-ish prospect in the organization and should be on the Spring Breakout roster. Serna got into a Grapefruit League split squad game two weeks ago and the Yankees are relatively high on him, plus he’s the No. 20 prospect in the system according to the MLB Pipeline rankings that will apparently serve as the foundation of the Spring Breakout rosters. I bet Serna’s in.

SS: George Lombard Jr. and Roderick Arias

Lombard’s gotten a lot of run in Grapefruit League games. I figured he was just a minor league call up for the split squad game on Feb. 25th, but Lombard has appeared in three non-split squad games since then. Five at-bats isn’t much, but a) Lombard is only 18 (!), and b) Spencer Jones and Trey Sweeney received a combined zero Grapefruit League at-bats the spring after being first round picks. Hmmm.

Anyway, Lombard and Arias are the obvious calls at shortstop. Lombard was last year’s first round pick and the Yankees haven’t been shy about putting him in Grapefruit League games this spring. Arias is widely considered the better prospect and was a recent high profile international signing. Spring Breakout was made to showcase prospects exactly like these two.

3B: Keiner Delgado and Enmanuel Tejeda?

Tyler Hardman is the only natural third base prospect in the system, though Delgado and Tejeda have played the hot corner, and they’re more highly regarded than Hardman. Actually, Serna and Vivas have much more third base experience than Delgado and Tejeda, so maybe I should flip the positions. It might be Delgado and Tejeda (or Roc Riggio?) at second with Vivas and Serna at third. I think/hope these will be the guys we see in Spring Breakout though. Hardman was second in the system with 26 homers last year (Estevan Florial had 28). He could be a DH candidate.

OF: Spencer Jones, Everson Pereira, Brando Mayea, Jace Avina, Anthony Hall, John Cruz

Jones and Pereira are locks – did you see the home run Pereira hit Friday (video)? talk about swinging hard in case you hit it – and Avina, who came over in the Jake Bauers trade, has under-the-radarly gotten into four Grapefruit League games already. He has two doubles! Cruz, my No. 25 prospect, was one of the top performers in the system last year. I hope he plays in Spring Breakout.

Mayea has only played in the Dominican Summer League and he may return there this season. I don’t think that necessarily rules him out for Spring Breakout, though I do wonder if he’s at the back of the line. In that case maybe Elijah Dunham or Brandon Lockridge fills in? A deep sleeper like Christopher Familia? Jones and Pereira will definitely be there and I bet Avina is too. After them, the outfield is pretty wide open. Let’s build a starting lineup:

1. 2B Jorbit Vivas
2. SS George Lombard Jr.
3. CF Spencer Jones
4. LF Everson Pereira
5. 1B Ben Rice
6. C Agustin Ramirez
7. DH Tyler Hardman
8. RF Jace Avina
9. 3B Keiner Delgado

That assumes Wells is held out so he can focus on big league camp. The rosters will be 23-27 players – some Spring Breakout games will be a full nine innings because those teams don’t have regular Spring Training games that day, so those games figure to have 27-man rosters – which suggests there will be mass substitutions in the middle innings to get as many players into the game as possible. It might just be two at-bats for the starters, then wholesale changes.

P: Clayton Beeter, Kyle Carr, Luis Gil, Chase Hampton, Henry Lalane, Brock Selvidge, Will Warren

Those are more or less the seven best pitching prospects in the organization, so if the Yankees go with one pitcher per inning during Spring Breakout, those are the seven I’d like to see. Carr and Selvidge came over from minor league camp to throw live batting practice to the big leaguers two weeks ago, suggesting the Yankees have them ranked fairly high internally. They wanted the MLB staff to get a look at them.

The Yankees are stretching Warren out and preparing him to step into the big league rotation when a need arises, and maybe that means he’ll stay on a set schedule and continue building up rather than throw an inning in a showcase game? I honestly would prefer that because a) it prepares Warren for an MLB role, and b) it means we'd see a different prospect in Spring Breakout. We’ll still get to see Warren in regular Grapefruit League games, you know? Spring Breakout is a chance to see someone else.

Relief prospects like Jack Neely and Danny Watson could be on the Spring Breakout roster to clean up innings in case someone gets into a jam and their pitch count gets elevated. It’s a seven-inning game, but with no three-batter minimum, they could get nine pitchers into the game pretty easily. Some guys will just have shorter outings than others. Lalane is the one pitcher I really hope to see though. All signs point to him being the Next Big Thing.

Other possible Spring Breakout pitchers include Yoendrys Gómez, Carlos Lagrange, Zach Messinger, Luis Serna, and minor league camp hotshot Jackson Fristoe. Here’s the roster I just talked through. I’m going to assume Wells and Warren are held out so they can focus on big league camp, which clears the way for other prospects to participate in Spring Breakout:

Again, this is the Spring Breakout roster I hope to see more than the Spring Breakout roster I expect to see. It’s me listing players I hope are there more than predicting who will be there. That’s 26 players and I fear that’s 2-3 too many. Maybe Mayea doesn’t make it and Jones will play the entire game, or one of Delgado and Tejeda won’t make it, and Vivas or Serna will play the entire game.

Also, the “re-entry” rule will be in effect, so a pitcher can re-enter the game after exiting mid-inning. That would open the door for someone like Hampton to throw two innings without the Yankees stressing about his pitch count. Anyway, those are the players I hope to see in Spring Breakout. The rosters will be officially announced Thursday morning.

4. Rapid fire thoughts. The Phillies signed Zack Wheeler to a three-year, $126M extension earlier this week and geez, the Yankees are going to avoid such a massive headache next offseason because they can void Gerrit Cole’s opt out by picking up the club option. Wheeler is excellent, I think he’s the second best pitcher in baseball, and he just got $42M a year. If the Yankees couldn’t void Cole’s opt out, what are they looking at, 4-5 years at $45M a pop to re-sign him? Instead, they’ll pick up that one-year, $36M club option. Imagine having to re-sign Cole and Juan Soto after the season? Oy vey. That club option is looking like a nifty piece of business for the Yankees (here’s my CBS post on Cole’s contract, in case you missed it last week) … And finally, the Yankees will see a familiar face in Mexico City later this month: Robinson Canó. Late last week Diablos Rojos del Mexico announced they have signed Canó for the 2024 season. Now 41, Canó did not play last regular season, in what was the final year of his Mariners contract. He did play winter ball though, where he hit .221/.244/.299 in 35 games. Robbie could have retired and gone home to shine his World Series ring and count his millions, but nope, he’s going to play in the Mexican League. Some guys just love baseball.

(Send your requests 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 when it returns.)