 Well this Yankees game clearly dealing with some rain now in Tampa tarp is on the field bottom of the fifth inning Yankees an 8-2 lead and it is now a final rather than sit through a rain delay Here in spring training. It is an official game and a Yankee win and Most the Yankees able to get in their work Ryan Rucco Meredith Maroccovitz David Cohn with you Meredith, you know before we get out of here after this final we get to get some notes From you and we heard Aaron Boone speak glowingly about Jordan Montgomery and the uptick and Velocity thus far this spring obviously his role becomes even more Important with what's happened with the Yankee starting staff and it feels like people feel pretty good about him thus far It's obviously early but so far in spring Extremely comfortable with what they've seen from Jordan Montgomery so far and Jordan Montgomery himself is very confident in the way He's been throwing the ball. I spoke to him a little bit and he said he actually overhauled the way he trained this offseason and Ironically Eric Cressy who's now the director of player health and performance is a guy that Montgomery reached out to prior to even being Hired by the Yankees He said people within his family and people that he knew had urged him for years to try something different go to Somebody and get a program and for whatever reason this year coming off the Tommy John He wanted to make sure he was in the best shape to succeed on the mound So he went there got a couple programs and he said from what he had been doing in college. It's a total 180 He's now doing a lot more squats deadlifts that type of thing And he's doing his throwing program in the lifting so he doesn't have to do an additional Strength program as far as his arm is concerned and he just feels so much stronger on the mound He thinks that's a big reason why you're seeing that uptick of velocity so early in between 92 and 94 miles an hour And David, I'm sure you can talk about this. He said it changes a little bit the way he approaches pitching He now feels confident in that fastball. He's able to be more aggressive attack a little bit more He said before he was so curve heavy when that wasn't working and guys were sitting on that He sometimes scratched his head and wondered what he was going to do out there now that he feels as though We can throw that fastball and get some bad swings off of that He feels as though he's in a little bit of a better position. Yeah, I agree And I think you know we talked about you know the hiring of that Blake Matt Blake and our Cressy had a relationship with the past Who is that Blake used to be with them as well? So there there's a synergy there that really works and we're seeing more and more pitchers Trained for velocity whether it's weighted balls or different types of power Exercises that were kind of discouraged in the past during my day and now are really encouraged and we see it across the league We've seen it with it with several pitchers that gained that velocity and it's not unheard of anymore And I certainly applaud Jordan Montgomery for going that route because it really can't pay off It makes all of your secondary pitches that much better if you could keep them on us with a little extra velocity on your top end And he can certainly play a big role in the rotation your herd Aaron Boone talk a little bit about it now The question will be how will you manage the innings? Will they pull him back at some point in time? But as it stands right now with the injuries that they've sustained to the rotation and losing what we severing over the year James Paxton out for a couple of months. He looks as though he is going to play a big role in Brian I know what you're thinking. Did he still have to pay for those programs? Yeah, Jordan Montgomery told me right before Christmas Cressy reached out to him and said Merry Christmas early in a text message You no longer have to pay for him no word on whether he refunded him the money money retroactively But there were a couple other Yankees working out down there getting programs prior to the hire and a couple other guys from other teams And they're like what's going on here now? I still have to pay for mine, but you get yours for free. That's not right So it all worked out. It seems like so far for Jordan Montgomery I hope that he has a successful season and is able to stay healthy throughout Strong reviews thus far for the Yankees new performance team merit It's on the pitching side of things obviously the the other big question will end up being now that Montgomery Somewhat obviously slots into number four what happens with that fifth starter slot in the aftermath of Luis Severino's injury No, what's your early gauge for you know? Who are the most legitimate contenders for that position? Well? I think a lot of fans would love to see a guy like Davey Garcia break camp with the team I don't think that that is necessarily going to happen He is the guy that the Yankees believe overall could use a little bit more seasoning in the minors you see Michael King He is great control somebody that the Yankees are very high on right now And we've seen Luis Sessa and Jonathan Loisica over the last two years the biggest question with Loisica and David We've gone back and forth and there's so many times Can he stay healthy as a starter or is he better suited due to his build as a guy that comes out of the bullpen? We've seen him in small doses be dynamic on the mound But you don't know if he can stretch that throughout the course of an entire game so Ryan to answer your question I think they're going to get a little creative in the way that they do it I think you are going to see maybe a Luis Sessa who came in Training as a starter getting stretched out as a starter. It's funny if you remember a couple years ago It seemed as though that was always Adam Warren's role come in as a starter We'll see where you fit and you probably will wind up in the bullpen Well now with this situation you may see a guy like Luis Sessa throwing some extra innings Perhaps Loisica piggybacking off of that Maybe even see Chad Green as an opener a little bit more than had been plans coming into the season because of those injuries The one luxury that the Yankees do have you look at the schedule in April there are off days It allows them to get a little bit creative and perhaps go a different direction with maybe not a traditional fifth starter The one thing yes, they won't be Luis Severino But the Yankees do have options and they do have guys that they think can contribute how about Miguel and do hard Meredith You know we we talked a lot about his work in left field made his debut there This is the first time he's played a position outside of third base in a pro game at any point in his career And it happened to be in left field we heard Aaron Boone talk about it You know what has been your read thus far on Miguel's comfort level with the outfield and the feedback he's been getting It's funny. I asked him on a scale of one to ten How comfortable are you being out there in the outfield right now and he looked at me and he said well This is the first time out there. I'll let you know after the game But from everything he's done from working with different outfielders working with Reggie will it's he feels as though He's adapting pretty well, and I said do you ever play at any level? He had to go back to maybe maybe 11 or 12 when he was 11 or 12 he might have played in the outfield But he wasn't a hundred percent certain on that but he's doing his due diligence and and really doing the right thing and going to Other guys on the team. He said he's spoken in length with John Carlo Stanton on how he approaches left field He's talked to Aaron judge He's talked to the outfielders and really he has got together with Reggie will it's a lot to make sure that he Is in the right position? He said once the game starts he thinks that the instincts are just gonna take over But there are certain intricacies to playing out there that you do need some reps to see exactly how you handle certain situations You saw him throughout spring so far out in the outfield working a lot and kind of just seeing how the ball comes off The bat so the angles the adjustments there that could take some time But overall he's an extremely athletic guy and willing more than anything else saying time and time again He wants to be a part of this roster. He thinks he could contribute and however He thinks the Yankees see him fitting in that's good with him Whether that be a little bit at third a little bit at DH maybe even first base in left field He's down to do it Ryan Merritt awesome insights and stories. We'll all be back tomorrow We're gonna be back here for a one o'clock game tomorrow afternoon is this one ends in five innings 86 and one the totals for the Yankees two three and two for the national Zach Britten gets the win Masahiro Tanaka's spring debuts he goes to innings and DJ La mayhew a ribby double that put the Yankees in front one hour and 57 minutes before the rain