New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox: Clarke Schmidt vs. Nick Pivetta

The Yankees have had a pretty successful spring training to this point, and today they get a chance to make it even better. Not only do they get a shot at beating Boston, which is always nice, but they’d be the first club to do so, as the BoSox are off to an 8-0 spring.

Clarke Schmidt is on the hill this afternoon for the Yankees in his third appearance of the spring. In the previous two, he has allowed four runs in 3.2 innings, though opponents are only hitting .214 against him. Today is another opportunity for Schmidt to work on honing his new cutter, a pitch that both he and the Yankees think has potential to help him achieve greater success. They may well be in need of Schmidt’s development too, as he has a very good chance to make the Opening Day rotation with both Carlos Rodón and Frankie Montas down.

For Boston, Nick Pivetta gets the ball. The 30-year-old righty has had a bit of a rocky spring to this point, albeit only over 1.2 innings in a single appearance. He’s coming off a 2022 season that saw him throw a career-high 179.2 innings for Boston, to middling results. Pivetta features a fastball-heavy four-pitch mix, though he rarely uses the changeup. His calling card, at least in 2022, was his spin rate, with both his fastball and curve well above-average.

The Yankees are sending a lot of presumptive starters against Pivetta today. Notably, reigning MVP and home run king Aaron Judge is again seeing action in left field. Oswald Peraza, who missed the last couple of games with a minor leg injury, returns today and mans shortstop. And of course, I would be remiss if I did not mention that super-prospect Anthony Volpe, who’s had an incandescent spring, is leading off and playing second base as he continues to do everything he can to make a decision to send him down extremely difficult. After the Captain endorsed Volpe yesterday, it won’t be a surprise if there’s even more pep in his step.

Spring training is moving along. Let’s get a win today, and ruin Boston’s perfect spring.

How to watch

Location: George M. Steinbrenner Field — Tampa, FL

First pitch: 1:05 pm ET

TV broadcast: YES – NYY / NESN- BOS

Radio broadcast: WEEI 850

Online stream: MLB.tv

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