TAMPA — Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez was among a large group of Yankees veterans and prospects at the club’s minor-league complex Monday getting in a long workout.
Just like last season when Sanchez hit 20 homers in the final two months following a promotion from Triple-A, the ball was jumping off the Dominican’s bat during each of his batting practice rounds as he sprayed line drive after line drive to all fields.
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After hitting, Sanchez put on his catching gear and worked on framing pitches.
Spring training for Yankees’ pitchers and catchers begins this week at Steinbrenner Field. Reporting day is Tuesday with the first workout scheduled for Wednesday.
Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez (left) and pitcher Luis Severino take a break during a pre-spring training workout in Tampa on Monday. (Randy Miller | NJ Advance Media)
Yankees manager Joe Girardi will hold his first news conference of the spring on Tuesday at 11 a.m. (The YES Network will televise Girardi’s interview live.)
Besides Sanchez, other notables who took part in Monday’s workout included first baseman Greg Bird, right fielder Aaron Judge, first baseman/outfielder Tyler Austin, infielder/outfielder Rob Refsnyder, and pitchers Masahiro Tanaka, Luis Severino, Adam Warren and Luis Cessa.
Prospects on hand included outfielder Blake Rutherford, who was the Yankees’ top draft pick in 2016, plus infielders Gleyber Torres, Jorge Mateo, Miguel Andujar and Tyler Wade, outfielder Mason Williams and catcher Kyle Higashioka.
A small crowd of a perhaps 250 Yankees fans took in the practice session, and some left with autographs as Judge, Bird, Refsnyder and Rutherford, among others, spent a few minutes signing.
Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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