At the beginning of last spring in Tampa, Ron Marinaccio was hardly a household name among Yankees fans.
The rookie reliever’s absence from the Yankees’ postseason run due to a stress response in his shin, despite his efforts to prepare, was greatly missed towards the conclusion of the season.
Thursday, Marinaccio stated that he was experiencing the same level of shin pain as he had all season. “However, I was likely a two-mile-per-hour slower version of myself.”
Now, after allowing his right shin sufficient time to recover throughout the offseason, Marinaccio intends to return to his full form, the one that emerged unexpectedly with a 2.20 ERA in 44 innings last season.
During the first full pitchers-and-catchers exercise at George M. Steinbrenner Field, Marinaccio stated, “I’m feeling pretty good.” “Working through a few things related to reloading it, and generally regaining strength.”
The native of Toms River took a month and a half off from lifting and lower-body work, as well as an additional two weeks off from throwing, to allow his shin to recover. Then, he began building back up on a timetable that will have him throwing his sixth bullpen session on Friday, with the objective of being ready to break camp with the Yankees — a goal that Aaron Boone deemed attainable provided he continues to go in the right direction.
Marinaccio might be a crucial bullpen arm, especially for a team that may only have Wandy Peralta as a left-handed reliever. In addition to his great splits versus right-handed batters, Marinaccio was even stronger against left-handed batters during the previous season, as they slashed.146/.247/.232 against him.
Ron Guidry was in the bullpen and on the backfields as a guest instructor on Thursday for the first time since 2020, with the next two springs disrupted by COVID regulations and the lockout. In September of last year, he spoke with Gerrit Cole, who broke his franchise record for strikeouts in a single season.
“We just exchanged cordials and spoke a little bit about how cool it was for both of us that night in Texas,” Cole recalled, referring to the phone call they had the night he broke the record.
Aaron Boone paid respect to Tim McCarver, who passed away on Thursday at the age of 81. Boone first met McCarver when he and Aaron’s father, Bob Boone, were both catchers for the Philadelphia Phillies from 1975 to 1980.
Boone remarked, “Timmy was such a charismatic man.” Not only did he have an impressive career, but he also… When I first entered the industry, he was the broadcaster I looked up to as an example of how things should be done.
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