TAMPA — Marcus Stroman started the Yankees’ 4-0 win over the Rays in the Grapefruit League opener Friday and tossed a scoreless inning.
The veteran right-hander entered camp (after skipping the first two days of workouts for pitchers and catchers) facing uncertainty about his role, though he made it clear he is a starter and will not pitch out of the bullpen.
The Yankees spent the offseason trying to trade him, as he is owed $18 million and is the projected No. 6 starter if everyone stays healthy, but Stroman insists he is not concerned about the noise surrounding him.
“To be honest, I have zero worry,” Stroman said. “I haven’t thought about it, to be honest. I know who I am as a pitcher. I’m a very confident pitcher. I don’t think you’d want someone in your starting rotation that would be like, ‘Hey, I’m going to go to the bullpen.’ That’s not someone you’d want.
“I’m very confident. That comes from how my father raised me. I’m always going to think I can get the job done. At the end of the day, I think things will play out as they will.”
Right-hander JT Brubaker, a starting depth candidate, left Friday’s game with a trainer after tweaking his side while unsuccessfully trying to get out of the way of a comebacker that drilled his back.
“They’re treating him for that and we’ll see what we have here in the coming days,” Boone said.
Roger Clemens arrived at Yankees camp Friday as a guest instructor and spent time talking with Gerrit Cole, Max Fried and Carlos Rodón, among others.
“A pitcher I tried to emulate in terms of my mechanics as a kid and his competitiveness,” said Cole, who threw a bullpen session in front of Clemens. “It’s one of the really cool things about the Yankees is we have a lot of great players, so you get to meet your heroes. It’s pretty special.”
Clarke Schmidt (back) threw 22 pitches in a bullpen session Friday and said he felt good coming out of it.
New Yankees Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger each recorded a hit in their spring debut, with Goldschmidt drilling an RBI double off the left-field wall in the first inning.
Jasson Domínguez got the first crack at leadoff duties, going 0-for-2 with a walk.
Former Yankees catcher Ben Rortvedt, now with the Rays, challenged a ball four call against Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the third inning, using MLB’s automated ball-strike system that is being tested this spring.
But it was unsuccessful, as the pitch came in well above the zone.
“It’s funny that Ben completely botched it,” Anthony Volpe said with a laugh. “I’m going to wear him out.”
