Yankees' three takeaways at end of spring training: Major injuries top the list

MIAMI – The Yankees finished spring training on Tuesday with a 4-2 loss to the Marlins at LoanDepot Park. In games that don’t count, the Yankees went 14-14-3.

Starting Thursday, the games count. Here are three takeaways from a memorable – not always for the best reasons – Yankees spring training.

1. The injuries still hurt

It’s been weeks since the Yankees learned that Gerrit Cole will miss the season because of Tommy John surgery and Luis Gil will miss at least the first three months because of a right lat strain. They already knew Giancarlo Stanton was going to miss considerable time, if not most or all of the season, because of pain in both elbows.

Having time to process the injuries can make it feel as if the impact of those three missing players is somehow lessened. It isn’t.

The Yankees will feel the loss of Cole and Gil every time one of their starters doesn’t get through the fourth inning. They will feel the loss every time they have to use their relievers for far more innings than they’d like. They will feel the loss if new rotation members Will Warren and Carlos Carrasco aren’t able to be effective, if Marcus Stroman doesn’t revert to his first-half form from last season, if Clarke Schmidt can’t get and stay healthy, and if Carlos Rodon is more like Year 1 Rodon than Year 2 Rodon. (Max Fried should be fine).

As for Stanton, his big bat will be missed if the Yankees struggle against lefthanded pitching, as it appears they might based on their current roster. Every one of their lefthanded hitters and switch-hitters has a lower OPS against lefthanded pitching. That is to be expected. But it’s not optimal because the bench has few juicy righthanded options. This is where a return to 2022 NL MVP form by Paul Goldschmidt would be very helpful.

As the season opens, the Yankees don’t have a righthanded designed hitter for Game 2 against Brewers lefthander Nestor Cortes. And they will be vulnerable every time a manager brings in a lefty to face one of their lefty hitters or switch hitters.

“Like I've kind of been saying all camp, the injuries are tough, especially the big guys that we got that kind of got hit,” Aaron Judge said on Tuesday. “But it's a good opportunity for a lot of young guys to step up and kind of show us what they got.”

That leads us to . . .

2. The young guys have to step up

Austin Wells, who Aaron Boone confirmed on Tuesday will be the first Yankees catcher to ever bat leadoff, has crushed it all spring (.348, six home runs). Ben Rice hit with enough power (five HRs, .835 OPS) to apparently earn the lefthanded DH job. Jasson Dominguez (.258, three HRs) did enough with the bat and didn’t muff too many flyballs to earn the Opening Day leftfield job. Oswaldo Cabrera showed his usual mix of excellent defense and occasional power and should start as the third baseman against righties. Will Warren, who allowed four runs in 3 2/3 innings on Tuesday and finished spring training with a 5.09 ERA, won the fifth starter’s job (although his last two outings were shaky).

The Yankees will need those young guys to excel if they are to hold the fort until and if Gil and Stanton return and/or Brian Cashman is able to provide meaningful additions via the trade market during the season.

3. Not so hairy after all

Remember when the Yankees relaxing their George Steinbrenner-era long hair and facial hair ban was a big story? Well, a quick survey of the projected 26-man Opening Day roster on Tuesday showed 10 players who were sporting facial hair that would have been disallowed before the ban was lifted. The bearded or (at least scraggly) 10 are: Dominguez, Wells, Rodon, Fried, Mark Leiter Jr., Devin Williams, Cody Bellinger, Pablo Reyes, Yoendrys Gomez and Warren.

And add an 11th, at least on Tuesday: Boone, who had a five o’clock shadow that will no doubt be gone by Thursday at 3 p.m.

By Anthony Rieber

anthony.rieber@newsday.comAnthonyRieber

Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.