Spring Training Game 10 Wrap-Up: NYY 5 BOS 2

(Good work, kid.  Courtesy of the AP)

We're two weeks into camp and things are starting to pick up.  Starting pitchers are making their second trips through the rotation, more veterans are getting deeper into their spring routines, players are leaving camp for the WBC, and roster battles are starting to change after the first small sample size results.  It's only right that I keep up with the players and get another ST game recap under my belt.

Rooting For Ronnier Mustelier

Ronnier Mustelier is one of the more interesting free agents the Yankees have signed in the past few years.  He's a Cuban defector, but came with little fanfare as a 26-year-old signee, something that hasn't been the norm for the Yankees when they've dipped into the Cuban market in the past.  He doesn't look like a traditional baseball player, short and stocky, yet he's played all around the infield and outfield and has done nothing but hit since entering the Yankee MiL system in 2011.  I've always kept an eye on Mustelier, but after reading Mark Feinsand's short profile piece on him yesterday, I'm officially a Ronnier Mustelier fan.

In the post, Feinsand gets a couple of great quotes from Mustelier on his efforts to make the Major League roster this spring.  Feinsand also mentions that Mustelier's family, including his young son, are back in Cuba and that he hasn't seen his son for four months.  That's something I didn't know and something that makes Mustelier's situation even more intriguing.  He comes across as determined but humble in the article, and his entire story is borderline worthy of being the next Disney "overcoming the odds"-type sports movie- a young, unknown, Cuban baseball player leaves his family and son behind to chase his dream of playing Major League baseball, then works his way through the entire Minor Leagues in two years to earn an opportunity to win a spot on the New York Yankees.  That's good stuff right there.

Despite a strong start to his spring (3-6 w/ a HR), Mustelier is a very long longshot to win a roster spot.  At best right now, he probably sits 5th in the outfielder competition behind Rivera, Diaz, Mesa, and Zoilo Almonte.  But the Yanks didn't move him through the system that quickly and invite him to ST just to let him rot.  If Mustelier keeps producing and another opportunity presents itself, he could find his way into pinstripes this year.

When Does Boon Logan's Elbow Stop Being A "Minor" Issue?

(Courtesy of Reuters)

Two weeks ago, we read about Boone Logan walking around camp with his left arm wrapped after a short throwing session and got the dreaded "just being cautious" explanation from pitching coach Larry Rothschild.  I say "dreaded" because it's never good to know that a pitcher coming off a career high workload the previous season is feeling discomfort in his pitching arm the following spring, especially when the discomfort is in his elbow.

Logan has thrown a few side sessions here and there in the last two weeks, but has still yet to get into a game this spring.  Of the pitchers who expected to be ready for the start of the season, only four haven't pitched in a game yet.  Two of them (Mo and CC) are recovering from surgeries, one of them (Hughes) hurt himself early in camp, and the other is Logan, who hasn't been officially diagnosed with any injury to his left arm but according to Sweeny Murti is being "shut down for a few days" after going for an MRI on his sore elbow yesterday.