TAMPA, Fla. – Giancarlo Stanton made his spring training debut for the New York Yankees on Tuesday at George M. Steinbrenner Field, recording a 114.3 mph single to left field during an 11-1 exhibition win over Team Panama. Stanton described the outing as “a nice prototype first day.”
“Nothing, at the end of the day, is like seeing a live arm,” Stanton said. “Being in a position in a game with fans, that extra – you can’t simulate. You can visualize it, but until you do it, it’s different.”
Stanton continues to deal with epicondylitis in both elbows, which affected his availability last season and limited him to 77 games. He has stated he will have to play through pain for the rest of his career and told NJ.com he cannot “open a bag of chips” without discomfort.
Despite these challenges, Stanton managed to hit 24 home runs from July 2 onward last season—ranking fourth among major league players during that period behind Kyle Schwarber (31), Cal Raleigh (27), and Shohei Ohtani (25).
“You’ve got to come in and make an impact,” Stanton said. “I just tried to be impactful right away and not worry about, ‘Hey, I only had this.’ Whatever. No one cares. Get it done.”
Stanton emphasized that how the ball feels off his bat is more important than its exit velocity: “Just squaring up a heater tells me where I’m at more than miles per hour,” he said. “Pulling a heater, good timing, good adjustment from a couple of swing-throughs or foul-offs of heaters. That’s still the seesaw that’s normal right now.”
Pitcher Max Fried also made his first appearance this spring for New York and noted improvement was needed despite allowing only one soft hit over three innings with one strikeout.
“It’s nothing new. We’ve been seeing it all spring. Yeah, it’s the first time he got in a game – same as me – but he’s been hitting the ball really hard all spring. He looks great,” Fried said regarding Stanton.
Fried described his own performance as rusty: “Nothing can recreate getting into a game with an umpire and different jerseys,” Fried said after throwing 30 strikes out of 56 pitches.
One highlight for Fried was holding José Caballero—the league leader in stolen bases last year—at first base following an unintentional walk before striking out Allen Córdoba.
“That was perfect,” Fried said. “First time in a game and having one of the best baserunners in baseball trying to play a little cat-and-mouse game. I’m paying attention to him and trying to hold him on, but also pitching and staying aggressive at the plate. I couldn’t have asked for a better matchup.”
In other roster developments, Ryan McMahon started at shortstop after two days of preparation but committed an error on Jose Ramos’ grounder.
“I gained a little bit more respect for what these shortstops have to deal with on a daily basis,” McMahon said. “It’s fun getting out there. I botched one, but I feel like if I see that one a couple more times, it would be no problem.”
The Yankees are evaluating McMahon’s ability at shortstop while waiting for Anthony Volpe’s return from injury early this season.
Caballero is expected to start at shortstop initially; Oswaldo Cabrera has yet to appear in games so far this spring training session.
Manager Aaron Boone indicated most bench spots are likely set: J.C Escarra, Paul Goldschmidt and Amed Rosario are expected selections.
If McMahon proves reliable as backup shortstop, Randal Grichuk—signed recently on a Minor League contract—could earn consideration for another roster spot.
“I definitely think he could handle it,” Boone said about McMahon playing shortstop duties.“The arm really plays.He’s just so natural picking up ground balls.It was good to get him out there.”
