Good news and bad news from the 4-0 loss to the Cardinals

The New York Yankees lost a strikeless game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday afternoon, but there were some positive takeaways despite the flop. The team collected only five hits across their 29 batters, and they made some decent contact but were unlucky with some excellent defensive play on the other side of the ball.

Starting pitcher Gerrit Cole took the mound for his second spring start, and looked great again. Unfortunately, one of the Yankees’ best starting pitchers, Wandy Peralta, was a solid performer.

Good news for the Yankees:

The biggest benefit from the loss was certainly Gerrit Cole’s pitching, pitching 3.1 innings, allowing two hits, and striking out seven batters. Cole touched 99 mph on his fastball, dribbled corners and made Cardinals batters think twice about their decision. Cole has been solid this spring, and his pace is clearly heading up ahead of the regular season. Cole retains his spot as the team’s ace, despite Carlos Rodon signing a six-year, $162 million deal.

The Yankees also got a decent performance off their desk. Notably, Clay Holmes struck out two batters via his single inning. Greg Weissert gave up an earned run but struck out three batters across 1.1 innings, working himself out of a jam. Offensively, the Bombers collected only four hits, courtesy of Aaron Judge, Anthony Rizzo, Giancarlo Stanton, and Rodolfo Duran.

It was fun to see the judge get some action in left field, and Cabrera made a stellar catch in CF, requiring a full stretch to get to the baseball a few feet away.

Bad news for the Yankees:

Obviously the initial negative from today’s loss was their inability to score. It is unacceptable to collect only four strikes over 29 strikes, but hitting only five times indicates that they made contact, just not good contact. The team’s short-range battle is still unfolding, but Isiah Kiner-Falefa has struggled this spring, hitting 0.091 with a 0.214 OBP. He hit once on two batters, and while spring stats certainly aren’t the end-all of a player’s abilities, reports have indicated that Oswald Peraza has a short-term career locked in.

For the team’s pitching, Wandy Peralta had a tough day, giving up three hits and three earned runs in just one inning. He gave up a homer to Brendan Donovan, driving in three runs.

There is no reason to worry about Peralta or any Yankee player struggling during spring training. However, something has to be said about the position battles that unfold and the underperformance that takes a toll on individual stocks.