MLB

Yankees OF prospect Williams ‘majors’ in education

TAMPA — After making his debut with the Yankees’ major league team in Sunday night’s exhibition game against the Orioles, Mason Williams was back on one of the minor league fields at the team’s complex yesterday, playing a Single-A game against Blue Jays.

“It’s a little different,” said Williams, one of the team’s top offensive prospects. “But it’s still baseball. And I think I learned a lot just by being there. Mostly I saw how patient everyone was at the plate.”

It was the kind of lesson the Yankees hoped Williams would get when they sent the center fielder to the Grapefruit League game in Sarasota.

“It’s part of his education,” said Mark Newman, the team’s senior VP of baseball operations. “We wanted him in that environment around some major league players to see a snapshot of what we expect him to be in a few years. When he sees what it’s like, he’ll motivate himself.”

The 20-year-old Williams wasn’t the only outfield prospect Newman raved about as he watched yesterday.

“People know about Mason and Dante [Bichette Jr.] and our pitchers,” Newman said. “Not too many people know about Tyler Austin. He has power and he can hit. That’s what we need for our organizational depth.”

Newman also got a chance to watch Manny Banuelos pitch Sunday, and said though the 21-year-old lefty remains disappointed he was jettisoned from big-league camp last week, Banuelos has not let it affect his pitching.

“He threw the ball well [Sunday],” Newman said. “No matter what we tell him about needing to get innings in the minors, he’ll think he’s got a chance to pitch in the majors now.”

With the Yankees rotation already stuffed, that’s not likely to happen soon.

“He pitched well, which was encouraging, but we still have a lot of work to do,” Newman said.

Newman added the team’s opinion of Banuelos has not changed: “Not at all. We still have the same expectations of him as we always have.”

* After averting disaster Sunday when Robinson Cano was hit in the hand by a pitch against Baltimore — X-rays were negative — the Yankees host the Pirates tonight at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Manager Joe Girardi expected many of the regulars who have been out with nagging injuries, such as Nick Swisher (groin) and Russell Martin (groin), to return. He was less certain about Derek Jeter (calf), who if he doesn’t return tonight likely will not play until Friday in Tampa to avoid the long bus rides to road games.