March 16th, 2021: Andujar, Taillon, Gardner, Luetge, Kluber, Roster Cuts

Michael Kay and John Sterling called Monday’s game on the YES Network and I’m not gonna lie, it made me nostalgic. Gave me flashbacks to watching Donnie Baseball and Danny Tartabull in the pre-Core Four days. This is me, basically. Anyway, here is the Grapefruit League television broadcast schedule (we’re in the dark until Sunday) and here are today’s thoughts.

1. Andujar’s injured wrist. The Spring Training injuries are piling up. Miguel Andujar has a muscle strain and a nerve issue in his right hand/wrist. He will receive treatment and the Yankees didn’t give a timetable for his return. Andujar played March 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 7th, then not again until March 10th, and that was it. Shut down completely.

“It's something he felt a little bit this winter in winter ball when he took a swing, but it's kind of calmed down,” Aaron Boone told Bryan Hoch over the weekend. “He was obviously playing and fine, and then he noticed it in his last game he played. It just got a little more sore again, so we've been treating it here these last several days.”

A cynic might point out Andujar wouldn’t have had to play winter ball to make up for lost at-bats had the Yankees given him more playing time during a season in which they had a 28-man roster, at least one of Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton was out of the lineup 29 times in 60 games, and Luke Voit played through “foot stuff” all year, but no, I won’t do that.

Injuries happen, and I’m inclined to think things like a sore wrist or an achy elbow probably aren’t avoidable forever. You may remember Andujar had an unexplained 24-day absence in winter ball. There was a COVID-19 outbreak in the league at the time, though his team was not directly involved. Maybe Andujar got it. Maybe he was out with the hand/wrist problem. Dunno.

The hand/wrist injury wasn’t evident in Andujar’s batted ball data this spring. He didn’t hit well (2-for-15 with two singles), though the exit velocity was good. Andujar put 12 balls in play in Statcast equipped parks and 11 had an exit velocity in the 90s, topping out as high as 97.2 mph. If his hand/wrist was hurting, it didn’t compromise his ability to hit the ball hard.

Andujar doesn’t have an obvious role with the Yankees. He’s the backup third baseman in theory only (they don’t seem to want to play him there), so he’s essentially the backup DH, and that’s not unimportant given Stanton’s injuries. I think Andujar is no worse than the tenth best position player in the organization and I’d make room for him. The Yankees don’t seem to agree, and they're smarter than me, so what do I know.

My sense is the competition for the final bench spot was down to Jay Bruce and Mike Tauchman even before Andujar’s injury, so it doesn’t change much. It does make Derek Dietrich more important though. He is now their primary backup plan at third base (moving DJ LeMahieu there just shifts the problem to second). Dietrich, Thairo Estrada, and Andrew Velazquez are the infield depth.

Dietrich has six-plus years of service time and can opt out of his contract if he’s not on the MLB roster by March 25th. Does that combined with Andujar’s injury open the door for him to make the Opening Day roster? The Yankees may not want to lose another piece of infield depth after losing Andujar to injury. It’s easier to replace a corner outfielder like Bruce (if he opts out) than a versatile infielder like Dietrich.

We’re getting ahead of ourselves though. We don’t know how long Andujar will be sidelined, but the fact this has been lingering since winter ball leads me to believe it will require more than a few days of downtime, in which case Andujar is not an Opening Day roster candidate. Getting sick of these injuries, folks, and it’s not even the regular season yet.

2. Grapefruit League observations. Spring Training games are starting to look normal. They’re now scheduled for nine innings (teams can still agree to play fewer though) and teams can no longer roll over innings (i.e. end the inning before three outs are recorded). The regular season is 16 days away. Here are some general observations.

The new Taillon

We got our first extended look at Jameson Taillon on Friday. His Grapefruit League debut was a quick seven-pitch inning (he threw 10 pitches in the bullpen afterward), and his second outing was not televised (two scoreless innings). Friday we saw 51 pitches in 2.2 innings. It would’ve been three complete innings if not for some defensive funny business.

