The LoHud Yankees Blog

Foul balls have not been kind to Yankees catchers this spring.

Today, Jesus Montero was behind the plate when a foul tip caught him in the right hand. Girardi said there was a seam mark on his knuckle, but there’s no significant concern.

“I’ll wait to see how Monty’s finger is tomorrow, but he finished, and he had great strength in it,” Girardi said. “Those hurt, but as a catcher you’ve just got to take it.”

YANKEES (2-4-1)
Brett Gardner LF
Nick Swisher RF
Curtis Granderson CF
Jorge Posada DH
Eric Chavez 3B
Jesus Montero C
Eduardo Nunez 2B
Jorge Vazquez 1B
Ramiro Pena SS

LHP CC Sabathia (0-0, 0.00)
Sabathia vs. Nationals

NATIONALS (3-2)
Jerry Hairston Jr. CF
Ian Desmond SS
Ryan Zimmerman 3B
Michael Morse RF
Ivan Rodriguez C
Derek Norris DH
Chris Marrero 1B
Jeff Frazier LF
Brian Bixler 2B

RHP Chad Gaudin (0-0, 6.00)
Gaudin vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 7:05 p.m., YES Network

WEATHER: Pretty cloudy day here in Tampa, but it’s still in the upper 70s with a chance of getting into the low 80s. Very light breeze blowing from right to left.

UMPIRES: HP Manny Gonzalez, 1B Mark Carlson, 2B Dan Iassogna, 3B Tyler Funneman

ON THE LINE: Jesus Montero and Austin Romine are both scheduled to play today, and obviously their at-bats have taken more importance now that Francisco Cervelli is officially out of the mix. Also, Eduardo Nunez and Ramiro Pena continue to start together, battling for the utility infield job.

SIGN OF THINGS TO COME: Pretty good indication that the first series of Yankees cuts could be coming in the next few days: The Nationals made their first cuts yesterday, assigning three pitchers to minor league camp. Yankees minor league camp opens Monday.

OUT OF THE BULLPEN FOR THE YANKEES: Joba Chamberlain, Dave Robertson, Romulo Sanchez and Ryan Pope seem to be first out of the pen for the Yankees.

BULLPEN FOR THE NATIONALS: Craig Stammen, JD Martin, Sean Burnett and Tim Wood. Burnett is the only lefty.

UPDATE, 1:09 p.m.: Double and an RBI single kicks off the first inning against Sabathia. The Nationals took an early 1-0 lead before Sabathia got a shallow fly ball and a double play to end the inning.

UPDATE, 1:30 p.m.: The Yankees are being shutdown by their old mopup man Gaudin, who’s faced the minimum through two innings.

UPDATE, 1:32 p.m.: Sabathia’s not having nearly the same success. He just gave up a solo home run to Jeff Frazier, giving the Nationals a 2-0 lead in the top of the third.

UPDATE, 1:45 p.m.: After a two-out walk in the third inning, Sabathia’s day is done a little sooner than expected. He was actually knocked around a little bit, allowing six hits and five runs through 2.2 innings. Even his last out — immediately before the walk — was a pretty hard-hit ball to right field. I can’t imagine the Yankees are worried about Sabathia, but there’s always some intrigue when a big name struggles like this in a spring outing. Probably meaningless, but it makes you raise an eyebrow a little bit.

UPDATE, 1:47 p.m.: Joba Chamberlain is in. He came to the mound to Indian Outlaw.

UPDATE, 2:27 p.m.: Sabathia said he’s not going to lose any sleep after being knocked around this afternoon. “As long as I’m feeling good (physically), I feel fine,” he said. Sabathia said he simply couldn’t get anything working today.

“It kind of felt like I was just pushing the ball up there instead of throwing the ball downhill,” he said.

UPDATE, 2:38 p.m.: The Yankees offense finally decided to show up. The Yankees have already scored eight runs in the fourth inning, and there’s still only one out. Brett Gardner just put the Yankees in the lead with an RBI triple, making this an 8-7 game. It had been 7-0 when the inning started. Gardner led off the inning with a double.

UPDATE, 3:15 p.m.: Here comes Bryce Harper. Of all the people for him to face, it’s Rule 5 pick Daniel Turpen.

UPDATE, 3:17 p.m.: And Turpen makes the team! He got Harper to ground harmlessly to the right side.

UPDATE, 3:22 p.m.: It’s been all downhill since Harper. Turpen has now allowed three straight hits since getting the uber-prospect to ground out. The Nationals just tied the game at 8 on an RBI double by Matt Stairs.

