Camp Notes After Yankees Spring Training Begins

by E.J. Fagan

February 13, 2026

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NOTE: The following comes from EJ Fagan's substack page and is shared with permission. This was published a few days ago so the stats don't include the last few games.

Please check out EJ's substack page for more great articles.

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Pitchers and catchers have reported. Aaron Boone held a lengthy press conference. Baseball is getting closer. We’ll soon have grainy video of guys doing drills and former Yankees throwing BP. Someone will be in the best shape of their life (last year’s BSOTL guy was Ben Rice).

For now, we have some early news to discuss.

Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon Are Ahead of Schedule

I had pencilled Gerrit Cole in for a June 1st return and Carlos Rodon for somewhere around early May. It turns out, both might be back earlier than expected.

When could Cole return? Boone said that Cole might pitch in a Spring Training game “before camp ends.” Let’s assume that Cole pitches one game at the very end of camp. The season begins on March 25th (!) for the Yankees after six weeks of games. If Cole effectively starts a normal Spring Training ramp up on March 23rd, he would be on track to debut in the majors on during their six game homestand in the first week of May. He would only miss 5-6 starts.

The Rodon news is even better. The quote from Boone is, “he’s probably not that far behind from the start of the season.” I wouldn’t be shocked if he returns on the April 10th game at Tampa, allowing him to stay in the Spring Training facility during the Yankees opening four series (six games on the West Coast and six at home).

If these guys do indeed come back early, then we should all be way less concerned about rotation depth.

Ben Rice Will Catch

It sounds like the plan is for Rice to catch against most lefty starters, with Goldschmidt at first and Wells sitting.

On one hand, I don’t like it. I’d prefer that the Yankees just make Rice a 1st baseman and tell him to focus on hitting. On the other hand, Rice is way better than JC Escarra. On a third hand, Wells was actually better against lefties in 2025 than righties and posted a similar OPS as Rice.

If this move allows the Yankees to not carry a true backup catcher, I get it. But if they also carry Escarra and barely play him, I’ll be puzzled. You don’t want to strictly platoon your backup catchers because you want to be able to rest guys after extra innings or for a day game.

Dax Kilby is Looking Good

I sure like this swing.

I’ll be watching Dax Kilby real close this season. People seemed very impressed with him over a tiny sample of games last season, mostly due to Soto-level strike zone control.

Everyone is Going to the WBC

By my count, the Yankees delegation:

• USA: Aaron Judge, David Bednar

• DR: Austin Wells, Camilo Doval, Amed Rosario

• PR: Fernando Cruz, Elmer Rodriguez

• UK: Jazz Chisholm, Brendan Beck

• Netherlands: Didi Gregorius (doesn’t count, but he’s in camp and we love him)

  
  

Maybe we’ll see a little more from the young guys while everyone is away. I’ll write a post soon about what I’ll be watching for in Spring Training games, but as a general rule young is always more interesting than old.