The LoHud Yankees Blog

Sergio Mitre woke up with some stiffness in his left side on Sunday. He told the Yankees about it, and they decided to shut him down for a few days. He’s hoping to throw again later this week.

The problem is in a similar but not identical spot as the oblique injury that put him in the disabled list last year. This is on his back, last year’s injury was closer to his stomach.

Mitre said he does not believe this will
impact his chances of making the rotation. He said the Yankees have seen him and know what he can do.

Not sure why, but Manny Banuelos is now listed as today’s starter. Sergio Mitre is not making the trip.

Brett Gardner LF
Ramiro Pena SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Nick Swisher RF
Eric Chavez 1B
Eduardo Nunez 2B
Ronnie Belliard 3B
Jorge Vazquez DH
Jesus Montero C

The Yankees play only one game today. It’s a night game down in Fort Myers against the Red Sox.

Before they hit the road, though, the Yankees are holding a workout at Steinbrenner Field. That’s going to start later this morning, a chance for the guys who aren’t making the trip to take a few swings and field a few ground balls. That’s where most of the Yankees regulars will do their work today.

The only everyday players making tonight’s road trip are the three outfielders. Otherwise, Sergio Mitre will make his second start, Jesus Montero will try to get his bat going, and Eduardo Nunez and Ramiro Pena will have another chance to make their cases for the bench (right now, Nunez is making his case more loudly than Pena).

So that’s what we have on tap here in Tampa: A workout and a game. Two very different events in two very different locations at two very different times. A split squad, indeed.

This is the second game between the Yankees and Red Sox this spring. It’s inevitable that the Red Sox become an occasional topic in Yankees camp, but that seems to happen only when Boston is brought up in an interview. Otherwise, the Yankees don’t seem to be especially focused on their division rivals.

“I think what gets our hitters going every year, and our pitchers and position players, is we know the goal that’s at stake, and our guys get after it every spring training,” Joe Girardi said. “I tell our guys, you have to worry about yourself, you can’t worry about what other clubs are doing. It’s just way too much wasted energy.”

Associated Press photo of Alex Rodriguez

The Yankees top three pitching prospects survived today’s first wave of cuts, just like they survived this winter’s search for proven big league starters. In a Q&A with Marc Carig of the Star-Ledger, general manager Brian Cashman said he’s confident his young pitching would be enough to trade for a short-term rotation upgrade, but he’s more focused on the long-term impact of keeping his best pitchers in the organization.

“I have enough chips,” Cashman said. “But if people want to demand certain bullets, those certain bullets I’m not going to shoot… There are untouchables here.”

Cashman didn’t name names, but clearly Manny Banuelos, Dellin Betances and Andrew Brackman have made strong impressions this spring. Brackman had some control issues today, but he’s clearly opened some eyes. The “Killer Bs” are widely considered the top pitching prospects in a pitching-rich system, and all three were kept in camp through this morning’s round of seven cuts, and the afternoon’s round of three more.

• More good stuff from Carig, who took a look at the remarkably small impact a lineup change is likely to have on the Yankees. The Yankees could make a change this season, but is it worth rocking the boat — and maybe pushing some of the wrong emotional buttons — for what could be such marginal improvement? Maybe, maybe not.

• Ben Shpigel of the Times stayed behind in Tampa yesterday and wrote a nice piece about Derek Jeter’s increasing comfort at the plate. “Early on, he told me, ‘I’ll probably take a lot of pitches during spring training until I get comfortable,’” Kevin Long said. “He’s not taking those pitches anymore.” Jeter swung at the first pitch he saw this afternoon and drove a fly ball to center field for an out.

• Nice stuff from my old friend Donnie Collins about his immediate thoughts after seeing news about the earthquake in Japan. For Donnie and I, who spent a lot of time around Kei Igawa the past few years, it was impossible not to worry about Igawa on what had to be a terrible day for him. It was also great to hear that both Jonathan Albaladejo and Darrell Rasner were safe and largely unaffected.

• Supporting everything we’ve seen and heard in Yankees camp, Buster Olney talked to one evaluator who said Eric Chavez has looked good while “hitting the ball hard” this spring. He really does seem to be an ideal fit on the Yankees bench.

• The Royals put a pitcher on the 60-day disabled list to make room for Robert Fish.

• In former Yankees news: Despite the fact Russell Branyan is making a strong impression in Diamondbacks camp, Juan Miranda remains the favorite to be Arizona’s starting first baseman. With the Padres, Dustin Moseley is keeping himself in the rotation mix and has “all but guaranteed” a spot in the bullpen.

