With the New England Patriots falling to the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl Sunday night, it christened the unofficial start of the Baseball season.
The Yankees complex in Tampa has been open for weeks now. The mandatory report dates for pitchers and catchers are this Wednesday (Feb. 11th). The position players’ report dates on February 18th. Spring is coming. The Yankees have few questions on their roster going into spring training compared to recent years. Let’s look at some of the key storylines for Yankees Spring Training.
1. The “Young Pups”
The Yankees have done a fantastic job developing starting pitching prospects in recent years, and there are more in their system for them to capitalize on. Carlos Lagrange has a big arm with some control issues, but high potential. He could be used in the rotation or in the bullpen. If I were the Yankees, I would see how Lagrange looks in the bullpen, as that is where the Yankees might need some urgent help through the course of the season.
Elmer Rodriguez is also waiting in the wings. He will pitch in the World Baseball Classic for Team Puerto Rico. That will be a good test for Rodriguez’ development going into the season to see if he is a legit option at some point to make an impact.
2. Bullpen Additions
The Yankees bullpen is by far the weakest part of the team at this point. The Yankees have made two external additions to their bullpen this offseason — Cade Winquest and Angel Chivilli. Both of these arms have really high upsides for the Yankees, but come with concerns.
Winquest has never pitched above Double-A. The Yankees as an organization are very high on Winquest and have compared him to Luke Weaver in terns of stuff and potential. The issue for the Yankees and Winquest is there is no safety net of Triple-A if things go Arye. Since Winquest was a Rule 5 pick, he does not have options and must remain on the 26-man roster or the Yankees risk losing him.
Chivilli, however, does have both major league experience and minor league options. He has a really big arm and should have a lot of potential with a lot of control for the Yankees, but he comes with a risk. He posted an ERA over 7 for the Rockies last season, but more of his struggles came at Coors Field. Of the two, he would be my pick to be the successful Matt Blake experiment of this offseason.
3. Rotation Health out of Camp
The Yankees rotation has the potential to be among the best in baseball at full health. That won’t come till at lest June when both Carlos Rodón and Gerrit Cole return from their injuries. Until then, the Yankees will be sending a five-man rotation out, consisting of Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, Luis Gil, Ryan Weathers, and Will Warren.
The issue — both Gil and Weathers have major injury concerns. Both have a lot of potential to be great if they are healthy, but both struggle to stay on the field. The Yankees have suffered a starter’s injury in Spring Training every season since 2021, and due to the vulnerability early in the season, they should be praying for their starter’s health.
4. World Baseball Classic
The Yankees have 16 players and members of staff currently playing for the WBC. This is very exciting for the fans and players, but it should concern the Yankees a bit.
Their top three relievers, David Bednar, Camilo Doval, and Fernando Cruz, are all pitching in the WBC. The Yankees can’t afford an injury from any of them, given the previously mentioned lack of depth in the bullpen unit.
Also, Aaron Judge is playing in the WBC, coming off his elbow injury. While the Yankees keep saying that he’s fine, it takes one tweak in his elbow, and the season could be derailed before it gets started.
Note: Don’t pay attention to Spring Training numbers; they mean nothing.
Time for the 2026 season to begin to kick off. As Aaron Boone says every season, “Hope Springs Eternal”.
(Top Image Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images)
