There’s no shortage of concerns for the Yankees, with every day seemingly bringing a new injury — or two.
But Aroldis Chapman alleviated some worry with an excellent performance to close out Monday’s 3-1 win over Detroit.
The closer hasn’t shown his typical triple-digit velocity in the early going of 2019, whether it’s because of starting slowly in spring training or the chilly weather in The Bronx.
He got his fastball up above 98 mph against the Tigers, mowing down the bottom of their order effortlessly to earn his first save of the year. Chapman had been throwing his fastball in the mid-90s, topping out at 97.
“Obviously, he was really efficient,’’ Aaron Boone said. “It looked like there was good life on his fastball. I wasn’t overly concerned with it, [but] it was good to see him come in and start to push it up a little bit and look like his stuff was crisp.”
CC Sabathia pitched four shutout innings in a minor league spring training game in Tampa on Monday and could be back with the Yankees soon.
“I felt good, no problems,” Sabathia told the Associated Press. “The pitches were working. So [I’m] just trying to build up.”
Sabathia is scheduled to pitch five innings Sunday for Single-A Tampa. After that, Sabathia expects to be in the Yankees’ rotation.
“I should be good after Sunday,” said Sabathia, whose rehab from knee surgery was interrupted by a December heart scare. “It’s just up to them after that.”
Gio Gonzalez, signed last month to a minor league deal to provide rotation depth, is slated to start Thursday’s season-opener for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, manager Jay Bell told reporters at the team’s media day on Monday. Gonzalez has an April 20 opt-out date when he can become a free agent if he’s not in the majors.
As rough as Monday was, with both Miguel Andujar and Giancarlo Stanton being placed on the injured list, it could have been worse.
Gleyber Torres hurt his left hand when Jordy Mercer slid into his glove while Torres covered second in the fourth. Torres stayed in the game and Boone said he was “fine.”
And when Aaron Judge made his critical catch of Nick Goodrum’s sinking liner to right in the eighth, his wrist nearly bent back as he hit the ground, but Judge said he was OK following the play.
DJ LeMahieu started at third base for the second time this season and just the second time since 2014, but he figures to get plenty of action at the position now that Andujar is out indefinitely.
With Stanton out for the next few weeks, Boone has to figure out not just what to do with the lineup, but also in the outfield.
On Monday, Brett Gardner remained in center field, with Mike Tauchman in left.
Boone said he talked with outfield coordinator Reggie Willits about how to align the outfield and they considered moving Gardner to left, with Tauchman in center, but opted to keep Gardner in center.
“We could have gone either way, especially in our building, where left field is such a premium,’’ Boone said. “With Gardner playing pretty much full time in center field now [with Aaron Hicks out with lower back soreness], we just felt like keeping him there. It could be something we tinker with.”
As for Hicks, Boone talked to him again Monday and said he felt “great,” but that he still hadn’t started baseball activities.
“But I feel like that’s around the corner,’’ Boone said. “Still, he’s gonna need a spring training, so speculating on when [he’ll be back], I don’t think it’s gonna be deep into the season by any means, but he’s still got some weeks to go.’’
Jacoby Ellsbury (plantar fasciitis) remains far away from returning.