In a meaningless game, six bad omens emerge

Last night, a handful of warning signs...

1. LH reliever Justin Wilson motions out the trainer, leaves the game and today undergoes an MRI on this shoulder. Says it felt "tight." Couldn't throw a strike. With Zack Britton already out, Wilson was our bull goose lefty. Boone pooh-poohing it, but nothing good ever comes from a Yankee MRI. Wilson is 33 and signed to a two-year. (My Redsock fan buddy is crowing over Ottavino; don't need a full year of that.) 

2. Gary Sanchez with his second passed ball of the spring. (It's unfortunate that we must keep count.) Last night, the Crackin' went 0-3 - three strikeouts - and is now batting .176 on the spring. (His hits came in early games. Remember how YES celebrated that first, tape-measure blast? They touted him as an MVP candidate.)  

3. Jay Bruce botches two must-make plays at 1B, a liner and a bad throw. This undermines the budding comeback narrative, where the ol' veteran works his way onto the roster, skillfully handling multiple positions. Bruce went 0-3 and is now batting .206 on the spring. Again, his hits came early. Will he turn out to be "Oumuamua," the mysterious object who flies in and out of the Yankee solar system, never to be understood? Stay tuned.

4. Okay... nobody hit last night, except for Giancarlo Stanton, who went 2-2. He's hitting .391, and I hope they have enough bubble wrap. (Stanton was hit by a pitch. Cross fingers and toes, everybody.) 

5. Clint Frazier loses a fly in the sun. It lands 20 feet in front of him. The other day, Frazier lamented that Toronto will play its first month in Florida, because of the difficult sun in left field. Let's give him a Mulligan. Around sunset, all flies to LF might be doubles. (Yankees better run them out.)

6. Miguel Andujar's hand/wrist isn't healing quickly. We probably won't see him until May, when Scranton opens  (in Syracuse, folks! He better wear mittens!) Suddenly, we face a bracing nightmare scenario where Miggy never gets to be the all-star 3B who hits like Joe D. He might be a revolving train wreck.

Okay, I know what you're thinking: In the final week of spring training, the team always falls into a lull. Frankly, there is no point in wasting a HR or a 3-3 night. You want to save your hits for when they count. But the Yankees have spent the month of March bathing in optimism. Suddenly, with the harbor in sight, the boat is springing leaks.