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Long on shortstops
Soriano, filling in for injured Jeter, has a hot bat
Posted: Thursday March 08, 2001 11:05 AM
Updated: Thursday March 08, 2001 3:13 PM
Throughout spring training, CNNSI.com will feature regular dispatches from
Sports Illustrated staffers assigned to scout camps in the Grapefruit and Cactus
leagues.
By Jamal Greene, Sports Illustrated
TEAM: New York Yankees
SITE: Tampa, Fla.
WEATHER: 52 degrees, fair, slight breeze
PLAYER I SAW WHOM I REALLY LIKED: Alfonso Soriano. With three hits,
including a triple to deep center, in four at-bats Wednesday against the
Cleveland Indians, the prized prospect raised his spring batting average to .571
(12 for 21). Assuming current shortstop Derek Jeter recovers from
inflammation in his right shoulder, Soriano's path to the bigs is blocked. But
before the game manager Joe Torre said he would not rule out the
possibility of Soriano making the team as the starting left fielder. "He's
definitely in the mix," Torre said. "He's not going to be a backup
player, and Shane Spencer [who is recovering from a torn ACL] is a long
way from doing anything
significant."
AROUND THE
HORN
Jeter, the man Soriano has temporarily replaced at short, continues to
work his way back into playing shape. Wednesday was the first day since the
injury that Jeter faced live pitching, and the second straight day on which he
was able to throw without pain in his shoulder. Before the game Jeter took 56
swings in the indoor batting cage -- in front of 14 reporters -- and said he
felt no discomfort. In addition, he fielded ground balls from double-play depth,
throwing at about 70 percent of his normal velocity. It was also the first day
he took a break from anti-inflammatory medication, though he'll continue to take
it until the pain completely subsides. On Thursday Jeter plans to move back in
the hole at short and throw harder, and aims to be in the lineup by the weekend.
Asked when he might be ready to play in a game, Jeter said, "If the coaches
say play, I'll play." Asked when Jeter might see some action, Torre said,
"I'll just let him tell me when he's
ready."
Although the Indians beat the Yanks 6-0, Roger Clemens pitched
three hitless innings in his second start of the spring. Including the wins he
notched in his final two playoff starts of 2000 and the two hitless innings he
threw last Friday against Toronto, Clemens has allowed no runs and three hits
and struck out 30 in his last 22 innings. Said Clemens of the start,
"Jorge [Posada] and I were in synch. We featured the fastball,
forkball, slider and splitter on both sides of the plate." Clemens was
aided by a third-inning play by Chuck Knoblauch in which the second
baseman ranged ranged into short right and threw a bullet to Clemens on the run
to get Travis Fryman at first. Clemens, seemingly oblivious to the
inconsequential nature of the game, dove into the bag to make the play, scraping
the skin off of both his knees. "You don't even feel it," Clemens
said. "I didn't want to go across the base and have a
collision.
Jeter may have some competition as resident teen idol. Spencer, who
sports a baby face and Eminem-esque platinum blond hair, elicited screams from
the preteen girls who lined the fences of the Yankees' practice field before the
game. As he played catch with Knoblauch, Spencer was serenaded with cries of,
"Nice throw, Shane!" After a slightly errant throw, Knoblauch yelled
in his best girl voice, "Nice catch, Shane!" -- to which third base
coach Willie Randolph added in his own falsetto, "Shaaaane!
Shaaane!"
Sports Illustrated reporter Jamal Greene will check in periodically with
reports from his tour of spring
camps.
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