Yankees Making the Team Meter: Round Three

Spring training is winding down, and oddly, the Yankees haven’t made any huge roster cuts. Some recent injury updates have helped the final roster start to take shape, though. This will likely be our last round of check-ins, as we should find out who will be suiting up for Opening Day by next weekend.

Here is our Making the Team Meter grading key:

Red is not what you want, yellow represents maybe, and green means go home and pack a bag, you’re (probably) going to New York.

Pitchers

On Friday, the Yankees revealed that Luis Severino will be activated from the injured list no sooner than May 1st. Meanwhile, CC Sabathia is on track to join the rotation by mid-to-late April. That means the Yankees will have to fill two rotation spots for longer than they might have hoped. They seem set on filling those positions internally, and based solely on spring training performances so far, Luis Cessa and Domingo German are the likely candidates. Jonathan Loaisiga is still in the mix, but he has struggled during his last few outings.

As far as the last spot in the bullpen goes, it looks like it will belong to Tommy Kahnle. That’s especially the case since he recently confirmed that he pitched through an injury last season. His velocity is up, and he was too good in 2017 to not give him a shot to return to form. Stephen Tarpley still has an outside chance, but it looks like he’s destined to ride the Scranton Shuttle.

Position Players

This week, we learned that Aaron Hicks was forced to get a cortisone shot in his back. Brian Cashman also admitted that the center fielder may have to begin the season on the injured list. While the Yankees do think that his back will be healed by Opening Day, he will have missed several weeks of playing time. It could be in his best interest to stay back in Tampa and get some at-bats.

Hicks’ injury might have been an opportunity for Clint Frazier to make the team out of camp. He has gotten off to a really slow start, however. The Yankees have considered carrying both Luke Voit and Greg Bird as a short-term solution. As for which player will be the everyday first baseman, that remains unclear. All signs point to Tyler Wade nabbing the final bench spot though.

Who do you think will lock up the last few spots on the team? Let us know in the comments.