TAMPA — The Yankees had pegged Friday for Austin Wells’ Grapefruit League debut, which would have given him the first week of games off after coming off a heavy workload down the stretch last year.
But the catcher had other ideas.
Wells wanted to catch Will Warren, who was starting Wednesday’s exhibition against the Cardinals, and made his case to Aaron Boone, who obliged for a three-inning cameo in which both ends of the battery looked sharp.
“I think [Warren] is going to be an important part of the team and he’s got really nasty stuff, so just wanted to try to get on the same page with him, what he’s been working on and what we want to see from him,” Wells said after a 7-0 win at Steinbrenner Field. “So it was important for me to get in there.”
Warren looked strong, going nine up, nine down while striking out four of the first five batters he faced, all of them Cardinals regulars.
Wells didn’t look too shabby either, hitting a pair of balls off the bat at 100.1 and 103.9 mph, the latter a two-run double.
Though the Yankees already have six big league starters for five spots, Warren represents the next arm in line. — which could become increasingly important if they end up trading Marcus Stroman or have an injury to the rotation.
The right-hander’s focus this spring has been getting ahead of batters, which he felt he did not do enough of last season while giving up 26 earned runs in his first 22 ²/₃ innings as a big leaguer.
“Looking back at some stuff from last year, I was always fighting back,” said Warren, who has revived his curveball and refined his changeup in hopes of having more weapons to attack left-handed hitters. “These are the greatest hitters in the world, so when you’re setting it up for them to have success, it’s hard to pitch.”
Gerrit Cole is scheduled to make his Grapefruit League debut Friday night against the Blue Jays at Steinbrenner Field. … Boone said there was “still nothing to report” on Giancarlo Stanton, who remained in New York for a third straight day Wednesday tending to a personal issue.
Clarke Schmidt (back) threw a two-up bullpen session Tuesday and expects to throw a live batting practice by this weekend. … Scott Effross (hamstring) underwent imaging, the results of which Boone did not have Wednesday afternoon. .
Ex-Met Dominic Smith homered for a second straight day., this one without the help of any wind, as the non-roster invitee took Cardinals top pitching prospect Tink Hence deep for a 392-foot shot.
