TAMPA — Among the competition for the last spot on the Yankees bench is an excellent, flexible defender with a bat perhaps capable of more than it has shown.
Max Schuemann played six positions just last year for the A’s.
He is a natural infielder who most often manned second base but is capable at shortstop, which is part of why he is in the mix for a spot on the Opening Day roster.
The 28-year-old brings a strong glove to each position and can be a backup to José Caballero while Anthony Volpe recovers.
The path to a spot and playing time would be much wider if Schuemann, playing in a different organization for the first time and enjoying life and technology with the Yankees, can hit more than he has in the past.
With the A’s, Schuemann hit like, well, a utility player, sporting a .212 average and .603 OPS in 234 games the past two seasons.
With the A’s last season, Schuemann played his home games at a minor league ballpark without modern luxuries.
A tool such as the Trajekt machine — which is basically a robot that mimics any pitcher’s delivery and repertoire — was not available because the A’s didn’t have one.
“That’s been fun to use,” Schuemann said Sunday from Steinbrenner Field, where he has played with the machine just about every other day. “Whether it benefits me or not, I’m not really sure. But I do feel like it’s helpful for timing going into a game.
“I mean, you’re basically facing a pitcher before you actually face him.”
The machine is universally praised by hitters who have access and is standard prep for Yankees hitters.
For a hitter like Schuemann — who has shown a strong knowledge of the strike zone, rarely chases or strikes out but has not hit the ball hard in his short career — it can’t hurt, and the way-too-early returns have been nice: 5-for-12 with seven walks plus two steals in 19 Grapefruit League plate appearances.
The different minds around the team can help, too.
Schuemann had been with the former Oakland franchise since being drafted in 2018 until the trade last month in which the Yankees gave up minor league righty Luis Burgos.
The Yankees do have a strong history with infielders from Michigan. Schuemann was born in Kalamazoo.
“I have my fair share of [Derek] Jeter memorabilia,” Schuemann said with a smile. “He was definitely a role model of mine.”
Schuemann has several minor league options so he will be with the organization regardless, but continuing his strong camp would give the Yankees plenty to think about in constructing their roster.
Paul Goldschmidt and Amed Rosario will be on the bench, and Randal Grichuk is the leading candidate for another spot as a righty-hitting outfielder.
If the Yankees do not believe Ryan McMahon can ably fill in at shortstop and if Oswaldo Cabrera is still recovering, perhaps Schuemann becomes the 26th man rather than, say, J.C. Escarra.
Such decisions and concern over those decisions are for another day.
“Really just trying to get my feet on the ground, basically, and show [the Yankees] that I can play all the positions that I’m set to play,” Schuemann said. “My goal in camp is just check as many boxes as possible.”
