TAMPA — Monday is Day 2 of spring training for the Yankees’ full roster … or close to it.
Center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury, who was with his expecting wife over the weekend, is planning to arrive into town Monday night and show up for work Tuesday, manager Joe Girardi said during his Sunday presser.
Girardi, by the way, is thinking about changing the top of his lineup on the heels of speedy left-handed hitters Brett Gardner and Ellsbury having mediocre 2016 seasons hitting 1-2 and 2-1 the entire way.
Yanks’ lineup of youngsters
“I like the idea of breaking up left-handers,” Girardi said. “At times, (left-handed-hitting shortstop) Didi (Gregorius) was hitting eighth with a right-handed hitting ninth, then (we had) two lefties at the top of the order. It was somewhat of the ultimate time to bring in your left-hander against us. It’s something that we’ve kicked around.”
In 2016, Ellsbury led off and Gardner hit second through July 7, then they flip-flopped the rest of the way.
Gardner, 33, hit .261 with seven homers, 41 RBIs, 16 steals (20 attempts) and a .351 on-base average, while Ellsbury, 33, finished with a .263 batting average, nine homers, 56 RBIs, 20 steals (28 attempts) and a .330 on-base average.
If Girardi makes a switch at the top, one option would be dropping Gardner or Ellsbury into the No. 8 hole and using second baseman Starlin Castro, a right-handed hitter, in the second spot.
“I think you have to wait and see how first base and right field play out … and let the lineup evolve,” Girardi said. “Once it does evolve, it’s probably going to be different against right-handers and left-handers. Then if you have to tweak it.”
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The Yankees made a surprise addition to their roster after Sunday’s practice with the reported signing of free agent left-hander Jon Niese.
Niese, 30, figures to be thrown into the competition for the two open spots in the Yankees’ rotation. He’s coming off a bad 2016 playing for Pittsburgh and the Mets, but previously had some pretty decent seasons during his first stint with the Mets, as he was 59-59 with a 3.86 ERA from 2010-15 in 174 outings, 169 as a starter.
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With rookie first baseman/outfielder Tyler Austin breaking his foot during a BP session last week and now sidelined all spring, the Yankees added outfield prospect Billy McKinney to their spring roster on Sunday.
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Chris Carter takes BP first time with Yankees
The Yankees’ workout on Sunday drew several hundred fans to Steinbrenner Field and they were treated to some entertaining batting practice sessions.
New first baseman Chris Carter, a 6-foot-4, 245 pounder who hit 41 homers last season for Milwaukee, showed off his massive power by hitting a few very high flies to right and right-center that carried way over the fence.
There were no moon shots that went way, way out to left, but the 6-foot-4, 245-pound right-handed hitter launched several towering flyballs to right and right-center fields that easily left the yard … and every time one went out the several hundred fans in the stands broke into cheers.
Yankees’ Gleyber Torres, Jorge Mateo take BP
Shortstop Gleyber Torres, the Yankees’ No. 1 prospect, is a lot smaller than Carter at 6-1, 175, but the 20-year-old Venezuelan had the crowd oohing during BP, as he, too, was hitting opposite-field homers to right and right-center.
“Gleyber Torres uses the field extremely well, has opposite-field power, and for a young hitter to have that type of discipline and approach is pretty impressive,” Girardi said.
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Ruben Tejada takes BP wIth Yankees for 1st time
We also shot some video of former Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada’s first batting practice of spring training.
The Yanks signed Tejada over the winter to a minor-league contract and he’s in big-league camp as a non-roster player. A 27-year-old from Panama, Tejada will compete this spring with incumbent Ronald Torreyes and others for the Yankees’ utility infield spot.
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Gardner discussed this past winter’s trade rumors in-depth before Sunday’s workout. He says that he wants to play his entire career with the Yankees, but from listening to him talk, you got a sense that he has a gut feeling his days with the club are numbered.
Clint Frazier, one of baseball’s best prospects, is a left fielder who figures to begin 2017 in Triple-A.
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Frazier wants to bond with Gardner this spring, Gardner said Sunday morning that he was more than willing to be a mentor and the two started building a big brother-little brother relationship during Sunday’s practice.
“I got to spend some time with Brett Gardner in stretch and just get on a personal level with him, getting to know him a little bit and him getting to know me,” Frazier said. “That was a pretty cool experience for me.”
Gardner says it’s not awkward helping out a younger player who wants his job.
“No, that’s only natural,” he said. “I’ve got to take it back nine or 10 years and put myself in his shoes. I keep bringing up Johnny Damon’s name … He’s one of the guys that really helped kind of take me under his wing and feel comfortable, and at the end of the day I was trying to take Johnny’s job from him as a young guy. And Clint’s trying to do the same to me.
“I’ve got to respect his work ethic and the way that he goes about his business, and I’m sure that he does the same to me. It’s my job to be as good as I can be and try to keep him from taking my job. That’s how it works, man.”
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Joe Girardi on Clint Frazier’s hair, Yankees’ appearance policy
Frazier’s very notable curly red hair (which was long before spring training, but now trimmed) came up Sunday in Girardi’s post-practice media session. Girardi also talked about the club’s long-standing appearance policy, and here’s video of him talking about both topics.
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There was a second day of fallout from reliever Dellin Betances’ arbitration loss on Sunday … or we should say fallout from the he said, she said that followed: Yankees president Randy Levine ripped into agent Jim Murray for 17 minutes, then Betances and Murray counterpunched.
“I don’t regret anything I said,” Betances stated on Sunday.
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Yankees’ Starlin Castro homers off scoreboard
Here’s video of fellow NJ Advance Media Yankees beat man Brendan Kuty capturing a batting practice home run off the Steinbrenner Field scoreboard by Castro, who belted a career-best 21 last season.
(By the way, we have no video of new designated hitter Matt Holliday, Aaron Judge, Frazier or any of the outfielders hitting on Sunday because they took their batting practice on a different field outside Steinbrenner Field. Hopefully, we’ll see them hit on Monday.)
Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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