• It’s not a link, but here’s a leftover quote from today that I thought was funny. Russell Martin was asked about calling pitches for Mariano Rivera: “It’s cutter or sinker,” Martin said. “It’s pretty basic. Cutter on one side. If he doesn’t want that, it’s a cutter on the other side. And then it’s a sinker. If he shakes more than twice, I’m putting down the wrong signs.”

• My high school won its first boys basketball state championship this weekend. I saw the team play when I went home for my friend’s wedding a few weeks ago. They went 10 players deep, substituted five at a time, and pressed the entire game until the game was no longer in doubt it was too cruel to keep up that frantic pace. They were fun to watch. Go Bulldogs!

Associated Press photo of Jeter meeting Dave Stevens from Easthaven, Conn., who was born without legs and participates in sports using a wheelchair

For the first time this spring, one of the starters fighting for a spot in the Yankees rotation truly struggled. Bartolo Colon had his rocky inning, but he bounced back immediately. Ivan Nova was only so-so last time out, but he still allowed just two runs and got through three innings.

Today, Freddy Garcia was pretty bad. He couldn’t locate his fastball — especially inside — and didn’t make it out of the third inning. He pitched 2.2 innings allowing four runs on six hits, two walks and a hit batter.

“I couldn’t make a pitch,” Garcia said. “I had a couple guys 0-2 or 1-2, but I’d walk a guy or hit a guy. I wasn’t executing a pitch when I needed it… I didn’t pitch the way I wanted to pitch. There’s nothing I can do. I know I have to pitch good to try to win a spot, but it was one of those days. I have to forget about it, come back tomorrow and try to do my job in my next start.”

Joe Girardi said Garcia “wasn’t quite as sharp as he’s been,” and was pretty obvious from the beginning. His fastball was bad, so he was leaning on his secondary pitches, and those were only marginally effective.

“It’s way too early,” Girardi said. “He’s got more starts to go. We don’t expect any of our starters to be perfect. We know there are going to be bumps in the road in spring training. You have to deal with it and you have to develop arm strength. There are a lot of things you have to get going, but you’re trying to get to the last half of it where you start throwing better the last half.”

Girardi said he didn’t feel the need to talk to Garcia about the outing. Veteran pitchers understand what’s going on, and Girardi said at this point he’s just interested in seeing how Garcia bounces back.

“I have to move on,” Garcia said. “What can I do about pitching bad today? I have to take it out of my mind, try to focus on my next game.”

Here’s Garcia.

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• It’s easy to overlook given what Mariano Rivera did in the very next inning, but Rafael Soriano had another impressive inning today, allowing one stranded hit in the fifth. Soriano has allowed two hits and no walks through three innings. “I like his style,” Russell Martin said. “He’s aggressive. He goes right after hitters. He doesn’t fool around, throws his best stuff at you and makes you swing the bat. It’s good.”

• Rivera was asked whether Soriano has the stuff to thrive in New York. “He has the abilities,” Rivera said. “He has everything to succeed here. I don’t see why not.”

• By the way, Rivera said we might see more of the high socks this season.

• Dave Robertson bounced back from his previous outing when faced one batter and allowed a triple. This time, Robertson pitched a hitless seventh inning, striking out one and walking none. Martin said he was happy that he got to catch a bunch of relievers today. He’s trying to get familiar with everyone.

• Andrew Brackman was noticeably upset with himself after his inning and two-thirds. He walked two, gave up two hits and allowed one unearned run. “He got behind in some counts,” Girardi said. “He had a chance to get out of that inning. We dropped a fly ball. We didn’t turn a double play. He fought his way through it, but he’s not as sharp as he’s going to be, and he understands that. But I think it’s still frustrating for him.”

• Alex Rodriguez hit his second spring homer, continuing his strong month of March. Mark Teixeira’s double was the only other Yankees hit. Kevin Russo’s sacrifice fly drove in their only other run.

• Another hit for both Derek Jeter and Eric Chavez. Robinson Cano also singled.

• Jeter dropped a popup that should have ended the fourth inning without a Twins run. The error led to four unearned runs when Eric Wordekemper followed with a hanging slider that Brian Dinkelman hit for a home run. “Once I started backpedaling, I was in trouble,” Jeter said. “To be honest with you, I wouldn’t have thought about it again unless you guys brought it up.”

• Both Rule 5 picks are out of Yankees camp. Although Robert Fish showed some flashes of good stuff, he and Daniel Turpen combined for 8.1 IP, 12 H, 9 R, 8 ER, 7 BB and 7 K. They never had a realistic shot of making the roster, but neither showed enough to stick around any longer.

• Of the position players cut today, Daniel Brewer made the best impression. He hit .364/.364/.455. Austin Krum and Bradley Suttle each batted .154 with no extra-base hits.