Taillon walked three Tigers in those 2.2 innings (2.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K) -- Detroit had their A-lineup on the field and they had the lowest walk rate (7.1%) and second highest chase rate (31.4%) in baseball last year -- and control issues aren’t uncommon after Tommy John surgery. Taillon has a career 6.0% walk rate and there’s a chance the new arm action means he has shaky control now, but I expect him to iron it out as he accumulates innings.

“I’m not used to walking guys. That’s not my game,” Taillon told Bryan Hoch. “I hate that more than anything. Pitching through jams and having guys on, having to change my looks to second and change my tempo with a runner on first, those are all good experiences for me right now. The takeaway from the day is that I didn’t have my best stuff, didn’t have my best command, but I made pitches when I had to.”

Control issues aside, I thought Taillon’s stuff looked really good Friday. He had his best fastball of the spring -- Taillon’s heater averaged 93.9 mph (95.1 mph max) after topping out at 93.8 mph in his first two games -- and opponents missed with half their swings against his secondary pitches. Taillon is adopting a north-south elevated four-seamers approach and it was on full display Friday. Here are his pitch locations and swing-and-miss locations (full-size image):

Four-seamers up and offspeed pitches down, at least in theory. Taillon’s location was spotty and he left a lot of sliders and curveballs up, but the master plan is pitching at two eye levels, like his former Pirates teammate and current Yankees teammate Gerrit Cole. The velocity is trending up and hopefully the location improves with time. Taillon’s natural ability is apparent and I’m excited about him after getting a longer look Friday. It’s a matter of health more than anything.

“I think I’m trending in the right direction on a lot of different things,” Taillon told Hoch. “The good thing about getting in these game situations is that it gives you feedback. Now, I know what to work on in my sides and what I want to work on in my next game. I’m healthy and the ball is coming out of my hand really well, so I’m super grateful for that.”

Gardner in right

Spring Training is the time to experiment and Brett Gardner was in right field Friday. He’s played exactly one (1) big league game in right. It was the Michael Pineda pine tar game in April 2014, and the Yankees had Jacoby Ellsbury in center and Alfonso Soriano in left. Fenway Park might be the most difficult right field in the league and Gardner had some trouble (like this).

Friday’s game was eventful. Gardner and first baseman Jay Bruce, two guys playing out of position, let a ball drop between them (video) -- on plays like that, I’m always inclined to think the outfielder coming in on the ball should take charge and make the play -- then Gardner made a nice leaping catch a few innings later (video). Little bit of good, little bit of bad.

“We know what a great outfielder (Gardner) is, and we know how good he is in center or left field, especially at Yankee Stadium,” Aaron Boone told Hoch. “There are scenarios where he’ll be in the lineup, and we have a guy down or two, in a place like Fenway Park, where you want to maximize his range and his outfield ability. It’s something that he was open to.”

When Aaron Judge was out last year, the Yankees put Clint Frazier in right and Gardner in left, and that made sense. Left field is (much) more spacious than right field at Yankee Stadium, so put the better defender in left. It seems like the Yankees want to keep Frazier in one spot going forward though, so left field is his and Gardner will have to move around.

“With Clint establishing himself a little last year, we’re looking to transfer (Gardner) to this awesome fourth outfield role,” Boone told Martin. “I could see him in all three (outfield) positions, depending on where our most pressing defensive need is.”

This is the time to try it. My guess is Gardner will pick up right field within a few games and look pretty natural out there, but it’s not a guarantee, and it’s better to find out now than during the regular season. Give him a few more games out there this spring, and if it works, great. That will give Frazier a chance to settle into one position as an everyday player.

“I just need to be comfortable over there and get some reps,” Gardner told Hoch. “I feel like I can just roll out of bed and play center or left. Right field is something I haven’t done a whole lot of, so I’m just trying to get some balls off the bat over there.”

Luetge’s usage

Spring strikeout machine Lucas Luetge faced some actual big leaguers over the weekend. After pitching in the mid-to-late innings of Grapefruit League games the first few times out, he was the first man out of the bullpen Sunday. Here’s how his (untelevised) inning went:

• Bo Bichette walked on six pitches.
• Vlad Guerrero Jr. struck out on six pitches (Bichette thrown out trying to steal).
• Cavan Biggio flew out to center on three pitches.

