On his first swing of the exhibition season, Alex Rodriguez launched a drive down the left-field line that was so deep and majestic he felt compelled to hold his follow-through for a moment, pausing to admire it.
As the ball sailed over the wall, the otherwise quiet crowd at Steinbrenner Field rose to applaud as Rodriguez made his familiar, loping, no-hurry-to-get-there jog around the bases.
The sight was a comforting one for the New York Yankees, who have had few others during their first two games, knowing that their lineup’s 40-year-old anchor arrived with his sharp eye and smooth swing as intact as his flair for the dramatic.
“It was nice to see,” said manager Joe Girardi. “I hope it happens a lot more.”
Rodriguez struck out and walked in his other two plate appearances. He expressed surprise that his first swing against live pitching had sent the ball out of the park.
When asked if that was why he stood and watched the ball, he laughed.
“I mean, I’ve been doing that for a long time,” Rodriguez said. “I do the same thing on a pop-up to short.”
He added: “Obviously, you’re not looking to hit home runs this early in the spring or even to drive the ball. You’re looking to see the ball well, put good swings on it. There’s going to be some good days and bad days. I think, for me, the biggest thing for me is I don’t have any distractions. I’m clearheaded. I’m coming in with a good attitude every day and I understand how to have a purpose.”
Rodriguez was underscoring the contrast between this year and last, when he arrived to a litany of questions after being suspended for the 2014 season for his role in the Biogenesis scandal.
While a healthy, productive Rodriguez would be a boon to the Yankees, a handful of developments could turn out to be worrisome if they persist.
Jacoby Ellsbury, the oft-injured center fielder who has missed the tail end of his two previous spring trainings with injuries, did not make his debut until March 5 after asking for a few more days to get his legs in shape.
“It’s important that that doesn’t happen,” Girardi said of another Ellsbury injury. “That he is strong going into the season and not have something nagging, so that he gets a lot of at-bats the last couple weeks.”
A bullpen that must make do without closer Aroldis Chapman for the first 30 games, after his suspension in a domestic violence case, has had few encouraging performances in the first two games. After Nick Rumbelow and Nick Goody were cuffed around by the Tigers, Anthony Swarzak and James Pazos were hit hard by the Phillies. But at least their pitches were close enough to the plate to get hit: Jacob Lindgren, returning from surgery to clear bone spurs from his elbow — the same operation that Masahiro Tanaka underwent — faced five batters, walking three and hitting another.
“I’m sure there were some nerves,” Girardi said. “I’m sure he was overthrowing a little bit.”
The Yankees used 15 pitchers in two games and only one — the right-hander Mark Montgomery — has had a clean score line.
Dellin Betances, who used a strong spring in 2014 to make the Yankees, can empathize with the relievers competing for what could be three vacancies in the bullpen. He was once one of them.
“It’s a big difference,” Betances said. “I can enjoy spring training a little more. I’m more at ease. You don’t stress a bad outing. It’s just about getting ready as opposed to trying to come out of the gate hot. I think these guys all know there are some spots available.”
Meanwhile, Rodriguez’s ease was visible in his swing, his trot around the bases and in his mood afterward. Now he is just preparing for the tests ahead.
“One thing is proving that you can do it and the other thing is proving that your health can be maintained for a long time,” Rodriguez said.
He added: “I think with me, health is of the essence and, obviously, pacing yourself. I understand the job that I have to do, and I know
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