Even without pitch clock, Yankees and Rays make every second count
The Yankees’ Sean Boylpitches to the Rays during the first inning of a spring training game at ESPN Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Fla., on Tuesday. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – In the old days, meaning just about any year before this one, it was the kind of spring training game that would have bumped up against four hours in length.
Maybe longer.
But the Rays beat the Yankees, 12-0, Tuesday afternoon in 2 hours, 30 minutes.
It featured the teams combining for 20 hits (Tampa Bay had 15) and a total of 15 pitchers used (seven by the Yankees).
More incredible was that the pitch clock was not in use as the game was played at Disney because the Rays spring training facility in Port Charlotte is still being repaired from Hurricane Ian, which hit Florida late last September. The Rays spent the first part of the spring training at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports, where Atlanta trained for 22 years until 2019, and will head to their big-league home, Tropicana Field, for the rest of the Grapefruit League season. The stadium here, pressed into spring training duty last minute, is not outfitted with the pitch clock so pitchers essentially were on their own.
“I think it just shows you how used to playing fast these guys are,” Aaron Boone said afterward. “That kind of game that’s ugly [was] still at a good pace. I think it speaks more to how quickly these guys have already adjusted.”
Extra bases
Gerrit Cole is slated to make his spring training debut Friday night at home against the Tigers…Catching prospect Austin Well has been sidelined for the better part of the last two weeks with a rib injury, which has been slow to heal. “He’s getting another MRI today,” Boone said. “Was getting closer to really starting to ramp up some baseball activities, then felt something literally when he was on the [training] table getting worked on. We have to look into it a little bit further, so he’s not doing much yet.”
