Yankee depth on display, but can it handle the next injury?

Hokey smoke, Bullwinkle! Turns out, the Death Star isn't alone in facing spring injuries. Boston announced yesterday that Chris Sale will miss opening day, as he recovers from coronavirus? pneumonia. That leaves the Redsocks with three healthy starters, one of whom is Mr. Elbow himself, the walking tweak, Nathan Eovaldi. If Boston wobbles out of the starting gate, don't be surprised if Sale gets Mookied, as the new, enterprising GM launches his first Redsock tear-down. 

Meanwhile, Tampa and Toronto seem to have skated thus far, injury-free. Both ascending teams feature young stars and deep farm systems, and either could be looking to fortifying itself in July, when the Redsock barn sale opens. No matter how potentially weak they might look in February, Boston remains an existential threat to every Yankee season. This we know: They will help anyone who stands in our way. 

But for now, standing in our way is - well - us. 

Every day in Tampa that a key Yankee doesn't go down - that's a good day.

So yesterday was decent. Nobody limped off the field (unless they didn't disclose it, and the news will tumble out today.) Moreover, Clint Frazier and Tyler Wade homered. (Fun fact: Both are now tied with three others for the team HR lead... with one!) Frazier is 2-7, (.286), and on a mini-Bloomberg roll after going 0 for his first two games. (Wade is 1-9.) Of course, these are not small sample sizes. These are statistical Babadooks. Move on, there's nothing to see here.

Still, a HR lets us dream...

In my perfect 2020, Frazier takes over LF and makes it his bitch. His bat more than makes up for his clank-house fielding, and he hits his way to the No. 3 hole, between Judge and Gleyber. Moreover, that "Red Thunder" magnetic personalty catches on in Gotham. (He's already attracted far more attention than warranted, but when he's hitting, he becomes a cover boy.) In his peak season, he could hit 30 dingers and bat .300 - all-star numbers, similar to those of Miguel Andujar two years ago. And while we're fantasizing, Andujar becomes the LF/DH/3B/1B human Swiss army knife - who continues to break DiMaggio's records and fills in everywhere needed. That leaves Mike Tauchman to handle occasional defense and LH platoon necessities. 

Continuing my drug flashback, perfect hallucinatory scenario, Giancarlo Stanton spends the year tweaking gonads and touring Iceland's therapeutic hot springs. 

I don't mean to denigrate Stanton, but clearly, something is wrong with his physique. As he continues to age - he turned 30 in November - the sprains and strains are not going to diminish. He is already stretched too tightly, and soon, the never-ending tweaks will start turning into partial tears. A bad knee begets a bad hip, which launches a bad shoulder. We saw it with Jacoby Ellsbury. It's not Stanton's fault. It's just the reality that he must deal with. Ranting and raging cannot change it. Last year, he played 18 games. This year, he might play fewer. 

More than anyone - even perhaps Severino - Stanton needed an injury-free spring to remind Yankee fans of the player we once so hotly anticipated, but have never truly experienced. Looking at the Stanton we've known, it strains the imagination to think of him playing the outfield in 159 games, as he did in Miami three years ago, when he won the MVP on a second division - 77 wins - team.

Make no mistake: Yesterday was a good day. Nobody carted off. Nobody holding his elbow. How long it will continue is anybody's guess. But it's not random happenstance, all these groins and hammies, ligaments and tendons. It's the team we have. Opening day is a long time away. The Injury List is just getting started.