UPDATE, 3:31 p.m.: Could be wrong, but it looks like Golson is wearing the Gazoo helmet that Cervelli had to wear last year.

Francisco Cervelli was pretty stunned yesterday. He said he woke up in the morning convinced his left foot was bruised and not broken — it was sore but not especially painful, there had been no significant swelling — but the news from the Yankees medical staff was a sobering reminder that spring training is not good for him.

Three of the past four years Cervelli’s been injured in spring training, always on or around his birthday, which is tomorrow. When he wasn’t hurt in spring of 2009, he was terribly sick leading up to the World Baseball Classic.

“I think I’m going to change my birthday,” he said.

Cervelli turns 25 tomorrow, and a lot of family flew into Tampa to celebrate. This was supposed to be a good weekend. Instead, Cervelli came hobbling into the Yankees clubhouse on crutches.

“A little sad yesterday,” Cervelli said. “But I talked to my mom. It’s good when I have my family here. Today’s different. I’m positive. A lot of people in the world, they don’t have legs, they don’t have arms. I’m healthy. I just have something in my foot, and it’s going to be OK.”

Is he confident his job will be waiting for him when the crutches are gone and the boot comes off?

“I hope, but if it’s not, I’ll fight again,” Cervelli said. “This is me. You have to fight every year for something. I’m not going to cry because somebody is going to take my job. No. I’m going to charge back.”

Here’s Cervelli

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• Andrew Brackman faced hitters this morning. He threw roughly 30 pitches in the bullpen, then threw 25 to Austin Krum and Brandon Laird. “It was good,” Brackman said. “No problems.” He hopes to pitch in a game within a few days.

• Warner Madrigal also threw live BP this morning. Freddy Garcia, Ivan Nova, Dellin Betances and Adam Warren threw sides.

• A lot of former Yankees roaming around in the Nationals clubhouse. Chad Gaudin is starting for Washington. He’ll be pitching to Ivan Rodriguez, with Jerry Hairston Jr. playing center field. Alberto Gonzalez is on the Nationals bench. Former Yankees Chien-Ming Wang and Tyler Clippard are in camp with Washington but didn’t make the trip.

• Scheduled to play off the bench: C Austin Romine, 1B Brandon Laird, 2B Kevin Russo, SS Doug Bernier, 3B Brad Suttle, LF Justin Maxwell, CF Melky Mesa, RF Colin Curtis, DH Greg Golson

• Available out of the bullpen: Joba Chamberlain, Dave Robertson, Romulo Sanchez, Ryan Pope, Robert Fish, Steve Garrison, Daniel Turpen, David Phelps and D.J. Mitchell

• Tomorrow’s travelers today: The Yankees have a road game against the Astros in Kissimmee tomorrow. Phil Hughes starts for the Yankees, Brett Myers for Houston.

Pitchers who are making the trip: Brian Anderson, Steve Garrison, Phil Hughes, D.J. Mitchell, Hector Noesi, David Phelps, Andy Sisco, Adam Warren and Eric Wordekemper

Position players who are not making the trip: Francisco Cervelli, Jorge Posada, Austin Romine, Ronnie Belliard, Ramiro Pena, Jorge Vazquez, Brett Gardner, Curtis Granderson and Nick Swisher

Word is that Bryce Harper is on the Nationals traveling squad for today’s game in Tampa. Former Yankees Ivan Rodriguez and Jerry Hairston Jr. are also supposed to be on the trip. Chad Gaudin is starting for the Nats.

The Yankees have their own top prospect back in the lineup.

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

CC Sabathia

Whatever your opinion of the backup catcher competition — whether you preferred the prospect or the known quantity — Francisco Cervelli’s broken foot is clearly a rough way to lose the job.

“I feel bad, man,” Jorge Posada said. “He worked really hard, and it’s one of those things that’s very unfortunate to see. I feel bad for him.”

The impact of Cervelli’s injury went beyond his own locker, but the impact was not widely spread. Aside from pushing Gustavo Molina vaguely into the mix, it’s impact was more-or-less limited to Austin Romine and Jesus Montero. Two others who might have been affected, Posada and Brian Cashman, are really in no different position today than they were before Cervelli fouled the ball off his foot.

Jesus Montero
You now have to consider him a favorite to make this team. Yesterday Joe Girardi said Cervelli and Montero were the favorites because of their experience, and that would seem to make this Montero’s job to lose. Posada followed a similar path, hitting his way to the big leagues and then learning from a reserve role, and he said that path helped him learn and adjust.

