Making pitching change for Yanks is ... wait, who's this?

TAMPA, Fla. -- The familiar figure made the slow trudge across the first-base foul line Monday afternoon, prompting an ovation from those who watched similar scenes countless times during the Yankees’ last dynasty.

Joe Torre pointed toward the right-field bullpen, making his first pitching change for the franchise in more than a decade. In camp this week as a guest instructor, Torre claimed the baseball from left-hander Carlos Rodón after 5 2/3 hitless, scoreless innings against the Phillies at George M. Steinbrenner Field.

“I look up and I was like, ‘Oh, it’s Joe Torre. I should give him the ball,'” Rodón said. “It was cool. Everybody knows who Joe Torre is, and he got a nice ovation coming out there.”

The 83-year-old Torre was deputized to make the pitching change by manager Aaron Boone, who personally invited Torre to put the pinstripes back on this spring.

“I’ve been working on it for a couple of days,” Boone said. “My first goal was to get him in [uniform], and that happened in pretty short order. I wasn’t sure he was going to do that, so that was awesome. These last two times, I’ve been working on it with him. Today, he was like, ‘All right, let’s go.’”

Torre shook hands with Rodón, who enjoyed his sharpest outing of the Grapefruit League so far, striking out five with one walk in a 72-pitch effort during the Yankees' 4-3 win. Rodón is in line to start New York’s second game of the season on March 29 against the Astros in Houston.

“I was kind of caught off guard,” Rodón said. “I wanted to be like, ‘Hey, get out of here,’ but it’s Joe Torre.”

Ian Hamilton began his warmup tosses on the mound, and Torre returned to the dugout, flipping his palms outward to Boone and guest instructor Willie Randolph, as if to say, “How did I do?”

“What a treat to have him here these last few days,” Boone said. “Our guys loved it, and I think Joe really loved it.”

Torre managed the Yankees from 1996 through 2007, winning four World Series and six American League pennants.

Before Monday’s trip down memory lane, Torre’s final pitching change as Yankees manager came in Game 4 of the 2007 AL Division Series, when he took the baseball from Jose Veras and called upon -- who else? -- Mariano Rivera.

Who’s on third?
With news that DJ LeMahieu might not be ready for Opening Day after sustaining what Boone described as “a pretty significant bone bruise” on his right foot, Oswaldo Cabrera picked a good day to have one of his best offensive performances of the spring, doubling and homering in the Yanks’ win.

“It’s been good to see him gain some traction here offensively the last week or so,” Boone said. “[The home run was] one of the better swings I’ve seen from him in a long time. Getting some results here in the last week or 10 days has been important for him. He’s been working his tail off.”

The Yankees could also consider Jahmai Jones and No. 16 prospect Jorbit Vivas among their internal choices.

Prospects honored
Ben Rice and Chase Hampton have been selected as winners of the 2023 Kevin Lawn Awards as the Yankees’ Minor League Position Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year, respectively.

Rice, 25, slashed .324/.434/.615 with 20 home runs and 68 RBIs in 73 games with Single-A Tampa, High-A Hudson Valley and Double-A Somerset in 2023.

Rice was named by MLB Pipeline as the Yankees’ Hitting Prospect of the Year after ranking seventh among New York's qualified farmhands in home runs and tied for eighth in RBIs. Heading into 2024, he is ranked by MLB Pipeline as the No. 13 prospect in the Yankees’ system.

Hampton, 22, combined to go 4-3 with a 3.63 ERA in 20 starts with Hudson Valley and Somerset in his first professional season. He allowed two earned runs or fewer in 15 starts, including three scoreless outings.

Among qualified Yankees farmhands, Hampton ranked sixth in strikeouts and ninth in innings pitched. The right-hander enters the 2024 season as New York's No. 4 prospect and the No. 92 prospect overall by MLB Pipeline.

The annual awards are dedicated to Kevin O’Brien Lawn, the son of longtime Yankees vice president and chief of operations Jack Lawn, who passed away in 1999.