• Martin had not caught Rivera this spring, not even in the bullpen. He went to the mound at the beginning of Rivera’s inning, and Martin said the conversation was short and sweet. “I just asked him, what’s the cutter (sign), and what’s the sinker?” Martin said. “(Rivera said) this is cutter, this is sinker, and that’s it. He’s like, ‘Go behind there.’ I was like, all right, see you later.”

Associated Press photos of Garcia, Rivera and Francisco Cervelli

Today I watched Mariano Rivera’s first real inning of work since the playoffs, and now I keep thinking about the Talking Heads. The name of the song is Once In A Lifetime, and it ends with the same words repeated over and over again.

Same as it ever was. Same as it ever was.

Rivera threw 12 pitches today. He struck out the side, then he went for a run. Joe Girardi said that if the season started tomorrow, he would feel confident that Rivera would be ready after exactly one spring inning.

“That’s usually what he does,” Derek Jeter said. “We’ll see him in another week.”

This is the Rivera plan. Pitch less than anyone, be better than everyone. Rivera said he wouldn’t recommend his plan to anyone else, but it works for him. He doesn’t pitch in the winter. He plays long toss basically every other day in spring training. He throws a few bullpens, pitches a sim game or two, then does what he did today.

“When you’re in the box, it’s a nightmare,” Russell Martin said. “When you’re behind the plate, it’s the complete opposite… That’s the best cutter I’ve caught, for sure. It’s cause, normally you see some kind of spin and his, you don’t see the spin. There’s no side spin. It just cuts. I don’t know how he does it.”

For Rivera, of course, this was just another day. The music pumped through the stadium and crowd got to its feet, then a once-in-a-lifetime talent made short work of the Twins. Quick. Efficient. Dominant.

“I think the fans get more emotional than I do,” Rivera said. “It’s a good feeling when you go over there and see a response with fans like that. But again, you have to channel that energy. You have to make sure that doesn’t pump you up so much that you cannot throw strikes.”

Here’s Rivera, same as he ever was.

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Associated Press photo

The Yankees made three more cuts after today’s game.

Third baseman Bradley Suttle and outfielders Austin Krum and Daniel Brewer were reassigned to minor league camp.

Also, Rule 5 pick Daniel Turpen cleared waivers and was sent back to Boston.

YANKEES (6-9-2)
Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada DH
Curtis Granderson CF
Andruw Jones LF
Russell Martin C

RHP Freddy Garcia (1-0, 0.00)
Garcia vs. Twins

TWINS (7-7)
Denard Span CF
Tsuyoshi Nishioka 2B
Jason Kubel DH
Jeff Bailey 1B
Luke Hughes 3B
Brian Dinkelman LF
Jason Repko RF
Rene Rivera C
Alexi Casilla SS

RHP Scott Baker (0-2, 3.86)
Baker vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 1:05 p.m., YES Network

WEATHER: Not a single cloud overhead. Wind is blowing from right to left. It’s sunny and nice and feels way too early after last night’s time change.

UMPIRES: HP Mark Carlson, 1B Mark Wegner 2B Vic Carapazza, 3B Toby Basner

ON THE LINE: Another start for Freddy Garcia, another chance to keep himself among the rotation favorites… The Yankees are starting most of their regulars, so no real position battles there, though Eric Chavez and Eduardo Nunez are both scheduled to play off the bench.

OUT OF THE BULLPEN FOR THE YANKEES: RHP Mariano Rivera, RHP Rafael Soriano, RHP Dave Robertson, RHP Joba Chamberlain and RHP Andrew Brackman. That should be plenty to get the Yankees through nine innings.

BULLPEN FOR THE TWINS: RHP Matt Capps, LHP Glen Perkins, RHP Pat Neshek, RHP Kyle Waldrop and RHP David Bromberg. I always enjoy watching Neshek pitch for some reason.

SPLIT SQUAD: The Twins also have a home game this afternoon. Francisco Liriano is starting that game.

CUT, NOT RELEASED: The Yankees announced that all of today’s cuts were reassigned to minor league camp, none were released. Because he’s on the 40-man, Hector Noesi was technically optioned rather than reassigned. He was optioned to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

TWO ON TUESDAY: CC Sabathia will have company when he pitches a sim game on Tuesday’s off day. Bartolo Colon will also pitch a sim game that day.

UPDATE, 1:23 p.m.: After Freddy Garcia allowed a run in the top of the first inning — while throwing a ton of offspeed pitches — Derek Jeter opened the bottom of the inning with a first-pitch fly ball out to center field.

UPDATE, 1:40 p.m.: Solo home run for Rodriguez has tied the game at 1 in the bottom of the second. That’s his second homer of the spring.

