The Yankees’ first start in center field this season, aside from Aaron Judge, went to Isiah Kiner-Falefa.
The shortstop-turned-utilityman played his first career regular-season game in the outfield on Sunday, starting in center field and handling three opportunities cleanly during the 6-0 win over the Giants at Yankee Stadium.
With Harrison Bader on the injured list with a strained oblique, Judge had started the first two games of the season in center field.
But with Judge moving back to right field on Sunday, manager Aaron Boone gave Kiner-Falefa the start in center — with veteran Aaron Hicks still relegated to the bench.
“[Hicks] is going to play,” Boone said. “Today is just not necessarily the matchup I love [against Giants right-hander Ross Stripling]. I would probably expect him to be in there the next couple of days.”
Kiner-Falefa started four games in center field and two in left this spring after it became clear that he was not going to win the Yankees’ shortstop competition.
He had played 10 games in the outfield in his minor league career, with his most recent game there coming in 2017.
The Yankees like Kiner-Falefa’s athleticism in center, which they hope allows him to continue to fill in there at times until Bader returns.
Kiner-Falefa said he started thinking about playing the outfield after committing an error at shortstop on a routine play on March 3. On Sunday, he called that error “a blessing in disguise.”
“Instead of battling it out, I wanted to give myself an opportunity to stick on the team,” Kiner-Falefa said. “I feel like them giving me that opportunity to play the outfield allowed me to still be here.”
Kiner-Falefa had a rocky season defensively at shortstop last year, to the point that he was benched in the playoffs. But he believes playing center field frees him up, likening the skillset to his days playing safety in high school football.
“I just like how you run balls down,” Kiner-Falefa said. “The freedom of not having to do something perfect, you just have to make the play. I think last year playing shortstop, sometimes I got caught up in being too perfect and caring about how I looked instead of finishing the play. Out there [in center field], the only thing that matters is catching the ball and making a good throw. I think that freedom is going to allow me to have some success.”
Carlos Rodon (forearm muscle strain) is getting closer to facing hitters, according to Boone, but they may not be swinging against him just yet.
Rodon recently threw another side session back in Tampa that simulated two innings and it “went really well,” Boone said. The next step is another “two-up” bullpen session where Rodon will throw 15-20 pitches, sit down and then get back up and have hitters stand in the box against him, though likely without swinging.
DJ LeMahieu got Sunday off, so Boone slid Gleyber Torres up the lineup to bat leadoff. The manager said he did consider having Anthony Volpe lead off, but “wanted to get him a little more settled” in the nine-hole for the time being.
Reliever Colten Brewer, acquired from the Rays on Thursday, made his debut by throwing two scoreless innings to close the game.
The Yankees announced their lower-level affiliate rosters to open the season, highlighted by outfielder Jasson Dominguez at Double-A Somerset after he put together an impressive major league spring training.
Other assignments of note: OF Everson Pereira, SS Trey Sweeney and RHP Will Warren at Double-A Somerset and OF Spencer Jones and RHP Drew Thorpe at High-A Hudson Valley.