“I’m still learning about everything,” Montero said. “I haven’t played in the big leagues. I want to play there so I can learn quick and help the team to win… I’ve got an opportunity. I’m going to do something good about it.”

Austin Romine
As Girardi said this afternoon, without Cervelli, everyone moves up one spot on the depth chart. That means Romine is one step closer. He might still be behind Montero, but the jump from Double-A isn’t unheard of — Cervelli and Girardi both did it — so Romine could play his way into the mix. I’d still consider him a long shot, but he’s in the conversation.

“I’d like to think I’m not (at a disadvantage),” Romine said. “Triple-A is good baseball up there, but Double-A has made big strides lately. A lot of guys go from Double-A to the big leagues. It’s good ball down there as well. I don’t really see it as a disadvantage.”

Jorge Posada
His situation didn’t change. The Yankees aren’t going to go into a season with their everyday DH being their only backup catcher, and Posada is still the team’s everyday DH.

“I’m not catching. I’m the DH,” Posada said. “They haven’t said anything about me catching, so I’m just getting ready to be the DH… It’s something you can’t control if something happens to the two catchers. I gotta stay catching bullpens, early work during the season. That’s probably going to help me out.”

Brian Cashman
For most teams, losing a backup catcher would require at least a quick glance around the league for alternatives. Instead, Cashman has plenty of in-house options. Obviously, he might have to go shopping if everyone struggles, but for now he can let this thing play out.

“We thankfully, knock on wood, are catching deep,” Cashman said. “With Russell Martin’s addition and the developmental steps that Montero and Romine have taken, we’re covered. That’s one of our positions of strength, unlike most organizations.”

Here’s Montero.

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Here’s Romine.

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Here’s Posada.

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• Cashman said the trade market has been quiet recently. He hasn’t had many calls about his young talent. “Not recently,” Cashman said. “My phone hasn’t been ringing.”

• Bartolo Colon made another strong start with three scoreless innings and five strikeouts. He said his sinker command was much better today than in his first spring start. Frankly, all of the Yankees rotation candidates have pitched well this spring. “I’m not sure anyone is separating themselves from one another,” Cashman said.

• Manny Banuelos won’t pitch his way to New York, but he keeps impressing everyone who sees him. “You forget that he’s 19 years old,” Russell Martin said.

• Random Banuelos/Martin note: Martin put white out on his fingers after Banuelos missed a sign and threw a curveball when Martin called for a changeup. “It was actually good that he did that because now I know he can throw a 2-0 curveball for strikes,” Martin said.

• Speaking of Martin, everything went well in his first game behind the plate. He said he wouldn’t have played if he’d felt anything. The only hang up right now is that he’s still running at about 90 percent. “I guess I’ll wake up tomorrow and see how it feels,” he said. “Right now, it feels good. I think from here on out, I’ll just be catching in the regular rotation.”

• YES Network had Mark Prior’s fastball at 90-91 mph. That fits with what Prior’s been saying about his velocity. He pitched a scoreless eighth inning.

• Alex Rodriguez had two more hits tonight and he’s off to a strong start this spring. He has four doubles already and he’s batting .500. His double tonight probably would have been a home run had the wind not been blowing in so hard.

• Mark Teixeira, who’s also off to a strong start, also doubled in tonight’s game. So did Robinson Cano, who picked up his first hit of the spring. Derek Jeter also singled and drew a walk.

• All four Red Sox runs were charged to the Yankees left-handed relievers, two charged to Pedro Feliciano and three to Boone Logan, who couldn’t pitch through the seventh. Two of Logan’s runs scored off Eric Wordekemper, who came out of the pen to finish off the inning.

• Girardi said Martin will catch again on Sunday. He’s basically on the every-other-day schedule, more or less taking Cervelli’s place in the catching rotation.

• Finally, one week into the spring schedule, there really haven’t been any huge disappointments other than the Cervelli injury. “Everything is as expected or better,” Cashman said. Then again, as Cashman pointed out, “Does it really matter on March 4?”

Associated Press photos of Montero, Colon and Rodriguez

YANKEES (2-3-1)
Derek Jeter SS
Russell Martin C
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada DH
Andruw Jones LF
Melky Mesa CF
Greg Golson RF

RHP Bartolo Colon (0-0, 4.50)
Colon vs. Red Sox

RED SOX (2-3)
Darnell McDonald RF
Ryan Kalish CF
Jed Lowrie 1B
Jason Varitek C
Daniel Nava DH
Josh Reddick LF
Yamaico Navarro 3B
Drew Sutton 2B
Jose Iglesias SS

RHP Clay Buchholz (17-7, 2.33 in 2010)
Buchholz vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 7:05 p.m., YES Network

WEATHER: Another nice day down here in Tampa. Breeze blowing in from center field.

