New York Yankees minor league spring training is in full swing after official workouts began on Monday, March 6. Over 180 Yankees minor leaguers have reported for camp at the New York Yankees Player Development and Scouting Complex, which sits less than a mile from George M. Steinbrenner Field, the spring training home of the major league club.
Pulaski Yankees manager Luis Dorante is in Tampa getting acquainted with and coaching many of the players he will manage during the upcoming season.
“This is pretty much a time to get to know a lot of guys, [with] me being in Charleston the last three years I haven’t had a chance to see the guys we are probably going to have [in Pulaski]. Hopefully we can identify some of the guys that we are going to have early, so we can keep an eye on them,” said Dorante, who will manage Pulaski after spending 2014-2016 managing the Yankees single A affiliate, the Charleston RiverDogs.
“There’s going to be a lot of teaching – just paying attention to detail is probably one of the things we are going to have to do on a daily basis. Kids are going to make mistakes, that’s going to happen. We don’t need to worry about that, but if we can somehow eliminate some of those mistakes early in their career, they can move up to the next level and continue to grow,” said Dorante on his goals for the upcoming season.
“There’s going to be a lot of teaching – just paying attention to detail is probably one of the things we are going to have to do on a daily basis. Kids are going to make mistakes, that’s going to happen. We don’t need to worry about that, but if we can somehow eliminate some of those mistakes early in their career, they can move up to the next level and continue to grow,” said Dorante on his goals for the upcoming season.
Pulaski Yankees pitching coach Gabe Luckert echoed Dorante’s beliefs about the importance of allowing young players to learn and develop during Pulaski’s 2017 season. “The approach is always the same in rookie ball, get the guys to understand the game, fastball command, developing a secondary pitch, and hopefully we can bring a championship to Pulaski doing that, “ said Luckert who in his first season at Yankees minor league camp following more than 10 years as a coach in the Atlanta Braves organization.
2017 will be the first year in Pulaski for both Dorante and Luckert and the first time they will coach together. “He was my coach in winter ball, back to back years ’96 and ’97, a long time ago, and we’ve been in touch ever since,” said Luckert on his relationship with Dorante.
Pulaski Yankees hitting Coach Scott Seabol was away from camp on Tuesday working with and evaluating young players in the Dominican Republic. However, Dorante is excited to have him on board for the 2017 season, and said that he hopes Seabol will draw on his experience as a major league hitter to help Pulaski hitters mature in the batters’ box this season.
A number of former Pulaski Yankees were on the field Tuesday morning working on fielding, base running, and hitting. Among them was Blake Rutherford, who hit .382 with two home runs and 19 RBI last season for Pulaski. “The Pulaski Yankees really welcomed me, and helped me adjust to the pro baseball life, and I feel like that’s why I was able to have the success I was there,” said Rutherford as he reflected on his first season in the Yankees organization.
“It was a comfortable place to play, and [Calfee Park] had a packed house every night,” Rutherford said.
He had a busy offseason following the conclusion of the 2016 season. “I started working out after [instructional league]… it took me a little while to pick up a bat, just because I wanted to work on getting a little bit bigger, a little bit faster, work on the physical aspect,” said Rutherford who is now ranked the fifth best prospect in the Yankees farm system, according to MLB.com.
With Yankees minor league camp just getting underway there is still a lot of baseball left to be played before the 2017 regular season gets started. The first two weeks of camp will consist solely of workouts and drills and the second two weeks will include exhibition games. Following the completion of minor league camp, members of the 2017 Pulaski Yankees will stay in Tampa for extended spring training, which will include daily drills and practice games.
Dorante said the goal of extended spring training is to “identify some of the mistakes they make early in extended spring so they can move up to Pulaski and have some good games number wise.”
With opening day at Calfee Park barely three months away Dorante and his staff will remain in Tampa until June to work with members of the 2017 Pulaski Yankees.
— Courtesy of Cothran Togna, intern for the Pulaski Yankees
