Here are 3 takeaways from Yanks' road trip

The Yankees are returning to The Bronx for their second homestand of the season, having lost four of six games to the Rays and (temporarily relocated) Blue Jays on their trip to the Florida Suncoast.

Here are three hot topics we’re thinking about on the journey north:

1) The Cole-Higashioka tandem

When manager Aaron Boone said on Wednesday that his team needs to “play better in every area,” outside a clubhouse that Aaron Judge characterized as unhappy, there were no fingers pointed in Gerrit Cole’s direction. The ace right-hander has been terrific, going 2-0 with a 1.47 ERA and tallying 29 strikeouts to match David Cone (1997) for the most by any Yankees starter through his first three outings of a season.

Cole’s last two starts have come with Kyle Higashioka behind the plate, holding the Orioles and Blue Jays to one run and seven hits over 13 innings, with 21 strikeouts. Boone said that Gary Sánchez will catch Cole again, as he did on Opening Day, but there is no debating that the Cole-Higashioka battery works. They’ve combined for a 1.54 ERA (10 ER in 58 1/3 IP) in nine starts together, including the postseason.

For good measure, Higashioka popped a couple of homers in that 3-1 victory over the Jays on Monday night at TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Fla. -- a Minor League facility that is performing admirably in its spin as a Major League venue, offering the unique quirk of majestic ospreys circling the ballpark. But the stars of the show that night were Cole and Higashioka, and chances are the Yankees will want many encores.

“I think he’s just a great pitcher,” Higashioka said. “Every time he goes out there, he mentally and physically prepares 100 percent. You know you’re getting his best effort, no matter what. That makes our job as catchers easy.”

2) Frazier’s role

Clint Frazier entered the spring beaming about his place on the roster, saying that he no longer had to look over his shoulder to wonder about playing time. He would be the starting left fielder, Boone and general manager Brian Cashman told him, a welcome 180-degree spin from the awkward date last July when Frazier asked if he had a future in the organization.

Yet through a dozen games, Frazier’s role has slipped into uncertainty. One day after snapping an 0-for-17 skid, Frazier was out of the lineup on Wednesday against Toronto, a late scratch when the Blue Jays inserted right-hander T.J. Zeuch as their starting pitcher. Boone explained that he wanted to insert another left-handed hitter in Brett Gardner, who also started twice over Frazier against right-handed pitchers during the weekend series at Tropicana Field.

“Frazier rakes, and he’s going to rake,” Boone said. “But we have a really good player in Gardy, too. Let’s make more judgments on these things when we have a month or two of body of work. … Bottom line is, Gardy is going to play a lot, whether he spots in center, whether he gets starts in left. I like the way he’s playing as well, so they’re both going to end up playing a lot. As I tell him, Fraz is going to be a really good player for us.”

3) The future at first base

Luke Voit has been cleared to resume throwing and could soon take swings off a tee as he recovers from left knee surgery performed in late March. Those were encouraging updates, considering the unsettled situation at first base, where Jay Bruce has struggled on both sides of the ball after being added to the big league roster at the end of camp.

Bruce has yet to find his footing at the plate, going 4-for-34 (.118) with a homer and three RBIs thus far, and he has also had difficulty scooping throws from infielders. Only a dozen games into the season, Boone has fallen back upon offering DJ LeMahieu starts at first base, a change of plans after they had the three-time Gold Glove Award winner play second base almost exclusively during the spring.

“The first three or four games, there were a lot of really good at-bats, important at-bats,” Boone said of Bruce. “I think it was just a few games where he wasn't getting real good swings off, not making great contact. Hopefully a couple days down refresh him a little bit and get him going.”

It is fair to wonder if the Yankees plan to continue with Bruce as their starting first baseman; if not, they are covered in the outfield and at designated hitter, so his place on the roster would be in jeopardy. New York has first basemen Mike Ford and Chris Gittens at the alternate site in Moosic, Pa., and Voit is expected to return sometime in May.