UMPIRES: HP Eric Cooper, 1B Marty Foster, 2B Mark Carlson, 3B Art Thigpen

ON THE LINE: Bartolo Colon is making his second start in an attempt to pitch his way back into a big league rotation. Russell Martin’s spot on the roster really isn’t in doubt, this will be the first time he’s tested his surgically repair knee in a game behind the plate.

CALL US WEEKLY: Actor Richard Gere will throw out tonight’s ceremonial first pitch.

OLD HABITS: David Well threw batting practice this afternoon. As one of the other Yankees writers pointed out, he looked behind him every time to see where the balls landed after they were hit. Even tossing BP fastballs, Wells seemed worried about his results.

OUT OF THE BULLPEN FOR THE YANKEES: Manny Banuelos, Pedro Feliciano, Mark Prior and Andy Sisco are scheduled to pitch behind Colon.

BULLPEN FOR THE RED SOX: Brandon Duckworth, Randy Williams, Matt Albers, Tony Pena Jr.

UPDATE, 7:15 p.m.: Colon and Buchholz each sent the side down in order in the first inning. Colon had two strikeouts and a ground ball to short.

UPDATE, 7:45 p.m.: Colon was pretty good. Granted, this is a pretty terrible lineup, but he went three scoreless with five strikeouts and no walks. He allowed two singles, but one was a chopper that didn’t get out of the infield. I still think he’s the third guy in a race for two spots, but he’s been better than I expected.

UPDATE, 8:11 p.m.: I felt sure Rodriguez had a home run on that drive to left-center. The wind is really blowing here and knocked that ball down, but it sure looked like a homer off the bat.

UPDATE, 9:02 p.m.: How’s this as a review of Manny Banuelos? “He’s got as good of stuff as I’ve seen,” Russell Martin said. “I can compare it to a Kershaw.”

The door to the big leagues is officially wide open for top Yankees prospect Jesus Montero.

Francisco Cervelli has a fracture on top of his foot above the toes. It’s not the exact same spot where the foul ball hit his foot, but the force of the blow must have traveled. Cervelli is on crutches right now and he’ll be in a boot — but not a cast — for at least four weeks. The MRI results are being sent to a foot specialist.

“You could see the disappointment when we walked over to tell him,” Joe Girardi said.

Most obviously, this opens a door for Montero to make the leap from minor league prospect to big league backup. Austin Romine is also in the mix, though he doesn’t have the same upper-level experience as Montero. Girardi also mentioned the veteran Gustavo Molina, who has limited major league experience in parts of three seasons.

“We still have plenty of guys here that could earn that spot,” Girardi said. “We have Montero here, we have Romine here and we brought in Molina. If we felt our kids weren’t ready, or you had something happen, Molina is a guy that has big league experience and knows how to handle a staff. Basically what it does is it probably eliminates one catcher from the Opening Day competition.”

The situation has not changed for Jorge Posada.

“We’re still planning on him being a DH,” Girardi said. “I can’t tell you 100 percent exactly what’s going to happen over the next couple of weeks, I can’t, just like I wouldn’t have predicted this. But right now I don’t plan on having him really catch in a game right now. We’ll see what the other guys can do.”

• Rafael Soriano faced hitters for the first time this spring. He threw live batting practice to Jose Gil, who said he was throwing quality strikes with all of his pitches. “Probably as many swings and misses in a batting practice session as I’ve ever seen,” Girardi said. “And this is, guys know what’s coming.” Dan Brewer and Bradley Suttle were the hitters.

• Brian Anderson also threw a sim game this morning.

• Soriano threw 20 pitches and will throw one more live BP — or sim game, whatever you want to call it — before getting in a game. Girardi said there’s not yet a scheduled day for Mariano Rivera to face hitters.

• Bartolo Colon is scheduled for 50 pitches or three innings tonight against the Red Sox. “See if he can build off of what he did (in his first start),” Girardi said. “We’ve talked about Bartolo, his command is really good and has always been really good. His changeup, from now to when I used to face him, has gotten a lot better.”

• Russell Martin is making his first spring start at catcher, but Girardi said he doesn’t think the Yankees will need to ease him into the regular season. “I hope not,” Girardi said. “He has plenty of time to get in shape. You look at Russell, he’s a young guy. He’s used to playing every day. I’ll see how he feels tomorrow, and we’ll try to get him two days in a row some time coming up, not right away.”

