LAKELAND, Fla. – The Yankees’ 26-man roster is nearly set.
The likely final bench spot was finalized Saturday, when the Yankees informed Randal Grichuk that he was making the team after the veteran outfielder was in camp on a minor league deal.
They also optioned Oswaldo Cabrera to Triple-A, giving the utilityman more time to build up and find his rhythm after a long road back from suffering a broken ankle last May.
Grichuk, a right-handed hitter who will play against lefties, triggered his opt-out as an Article XX(B) free agent Thursday, which led the Yankees to make a decision on him by Saturday morning.
“He looks [like] what we hoped,” manager Aaron Boone said at Joker Marchant Stadium.
“Feel like he’s in a good spot and he can help us. He’ll be a factor.”
The Yankees invited Grichuk to big league camp in late February, after it had already began, so Saturday was only his seventh game of the spring.
But the 34-year-old showed them enough, combined with his track record, that made them comfortable carrying him as their fourth outfielder to begin the season after sending Jasson Domínguez to Triple-A on Friday night.
“Obviously I think it was a good opportunity, that’s why I came here and was excited to be here,” Grichuk said. “With the late start and some things out of your control, I tried to make the most of it. Glad I did enough to crack it .”
Grichuk was only batting 2-for-16 with a .313 OPS entering Saturday, but indicated he felt close to finding his timing.
“It doesn’t feel far at all,” he said. “Leading up to this, I was playing that game of, in between [games], doing things I wanted to do to prepare for the season and get my timing, see pitches, but also try to produce to make the team. But now, go out there for the last few games and do some things that I need to do to prepare myself physically to get in the moves that I need to make for the different pitches in a game.”
