CLEARWATER, Fla. – Shelley Duncan warns against gushing about the sizzling first exhibition game performance he delivered yesterday against the Phillies.
“You can’t make too much of it,” said Duncan, who clubbed a three-run homer in the first inning and drilled a two-run double off the left-field wall in the third that propelled the Yankees to a 9-3 win at Bright House Networks Field. “In spring training you can get locked in and the feeling goes away.”
This is Duncan’s first big league camp but he played in 34 major league games a year ago and forced his way into the Yankees’ plans by hitting seven homers in 74 at-bats. With right-handed power at a premium throughout baseball, Duncan has a chance to contribute as a right-handed hitting first baseman or the DH.
“In spring training you don’t worry about results,” said Duncan, who swatted 25 homers and drove in 79 runs last year at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in 91 games. “You worry about being comfortable and consistent each time.”
Duncan was plenty worried this past offseason when he was hospitalized with a blood clot in the right arm. Now, he takes nothing more than one aspirin a day.
Since Joe Girardi says Duncan is fighting for the first base job, where Jason Giambi has a colossal edge in experience, Duncan was asked if yesterday’s hitting orgy helped establish him.
“You don’t set yourself apart this early,” said Duncan, who dug a ball out of the dirt and snagged a liner out of the air. “That can happen in the second and third week. I am trying to get to be the player I know I can be. There is no reason to force it. I can’t control a lot of stuff.”