4 Yankees hitters who are not helping themselves during training will be Sidelined in the Opening Day Roster
Some players haven’t shown up to the party yet.
The New York Yankees’ spring record doesn’t matter whatsoever. Give fans a clean bill of health and some proof of offseason adjustments, and they’ll be satisfied whether a bunch of 26-year-old randos managed to hold onto slim seventh-inning leads or not. Spring training games aren’t for winning … but they are for getting in shape and ready for the regular season.
If certain offensive cogs don’t look particularly ready — or can’t manage to show a spark entering an all-important year, which they’re beginning at the edges of the roster — then fans are going to have a little trepidation. Same with hurlers whose arms are lagging. Sad, but it is what it is. We’re going to try hard not to judge the outcomes, then judge the weird-looking outcomes anyway.
Several Yankees under the microscope have looked fantastic this spring, with Anthony Rizzo and Juan Soto delivering powerful reminders that they can both lead and supplement an offense looking to return to relevance (and dominance). Others? They just haven’t stuck. Some of their bats look slow. Some of their abs hurt.
Of all the Yankees scuffling to make a good offensive impression this spring, these four stand out as sore spots.
*Honorable Mention: Oswald Peraza. Sorry, man. Been a bad month.
4 Yankees hitters who are doing themselves no favors during spring training
Oswaldo Cabrera
In 44 games in 2022, Oswaldo Cabrera posted a 108 OPS+ and 2.0 bWAR, then stunted on the Cleveland Guardians with a bat-flipped homer that still has yet to land in the Cuyahoga.
Unfortunately, that postseason series is where the trouble started for Cabrera. He went just 2-for-19, suddenly looking laggy at the plate. He crashed into Aaron Hicks in left field, showing discomfort in the outfield where there’d previously only been success and acclaim. A moribund playoff run set the tone for a 2023 season that must’ve had the affable Cabrera questioning his entire foundation; he subtracted 1.5 bWAR over the course of the year, nearly undoing his entire successful cameo from the previous season.
Something has to change in 2024. Otherwise, the versatile slugger will become irrelevant once more under the game’s brightest spotlight. The Yankees never want to deemphasize prospect development and move along with diminished assets, but … they always seem to do that, don’t they?
Reportedly, something did change in his approach, but unlike the case of Anthony Volpe’s swing path, we’re not really seein’ it. Cabrera, entering spring with a roster spot all but locked up, but plenty more questions bubbling below the surface, has gotten a great deal of reps, but hasn’t done all that much with them. 6-for-32 without a single homer or RBI will make anybody wince, let alone Cabrera, who rarely wipes a smile off his face, but has to be feeling the heat here a little bit.
