TAMPA – Marcus Stromann pitched a scoreless inning innings in the Yankees 4-0 win with the Rays at the opener for Grapefruitreeg on Friday.
The veteran right-hander has made it clear that he is a starter and will not leave the bullpen, but in the face of uncertainty about his role, The veteran right-hander entered camp (after skipping the first two days of training for pitchers and catchers).
The Yankees spent trying to trade him in the offseason. He owes $18 million, a sixth starter that would be expected if everyone is healthy, but Stromann insists he is not worried about the noise surrounding him.
“To be honest, I'm not worried,” Stroman said. “To be honest, I'm not thinking about it. I know who I am as a pitcher. I'm a very confident pitcher. “Hey, I'm going to go to the bullpen.” I don't think I want someone in your starting rotation like that. It's not the person you want.
“I'm very confident. It comes from the way my dad raised me. I always think I can get the job done. After all, I think things are like they do. I think it will expand into.
Starting depth candidate, right-handed JT Brubaker, left Friday's game with a trainer after tweaking his side after failing to get out of the way of a comebacker who delved into his back.
“They're treating him for that, so we'll see what we're here in the next few days,” Boone said.
Roger Clemens arrived at Yankee Camp as a guest instructor on Friday and spoke to Gerrit Cole, Max Fried and Carlos Rodon.
“The pitcher I was trying to emulate in terms of my childhood and his competitiveness,” said Cole, who threw a bullpen session in front of Clemens. “One of the really cool things about the Yankees is that we have a lot of great players, so you can meet your heroes. It's pretty special.”
Clark Schmidt (back) threw 22 pitches in Friday's bullpen session and said he felt he'd come out.
New Yankees' Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger each recorded hits in their spring debuts, with Goldschmidt double-drilling the RBI from the wall on the left field in the first innings.
Jasson Domínguez got his first crack in his leadoff duties, 2-2 on the walk.
Ben Rothvent, a former Yankee catcher with a Rays, now uses MLB's automated ball strike system, which is being tested this spring, to play four ball calls against Jazz Chisholm Jr. in three innings I tried to do it.
However, it failed as the pitch came well above the zone.
“It's funny how Ben completely failed,” Anthony Volpe said with a laugh. “I'm going to wear him.”
