Randal Grichuk earns bench spot with Yankees roster nearly set

LAKELAND, Fla. — The 26-man Yankees roster is nearly set. 

The last bench spot was finalized Saturday, when the Yankees informed Randal Grichuk that he was making the team after the veteran outfielder had been in camp on a minor league deal. They also optioned Oswaldo Cabrera to Triple-A, giving the utility player more time to build up and find his rhythm at the plate after a long road back from suffering a broken ankle. 

With Max Schuemann also being optioned to Triple-A and Paul DeJong and Seth Brown being reassigned to minor league camp, the bench is set barring a late trade or signing: Grichuk, Paul Goldschmidt, Amed Rosario and J.C. Escarra, giving manager Aaron Boone one of the better groups of reserves he has had in recent years. 

Grichuk, a right-handed hitter who will play against lefties, triggered his opt-out (as an 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 before a 3-1 loss to the Tigers 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 begun, 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,” said Grichuk, who will make $2.5 million. “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.” 

Through Saturday, Grichuk was only batting 2-for-19 with a .308 OPS, 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.” 

Grichuk had a bit of a down year last season, but for his career has hit .268 with a .819 OPS against lefties. 

Unlike, say, Domínguez, Grichuk also has experience not playing every day and still producing when he does get in the lineup against lefties —which will likely mean Trent Grisham heading to the bench, Cody Bellinger sliding to center field and Grichuk starting in left. It is a role he has excelled in in recent years after being an everyday player earlier in his career, with a change in mindset helping that transition. 

“I don’t want to say it too bluntly, but it’s, ‘eff me or eff it,’” Grichuk said. “I changed my mindset to, ‘eff it,’ and kind of took off. Not, ‘Poor me,’ in any situation, if I haven’t gotten at-bats in a while, if you’re facing a tough guy, whatever the case may be. I feel like it’s allowed me to play free and loose and just be ready when my name’s called.”

As for Cabrera, the fan favorite faced an uphill battle to make the team after arriving at camp still trying to find the final burst in his recovery from a gruesome ankle injury last May. After getting into his first game on March 6, he was still hopeful he would have enough time to show he was ready, but instead he will get everyday reps in Triple-A. 

Cabrera, like Domínguez, will travel to Arizona with the Yankees for exhibitions against the Cubs on Monday and Tuesday before heading to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, which may have a stacked roster to begin the season — a good sign for the big league club. 

“Oswaldo just needs to play,” Boone said. “I really like the corner he’s turned the last month, but then even more specifically in the last week or so. But now he just needs to play and stack days. Obviously we know what he’s capable of when he’s healthy.”