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| Photo Credit: Chris O'Meara/AP |
After offseason elbow surgery, Tanaka may
not be ready to go by the start of the season. Despite that, it will be
interesting to see how he progresses during rehabilitation. His numbers haven't
been terrible in his first two years in the MLB (12-7 3.51 ERA) but when you
consider how dominant he was for the first three months of his career, those
number look alarmingly pedestrian. Hopefully the procedure will do wonders for
his pitching and bring about the return of the phenomenal pitching he displayed
in 2014.
It was a tough end to the year to say the
least for the former leading man of the rotation. Not only did his numbers fall
off for the fourth consecutive season, the former ace found himself battling
his own personal demons when he entered rehabilitation for alcohol abuse. It's
been made public that Sabathia will have to compete for the final rotation spot
in spring training, so it will be interesting to see what he'll bring to the
table knowing that so much is on the line.
He now has a few major league games under
his belt which gives him the chance to earn a spot on the team (though most
likely as a backup). It won't be an easy spot to secure as the 24 year old infielder
will have to beat out the likes of Pete Kozma, Dustin
Ackley, Donovan
Solano, and Jonathan Diaz,
each of whom have more experience than Refsnyder. If he can carry the momentum
he gained from last season, he should be able to win a full time gig. If not,
his name could possibly come up in trade talks.
He's probably not going to be in the big
leagues this season (at least until the 40-man roster call ups in September),
but he still has a huge opportunity to show off his skills to Girardi and
company. There is no doubt that the Yankees want him to take over the right
field duties from Carlos
Beltran, who may be retiring at season's end. The 6'7" slugger is sure
to have coaches and fans salivating over his prospective talent.
For six years, Yankee fans have been
hearing about this top prospect, and now it looks like they'll finally get to
see him in action. With the backup role now open, Sanchez is set to fill that
spot as the catcher of the future. It also helps that he will have a veteran
backstop like Brian McCann around to teach him the ropes. Brian
Cashman has set the edict that the team will rely on its youth to build the
future, and Sanchez will certainly be the next big test of that plan.
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