Luetge has now faced six legitimate Major League hitters this spring. One walked (Bichette), one flew out (Biggio), and four struck out (Vlad Jr., Didi Gregorius, Bryce Harper, Andrew McCutchen). The other 11 hitters Luetge faced have either been career minor leaguers or fringe MLB players (Jeff Mathis and Tyler White).

With Sunday’s outing, Luetge is “down” to a 64.7% strikeout rate and a 57.9% whiffs-per-swing rate this spring. The results have been outstanding. Based on this past weekend, it seems the Yankees are making an effort to see Luetge against better hitters, which is the kind of thing a team does when they’re seriously considering someone for the MLB roster.

The Zack Britton injury creates a need for a middle innings lefty and Luetge is doing everything he needs to do this spring to win that job. It’s not his fault he hadn’t faced many MLB hitters up until this past weekend. I hope this is the start of a trend and not a one-game blip. Let’s get as much information on this guy as possible before the lights turn on.

“My spring has gone better than I expected,” Luetge told Hoch. “You always want to come in starting off good. I didn’t know it’d be this good with the strikeouts, but I just want to keep it rolling. I’ve been able to throw all my pitches for a strike, and my ball is moving a lot right now.”

Deivi and Domingo

The No. 5 starter competition continues apace. Deivi Garcia and Domingo German have both pitched very well this spring, and that makes for the best kind of Spring Training competition. Force the team to make a difficult decision. Their numbers:

• Garcia: 8 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 10 K, 2 HR
• German: 9 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 13 K, 0 HR

For what it’s worth, Baseball Reference’s opponent quality metric says Garcia and German have faced nearly identical competition, so it’s not like one guy has seen mostly MLB hitters while the other is feasting on Double-A and Triple-A kids. German has been better so far, but Garcia has been pretty darn good too. He hasn’t pitched himself out of the race.

German and Garcia both pitched in winter ball -- German threw more than Garcia down there (16.1 innings vs. 6 innings), though it’s not like he racked up a ton of innings -- so one didn’t report to camp that much further ahead of the other. German had more questions to answer this spring just because he missed last season, and so far everything looks good.

“Since his first bullpen, and every step of the way, it’s just been really, really sharp,” Boone told Hoch. “This is a really good experienced pitcher. That's what he's shown us every step of the way, to go along with a really good three-pitch mix. I maybe expected there to be a  little more rust there, and I haven't seen that so far.”

Bottom line, the Yankees will need both Garcia and German this season, and whoever gets the No. 5 spot on Opening Day won’t necessarily hold it all year. Deivi’s awesome and I think he’ll have a big impact for the 2021 Yankees. I also think starting him at the alternate site to control his workload would be beneficial in the grand scheme of things, if it’s possible.

“German has looked more Major League ready,” a scout told Dan Martin recently. “But with the way this season is going to work out with needing so many pitchers in different spots, they’re probably better off with Garcia in a controlled environment to start, anyway.”

Miscellany

Corey Kluber made his first televised start Saturday and was fine (4 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K). His stuff was good -- Kluber’s fastball sat 91.1 mph and topped out at 93.2 mph, which was up from his first Grapefruit League start (topped out at 91.8 mph) -- but his control was not. Kluber was all over the place. Seemed to me like one of those games more than something to worry about. “I was happy with where I was physically. I was happy with the way my stuff was, so I think that was encouraging. There's definitely some stuff to work on afterwards. Fine-tuning locations, things like that,” Kluber told Hoch … Jay Bruce went 4-for-6 to start the spring and is 2-for-14 since, in case anyone is still doing the “super duper small sample size Spring Training performance to decide Opening Day and 40-man roster spots” thing. My hunch is Bruce would be on the Opening Day roster if the season started today, but I wouldn’t expect much. He’s been pretty bad the last three years and I have no reason to think he’s suddenly rejuvenated or a new hitter … Addison Russ has not gotten much of a look this spring. He’s appeared in two games, both times to clean up an inning, and he retired the two (2) batters he faced. Spring Training usage can be telling and the Yankees don’t seem to consider Russ much of an MLB option. He would’ve gotten more run than this if they did.

