TAMPA — For Sunday’s first full-squad practice this spring, Yankees new slugging first baseman Chris Carter showed off his outrageous power during batting practice at Steinbrenner Field.

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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 first baseman Chris Carter waits for his turn to take batting practice on Feb. 19, 2017 at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. (Randy Miller | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
 

“Carter, I’m pretty aware of what he can do,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “I joked with him when we were talking a couple of weeks ago, I remember some of the particular home runs that he hit off of us. Not sure if they’ve come down yet. There was one when he was with Oakland, it was an extra-inning game and they went back to back-to-back. Each one they hit was further and I think he was the last guy who hit one.”

The Yankees picked up Carter on Feb. 6 on a one-year, $3.5-million deal which seems like a bargain considering he hit 41 homers playing for the Milwaukee Brewers last season to tie for the National League lead.

“Obviously we know that there’s big power,” Girardi said. “We’re well aware of that and that’s why we went and got him.”

Carter is competing with young gun Greg Bird, a lefty hitter with a lot of power, this spring for the starting first base job … unless Girardi opts for a lefty-righty platoon for the start of the regular season, which seems likely.

On Sunday, Carter and Bird took BP in the same group of four along with non-roster infielders Pete Kozma and Donovan Solano.

Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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