Around the Empire: Yankees news - 3/4/23

NY Daily News | James O’Connell: Gerrit Cole is entering his fourth season with the Yankees, but in a way it’s his first clean slate with the team. His opening season was massively delayed by the emergence of COVID, 2021 similarly impacted spring travel schedules due to the pandemic, and then last year’s camp fell victim to the labor negotiations between the owners and the union. We’ve seen how meticulous Cole can be about being on time and in rhythm, so perhaps a return to normalcy in spring will help him launch his best year in pinstripes.

NY Post | Mark W. Sanchez: Carlos Rodón’s career has surged in the past two seasons since getting non-tendered by the White Sox, and he owes most of it to the pitching technology that showcased to him how valuable his fastball truly is. TrackMan and other tidbits of info pointed Rodón in the direction of eliminating his weaker secondaries from his repertoire in favor of pounding more fastballs, and the results speak for themselves. Now the newest Yankee is working on re-establishing a third pitch in the form of his curveball to keep hitters off-balance, but he’s got a tried and true method already working well for him.

NJ.com | Randy Miller: Miller’s got a scoop via unorthodox method ... namely, staking out the Pirates dugout waiting to talk to Bryan Reynolds only to find out once he passes by that Reynolds was actively avoiding the Yankees beat reporter because he didn’t want to get interviewed about his previous trade request. The journey to get there was a bit winded and weird, but the nugget of info gleaned here is straight and to the point — it seems like Reynolds is working on finding a midway point with the Pirates rather than accelerating any trade discussions.

MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: The new pitch clock has been one of the biggest subjects of conversation as spring games have rolled out, namely for the few instances where it has tripped up pitchers or the occasional batter who isn’t in the box in time. Wandy Peralta showed that he’s well-adapted to it already in his most recent outing, working Tucapita Marcano for a rapid-fire three-pitch strikeout in just 20 seconds. Peralta has been efficient in playing with hitters’ timing in the past, and now he’s got the leeway to go right after guys.