Chase Headley Making a Statement During Spring Training

Opening Day is still nearly four weeks away, but Chase Headley has taken a regular-season approach to the plate during spring training. 

Image Credit: Corey Sipkin/New York Daily News

Headley hit his second home run of Spring Training against the Phillies, finishing 1-3. He now has a 1.080 OPS this spring.

The 30-year-old Headley was signed to a four-year, $52 million contract in the offseason after playing 58 games with the Yankees last season, hitting .262. The former Padre will stick at third base as long as he's healthy in 2015; Alex Rodriguez will back him up but should only play in emergency situations.

Words like leader, sincere and disciplined follow him. “A real grinder,” said General Manager Brian Cashman, who compared Headley to Scott Brosius, the third baseman who won three World Series with the Yankees.

Headley's one of three every-day switch-hitters in the Yankees' lineup, a boost for Girardi to plug in either he, Mark Teixeira or Carlos Beltran into the lineup. On Tuesday, the combination of pitchers used by the Orioles had his hitters switching sides every other at-bat.

“It’s tough to figure out what you’re trying to do early,” Headley said. “You really want to see pitches, track the ball good out of the pitchers’ hands. I didn’t feel very good doing that, wasn’t seeing them like I wanted to, so I figured today I’d be a little bit more aggressive, try to take it a little more like regular-season at-bats. I think that put my rhythm and timing in better spots. It was good. It doesn’t mean a whole lot, but you want to get hits.”

Headley says his right-handed swing is typically ahead of his left (he throws right) but this year's not quite been the case.

"Being a switch hitter, that's the life of it," he said. "You're always fighting one side or another...generally the right-handed comes a little bit quicker but this year maybe a little bit the opposite."

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Christine O'Connor