TAMPA — Ryan McMahon is entering his 10th season in the majors. He spent five-plus years in the minors.
In that time, he’s played a total of 9,451 innings at third base, nearly 2,182 innings at second base and 1,845 innings at first base.
And only a few more than you at shortstop.
With Aaron Boone eyeing his third baseman for the backup shortstop role to start the season, McMahon got much-needed reps at the position during the Yankees’ 11-1 exhibition win over Panama, but displayed the need for more while flubbing a relatively straightforward grounder.
With José Caballero set to start the season at shortstop — and Anthony Volpe still recovering from shoulder surgery — McMahon could provide the Yankees with roster flexibility as the backup. But before Tuesday, McMahon had only played three innings at shortstop as a pro, coming in 2020.
“It feels, it looks so much different for me,” said McMahon, who was pulled after five innings. “There’s a lot more space. I think I gained a little bit more respect for what these shortstops have to deal with on a daily basis. But it was fun getting out there. I botched one, but I feel like if I see that one a couple more times that would be no problem.
“I feel pretty comfortable out there. I think of myself as a baseball player. I think if I just take some more reps I’ll be able to handle it. I think I’ll get better at it.”
McMahon, who has received five consecutive Gold Glove nominations at third base, turned an inning-ending double play in the first, but fumbled a chance to end the fourth when he bobbled a grounder toward the middle. He then recovered to handle another opportunity in the fifth.
“It’s just getting reads off the bat,” said McMahon, who went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run. “The angles are different. You get so used to seeing it from the spot you’ve been at. You just step into a different area and I think that’s something reps can definitely fix.
“It’s baseball … Just getting it to where it’s second nature. At third base I don’t think about it, I just do it.”
Boone plans to have McMahon, 31, work exclusively at shortstop Wednesday, then put him back there for Thursday’s spring training game against the Twins.
“It was good to get him out there,” Boone said. “The error kind of took a bad hop on him, although it’s one he’s probably gotta attack if you read it perfectly or you can give a little more ground, especially with his arm, and put yourself in a better position to handle that hop. But watching him in pregame on the back field, he looks really good there. I definitely think he can handle it. Obviously the arm really plays. He’s just so natural picking up a ground ball.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
