Almost a full week into Spring Training, the biggest story coming out of the Yankees’ camp has been starting pitching. Each of the first six games of the Grapefruit League schedule have seen impressive performances from a starter—from Elmer Rodríguez posting three scoreless frames on the first game of the spring last Friday to Ryan Weathers lighting up radar guns last night. This afternoon, Rodríguez will get his second turn with the ball and try to keep the good times on the bump rolling against
the Braves.
Don’t forget: Elmer is on the roster for Team Puerto Rico in the upcoming World Baseball Classic. It’s not entirely clear how big of a role he’ll play for manager Yadier Molina’s squad, but his confidence must be very high after his first spring start, in which he faced an Opening Day-caliber Orioles lineup and shut them down over three innings. The Atlanta lineup he’ll face today is … not quite that, as it doesn’t seem like manager Walt Weiss brought a single likely starter on the road to Tampa. The only player on the Braves’ projected Opening Day bench is utilityman Brett Wiseley. Shout-out to long-ago Baby Bomber Ben Gamel though, still getting after it as an NRI and batting cleanup.
If we make comparisons to last year’s rookie starters, Elmer is closer in terms of profile to Will Warren, as opposed to fellow hotshot prospect Carlos Lagrange with his more Cam Schlittler-esque wipeout stuff. Rodríguez has already shown a knack for sequencing, allowing him to stay a few steps ahead of his opponents and allowing his stuff to play up. Still, it’s not like he can’t throw hard: his sinker reached 97 mph last Friday.
The Braves will send veteran and recent Yankee Carlos Carrasco to the hill today. Carrasco struggled in eight appearances with the Bombers last year, pitching to a 5.91 ERA before being cut loose. He joined Atlanta later in the year and was hit even harder, surrendering 15 runs in three games. Still, while he hasn’t registered a positive WAR figure since 2022, that’s not really the point with Carrasco. He’s a highly experienced, well-regarded clubhouse figure who clearly still has the competitive fire. The soon-to-be 39-year old righty pitched well in his first spring start, with two scoreless frames against the Rays.
Cookie will face a plethora of his former Yankee teammates this afternoon. The first eight lineup spots are essentially the full regular season order. Trent Grisham, Aaron Judge, and Cody Bellinger, all playing in the outfield, will get us started. Jazz Chisholm Jr. will man the keystone, Paul Goldschmidt anchors first, and Austin Wells will don the tools of ignorance. Ryan McMahon and José Caballero are your left-side infielders with former A’s power bat Seth Brown pulling up the rear at DH.
How to watch
Location: George M. Steinbrenner Field — Tampa, FL
First pitch: 1:05 pm ET
TV broadcast: YES Network, Gray TV (ATL), MLB Network (out-of-market)
Radio broadcast: ESPN 103.7 WIFN 1340 (ATL)
Online stream: Gotham Sports App, MLB.tv
