TAMPA — The Yankees did not pooh-pooh their pregame workouts Sunday; they just had to move them across the street.
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A sewage leak, caused by a clogged drain in a pipe outside of the footprint of Steinbrenner Field, forced the Yankees to hold their breath and move over to their player development complex for morning workouts while crews finished the cleanup before the team returned for a game against the Mets.
The leak sprung up Saturday afternoon and spilled into areas around the home clubhouse.
It did not do any real damage in the main area where players dress and house their equipment, though.
“In spots, it was really bad,” manager Aaron Boone said Sunday after returning for a 6-4 loss to the Mets. “Fortunately, it didn’t get into the clubhouse where it could have seeped in and we would have had to pull up carpet and lockers and equipment in the clubhouse. So that part of it was good.
Aaron Boone is pictured before the Yankees’ Feb. 22 Grapefruit League game against the Mets. Charles Wenzelberg
“There’s some sensitive areas that need to be addressed; I’m sure they will be in the coming days. But for the most part, we should be good. We should be normal postgame, with everyone showering and doing what they need to do to end the day.”
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The coaches room appeared to have the carpet pulled up, and other areas were more affected, in addition to a brutal stench wafting through the area Saturday, though it had mostly dissipated by Sunday morning as workers finished off an around-the-clock cleanup.
“I was surprised at how much they were able to get things cleaned up and sanitized,” Boone said. “Credit to a lot of people that put in a lot of hours overnight and this morning. Hopefully, we’re in a good position moving forward. We got probably some longer-term things that got to get fixed but should be in a good spot.”
Luis Gil made his spring debut, striking out four across 2 ²/₃ innings while giving up a solo home run to Jared Young.
His fastball averaged 94.5 mph and topped out at 96.6, but the right-hander said he still believes he can get back to his 2024 form — both in velocity (averaging 96.6 mph) and in overall performance — after he averaged 95.3 mph in 2025.
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“I feel like I’m on the right track,” Gil said through an interpreter. “I think the work we’ve done together has been very, very good and has put me in the right lane. I feel like I’m where I need to be right now. I don’t have any doubt in my mind that I can get back to that level, where I was in 2024. God willing, I’ll be.”
With Trent Grisham and Cody Bellinger in Sunday’s lineup, Ben Rice and Giancarlo Stanton are now the last two regulars who have yet to play in a Grapefruit League game.
Rice is expected to make his debut Monday against the Pirates after being slowed earlier in camp by a stiff neck, which kept him from hitting for a few days.
Stanton, meanwhile, is being slow-played into games in an attempt to keep him fresh in the long run.
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Boone is targeting either side of the March 2 off day to get Stanton into his first game, with the 36-year-old DH being limited to workouts and live batting practice in the meantime.
On Sunday morning, he was shagging fly balls in right field as his teammates took batting practice.
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