The LoHud Yankees Blog

Good morning from Steinbrenner (I still call it Legends sometimes) Field. Always nice to be back, particularly when it’s in the high 60s on the way to (supposedly) another 80 degree day. I can’t say I was sad to bid farewell to the still-four-foot high snowdrift outside my house.

The Yankees clubhouse opens shortly but CC Sabathia is out on the main field already. Sabathia is throwing live batting practice (from behind the pitcher’s screen) with a large crew watching including Joe Girardi, Yogi Berra and Larry Rothschild.

Sabathia, you’ll recall, is scheduled to make his spring debut in Monday’s game.

Every spring training, the Yankees beat writers have dinner with Joe Girardi. We just wrapped up this year’s meal, and Girardi dropped a tiny bit of news on us.

Girardi said he misspoke when he announced the initial spring rotation. Phil Hughes will start the fourth game. A.J. Burnett will start the fifth.

That’s all it is, those two are swapping places. Girardi said that’s the way it’s always been, he just announced it the wrong way, and he prefaced this information by saying, “Don’t read anything into this.” Things easily could be shuffled between now and Opening Day. For now, though, the Yankees have Hughes starting the day before Burnett. We’ll see if it stays that way.

The Yankees spring rotation (so far):

Saturday: Bartolo Colon
Sunday: Ivan Nova
Monday: CC Sabathia
Tuesday: Phil Hughes
Wednesday: A.J. Burnett
Thursday: Freddy Garcia

Absolutely no one in Yankees camp knows what to expect from Mark Prior. The Yankees clearly believe he could help — Prior’s one of the pitchers getting some one-on-one time with Larry Rothschild in the mornings — but it’s been five years since he pitched in the big leagues, and it’s been six years since he pitched especially well in the big leagues. In between, he’s hardly pitched. Even Prior’s not sure what kind of pitcher he is at this point.

“Everybody wants to know,” Prior said. “They’re trying to compare what I am today to maybe what I was in 2005, when I was last throwing the way everybody probably remembers me throwing. I can’t do it. I can’t compare it. I’m not the same person.”

Prior estimated that he’s thrown a total of 12 or 13 official innings since the end of 2006, and only one of those innings came in minor league baseball. The rest came in independent ball. Prior has thrown some bullpens and done a lot of rehab work, but the last time he tore a capsule in his throwing shoulder — back when he was rehabbing with the Padres — the tear couldn’t be surgically repaired, so he’s been pitching through it.

“I haven’t thrown enough to make a determination and say, I’ve changed (in a certain way),” Prior said. “Right now my philosophy is pretty much the same as it’s always been: Locate the fastball and try to pitch off of it. What I don’t know is, what is ultimately my fastball? Is it 88 to 91 that it was last year, or is it going to be a little bit more? If it is 88 to 91, that’s not a big deal. It’s just, you have to execute your location that much better and just learn to kind of pitch off it.”

Prior said he was happy with his first bullpen with Larry Rothschild, and he was happy with the way yesterday’s batting practice went. In between, the bullpens have been “OK.” He feels like he’s been able to spot his fastball pretty well, and that’s the most important thing at this point.

“I definitely think the stuff is capable, and I definitely think it’s there,” he said. “Is it what it used to be? Probably not. It’s kind of like apples and oranges, but I definitely think it’s good enough to get guys out, absolutely.”

Associated Press photo of Prior

All winter we heard about the Yankees young pitching talent, a series of arms that could help out sooner rather than later. A week and a half into spring training, manager Joe Girardi is sold on both the quantity and the quality.

“I’ve seen a lot of good things this spring, from a lot of the young kids as well,” he said. “I thought Phelps threw pretty well today. Warren. Brackman. All of these kids have thrown the ball extremely well at this point in camp. I’m happy. Very happy… We’ve talked about that we have pitching coming, and I really believe that.”

Today, Girardi was asked specifically quite a bit about Manny Banuelos, largely because Banuelos faced live hitters on the main field, with Girardi watching most of the BP session. Girardi said what he saw “matches up” with what he’d already heard about Banuelos. Right now, Girardi knows what he wants to see out of young pitchers, and Banuelos has shown it.

“Strikes, and good strikes,” Girardi said. “Not just strikes, but good strikes. If they throw a ball where they don’t want to, can they adjust quickly? Say he throws a curveball and leaves it way up, can they adjust and get it where (they want it)? What I’ve seen, he’s pretty good at it.”

That said, the plan remains the same. The Yankees are happy with their pitching depth, but they brought in some rotation options that might buy the kids a little more time to develop.

“You have to be open minded, you have to evaluate,” Girardi said. “But it’s not necessarily what you plan on going in.”

