Yankees’ unknown is raking his way to Opening Day roster contention
DUNEDIN, Fla. — Willie Calhoun doesn’t look like a bat boy. He’s not that small. But the one who walked past Calhoun in the Yankees clubhouse late Saturday afternoon was taller. And the baby-faced Calhoun really could be confused as a kid sitting there at his stall chatting with Giancarlo Stanton.
Stanton stands 6-foot-6, Calhoun a stocky 5-foot-8, 200 pounder,
BUY YANKEES TICKETS: STUBHUB, VIVID SEATS, TICKETSMARTER, TICKETMASTER
Calhoun gets tired of being reminded how small he is.
“Heard it my whole life,” he said.
Calhoun has a way of shutting people up. Just watch him at the plate.
“He can hit,” manager Aaron Boone said for the umpteenth time this spring after the Yankees’ 5-2 loss to the Blue Jays.
Want to bet on MLB?
Calhoun’s 1-for-3 (with a double off the wall) actually dropped his spring average to .367 in 13 games.
He’s more than a good left-handed hitter. He proved he has a lot of pop mashing 23 homers in 309 at-bats over 83 games as a Texas Rangers rookie in 2019. He also has a great eye. He always has a low strikeout rate. This spring, he’s walked six times and hasn’t struck out at all.
All this hitting has Calhoun contending for what figures to be one open outfield spot on the Yankees’ Opening Day roster, the opening coming because center fielder Harrison Bader is starting on the injured list with an oblique strain.
Long-time prospect Estevan Florial probably is the favorite because he’s out of options in addition to bringing left-handed power and tremendous defense, but he’s hitting .182 in 16 spring games.
Calhoun has a shot.
“I think he’s in the mix,” Boone said.
If Calhoun ends up in Triple-A, it’ll probably be because his outfield play isn’t anywhere near as good as Florial’s. Rafael Ortega, another non-roster outfielder who has left-hander power, is a better defender, too.
But Calhoun hasn’t flubbed anything in his limited outfield chances. In two games and 11 innings in right field and seven games in 30 innings in left, he handled the six flyballs coming his way and didn’t make any route screwups that resulted in gift hits.
After watching Calhoun play left field on Saturday, Boone said, “I thought he did a good job with his throws, hitting cut-off men, keeping guys to a base that they should have been at … I feel like he’s more than held his own to this point. I don’t think he’s been challenged much, but he’s handled the routine play that he should handle.”
Calhoun, 28, is happy that he’s played well enough to open some eyes this spring because he’s coming off three rough seasons in a row.
“The opportunity to be in spring training with these guys is very humbling because I was hurt a lot the last three years,” Calhoun said. “I broke my jaw in ‘20. I broke my arm in ‘21. Last year I was banged up a little bit.”
Calhoun spent most of last season in Triple-A, and he was productive hitting .264 with 10 homers and 43 RBI in 63 games. The bummer part of his season was spending almost a month on the IL and not doing much with his big-league opportunities. In 22 games last year, 18 with the Rangers and four at the end with the Giants, he batted .135.
After the season, Calhoun filed for free agency and signed a minor-league deal with the Yankees fully knowing it wouldn’t be easy cracking their roster with Aaron Judge taking one corner outfield spot and Giancarlo Stanton playing the other when he’s not the designated hitter. Calhoun’s best spots are DH and left field.
“I told myself in the offseason that this is a big year for me and I want to leave it all out there,” Calhoun said. “Anytime you’re going out there there’s an opportunity, but I’m not worrying too much about that. I’m playing the game hard and the right way. It’s hard not to work hard with this group of guys, with so many superstars in that clubhouse.”
It’ll be decision time for the Yankees on Calhoun soon. He’ll probably wind up in Triple-A, but the Yankees might decide they want his bat for some early-season outfield platooning. Keeping Calhoun, however, might require the Yankees to be comfortable starting him at times in the big left field at Yankee Stadium. Covering a lot of ground and speed are not the forte for Calhoun, who has no career stolen bases in two attempts in 257 career MLB games.
“He may be there (in left field) at some point,” Boone said. “We’ll have to get him as comfortable as possible. So we’ll try to get him a little bit better out there. It may be a case of if he’s in there, he’s playing right field with Judge in left. We’ll see.”
Boone finished his thought with more bragging about Calhoun’s biggest strength.
“He can hit. I feel like he’s a good place right now. He knows where the barrel is.”
