Today we get our first taste of the 2019 MLB season as the revitalized New York Yankees take on the team that knocked them out of last season’s ALDS — and eventually went onto win the World Series.
With this being the first game of Grapefruit League play, an away game at that, many of the regular Yankee starters won’t be making the 141-mile trip from Tampa to Ft. Myers.
Manager Aaron Boone’s lineup does feature a few familiar faces — and looks like this:
- CF: Aaron Hicks
- 2B Gleyber Torres
- 3B: Miguel Andujar
- 1B: Greg Bird
- LF: Clint Frazier
- DH: Mike Ford
- C: Kyler Higashioka
- SS: Tyler Wade
- RF: Matt Lipka
Taking the hill for the Yanks will be non-roster invitee Nestor Cortes, who is coming off of 42 innings pitched (eight starts) in the Dominican Winter League — and therefore is a bit ahead of other Yankee pitchers.