UPDATE, 2:00 p.m.: Garcia didn’t look good from the very beginning today. He lasted just 2.2 innings, allowing four runs on six hits, two walks and a hit batter. He threw 68 pitches, 44 for strikes and Eric Wordekemper had to bail him out of the third inning by stranding runners at second and third.

UPDATE, 2:16 p.m.: Hard to expect this. Derek Jeter just dropped a pop fly that should have been the third out of the fourth inning. Instead, a run scored on the play and a Brian Dinkelman followed with a three-run homer. It’s 8-1 Twins.

UPDATE, 2:30 p.m.: The Royals have claimed Rule 5 pick Robert Fish off waivers.

UPDATE, 2:42 p.m.: That’s Rivera for you. First appearance of the spring, strikes out the first three hitters he sees.

Mark Prior is all alone in one corner of the Yankees clubhouse. All around him are empty lockers, most of them cleared out this morning through the Yankees first round of cuts.

Prior’s neighbor, Neal Cotts, didn’t make it through the first week of camp. The next three lockers in his row belonged to Buddy Carlyle, Brian Anderson and Andy Sisco but they’re all gone now. In the middle of the clubhouse, empty lockers belonging to Adam Warren, David Phelps and D.J. Mitchell are clustered together.

There seems to have been a bit of a system to the first round of cuts. Of the pitcher in camp on a minor league deals, only Warner Madrigal — who’s dealt with an injury — has fewer innings than Carlyle, Anderson and Sisco. Those three weren’t pitching much anyway. The other four cuts were minor league starters — Phelps, Mitchell, Warren and Hector Noesi — who just pitched either Friday or Saturday. They won’t pitch again for a few days, and with the big league starters stretched out to four-plus innings, it was becoming difficult to get those four stretched out as well.

Still waiting for word on whether any of the seven cuts were released. The assumption is that all seven were simply reassigned (or optioned) to minor league camp.

• The only minor league starters still in big league camp are Andrew Brackman, Dellin Betances and Manny Banuelos (and maybe Steve Garrison, depending on how the Yankees plan to use him this season). Might not be long before the Yankees have to send some of the Killer Bs down as well to give them innings.

• Banuelos turns 20 years old today. He’s the youngest guy in camp.

• Combined spring numbers for Mitchell and Warren: 8 G, 10.2 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 10 K, 2.53 ERA. Mitchell walked no one. Warren allowed just one earned run.

• Sisco didn’t allow a hit in big league camp, but he did walk four through 3.1 innings.

• Greg Golson said he’s still not able to do much with that oblique injury. He said it feels better day after day, but he’s not able to swing or doing any real baseball activity until it’s back to 100 percent. “Whenever this thing lets me,” he said.

• Today’s sides: Phil Hughes, Ivan Nova, Bartolo Colon, Pedro Feliciano, Mitchell and Phelps.

• Mariano Rivera will make his spring training debut this afternoon against the Twins. We’ll see a lot of the regular Yankees bullpen, with Rafael Soriano, Joba Chamberlain and Dave Robertson also scheduled to pitch. None of the big league relievers is scheduled to make tomorrow’s trip to Fort Myers (except starter Sergio Mitre).

• Minor league utility man Justin Snyder is on the list of players making tomorrow’s trip to play the Red Sox. The Yankees are taking their regular outfielders, but none of the other everyday guys.

• Available in the bullpen today: Rivera, Soriano, Chamberlain, Robertson, Brackman, Romulo Sanchez, Steve Garrison, Ryan Pope, Eric Wordekemper and Dellin Betances. Everyone after Brackman seems to be a backup.

• Off the bench: C Gustavo Molina, 1B Eric Chavez, 2B Ronnie Belliard, SS Eduardo Nunez, 3B Kevin Russo, LF Melky Mesa, CF Austin Krum, RF Daniel Brewer and DH Kyle Higashioka.

• Tomorrow’s travelers today: Tomorrow the Yankees have their second long road trip in three days. They’ll travel to Fort Myers to play the Red Sox before an off day Tuesday. There will be a workout at the stadium in Tampa on Monday afternoon before the bus leaves.

Pitchers who will be making the trip: Sergio Mitre, Luis Ayala, Dellin Betances, Manny Banuelos, Steve Garrison, Ryan Pope, Mark Prior, Romulo Sanchez and Eric Wordekemper.

Players who will not be making the trip: Francisco Cervelli, Russell Martin, Jorge Posada, Robinson Cano, Eric Chavez, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Colin Curtis, Greg Golson and Andruw Jones.

Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada DH
Curtis Granderson CF
Andruw Jones LF
Russell Martin C

RHP Freddy Garcia

Looks like we have our first set of cuts. Adam Warren and D.J. Mitchell are clearing their lockers. The lockers for David Phelps, Hector Noesi, Brian Anderson, Andy Sisco and Buddy Carlyle are already empty.