What will Didi Gregorious bring to the table? - The Yankees acquired Gregrious in an off season trade, foregoing making any major signings to replace Derek Jeter. The 25 year old brings his quick glove and sharp defensive IQ to a position that is sure have many eyes trained towards it considering the legacy The Captain left behind. His bat is not much to write home about, but perhaps the advent of two new hitting instructors could give him the chance to sport high production numbers.
Who will be the 5th Starter? - Right now the Starting Rotation consists of Sabathia, Tanaka, Pineda, and Eovaldi. With Nova not expected to return until sometime in July, the Yankees are going to have to get a good look at the young arms and see who deserves a shot in the majors. There are also players like Chris Capuano and Scott Baker who could compete for the role, but the ultimate decision will be up to who can be impressive enough to earn the chance.
How will Alex Rodriguez be used? - After all that has surrounded him for the past 2 years, Alex Rodriguez will make his rather depressed return to baseball. At 39 no one knows exactly what to expect out of the beleaguered third baseman. Chase Headley is the new starter and Garrett Jones will probably get most of the plate appearances at DH, so Rodriguez will probably see limited time. If he can prove his bat is still good that Yankees will be sure to make a place for him, otherwise he will become the most expensive bench man in sports history.
Can Mark Teixeira Return to form? - Things have not gone to well for Teixeira since his first season in pinstripes. His batting average has gone down consistently the past 4 years and he has battle a deluge of injuries that have sidelined far too much. Hopefully he can get back the form he had in 2009 and be productive for a team that lacked any production all of last year. Limiting his time in the field could be the answer, but with a potential logjam at DH good conditioning will have to do.
Who is the closer? - Betances had a tremendous rookie campaign as he posted outstanding numbers working as the setup man. With David Robertson now with the White Sox, one would believe he is a shoe in to be the next man for the job. However, the signing of Andrew Miller has put the role in a bit of flux with the team thinking about using a two closer system. While that does have great potential to work very well, only one of them can truly be the have the spot.
Can Mark Teixeira Return to form? - Things have not gone to well for Teixeira since his first season in pinstripes. His batting average has gone down consistently the past 4 years and he has battle a deluge of injuries that have sidelined far too much. Hopefully he can get back the form he had in 2009 and be productive for a team that lacked any production all of last year. Limiting his time in the field could be the answer, but with a potential logjam at DH good conditioning will have to do.
Who is the closer? - Betances had a tremendous rookie campaign as he posted outstanding numbers working as the setup man. With David Robertson now with the White Sox, one would believe he is a shoe in to be the next man for the job. However, the signing of Andrew Miller has put the role in a bit of flux with the team thinking about using a two closer system. While that does have great potential to work very well, only one of them can truly be the have the spot.
No comments:
Post a Comment