Gerrit Cole and many of the Yankees’ pitchers gave PitchCom a thumbs up.
PitchCom is the new technological advancement sweeping through Major League Baseball. The system, designed to improve pace of play and eliminate sign stealing, allows pitchers and catchers to communicate through wearable devices and transmit signals at the press of a button.
Cole said on Friday he liked the system, save for a few predictable snafus that come with trying out new technologies. The Yankees’ manager also said he got mostly positive feedback from his pitchers who used it on Opening Day.
“I think we probably will (keep using it),” Aaron Boone said on Saturday. “We’ll see how it unfolds. I’m sure we’ll find some hiccups along the way. But I think we’ve transitioned to it pretty well and the guys seem to like it.”
One problem pitchers faced on Friday was being unable to hear the communication when they had two strikes on a hitter, as the stadium’s PA system blasts the two-strike siren that Aaron Judge pushed for last season. During his time on the mound, reliever Michael King had to step off the mound at one point because he couldn’t make out what the device in his hat was telling him to throw.
“That’s usually correctable on the fly,” Boone said of the miscommunication. “I don’t think that’s going to be a huge issue moving forward. Also, if the wrong button gets hit or whatever, you can just step off and shake, or the catcher can call time.”
PitchCom will be an adjustment in itself, but getting back into the rhythms of a baseball season always takes a little bit of time on its own, especially now that the players didn’t have their typical training time in Florida. With such a huge amount of games still ahead of them, Boone wants his players to simply get settled in before worrying too much about anything bigger.
“From a pitching standpoint, and certainly from a starting standpoint, making sure we continue to build guys up,” the skipper said of his early season priorities. “You want to play as clean a brand of baseball as you can. I think early in the season, you love to see guys get things out of the way: first hit, first RBI, those kinds of things. Then you can get settled into the grind of the regular season. Sometimes when you get off to a slow start, that can weigh on you.”
HAPPY GLEYBER DAY
Gleyber Torres was the noticeable absence in the Yankees’ Opening Day lineup. Boone has been insistent, beginning on the Yankees’ preseason workout day on Thursday, that Torres will not be chained to the bench for long periods of time, though.
Torres is getting his first start on Saturday, where he will bat seventh and play second base. DJ LeMahieu, who started at second on Friday, is at third base on Saturday afternoon with Josh Donaldson taking the designated hitter responsibilities.
HICKS OKAY, BUT NOT STARTING SATURDAY
After fouling a ball off his foot on Friday, Aaron Hicks is feeling fine, according to his manager. The outfielder who missed basically all of last season with injury is not in the lineup on Saturday, though. Aaron Judge will get his first look in center field, meaning Giancarlo Stanton also gets his first reps of the 2022 season in right field.
Hicks went 1-for-4 with three strikeouts on Friday, which was his first game since May 12 of last year. With the addition of Marwin Gonzalez during the offseason, the Yankees now have two switch hitters to bring off the bench when both guys are sitting.
BULLPEN READY TO ANSWER THE BELL
The Yankees had to use seven relievers in their 11-inning marathon on Opening Day. Four of them (Loaisiga, King, Chad Green and Aroldis Chapman) went at least one full inning, with King taking two. But even with the weirdness of spring training and pitchers not getting into back-to-back games during that period, Boone says that’s all out the window now that the games count.
When asked who might be available to work consecutive days on Saturday, there was no hesitation from the man making the bullpen calls.
“Most all of them,” Boone said. “Obviously King will be down, and (Jonathan Loaisiga) I went four outs with, and two ups. So, I’d be a little reluctant to go there. We’ll see how they’re doing today, but I’d say all of them are probably in play.”
