Opening Day is three weeks and two days away, and today the Yankees will send their presumed Opening Day starter to the mound for the first time this spring. Luis Severino is on the bump today after the Yankees took it easy on him the last few weeks. He’s endured a big workload the last two years and he just signed a nice little four-year contract, so they’re protecting him arm. Makes sense.
In addition to Severino, Dellin Betances is also scheduled to make his Grapefruit League debut this afternoon. He reported to camp a few days late because his wife gave birth to their first child three weeks ago. Severino and Daddy Dellin still have plenty of time to prepare for the regular season. Today’s the start of that process in earnest. Here is the Braves’ lineup and here are the players the Yankees will use today:
- SS Troy Tulowitzki
- RF Aaron Judge
- LF Giancarlo Stanton
- 1B Luke Voit
- 3B Miguel Andujar
- C Gary Sanchez
- 2B Gleyber Torres
- DH DJ LeMahieu
- CF Estevan Florial
RHP Luis Severino
Available Position Players: C Kellin Deglan, C Francisco Diaz, C Kyle Higashioka, C Jorge Saez, 1B Mike Ford, IF Angel Aguilar, IF Thairo Estrada, IF Kyle Holder, IF Gosuke Katoh, OF Trey Amburgey, OF Jeff Hendrix, OF Matt Lipka, UTIL Tyler Wade. Aguilar, Katoh, and Hendrix are up from minor league camp.
Available Pitchers: RHP Daniel Alvarez, RHP Dellin Betances, LHP Nestor Cortes, RHP Cale Coshow, RHP Chad Green, LHP J.A. Happ, RHP Tommy Kahnle, LHP Stephen Tarpley. Alvarez is up from minor league camp. I hope he pitches. Happ will come out of the bullpen at point after Severino. There’s no chance a veteran guy like him is on the day’s list as an extra arm.
Not a great day in Tampa. It rained much of the morning and will be gloomy this afternoon. No rain, but gloomy. This afternoon’s game will begin at 1:05pm ET and you can watch live on YES and MLB.tv. There are no MLB.tv blackouts in Spring Training. Enjoy the game.