The Yankees trounced the Philadelphia Phillies by a final score of 12-3 on Tuesday afternoon in Clearwater, Fla.
-The Yankees jumped all over Phillies ace Zack Wheeler. After Wheeler needed just 10 pitches to get through a scoreless first, things went downhill for him in the second, as RBI knocks from George Lombard, Spencer Jones, and Austin Wells made it a 3-0 game. The Yankees opened the third inning with three more hits, and Wheeler’s afternoon came to an end there. In all, the Yankees pounced on the veteran right-hander for six runs (five earned) on eight hits in two frames.
-The Yankees opened the floodgates and put seven more runs on the board in the third, highlighted by home runs from Jones and Paul Goldschmidt. Jones launched a three-run shot to right, showing off his tantalizing power, while Goldschmidt lifted one high in the air to left-center. All nine starters in the Yankees’ lineup had a hit by the end of the inning.
-Jones had a big day at the plate, finishing 3-for-3 with four RBI and a run scored. Home run aside, it was good to see Jones put the ball in play in each of his at-bats, as strikeouts have been a bugaboo for him during his minor league career.
-The power display continued in the top of the sixth, as Jasson Dominguez lifted a solo home run to left-center. Dominguez had a pair of hits and scored a pair of runs.
-Devin Williams pitched a scoreless fourth inning for the Yankees. He allowed one hit, but also showcased his patented airbender changeup to get J.T. Realmuto flailing.
Jones, who finished a triple shy of the cycle.
The Yankees have a day off on Wednesday before hosting the Minnesota Twins on Thursday at 1:05 p.m.
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3/4/25: Spring Training: PHI-NYY
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3/4/25: Spring Training: PHI-NYY
30 Clubs in 15 Days: Phillies
Max Kepler’s first spring home run
Zack Wheeler strikes out two batters
Bryce Harper: ‘I enjoy wearing that Philly P’
Aaron Nola: ‘It was never about velocity’
JT Realmuto on his preparation in the offseason, more
Ranger Suárez strikes out two batters in relief
Kyle Schwarber on his approach, lineup movement
Yankees 12, Phillies 3: Young blood pours it on in Clearwater
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Lombard and Warren and Jones, oh my!
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If hope does spring eternal, there’s plenty of hope to be found in the Yankees’ crop of young guns. Two guys who the club will be relying on in their first full seasons had strong games, and two guys who have come into camp with prospect pedigree and not much else clubbed the ball all their own. In the end, the four kids — and a Rookie of the Year finalist in the leadoff spot — led the Yankees to a 12-3 victory.
The Yankees slapped around Zack Wheeler in the second inning, and those buying prospect stock had to be pretty happy. George Lombard Jr. has been one of the stories in camp this year, and he continued his strong run with an RBI single, only to be followed up by Spencer Jones doing the same. Lombard then came around to score thanks to Austin Wells and the Yankees were up 3-0.
That kind of speed is exactly why Wells is in the leadoff position.
Both Spencer and George have a lot of polishing before they’re serious candidates for the MLB roster, but it’s spring training and you’re forgiven for imagining what a 2027 Yankee lineup might look like. For his part, Jones kept it going just an inning later with a bomb off Cody Stashak, as the Yankees began to pour it on:
Paul Goldschmidt added a big fly of his own in the third to put the Yankees into double digits. Meanwhile, with all the hullabaloo about future prospects, Jasson Domínguez must have felt pretty left out despite still being a rookie in 2025. The switch-hitter hasn’t had the best spring, but he had a two-hit day for himself while showing off that power-speed combo we’ve heard so much about.
Will Warren did get tagged by one-time Brian Cashman obsession Max Kepler, who took him deep in the bottom of the second. Outside of that, the righty looked pretty strong, throwing three innings with four strikeouts against a single walk, and while he probably won’t have quite that ratio in the bigs, it’s a lot closer to what an MLB-caliber starting pitcher can offer.
In particular, Warren dropping three curves to Trea Turner to retire the Phillies’ shortstop to end the day was a fun watch:
Speaking of fun watches, hey here’s Devin Williams’ first strikeout of spring:
Williams and Luke Weaver might give the Yankees the best back-end pairing in the league, but more to the point, I’m likely going to giggle over what Devin’s pitches make veteran MLB hitters do more than any other hurler in baseball.
Did this game look like it was being shot on a VERY overzealous high school student’s dad’s phone after a particularly rough day at the office? Yes. Did I get a little motion sickness every time a ball left the infield? Yes. But y’know, at the end of the day we take the positives that we got out of this game, and look ahead to Thursday when we get another professional-quality YES broadcast.
The Yankees are off tomorrow before welcoming the Twins to Steinbrenner Field, with a 1:05pm Eastern first pitch on Thursday.
Box Score
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