TAMPA, Fla. — After 372 days away from game action, Gerrit Cole was welcomed back by the Boston Red Sox with immediate disrespect.
Red Sox outfielder Braiden Ward bunted for a hit on Cole’s first pitch of spring training. The Yankees’ pitchers had fielding practice on a back field Wednesday morning, but Cole did not participate because he was starting. Cole joked that Ward helped him get his work in anyway. What was most important for the right-hander was hitting another milestone in his rehab.
Cole completed one inning, throwing 10 pitches, and his fastball velocity averaged 97.1 mph. With just a week until the Yankees open the season against the San Francisco Giants, Cole appeared to be in midseason form.
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“I had a lot of fun out there,” he said. “I just wanted to enjoy all of it, so that was my goal. No reservations, try not to judge yourself too hard and just have fun, with no thoughts about do I want to take a little bit off or just go ahead and let it fly.”
Cole won’t be on the Opening Day roster as he continues his recovery from Tommy John surgery, but with the first series in sight, we have a clearer idea of who will be with the Yankees to begin the season.
Gerrit Cole’s fastball velocity averaged 97.1 mph in his Grapefruit League debut. (Nathan Ray Seebeck / Imagn Images)
Position players all but locked in?
Manager Aaron Boone speaks with reporters every day during spring training, and twice a day once the regular season begins. But with the Yankees, it’s more important to watch their actions for their truest feelings. And their actions this spring have told us which way they are leaning in their roster construction.
If the Yankees get through the rest of camp healthy, this could be the Opening Day lineup you’ll be watching on Netflix:
Yankees’ Projected Opening Day Lineup
The order could be slightly different, but there’s no guesswork needed on the top nine. And any intrigue about the four guys on their bench appears to be over.
The Yankees signed Amed Rosario and Paul Goldschmidt to provide more right-handed at-bats off the bench. Rosario is expected to platoon with Ryan McMahon at third base and play most of his games when there’s a left-handed starter. Goldschmidt’s usage is less clear, as the Yankees want Ben Rice to play more versus left-handed pitching this year.
The final two spots on the bench are all but decided. The Yankees will begin the season with J.C. Escarra as the backup catcher to Austin Wells. Boone said Tuesday he considers Escarra to be a “top-half-of-the-league catcher.” Many fans might roll their eyes at Boone’s words and believe it’s another example of overselling one of his own players, but the projection models seem to agree. If we extrapolate Escarra’s FanGraphs 2026 ZiPS projection to a 130-game sample, he would finish with a 2.2 fWAR, which would have ranked as … the 15th most for any catcher in 2025. Rice, who has not caught in any spring games, will be the third catcher.
“J.C. is a really good player,” Boone said. “I tell him this, too, but he just hasn’t gotten a chance yet.”
Randal Grichuk, a non-roster spring training invitee, is expected to be the right-handed-hitting outfielder off the bench. When the Yankees face a left-handed starter, expect Cody Bellinger in center field and Grichuk in left field.
That would leave Jasson Domínguez off the Opening Day roster and bound for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. It’s still expected Domínguez will have an impact on the 2026 roster because of the likelihood of injury. If the 23-year-old isn’t needed at any point this year, it likely means the Yankees are having a hell of a season because Bellinger, Trent Grisham, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton each stayed healthy.
A bench of Rosario, Goldschmidt, Escarra and Grichuk would mean the Yankees don’t have a true backup shortstop on the roster. Oswaldo Cabrera is likely bound for Triple A, because he needs more at-bats as he continues his comeback from a gruesome leg injury last May. Max Schuemann and Paul DeJong remain in camp, but McMahon is expected to be the backup shortstop behind José Caballero to begin the season.
Boone said Tuesday he would feel comfortable having McMahon, one of MLB’s best defenders at third base, handle shortstop if needed during the season. McMahon has played shortstop in several games this spring and is expected to continue getting reps there.
“My expectation is that he could handle it, especially in a not-an-everyday scenario,” Boone said.
Pitching decisions to come
On the pitching side, the Yankees’ roster is less finalized.
There are two open spots in the bullpen, with David Bednar, Camilo Doval, Fernando Cruz, Tim Hill, Paul Blackburn and Ryan Yarbrough guaranteed to make the roster. The four biggest contenders for the final two spots are Cade Winquest, Jake Bird, Brent Headrick and Kervin Castro.
In seven outings this spring, Winquest has a 4.91 ERA with only six strikeouts. The reason the Yankees selected him in the Rule 5 draft this offseason was they believed his stuff would play up in a reliever role rather than as a starter, which he was in the St. Louis Cardinals organization. The results haven’t been there in spring training, but the Yankees still believe in his ability. If they do decide his stuff isn’t major-league ready, they must place Winquest on waivers. If he clears waivers, they must offer him back to the Cardinals for $50,000. If the Cardinals decline to take him back, the Yankees would be able to outright him to the minor leagues.
Bird, Headrick and Castro all have one minor-league option remaining and are on the 40-man roster, meaning there’s more flexibility and maneuverability available to the Yankees with them than there is with Winquest. As of now, Bird and Headrick are higher on the depth chart than Castro.
Yerry De los Santos and Angel Chivilli are also in the mix, but it’s unlikely they are ahead of any of the names listed above.
Where things become interesting is the lingering Luis Gil question. He has not performed well this spring, and there are major concerns about his viability in the rotation.
The Yankees are trying to figure out if there’s a fix with his fastball in particular. He continues to get inadequate swing-and-miss with it, even though the pitch characteristics are fine. The Yankees are working with Gil on his release point to add more deception. As a three-pitch pitcher who relies heavily on his fastball, he needs it to improve quickly; otherwise, he’s approaching the danger zone.
Because of the Yankees’ schedule to begin the season, they technically could roll with a four-man rotation until April 11. If they wanted, they could send Gil to the minor leagues to open the season and continue developing. In that case, the earliest they could recall him is April 9. The Yankees have not ruled out this possibility. If they go with a four-man rotation to begin the season, it would allow them to have an extra reliever, with Winquest, Bird and Headrick the likely candidates.
And if the Yankees wanted to go wild with the roster and create the most hype possible, they could convert Carlos Lagrange into a full-time reliever to begin the season. One team source called this move “unlikely,” but given that few pitchers on the planet throw 103 mph, do not be surprised if he makes his major-league debut later in the season.
“I don’t have any doubts he could help us right now,” Wells said of Lagrange.