3. Roster cuts. Not long after I passed along word that the Yankees weren’t planning traditional Spring Training roster cuts and would instead shuffle people around the complex, the Yankees announced their first roster cuts. Good to know I’ve still got it. Here are the first cuts:

Following Friday’s game the Yankees announced Reggie McClain and Addison Russ were also reassigned to minor league camp, so that’s two rounds of cuts in one day. The only real surprise is Warren, who’s pitched well in camp (3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K) and figured to get a longer look with Zack Britton hurt, but I guess not. He’s among the first roster cuts instead.

A few thoughts about all this. One, Warren has six-plus years of service time and can opt out of his contract if he’s not added to the MLB roster by March 25th, so I imagine he and his agent are looking for big league opportunities now. I’d love to stash him at the alternate site as depth and it could still happen. Gotta think Warren will jump at an MLB job though.

Two, Vizcaino was optioned down without appearing in a Grapefruit League game. Guys will typically get into at least one game before being sent out (Seigler got into his first game the day before cuts), but not Vizcaino. He’s gotta be hurt. The only other pitchers in camp who haven’t appeared in a game are Britton, Clarke Schmidt, and Luis Severino, and what do they have in common? Yeah. Vizcaino’s hurt or he’s a mechanical mess. Either way, it’s not good.

Three, Albert Abreu has had a terrible spring (2.2 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 2 K) and the fact he wasn’t among the first roster cuts makes me wonder whether he actually does have a fourth minor league option. Signs point to yes but that’s still unconfirmed, and with the other prospects arms (Gil, Gomez, Medina, Vizcaino) being optioned down, it means one of two things:

1. The Yankees want to give Abreu a longer look and he’s still in the bullpen mix.
2. Abreu doesn’t have a fourth option and the Yankees aren’t ready to cut him loose.

My hunch is it’s No. 2. If the Yankees could send Abreu down and get him more consistent work in minor league camp and back on a proper development track in Triple-A, they’d do it. It’s not like he’s pitching well, you know? Instead, Abreu is still in big league camp, possibly (likely?) because there is no sending him down without waivers. I guess we’ll find out soon enough.

Four, in a normal Spring Training, the level a 40-man roster player is optioned to doesn’t mean anything. It’s just his spring workout group, then he’s sent to the appropriate level when the regular season begins. This is not a normal Spring Training though. MLB and Triple-A camp ends in two weeks, then Double-A and Single-A camp begins.

Florial being optioned to Triple-A rather than Double-A leads me to believe he’s going to the alternate site in a few weeks rather than staying behind in Tampa for Double-A/Single-A camp. He’s played one game above High-A (his MLB debut last year) and given his pitch recognition issues, I would’ve guessed skipping over Double-A was not a thing the Yankees would do.

And maybe they won’t. Maybe the option to Triple-A is temporary and Florial will be held back in Double-A/Single-A camp when the time comes. The other optional assignments all make sense. The pitchers and Peraza belong in Double-A/Single-A camp, even the guys who spent last year at the alternate site. Florial going to Triple-A is a bit more surprising.

Fifth and finally, the roster cuts mean the Yankees still have 51 players in big league camp. Here are those 51 players. Red means the player is injured and yellow means I consider the player a lock for the Opening Day roster:

If it weren’t clear after the Chirinos injury, the roster cuts confirm Brantly is now third on the catcher depth chart. He is 3-for-4 with two homers this spring. He is also a career .228/.292/.330 (71 wRC+) hitter at the MLB level with meh defensive numbers, and I would like him to not be that high on the depth chart. Hopefully the Yankees add another backstop soon.

Luetge is pretty clearly in the bullpen mix at this point. The other seven non-roster pitchers are being kept around just in case. Hard to see any of them beating out Nelson or King or really any still-in-camp 40-man roster pitcher for an Opening Day bullpen spot. Another round of cuts should be coming later this week (based on the normal spring timetable), which will whittle the roster candidates down further.

4. Remembering a random Yankee: Chad Gaudin. This week’s random Yankee came by request and is the 69th player in our random Yankee series (nice). He also managed two stints with the Yankees in one year. Here's the random Yankee archive (this is a new link, I moved the spreadsheet). You can find links back to everyone we've covered there.

