TAMPA, Fla. -- The spring homes of the Yankees and Red Sox are separated by approximately 140 miles of interstate highway, and Clint Frazier has never been happier to be sent on a 2 1/2-hour bus ride.

After not playing most of last season due to post-concussion symptoms, the promising outfielder is listed on the travel roster for Saturday's Grapefruit League opener at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, Fla. The 1:05 p.m. ET contest will be shown on MLB Network and MLB.tv.

"I'm ecstatic," Frazier said. "That was the thought in my head at all times: being ready to go whenever Spring Training started, ready to play in a game from the first pitch. I'm glad that I got through that hard time, and I'm going to be rewarded by getting to go out and play tomorrow."

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said that Frazier will be in Saturday's lineup as the left fielder, with Miguel Andújar, Greg Bird, Aaron Hicks and Gleyber Torres also highlighting the trip. Left-hander Nestor Cortes will start for New York, opposite Boston right-hander Josh Smith.

"It's one of those days you start looking forward to, guys getting out and starting building up to getting ready for a championship season," Boone said. "Starting tomorrow, we'll have a handful of our regulars and a lot of guys there that we fully expect will contribute to our club this year. The start of it all, I think we all look forward to that."

Frazier is scheduled to travel again and serve as the designated hitter on Sunday, when the Yankees visit the Rays in Port Charlotte, Fla.

"I feel like that's giving me a good chance to get some looks," Frazier said. "That's all I want: an opportunity to go out there and play."

On the clock

Major League Baseball announced on Friday that a 20-second pitch timer will be used during Spring Training games, with umpires possibly issuing ball-or-strike penalties for violations later in the spring. No decision has been made on whether the timer will be used in regular-season games.

"I think it's going to be fine, maybe even a good thing," Boone said. "I don't think it's going to affect us that much. I think we'll probably get to a point where we don't even really notice it, and it's not part of guys having any angst or disturbance up there."

As in Minor League play, batters must be in the box and alert to the pitcher with at least five seconds remaining, and the pitcher must begin his motion by coming to a set position before the timer expires (the pitch does not need to be thrown before the expiration of the timer). The timer is never used on the first pitch of any at-bat, and begins running prior to the second pitch when the pitcher receives the ball.

"In the early days of Spring Training, the umpires will be getting used to it as well," Boone said. "Hopefully, we educate ourselves early in the rhythm of it, but I don't think players are going to have to make some massive adjustment."

If at first

There is competition at between Bird and Luke Voit at first base, but Boone indicated that he may use DJ LeMahieu as the backup, suggesting that Bird or Voit could begin the season in the Minors. LeMahieu is expected to see time at other infield positions as well and has played 13 big league innings at first base.

"Even if both guys are healthy and producing and strong, it's not necessarily a case where we keep both to keep that roster flexibility," Boone said. "I could see a scenario where we did, though. We've got to see how spring shakes out, but I see LeMahieu getting some reps over there and possibly being the backup."

In memoriam

Boone opened his media briefing on Friday with a tribute to longtime Boston Globe baseball columnist Nick Cafardo, who passed away on Thursday while covering Red Sox Spring Training. Cafardo was 62. His son, Ben, was a colleague of Boone's at ESPN.

"That's one of those that rocks our baseball community," Boone said. "I want to send out my prayers and thoughts with Ben and the entire Cafardo family, and all of those that are close to them. I had a really good relationship with him, going back to ESPN. It's certainly a tough day in our baseball family."

Bombers bits

• The Yankees enjoyed their shortest workout of the spring on Friday, as the players took part in a bonding activity held in the pavilion at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Boone said he could not spoil the surprise, but said, "It should be something that hopefully the guys enjoy and add a little bit to our camaraderie."

• Albert Abreu and Tommy Kahnle took the mound on Friday morning for batting practice.