LAKELAND, Fla. — While Jonathan Loáisiga looked a little rusty in his spring debut, the reliever insisted that he felt good on the mound while pitching against the Tigers on Thursday.
“This is the first time that I’ve seen opposing hitters from a different team going back to September,” the righty said after allowing three hits and one earned run over 1.2 innings in a 7-0 loss. “So the first time out there, you’re looking to feel good if you’re healthy.”
The Yankees have said that the injury-prone Loáisiga is indeed healthy this spring after multiple elbow issues, including surgery to remove a bone spur, limited him to 17 games last year. His season ended in mid-September with elbow inflammation.
Aaron Boone said the inflammation had “a little bit” to do with the delay in Loáisiga getting into a game, “but with our relievers we know, we tend to slow play them into games anyway.”
“He wasn’t behind at all coming in,” the manager added. “It’s more just we don’t feel like we need to see him in that many games and feel like if we can control the environment with a lot of our relievers that we know about, we tend to go in that direction.”
Loáisiga owns a 3.51 career ERA, but he’s always had trouble staying off the shelf. However, he and the Yankees believe they have a plan that will keep him on the mound: more multi-inning outings and more rest in between.
“Especially for the first half, we discussed going multiple innings and resting two days and then going back out there,” Loáisiga said. “As of right now, that’s what we’re shooting for for the first half. And then in the second half, probably one inning, back-to-back days. But it’s an ongoing dialogue.”
In January, pitching coach Matt Blake told the Daily News that the Yankees were considering a multi-inning role for Loáisiga that would also restrict his usage. The team used Michael King in a similar way last season before he transitioned to the rotation, as he was coming off an elbow fracture in 2022.
Loáisiga said he’s into the idea, though his outings may not go as long as some of King’s did.
“I’m gonna be ready to help the team,” he said. “So whatever the team needs me to do, I’m more than happy to go out there and do my job. It’s a good strategy to try and make sure that I stay healthy. It’s a benefit to me, benefit for the team as a whole. So I think it’s going to work out.”
The team and pitcher sure hope so, as the Yankees already have two open spots in their bullpen as the regular season nears. Loáisiga, meanwhile, is an impending free agent hoping to parlay a strong season into a payday.
“If I’m able to stay healthy and I’m able to go out there and pitch, I think I have the ability to repeat [what I did in 2021], get the same kind of results I got and maybe even better,” Loáisiga said, referring to a campaign that saw him record a 2.17 ERA over a career-high 57 games. “That’s why I always pray for health. Because I think if I’m given that, I’m gonna have the opportunity to go out there and compete.”
LATEST ON JUDGE
While Aaron Judge told reporters in Tampa that he’s still in no rush to get in spring training games, Boone has the slugger “penciled in” to Saturday’s lineup. Before that happens, Judge is expected to take some swings on Friday.
If Judge doesn’t swing Friday, he won’t play Saturday. The slugger recently underwent an MRI on his abs that came back clean. While he’s felt “beat up” and taken a break from swinging, the Yankees haven’t viewed this as a major issue, at least when publicly talking about it.
Judge reiterated that if this were the regular season, he’d have been playing in games this week.
WHO’S HEADING SOUTH?
While nothing has been finalized, Boone said that Juan Soto is expected to headline the Yankees’ contingent heading to Mexico City for exhibition games against the Diablos Rojos del México on March 24 and 25.
Loáisiga, DJ LeMahieu, Giancarlo Stanton, Jose Trevino, Alex Verdugo and Victor González are also expected to attend the exhibition series. Trevino, Verdugo and González all have Mexican roots.
Boone added that none of the Yankees’ major league starting pitchers will make the trip. Anyone scheduled for a throwing session or start will get their work done in Tampa before meeting the Yankees in Houston to start the season.
