Getty Aaron Judge, featured in our highlights, has starred for the Yankees lineup as the face the Phillies
After a come from behind effort against the Baltimore Orioles on the back of another rough spring outing for Jonathan Loaisiga, the New York Yankees moved to 9-6 in the Grapefruit League. The Yankees now get to play host to the revamped Philadelphia Phillies who boast an exciting roster of young talent to go alongside new addition Bryce Harper.
Masahiro Tanaka gets the start for the Yankees and now assumes the role of opening day starter and ace until Luis Severino returns from his shoulder injury. Tanaka has been excellent allowing just two runs across his 6 innings of work. Especially at the time of year when pitchers are rounding back into form and throwing almost primarily fastballs and changeups, Tanaka has been able to avoid hard contact and pitch well.
Yankees Roster & Lineup Today
(Yankee Lineup Courtesy of MLB.com)
1. Gardner CF
2. Judge RF
3. Stanton LF
4. Voit DH
5. Torres 2B
6. Sanchez C
7. Bird 1B
8. Urshela 3B
9. Wade SS
SP – Tanaka RHP
Aaron Judge Stats & Spring Training Highlights
On the back of a 1-3 performance at the plate that saw Judge up his spring training home run total to four in just 22 at-bats, Judge is seeing the ball well and looks to be locked in heading into the 2019 season. Notoriously a slow starter in spring training, Judge already finds himself with more home runs in the spring compared to the 2018 run that saw him post three homers in more than twice the number of at-bats. Slashing .318/.423/1.000 to go with only six strikeouts, 2019 could shape up to be a monster year from the behemoth right fielder.
Judge got ahold of a no-doubter in yesterday’s matchup with the Orioles, blasting an opposite-field homer that got out before the right fielder had a chance to even turn and pick up the ball:
While spring training stats should always be taken with a grain of salt, Judge has been known to consistently make major improvements to his plate approach year in, year out. His discipline at the plate was always a strong suit, however, he seems to be seeing the baseball even better and could be in line for a scarily good year. One of his most fascinating spring stats is the fact that all seven of his hits have come for extra bases.
Just look at this ball Judge plastered against the Blue Jays to start off spring training. The only thing keeping the ball in the park is the fact that he simply squared the ball up TOO well:
Aaron Judge CRUSHES a double to left. #YANKSonYES
Gary Sanchez finally got himself back on the board with a hit against the Orioles, but still needs a long ways to go in order to get back to his former ways. Struggling to even make contact with the ball, Sanchez at least was able to put something in play in each of his three at-bats yesterday. It is a small step forward, but seeing Sanchez continue to show positive signs of improvement over the next two weeks would alleviate many Yankees fans concerns.
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Yankees Lineup & Roster vs Phillies; Aaron Judge Stats & Highlights