The 2009 Yankees were a juggernaut. Or, rather, they became a juggernaut eventually. They were 15-17 with a -25 run differential through 32 games, and they lost their first eight games against the Red Sox, which was a Very Big Deal. The Yankees flipped the switch in mid May and won 88 of their final 130 games, and outscored their opponents by 1.43 runs per game in the process.

Free agent additions CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett steadied a rotation that also included Andy Pettitte and a young Joba Chamberlain in his first year as a starter. Chien-Ming Wang, the fifth member of the rotation, was hurt and terrible (46 runs in 42 innings in 2009), and the Yankees had a revolving door in the No. 5 starter’s spot much of the season.

Phil Hughes made starts early in the season before becoming the team’s ace setup man. Long reliever extraordinaire Al Aceves made a spot start. The Yankees signed Sergio Mitre in Nov. 2008, while he was rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, and he later joined the rotation. The Yankees won Mitre’s first start on July 21st to move into sole possession of first place.

“That’s a big lift for us,” then-manager Joe Girardi told Tyler Kepner about Mitre’s performance (5.2 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K). “He came up and he did what we needed him to do tonight, and that’s all that we’re asking him to do. We’re not asking him to do anything out of the ordinary, just throw strikes, work quickly like he does, use his sinker and let his defense work behind him.”

Mitre’s next two starts didn’t go well (nine runs in eight innings) and the Yankees knew they would have to rein in Chamberlain’s workload down the stretch, so they were in the market for a starter at the deadline. Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and Jake Peavy were the popular names at the time. Tom Gorzelanny, Ian Snell, and Jarrod Washburn were also on the market.

The Yankees brought in … Eric Hinske and Jerry Hairston Jr.? Eric Hinske and Jerry Hairston Jr. Hinske was actually acquired in late June. Hairston was the club’s lone deadline day pickup while the Red Sox, their closest division rival and arguably the second best team in the league, added Victor Martinez to an already potent lineup.

“We tried a number of different things, but I didn’t feel like we were getting close to anything,” Brian Cashman told Kepner. “Hairston gives Joe a lot of versatility. Left, center, right, third, short, second. He can be a defensive replacement. He can pinch-run. If we have any problems in-game or in-season, he’s a guy that covers us all over the place.”

The Yankees remained in the hunt for pitching on the waiver trade market -- “(If) it makes sense, we will look at it. There will be opportunity for people to do deals in the new deadline,” Cashman told George King -- and they didn’t wait long to strike. On Aug. 6th, less than a week after the trade deadline, they acquired Gaudin from the Padres for cash or a player to be named later.

“We feel he’s got a good arm, and he can help us out of the bullpen or be insurance for the rotation,” Cashman told Kepner after the trade. “He’ll be a choice for us. He’s stretched out, so we can use him as a long man or a starter.”

Gaudin, then 26, was a stathead fave. He was well-traveled (the Yankees were his sixth team in seven MLB seasons) and a year removed from throwing 199.1 innings with a 4.42 ERA (4.69 FIP) for the Athletics. With San Diego in 2009, Gaudin had a 5.13 ERA in 105.1 innings, but also a 3.70 FIP thanks to good strikeout (22.1%) and homer (0.60 HR/9) rates.

The Yankees initially used Gaudin in relief. Four of his first five appearances came out of the bullpen, including two in blowouts and one in extra innings. It wasn’t until Mitre took a line drive to the forearm and Pettitte missed time with an achy shoulder (and the Yankees started to cut back on Chamberlain’s innings) that Gaudin landed a full-time rotation spot.

Gaudin made five starts in September and walked a tightrope, but was effective overall. He surrendered no more than three runs in all five starts while putting 37 runners on base in 26.2 innings. Opponents hit .265/.336/.461 against him. Not great! But the Yankees won all five games, and at that point they just needed innings so they could set up their rotation for the postseason.

In two months as a 2009 Yankee, Gaudin posted a 3.43 ERA (5.29 FIP) in 42 innings spread across six starts and five relief appearances. His sinker/slider combination made him effective against righties (.224/.293/.380) but not so much lefties (.296/.408/.415). The Yankees were planning to go with a three-man rotation in October. If they needed a fourth starter, it would’ve been Gaudin.

