{"id":196210,"date":"2021-03-07T11:51:28","date_gmt":"2021-03-07T08:51:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/yankees-zack-britton-being-cautious-after-bout-with-covid-19\/"},"modified":"2021-03-07T11:51:28","modified_gmt":"2021-03-07T08:51:28","slug":"yankees-zack-britton-being-cautious-after-bout-with-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/yankees-zack-britton-being-cautious-after-bout-with-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"#Yankees’ Zack Britton being cautious after bout with COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Yankees’ Zack Britton being cautious after bout with COVID-19<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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TAMPA \u2014 Zack Britton is being careful during spring training after a bout with COVID-19 during the offseason.<\/p>\n

The left-hander has participated in drills with teammates, but hasn\u2019t thrown off a mound since last Saturday.<\/p>\n

Britton said in an email he got COVID-19 in early January and \u201cit hit me pretty good. I lost a good amount of weight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because of that, the Yankees are building him up slowly, but he expects to be ready for Opening Day.<\/p>\n

\u201cPhysically, I\u2019m all good now but trying to be smart,\u2019\u2019 Britton said.<\/p>\n

The 33-year-old is set to be a key part of the Yankees\u2019 bullpen, along with Aroldis Chapman, Chad Green, Justin Wilson and Darren O\u2019Day.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a very good bullpen on paper,\u2019\u2019 general<\/a> manager Brian Cashman said Friday. \u201cIf it\u2019s not, we\u2019ll make adjustments along the way. I feel like we\u2019re in a good place starting out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Zack
Zack Britton <\/figcaption>
N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Gerrit Cole has been pleased by what he has seen from the new baseballs being used this spring after MLB redesigned them.<\/p>\n

While Cole noted the \u201csmall sample size\u201d he has had in one Grapefruit League start and in a live batting practice on Saturday, the right-hander noted the balls are more \u201cconsistent\u201d than in past seasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t thrown in a game<\/a>, going through four or five boxes of balls, but I would just say I\u2019ve noticed they\u2019re consistent,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not seeing as much inconsistency in the seams.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cole described how he and other pitchers dealt with balls that varied quite a bit from one another.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were seeing seams that were pulled apart by the leather or a large seam or maybe even a deviation in the horseshoe [pattern], like a wiggle,\u2019\u2019 Cole said. \u201cI don\u2019t know how many [balls] I\u2019d have to go through to find something like that before, [but] I haven\u2019t come across anything strikingly weird [this spring], which is new.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cole added the grip of the ball is comfortable.<\/p>\n

Earlier this spring, Cole said he was pleased the league acknowledged the balls had been an issue, but Saturday, he noted he didn\u2019t want the topic to be brought up throughout the season.<\/p>\n