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Good news, everyone: you’ll actually be able to watch today’s spring training game. After an offday on Monday and the first non-televised game at George M. Steinbrenner Field in some time in yesterday’s mercy-rule exhibition against Panama, the Yankees will be live on ESPN in Fort Myers to renew their rivalry with the Boston Red Sox for the first time in 2026.
Luis Gil gets the ball for his third start of the spring and is looking for more consistency. His velo is down, and while this is certainly excusable in February, you’d like to see him hitting 97 more consistently as we get closer to Opening Day, rather than the 94-95 he’s been at. He’s allowed two runs in five innings with five strikeouts and just one walk through his two starts, and we’ll see how long his leash is today after tossing 48 and 52 pitches in his first two starts.
It won’t be a fun first few innings for the ragtag group of Yankees who made the road trip from the already-depleted hitting core due to the World Baseball Classic, as Boston is deploying Cy Young runner-up Garrett Crochet for his second start of the spring. He won Game 1 of last year’s Wild Card Series with a dominant 7.2-inning effort, and the Yankees considerably struggled against him for much of the five starts he made against the Bombers last year. It’s unclear how long he’ll go, having only thrown 23 pitches and going two shutout innings against the Rays on February 26th.
George Lombard Jr. is leading off and playing shortstop to lead a very young Yankees lineup. Ben Rice is the lone expected starter making the trip and will bat second, followed by Jasson Domínguez, Paul DeJong, and Spencer Jones. We might only see it once, but I’m looking forward to Crochet vs. Jones. Non-roster invites Marco Luciano, Jonathan Ornelas, Payton Henry, and Duke Ellis finish out the starting nine.
Kristian Campbell, who was one of the worst defenders in baseball at second base last year, is leading off and playing center field for Boston. Trevor Story and Marcelo Mayer follow him up, as do former Yankees prospects Caleb Durbin and Carlos Narváez. Isiah Kiner-Falefa will also bat seventh and DH.
How to watch
Location: JetBlue Park — Ft. Myers, FL
First pitch: 1:05 pm ET
TV broadcast: ESPN
Radio broadcast: WEEI 850 (BOS)
Online stream: ESPN Unlimited
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