TAMPA — A flock of scouts descended on George M. Steinbrenner Field yesterday. Asked what they were doing watching the Phillies and Yankees, the answer was universal: normal coverage.
However, teams know the Yankees are looking for starting pitching and ever since GM Brian Cashman said Joba Chamberlain wasn’t a lock to make the team on the eve of camp opening because he has options remaining, other teams have been watching the reliever, who has pitched impressively in three of four outings.
“I thought he was very good,” said a scout whose speed gun clocked Chamberlain’s fastball at 94 mph. “He has been throwing well.”
Chamberlain is never going to be perfect mechanically but he is smoother than last year.
“We worked on not being so aggressive [in the delivery],” Chamberlain said. “That allows me to stay on top of the ball and let it go.”
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Sergio Mitre‘s chances of copping the fourth or fifth spot in the rotation have been portrayed as being less than Freddy Garcia‘s and Ivan Nova‘s. Even Bartolo Colon appears to be ahead of Mitre.
However, Mitre isn’t looking at it that way.
“I am trying to make their decision as hard as possible,” Mitre said after throwing three scoreless innings last night against the Orioles. “My job is to compete and try to win a spot. I hope I do, we will see what happens.”
Not being a starter doesn’t mean the end of Mitre as a Yankee. He has experience in the bullpen and the Yankees don’t have a legitimate long man besides him.
“I will see you in five days, hopefully,” Mitre said.
Joe Girardi said he will.
“He pitched well last year and was good in the [starter] competition last year,” Girardi said. “He will get another start.”
Nova threw a simulated game yesterday and will start Friday against the Braves or Blue Jays when the Yankees play split-squad games. Garcia makes his second spring start today against the Braves.
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Rafael Soriano worked a simulated game yesterday and will make his spring debut tomorrow or Thursday.
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Eduardo Nunez helped his cause to make the team as a backup infielder with a monstrous homer to left against the Phillies.
With Eric Chavez, who went 3-for-3, likely to make the team if he remains healthy, Nunez is competing with Ramiro Pena for the other utility job.
“I think I have a good chance, I have been working hard,” said Nunez, who worked out for seven weeks with Robinson Cano in the Dominican Republic. “We worked a lot on defense.”
Nunez, a natural shortstop, is learning to play second and third.
“He is an exciting player, a young man with a lot of talent,” Girardi said. “He has to put it all together.”
As for Chavez, the former A’s third baseman has missed huge chunks of the past three seasons with back and neck problems. Yet, he has been healthy so far.
“There is nothing I have seen from him to tell me he has been hurt the past few years,” Girardi said.
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Francisco Cervelli received encouraging news concerning the fractured bone in the left foot.
“I saw the doctor [Sunday] and he said [the healing] was going to be quicker,” the catcher said.
Last Friday, the Yankees announced Cervelli would be in a walking boot for a minimum of four weeks.
“I hope so,” Cervelli said when asked if the timetable has been reduced. “I am doing everything I can.”
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For the second game in a row, the Yankees lost an outfielder. Collin Curtis left Sunday’s game with a shoulder injury and Greg Golson was removed in last night’s game with a rib-cage problem. Golson made a sensational throw to nail a runner at the plate in the second inning.
According to Girardi, Curtis will be shelved for an extended period of time.
“He is going to be out a while,” Girardi said of Curtis, who injured his right (non-throwing) shoulder diving for a ball Sunday. “He had an MRI [yesterday]. My sense is that he will be out a while.”
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One day after telling Curtis he shouldn’t risk spring-training injury by diving for balls, Nick Swisher went over the rail in right field to make a catch yesterday.
“He came out all right and he didn’t say anything about it,” Girardi said. “But that is a dangerous play.”
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Cameron Diaz had such a good time on Sunday in Kissimmee watching Alex Rodriguez hit a homer that she was in Sarasota last night to watch her boyfriend and the Yankees play to a 0-0 tie with the Orioles.