• A.J. Burnett, Sergio Mitre, David Phelps and Hector Noesi threw sides today. For whatever it’s worth, Burnett threw his side to Montero.

• Brett Gardner, Nick Swisher and Curtis Granderson did outfield drills as a group this afternoon, just the three of them.

• Dellin Betances said he couldn’t help but notice Manny Ramirez standing on deck yesterday when he struck out Evan Longoria. As a kid growing up, Betances played baseball for the same coach who once coached Ramirez, and Betances heard about him all the time. When he finally faced Ramirez, Betances missed with a 1-2 breaking ball but went right back to the same pitch for a called third strike.

• Available pitchers tonight: Manny Banuelos, Pedro Feliciano, Mark Prior, Andy Sisco, Luis Ayala, Steve Garrison, Eric Wordekemper and Ryan Pope.

• Scheduled to play off the bench: C Austin Romine, 1B Jorge Vazquez, 2B Ramiro Pena, SS Doug Bernier, 3B Brandon Laird, LF Jordan Parraz, CF Austin Krum, RF Justin Maxwell and DH Jesus Montero.

• Predictably, the Red Sox have not traveled with their lineup regulars.

RED SOX
Darnell McDonald RF
Ryan Kalish CF
Jed Lowrie 1B
Jason Varitek C
Daniel Nava DH
Josh Reddick LF
Yamaico Navarro 3B
Drew Sutton 2B
Jose Iglesias SS

Clay Buchholz

Associated Press photos

Francisco Cervelli has a fracture in his foot and will be in a boot for at least four weeks.

Joe Girardi said this doesn’t change the plan for Jorge Posada, but could open a door for Jesus Montero or Austin Romine, or Gustavo Molina if the Yankees decide the kids aren’t ready.

Derek Jeter SS
Russell Martin C
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada DH
Andruw Jones LF
Melky Mesa CF
Greg Golson RF

Bartolo Colon

First a quick reminder that today’s game is a night game, with the players not scheduled to report to Steinbrenner Field until the early afternoon.

Today is the report date for all of the Yankees minor league coaches, many of whom have been in big league camp since pitchers and catchers showed up last month. Minor league players report tomorrow, take their physicals on Sunday and have their first workouts on Monday morning.

The Yankees will split their minor leaguers into four workout groups — very preliminary versions of the Triple-A through Low-A rosters, all of which will change a lot before Opening Day — and the players will go through standard drills for almost two weeks before the minor league spring schedule begins on March 19.

The minor league spring schedule works like this: Every day, all Yankees minor leaguers will play one other organization (Pirates, Blue Jays or Phillies). Two teams (Triple-A and Double-A for example) will go on the road while the other two teams stay home. If a big leaguer needs innings or at-bats, he’ll go to the minor league complex and pretty much do whatever he wants. A hitter might leadoff every inning, and a pitcher might pitch a five-out inning. Whatever it takes to get the work in.

Here’s the minor league spring schedule.

March 19
vs. Pittsburgh
Home: Tampa/Charleston
Away: Scranton/Trenton

March 20
vs. Pittsburgh
Home: Scranton/Trenton
Away: Tampa/Charleston

March 21
vs. Toronto
Home: Tampa/Charleston
Away: Scranton/Trenton

March 22
vs. Toronto
Home: Scranton/Trenton
Away: Tampa/Charleston

March 23
vs. Philadelphia
Home: Tampa/Charleston
Away: Scranton/Trenton

March 24
vs. Philadelphia
Home: Scranton/Trenton
Away: Tampa/Charleston

March 25
vs. Pittsburgh
Home: Tampa/Charleston
Away: Scranton/Trenton

March 26
vs. Pittsburgh
Home: Scranton/Trenton
Away: Tampa/Charleston

March 27
Camp Day
Scranton vs. Trenton
Tampa vs. Charleston

March 28
vs. Toronto
Home: Tampa/Charleston
Away: Scranton/Trenton

March 29
vs. Philadelphia
Home: Scranton/Trenton
Away: Tampa/Charleston

March 30
vs. Pittsburgh
Home: Tampa/Charleston
Away: Scranton/Trenton

March 31
vs. Pittsburgh
Home: Scranton/Trenton
Away: Tampa/Charleston

April 1
vs. Toronto
Home: Scranton/Trenton
Away: Tampa/Charleston

April 2
vs. Toronto
Home: Tampa/Charleston
Away: Scranton/Trenton

April 3
Camp Day
Scranton vs. Trenton
Tampa vs. Charleston
Break camp after the workouts/intrasquad games

Associated Press photo of Daniel Brewer