• More evidence that the Yankees take Bartolo Colon seriously as a rotation option: “He’s looked pretty good,” Girardi said. “It’s the Bartolo that I remember: A guy that keeps the ball down, uses his fastball a lot and is able to hit his spots.”

• New lefty Pedro Feliciano is used to pitching 85 to 90 times each year. Last year, no Yankees reliever made more than 73 appearances. Boone Logan, Damaso Marte and Royce Ring combined for fewer appearances than Feliciano made last season. “I talked to him about the way we do things here,” Girardi said. “That I’m not a big proponent of throwing guys three days in a row, so don’t be surprised if I do some things different. He’s important to our bullpen. We have to keep him healthy all year long.”

• Eduardo Nunez and Austin Romine were sent home sick today. “It’s the head cold and the throat,” Girardi said. “We gave them medicine and sent them home. We felt that was the best thing to do.”

• With Andruw Jones, Eric Chavez and Ronnie Belliard, the Yankees have given themselves some options for veteran experience on the bench. And not just experience, but guys who were very good everyday players before settling into supporting roles. “I think it’s great, because you know they know how to play the game,” Girardi said. “You know that situations when they get in that day to play, there’s not going to be an extreme emotional high. They’re going to prepare the way they’ve always prepared. They know the league, they know the ballparks and they know what it takes to be successful.”

• On the other hand, the Yankees have taken notice of Brandon Laird: “He’s obviously proven that he knows how to drive in a run, he knows how to put good at-bats together when guys are on base,” Girardi said. “He’s a guy that you might think about (on the roster).”

• Speaking of which… Charging choppers at third base this morning, Laird might a nice play on a short hop at the edge of the grass. Minor league defensive coordinator Torre Tyson, who was doing the hitting for the defensive drill, said, “You couldn’t get there two years ago.” Laird agreed, said he had no shot at making that play two years ago. He looks pretty good at third these days. Not implying he’s a defensive wizard, but I haven’t seen anything to make me think Laird can’t play the position.

• Didn’t see anything particularly out of the ordinary about defensive positioning during drills today. Ronnie Belliard continued to take some reps at first base, and I did see Brad Suttle go to first base for a while.

• Dave Robertson was the only pitcher I saw throw his batting practice without a protective screen in front of him. Some pitchers just hate having the thing in front of them and feel like it actually causes them to mess with their mechanics (they feel like their arm or the ball is going to hit the screen). Robertson pitched without it, and as soon as he was done, the screen was put back in place for Ivan Nova.

• Didn’t seem serious, but Colin Curtis fouled a ball off his calf and crashed to the dirt. He was hobbling around for a while, and got some ice for it, but he should be fine.

• Here’s a must-read Times piece about the relationship between Yogi Berra and Ron Guidry. Four years ago, during my first spring training covering the Yankees organization, Berra was the very first person I saw when I first walked into the Yankees clubhouse.

Associated Press photos: Girardi surrounded by players; Berra with Derek Jeter; Alex Rodriguez laughing during drills

The Yankees have certainly stressed player development in recent years, but that development doesn’t have to happen at the minor league level. For a player like Jesus Montero — who’s second half was terrific last season in Triple-A — the next step could be a backup job in New York. Girardi said not to count out the possibility.

“I think the way you look at it is two-fold,” Girardi said. “Is he ready to play up here, and can he help you win games? If those two things line up, then there’s a pretty good chance we’ll take that player.”

How far has Montero come defensively?

“He, like some of these pitchers, has made great strides from what I’ve seen,” Girardi said. “He just looks so much more comfortable back there when you see him sitting, whether there’s a runner on or not a runner on. Keeping the ball in the zone, he’s improved a lot. His throwing has gotten better.

“This is a kid that is a big kid. This is a large man catching, and it’s not always so easy to be a smaller package. But physically he’s gotten to where he can be a pretty small package with his flexibility and all of those things that it takes. It’s going to happen.”

• I already mentioned that Russell Martin probably won’t catch on Saturday, but here’s Girardi explaining the situation: “I don’t think he’s quite ready to go, and we’re not going to rush him. You’ll see him do drills and do some other things, but he still talks about, (the knee) doesn’t feel quite the same as it did before… I told him, I want to know when you’re 100 percent, because I don’t want to set back with him. When we’re able to put him in there, I want him to be able to go.”

• Girardi guessed maybe three or four days before Martin is ready to catch in a game. He caught live BP today. “That would be my hope that’s all it is,” Girardi said. “But if it takes more, it takes more.”