Fortunately, it never came to that, though weather issues almost forced the Yankees to use their fourth starter in the ALCS. “Only thing I know right now is, ‘Be ready for Friday.’ That being said, it’s what I am going to do,” Gaudin told Jay Greenberg, referring to a potential Game 5 start had Game 4 been postponed by rain, necessitating a fourth starter.

Gaudin was on the postseason roster all three rounds in 2009 and he pitched once, throwing a 1-2-3 ninth inning with a 10-1 lead in ALCS Game 4 against the Angels, once it became clear the weather wouldn’t be an issue and he wouldn’t be needed to start Game 5. After starting the year with a mediocre Padres team, Gaudin was a World Series champion.

The Yankees retained Gaudin as an arbitration-eligible player in 2010 and they brought him to camp as a No. 5 starter candidate. The competition was rigged though. The Yankees decided to move Chamberlain back to the bullpen and Hughes was going to be the No. 5 starter. (Mitre out-pitched everyone that spring and would’ve won the job had it been based on merit.)

Gaudin had a poor spring (10 runs in 9.1 innings), poor enough that the Yankees released him rather than keep him around as depth. They released him on March 25th and the timing of the release meant they only owed him 45 days termination pay ($737,500 of his $2.95M salary). Aceves and Mitre opened the season as the long men in the bullpen.

“I would have assumed I had a spot, but you know what happens when you assume,” Gaudin told Pat Borzi. “You can’t assume anything in this game. Me of all people should know that.”

The A’s signed Gaudin three days later and he started the season in their bullpen, and was terrible. He allowed 18 runs and put 36 runners on base in 17.1 innings, and Oakland cut him loose on May 21st. Five days later, the Yankees brought Gaudin. back Aceves went down with a back injury earlier in the month and the Yankees needed another long reliever.

By long man standards, Gaudin pitched well in his second stint as a Yankee. He threw 48 innings with a 4.50 ERA, which will play as the last guy in the bullpen. The problem? Gaudin allowed 11 homers in those 48 innings (2.06 HR/9) with an unsightly 33/20 K/BB. It worked out to a 6.25 FIP. Gaudin was left off the postseason roster in favor of Dustin Moseley.

The Yankees released Gaudin (again) after the season -- he finished with a 4.00 ERA (112 ERA+) and a 5.80 FIP in 90 innings as a Yankee, good for +1.1 WAR -- and he bounced from the Nationals to the Marlins to the Giants from 2011-13, pitching to a 3.81 ERA (3.62 FIP). He was hurt and out of baseball (and in legal trouble) from 2014-15, then he resurfaced in the Mexican League in 2016 and was still pitching there as recently as 2019.

5. Rapid fire thoughts. As planned, Zack Britton had surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow Monday. Everything went well, he says. The Yankees have yet to announce a timetable for his return, so I’ll stick with May or June until we hear otherwise … Robinson Chirinos indeed needs surgery on his fractured wrist, Aaron Boone announced Monday. The surgery comes with a 4-6 week recovery, so, if the Yankees keep Chirinos around, he won’t be game ready until May or even June ... The Associated Press has a few pre-arbitration-eligible salaries:

• Tyler Wade: $603,300 ($291,400 in minors)
• Kyle Higashioka: $590,000 ($289,600 in minors)
• Deivi Garcia: $578,225 ($106,835 in minors)
• Nick Nelson: $575,105 ($227,922 in minors)

The minimum salary is $570,500 this season and the Yankees typically use a sliding salary scale for pre-arbitration players based on service time, with escalators for awards and All-Star Games and things like that. Wade has the highest salary of those four players because he has the most service time. Last Thursday was the signing deadline for pre-arbitration players and Ron Blum says only eight players had their contracts unilaterally renewed (i.e. their teams said this is what we’re paying you), none of them Yankees. The Yankees negotiated 2021 contracts with all their pre-arbitration guys. Now we wait for their salaries to be reported so we can accurately track the luxury tax payroll.

(Send your requests for Tuesday's random Yankee series and questions for Friday's mailbag to RABmailbag at gmail dot com.)