Scranton ready for season opener

The Scranton Yankees are set to start their International League season tonight with Jason Johnson getting the opening day start against Lehigh Valley. It's been quite a spring for Johnson, who was diagnosed with a rare form of eye cancer prior to reporting to camp.

Here's the 25-man roster, with one player still to be removed to get down to 24; according to beat writer Chad Jennings, P.J. Pilittere was told he would be inactive to start the season. Jennings also has an interview with Mark Melancon, who some have tabbed to be the heir apparent to Mariano Rivera.

Pitchers
91 Alfredo Aceves
35 Anthony Claggett
44 J.B. Cox
29 Kei Igawa
65 Phil Hughes
16 Steven Jackson
45 Jason Johnson
31 Ian Kennedy
51 Zach Kroenke
41 Mark Melancon
30 David Robertson
34 Brett Tomko

Catchers
18 Kevin Cash
*22 P.J. Pilittere
26 Chris Stewart

Infielders
xx Angel Berroa
02 Doug Bernier
10 Eric Duncan
07 Justin Leone
46 Juan Miranda
05 Kevin Russo

Outfielders
17 Shelley Duncan
24 Austin Jackson
25 Todd Linden
19 John Rodriguez

That's quite an outfield. Three veteran minor leaguers, who have each had a small cup of coffee in the majors and a rising star.

Yankees Blast Their Way to Another Win

Let's hope the regular season goes this smoothly. The Yankees got another good performance from a starting pitcher, this time Phil Hughes, and belted four home runs in a 4-2 win over the Minnesota Twins in Fort Myers, FL this afternoon. The victory was the Yankees 7th straight and raised their spring record to 13-8-1.

Mark Teixeira went deep for the first time in pinstripes (or in this case, navy blue Yankees workout shirts) as did Trevor Linden. Teixeira's home run came off of Twins closer Joe Nathan in the sixth inning and cut Minnesota's lead in half. Linden went deep with a man aboard in the eighth to put the Yankees ahead for good. Austin Jackson added his second home run of the spring in the ninth for some insurance. It came off of Jason Jones, the Rule V draftee that was taken from the Yankees over the winter. He's got a chance to make the opening day roster after having allowed three runs in 10 innings thus far.

It's been a good transition for Tex so far this spring. He's hitting .414 (12-29) with three doubles and three RBI to go along with his first home run. He's also walking three times and has a gaudy 1.076 OPS. Tyler Kepner of the Times spoke with Teixeira about his transition to the Yankees.

Hughes was sharp, allowing a run and three hits over 4.1 innings. He walked one and struck out none. Anthony Claggett picked up the victory with an innings of scoreless work, and Kei Igawa escaped a jam in the ninth inning to record the save.

Jason Johnson also made his second appearance since surgery for eye cancer. The Star Ledger's Marc Carig has a nice story on his recovery.

Box Score

Jason Johnson Diagnosed with Eye Cancer

Jason Johnson has had to manage his health his entire adult life due to diabetes, but now the Yankees free agent signee has a bigger battle ahead. George King of the NY Post reported this afternoon that Johnson was diagnosed with retinal cancer in his right eye.

Johnson has been limited to working out indoors since getting the diagnosis prior to reporting to spring training.

"I went to the eye doctor to get a new pair of contacts and they found it,'' said Johnson, who is in camp on a minor league deal. "They sent me to the Wills Eye Institute in Philly. It's supposed to be the best in the world. Only 2,000 people a year get it. They put a radiation plaque on my eye for four days. They told me it has a 98 percent success rate. I can't pitch outside for two weeks. I can see but not real well.''

The 35-yr old was signed to a minor league contract in the off-season to bolster the staff at Scranton as well as provide insurance at the major league level. Johnson was the first pitcher allowed to wear insulin pump while on the mound.