For the third consecutive Sunday, the Yankees are playing a pair of split squad games this afternoon. Half the team will be in Clearwater to take on the Phillies while the other half will be in Sarasota to face the Orioles. The Yankees have ten exhibition games remaining and only three are at home in Tampa. Seems weird. Whatever.
Against the Phillies, the story of the day is Tyler Wade playing center field for the first time this spring. He has 172.1 career innings at the position, most coming last year with Triple-A Scranton. With Aaron Hicks looking increasingly likely to begin the season on the injured list, Wade is the de facto backup center fielder right now. Better get him out there this spring then. Here is the Fightin’ Harpers lineup and here are the players the Yankees sent to Clearwater:
- 3B DJ LeMahieu
- SS Troy Tulowitzki
- 1B Greg Bird
- C Gary Sanchez
- 2B Gleyber Torres
- CF Tyler Wade
- LF Matt Lipka
- RF Trey Amburgey
- DH Isiah Gilliam
LHP James Paxton
Available Position Players: C Kellin Deglan, C Francisco Diaz, C Ryan Lavarnway, 1B Chris Gittens, IF Oswaldo Cabrera, IF Diego Castillo, IF L.J. Mazzilli, IF Wendell Rijo, OF Devyn Bolasky, OF Rashad Crawford, OF Jeff Hendrix, OF Pablo Olivares. Diaz and Lavarnway are still in big league camp as non-roster players. Everyone else is up from minor league camp for the split squad game, as are starters Amburgey and Gilliam.
Available Pitchers: RHP Dellin Betances, RHP Cale Coshow, LHP Danny Coulombe, RHP Danny Farquhar, RHP Chad Green, RHP Tommy Kahnle, LHP Trevor Lane, LHP Anderson Severino. Coshow, Farquhar, Lane, and Severino are the extra arms from minor league camp. (No, Anderson is not related to Luis.)
Meanwhile, against the Orioles, Jonathan Loaisiga has his latest and maybe final opportunity to show the Yankees he belongs in the Opening Day rotation. He hasn’t had a good spring (9 IP, 9 H, 11 R, 10 ER, 6 BB, 11 K) and pitching coach Larry Rothschild recently indicated Loaisiga would go to Triple-A to work as a starter rather than work out of the big league bullpen. Another dud today might punch his ticket to the land of Dunder Mifflin. Here is the Orioles’ lineup and here’s who the Yankees sent to Sarasota:
- SS Kyle Holder
- 3B Miguel Andujar
- 1B Luke Voit
- LF Clint Frazier
- C Kyle Higashioka
- DH Brandon Wagner
- RF Zack Zehner
- CF Billy Burns
- 2B Thairo Estrada
RHP Jonathan Loaisiga
Available Position Players: C Ryan Lidge, C Eduardo Navas, C Jorge Saez, 1B/OF Ryan McBroom, 1B/OF Steven Sensley, IF Angel Aguilar, IF Gosuke Katoh, IF Hoy Jun Park, OF Tyler Hill, OF Jhalan Jackson, OF Ben Ruta. Everyone except Saez is up from minor league camp for the day. Higashioka, Wagner, Zehner, and Estrada are in the starting lineup and are also minor league camp call-ups du jour.
Available Pitchers: RHP Daniel Alvarez, LHP Rex Brothers, RHP Raynel Espinal, RHP David Hale, RHP Drew Hutchison, LHP Justin Kamplain, LHP James Reeves, RHP David Sosebee. Alvarez, Kamplain, Reeves, and Sosebee are the extra arms from minor league camp.
The weather is the same in Clearwater and Sarasota. Cloudy and breezy but no rain in the forecast. Both games will begin at 1:05pm ET today. You can watch the Phillies game on MLB.tv everywhere and on NBC Sports Philadelphia in the Phillies’ home market. The O’s game will be on MLB.tv everywhere and MASN in the Orioles’ home market. There is no YES Network or live MLB Network broadcast for either game today. Enjoy the games.