• Without Martin, Girardi said he’s not sure who will start at catcher on Saturday. “I’ll talk to Tony (Pena) about how we’re going to do it,” Girardi said. “Thursday, I’ll try to make up 3-4 lineups for the next four days.”

• When will Girardi put Jorge Posada at catcher in a game? “I don’t know if I will this spring,” Girardi said. “We’ll jst see how that goes, how the competitions are going.”

• Posada is supposed to catch a bullpen tomorrow. It will be the first time he’s caught a bullpen this spring.

Associated Press photos of Montero and Martin

Joe Girardi said he does not expect Russell Martin to be behind the plate for Saturday’s spring opener.

Martin’s hip is fine, but his knee is still stiff and the Yankees don’t want to risk a setback. They still expect him to be 100 percent at some point this spring, they’re just moving slowly.

Martin was supposed to do blocking drills today for the first time this spring.

Mariano Rivera threw his first bullpen this morning. He went through 25 pitches or so — he wasn’t sure the exact number — and focused on location.

“It doesn’t have to be hard,” he said. “Just find the location, and once you do that, start working on adding more speed to the ball. I did that and it was good today… Matter of fact, I was expecting a little bit less.”

Rivera will keep throwing bullpens for a while, then throw live BP once or twice before pitching his usual eight to 10 spring training games. It’s a routine that he’s honed over the years. Rivera knows what works for him.

“You pace yourself,” he said. “You don’t want to rush anything and then, in the middle of spring training you’re ready and just bored, kind of like.”

• Yogi Berra has arrived in Yankees camp.

• Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, Andrew Brackman and David Phelps threw live batting practice this morning to Colin Curtis, Doug Bernier, Austin Krum and Daniel Brewer. “Everyone was throwing strikes,” Bernier said. “It looked pretty crisp.”

• Although I haven’t seen them out there, Ramiro Pena and Brandon Laird both said they’ve been taking fly balls in the outfield. Pena said he did it yesterday, just to stay sharp out there if the Yankees need him. Laird is doing it as part of his natural spring training. Joe Girardi has already told Laird that he’ll be playing all over the place during the exhibition schedule.

• Curtis Granderson, Kevin Russo, Ramiro Pena and Greg Golson are scheduled to do additional bunting drills today. Brett Gardner went through additional bunting yesterday and said he’s been doing a lot of that this spring.

• Pena and Eduardo Nunez have switched hitting groups so that Pena is now working alongside Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano during batting practice. The fielding groups are still the same — Nunez with Jeter and Cano — but infielders also go through defensive drills with their hitting groups during BP. It makes good sense to make sure both utility candidates get some time with the regular middle infielders.

• Apparently someone got tired of typing the name Higashioka several times on the daily schedule. Kyle is now listed simply as Higgy.

• Live batting practice pitchers:

Main field
Pedro Feliciano (to Russell Martin)
Dave Robertson (to Francisco Cervelli)
Ivan Nova (to Francisco Cervelli)
Manny Banuelos (to Kyle Higashioka)
Eric Wordekemper (to Kyle Higashioka)
Adam Warren (to Jesus Montero)

Back field
Dellin Betances (to Gustavo Molina)
Brian Anderson (to Austin Romine)
Andy Sisco (to Austin Romine)
Daniel Turpen (to Jose Gil)
Steve Garrison (to Jose Gil)
D.J. Mitchell (to Addison Maruszak)

• Hitting groups:

Infield Group 1: Robinson Cano, Derek Jeter, Ramiro Pena, Addison Maruszak, Jorge Posada
Infield Group 2: Ronnie Belliard, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Gustavo Molina
Infield Group 3: Eric Chavez, Brandon Laird, Kevin Russo, Austin Romine
Infielder Group 4: Doug Bernier, Brad Suttle, Jorge Vazquez, Jose Gil

Outfield Group 1: Greg Golson, Andruw Jones, Nick Swisher, Jesus Montero
Outfield Group 2: Brett Gardner, Curtis Granderson, Justin Maxwell, Russell Martin
Outfield Group 3: Colin Curtis, Jordan Parraz, Melky Mesa, Francisco Cervelli
Outfield Group 4: Daniel Brewer, Austin Krum, Eduardo Nunez, Kyle Higashioka

• Fielding groups: Same as always

Catcher Group 1: Jose Gil, Russell Martin, Gustavo Molina, Jesus Montero
Catcher Group 2: Francisco Cervelli, Kyle Higashioka, Jorge Posada, Austin Romine

Infield Group 1: Doug Bernier, Robinson Cano, Eric Chavez, Derek Jeter, Eduardo Nunez, Brad Suttle, Jorge Vazquez
Infield Group 2: Ronnie Belliard, Brandon Laird, Ramiro Pena, Alex Rodriguez, Kevin Russo, Mark Teixeira

Outfield Group 1: Daniel Brewer, Curtis Granderson, Andruw Jones, Austin Krum, Jordan Parraz
Outfield Group 2: Colin Curtis, Brett Gardner, Greg Golson, Justin Maxwell, Melky Mesa, Nick Swisher

Associated Press photos

I’m sure the players love this.

