When you score 12 runs, check the names of the opposing pitchers.
Yesterday, against the Phillies, that buttery list included Stashak, Suarez, Padillia, Vespi, Mercado, Aoyagi and - wait a minute: holy crap! - Zach Fucking Wheeler, who gave up 5 ERs in two innings.
Zach Wheeler. Wow. The Yankees pounded a legitimate ace, even if it actually didn't count.
Searching for meaning in a meaningless universe, right.
That said, today belongs to 23-year-old Spencer Jones, who doubled off Wheeler, then later added a HR and a single - 4 RBIs.
What should we make of Jones? He's a former first-rounder, an Aaron Judge prototype - 6'6", thinner and faster - who fans too often (6 Ks this spring) and has been a Yankee hype engine since the 2022 draft.
This spring, he's 6-14 - that's .429, for you without calculators - with 2 HRs and a SB. That would anoint Jones as this spring's breakout prospect, but for the presence of George Lombard Jr., a 19-year-old SS - another former first-rounder, high on the hype machine. Lombard is 5-for-15 with 2 HRs.
Add Jasson Dominguez - The Martian, who also homered yesterday - and you could close your eyes and argue that the Yankees actually have a Power Triad in their long-term future. If Anthony Volpe - still only 23 - learns to hit, dare I say it?
A new Core Four?
(No, I've not been drinking. Nor did Cashman buy me off with drugs and Sarasota hookers. Let's acknowledge The Martian's current fielding woes in left field, but listen: His career won't hinge on his glove. It's all about hitting. This spring, he's 4-for-20. Yesterday, he homered.)
Barring injuries, Dominguez will play LF on opening day. The Yankee hype machine has invested too much into him. Jones, on the other hand, has no current path to that roster. He'll start in Scranton with 2B Jorbit Vivas, C Rafael Flores, 1b TJ Rumfield, LF Everson Peirera and the cast of Glee.
As for Lombard, his breakout spring - I suppose we can call it that - could elevate him to start the year in Double A, barely a hitting streak from Scranton.
Let's not get damp over this. Compare the Yankee farm system to Baltimore and/or Boston, and our future looks sober, if not bleak. Both franchises have trios to match Dominguez, Lombard and Jones. (Oh my.) But close your eyes and imagine September: It's not hard to see them in our lineup.
Hope is not a plan. But it sure beats hopelessness. And the Yankees have legitimate reasons for optimism. At least until the next injury.
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7 comments:
I’ll say it again : Spring Training is full of lies.
You can say that again. Oh, wait...
How about that kid, Vargas, at short? Of course, nobody is going to unseat Volpe, which is kind of a pity.
Looks like it’s me and you today, JM… Vargas seems like a good glove/weak bat guy. Still young enough to have time to develop. Lots of strikeouts in the minors, but it seems you can say that about every Yankee minor leaguer. Toxic coaching and hitting instructors, it seems they want to make everyone into a power hitter, even the 145 lb. Vargas.
Spring Training is all about hope and eternal optimism.
That being said, it has nothing to do with reality...
TMKS...Kay talked to scouts...some of it is interesting....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTNcwl_AIBk
I was thinking about the good old days when it was first announced that the Yankees players were going to be allowed to have facial hair. Those sure were some good times, huh…
Thanks Ranger, yeah that’s worthwhile to listen to. A bit too optimistic towards the end, but it was troubling hearing scouts talk about Dominguez and Jones. Left unsaid is the fact that many of the holes on the team could’ve already been filled if Steinbrenner would’ve loosened the purse strings. Many of the best options are already gone.
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