TAMPA — Of course it was Nick Johnson. With Johnson, we are always just marking time between stints on the disabled list.
He nearly made it out of spring training unscathed. Nearly. He is Nick Johnson after all, the human preexisting condition.
So here in the Yankees’ final Grapefruit League game, Johnson fouled a ball off his right knee during his first at-bat. He limped out of the game. The Yankees announced the injury as a deep bruise and said there was no need for X-rays and Johnson was day-to-day. But I remember in Johnson’s first Yankees tour, when he checked a swing during spring training 2000, the team announced it was minor and that he was day-to-day. He never played that season because of that injury.
It shows how fragile a season can be. Last week, Mark Teixeira was drilled by a Jeremy Guthrie fastball on his right elbow. A fraction of an inch this way or that, and maybe it would have been a fracture rather than a bruise, and he would have missed the season.
In the last week, the Yankees actually have gone from pretty much injury-free to having a nick here and a Nick Johnson there. Jorge Posada slept wrong and came up with a stiff neck and Francisco Cervelli incurred a minor hamstring problem. But the Yankees believe both of their catchers will be ready for tomorrow night’s opener at Fenway Park. Alfredo Aceves is nursing a sore back and Damaso Marte a sore shoulder, but both also expect to be available for the Red Sox.
If you are a betting man, then assume that the person who will miss time is Johnson, who probably will come up stiff and sore, meaning Randy Winn would be the opening night designated hitter against Josh Beckett.
At this moment, however, the injuries are all small nuisances, nothing like Minnesota losing closer Joe Nathan for the year after Tommy John surgery. Overall, this has been a camp with just minor speed bumps. In fact, the Yankees have cruised through a spring more devoid of serious injury, controversy and drama than anyone associated with the Steinbrenner era can remember.
A healthy, productive spring guarantees few benefits. But it sure beats the alternative. Just look at the Mets. They were so gung-ho to distance themselves from injury problems and front office indecisiveness associated with 2009. But they closed up shop in Port St. Lucie banged up physically, wavering on a bunch of decisions and with key players performing dubiously.
The closest the Yankees strayed toward controversy was Alex Rodriguez’s on-again, off-again dance with the FBI. And for anyone who has experienced five-alarm A-Rod controversy, that hardly resonated to gnat-bite level.
With a final spring game today against their own minor leaguers, the Yankees actually felt encouraged about nearly every element of their spring. They had 67 players participate in major league camp, and just three — Jonathan Albaladejo, Kei Igawa and Chad Gaudin — left bad impressions.
The first positive symbol of this spring training came at the outset, when the veterans followed a championship by arriving in camp in near-universal excellent shape.
“We have had no complacency here,” said third base coach Rob Thomson, who coordinates the daily workouts.
The fraternity, work ethic and sense of purpose remained as strong as in the championship season. The regular lineup looked good — and Robinson Cano looked extra good at the plate. The exception has been Brett Gardner, who just might not have enough bat to fully seize a starting opportunity. No team wants to fool itself that it has enough pitching, but the Yankees know that 1-through-12, their staff is much deeper now than at any time last year.
Positive camps by top prospect Jesus Montero, Juan Miranda, Kevin Russo, Greg Golson, Jon Weber, Ivan Nova, Dustin Moseley, Mark Melancon and Boone Logan make the Yankees believe some help is just a phone call away.
Yes, spring is deceiving. But this was not about statistics and the won-loss record, as much as about how a defending champion felt measuring itself for another run at the Canyon of Heroes. And even with Johnson, not surprisingly, limping toward the exit, the Yankees are walking out of spring feeling great.