Today is photo day, which means a series of cameras and flashes setup just outside both dugouts here at Steinbrenner Field. The players take turns with a variety of shots: some sitting, some standing, some with a bat, some with a glove, some in a baseball pose, some like an elementary school headshot.

It’s all very exciting.

While that’s happening on the main field, the bulk of the Yankees coaching staff is on the back field watching live batting practice.

Joba Chamberlain has already pitched. David Phelps is going now, and Phil Hughes is getting loose in left field. Word is that Andrew Brackman is also scheduled to face hitters this morning. I believe this will be Brackman’s third live BP of the spring. It will be Hughes’ first.

Over the weekend, The Associated Press moved a cool story about a 106-year-old Yankees fan living in Florida. Mark Didtler — our trusted AP man covering the team with the beat writers down here in Tampa — went with Billy Connors to meet her, and he wrote the piece.

—

New York vice president Billy Connors heard about Graham through a friend. On Friday night, he brought her a number of Yankees’ items, including an autographed photo of a favorite player, shortstop Derek Jeter. She was invited to watch a spring training game from a suite at George M. Steinbrenner Field.

Her high regard for Jeter is shared with that of another Yankees great, Lou Gehrig, whose farewell speech on July 4, 1939 she witnessed in person.

“He was a nice fellow,” Graham said.

—

Check out the full story here. And here are a few more links at the end of this unusual day in Tampa.

• If you haven’t seen it, make sure you check out the Bob Klapisch story about Jorge Posada’s health, and the impact of a career behind the plate.

• I also really liked Ken Davidoff’s take on Alex Rodriguez, and the opportunity for him to develop into a true leader during this time of Yankees transition.

• Ben Shpigel did a nice job profiling Gustavo Molina, a veteran minor league catcher in a clubhouse full of catching prospects.

• Here’s a rather interesting story about Zack Greinke. Seems he doesn’t like to talk to anyone, media or teammates. I can only imagine how this interview would have played in New York.

• Former Yankees prospect Zach McAllister is looking for a new opportunity with the Indians, and he’s sharing a clubhouse with Austin Kearns, for whom he was traded last season.

• Another former Yankees pitcher Brett Tomko has landed with the Rangers, looking to get himself back in the big league mix.

Associated Press photo of Robinson Cano because, random notes deserve a random picture

From the moment it started, this whole Hank vs. Derek controversy had a shelf life of 48 hours at most.

This afternoon, Hank Steinbrenner said his “mansions” comment was never directed at Derek Jeter, and maybe that’s true. Steinbrenner might have used the word “mansions” same way the political strategist in the West Wing intended to use the phrase “bigger swimming pools and faster private jets,” as a catchall image of luxury and satisfaction. Whatever the intention, calling out Jeter’s competitiveness was always going to be dismissed in an instant.

It was a joke before it was a story.

The bigger issue is the one that stretched beyond Jeter to the other players and coaches in the Yankees clubhouse. It’s the issue Steinbrenner didn’t take back when he once again addressed the media this afternoon, saying the Yankees inability to win last season was at least partially the result of some players being “a little complacent.”

This was Joe Girardi’s response:

I think Hank is expressing his frustration. The same frustration we all had last year, that we didn’t accomplish what we wanted to. He’s the owner of the club. You may have seen a lot of us right after the (final) game or the day after, cleaning out our lockers. Maybe some of you didn’t see Hank. We were frustrated. I was not happy about the way we played, the players were not happy with the way we played.

We won 95 games last year and swept though that first round, won the first game (of the ALCS) and then didn’t play well against Texas. What you want to attribute that to? There are a lot of reasons: We didn’t necessarily hit, and we didn’t necessarily pitch. That’s a bad combination when you get into a series. Our guys are working hard, and we know what our goal is.

When Mr. Steinbrenner passed away, we knew the expectations weren’t going to change.

—

By the way, if you couldn’t tell, this was the first really absurd day we had out here. It was a day that started with Jeter actively discussing whether or not a word was or was not plural — mansion or mansions? — and whether that meant he was or was not being called out by one of the Yankees owners. It was a day that ended with Girardi basically being asked whether it was true that his team simply didn’t try hard enough to win those last two games that would have gotten them to the World Series last season. Just a weird, goofy day.

Associated Press photos