Yankees’ Nestor Curtis takes a key step in return from a hamstring strain
Dunedin, Florida. – Nestor Cortés crossed a lot off his to-do list on Saturday: his first spring start, his first time with the new stadium clock, his first official steps toward preparing for the first week of the season.
He was feeling good and his stuff was good, which is what matters. He’ll have to wait for his next start to check out a statistically impressive outing in the Grapefruit League, which doesn’t matter much.
curtis, Who was rehabilitating a hamstring strain For the first month of camp, he appeared on Saturdays and allowed a few home runs in a 5-2 loss to the Blue Jays at TD Ballpark.
Curtis came out of Game 4 of the ALCS last year with a left groin strain and started this spring with a hamstring strain. Curtis said he felt fine on Saturday, so all things considered, “I thought it went well.”
Left pitcher 3¹ / innings in which he allowed three hits – two of them homers by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. And Whit Merrifield – three walks, five runs. Curtis hit four, touched 93.7 mph with his fastball and said his arsenal was “actually better than I thought.”
He missed a few pitches—a slider to Guerrero and a snap to Merrifield—and against a legitimate major league lineup, the Blue Jays didn’t miss. Curtis will get two more springs in sharpening his stuff.
After a hamstring problem, Curtis, who threw 52 pitches (35 strikeouts), was slightly ahead of where the Yankees predicted he would be this turn of the spring. If there are no setbacks, he can line up in the fourth position of the turn. Manager Aaron Boone previously thought Curtis would be the first-place finisher. 5 for an extra day.
At other springs, losing a pitcher to some grapefruit league starts might be less of a concern. This year, all players are learning the rhythms and adjustments of the newly introduced stadium clock, although Curtis — whose various abbreviations won’t be affected by the clock — has always been a fast worker.
“i don’t think so [pace has] It was never a problem for me,” Curtis said after his first real experience with the timer. “There are some shows that you have to be aware of and they probably take longer than you want them to. But other than that, I felt very comfortable. I didn’t feel rushed, and I didn’t feel like I was out of gas.”
Boone said Tommy Canley (right biceps tendinitis), who started a throwing program on March 10, threw Thursday and “wasn’t feeling well” on Saturday, so he didn’t throw as scheduled.
Boone didn’t think Cannell would require additional testing.
“It slows his clock down a little bit so he can throw, kick back, and keep building,” Boone said.
Carlos Rodon (mild strain of the brachioradialis muscle in his left forearm) played catch on Friday for the first time since his injuryy. Boone said Rodon is feeling better.
Rodon will start the season on the injured list and will be out for at least a few weeks.
Harrison Bader (left oblique basket) doesn’t swing or do any baseball action, Boone said, but the quarterback “does a better job than we expected.”
Boone said that Bader is feeling healthy and happy with his rotational movements. He is expected to miss at least the first two weeks of the season.
Jonathan Loisega, who left camp earlier this month To make a bid for Nicaragua to the world Baseball Classic, he returned to the Grapefruit League and threw a scoreless inning.
