Spring is finally upon us. Pitchers, catchers and position players have reported to Spring Training, gone through the reps of fielding ground balls and PFP on obscure back fields, and now have progressed to playing out the Grapefruit and Cactus schedule.

The Yankees opened up against the Phillies yesterday in Tampa. After watching the game (courtesy of YES), here are a few take-aways:

1. For a first outing in Spring Training, both Bartolo Colon and Joba Chamberlain looked good. For Colon, he appeared to be throwing the ball free and easy (important considering his battle with arm injuries over the past few years). He is a little further along building up arm strength than most in camp (he pitched in the Dominican Winter League), but I am still impressed with his velocity. His fastball sat consistently at 90-92 with a high of 93. He also showcased a decent sinker/two seamer. For Chamberlain, the adjustment he made with his mechanics (arms lower at belt rather than chest high in set position) have really improved the life on his fastball and the bite on his slider. His arm is finally in sync with his body, rather than dragging behind and causing pitches to flatten out.

2. Derek Jeter looks comfortable with his revamped hitting mechanics. During his slump last season, Jeter had too many moving parts in his swing. Specifically, I’m referring to the double tap that he employed with his lead foot and then a long stride toward home plate. The double tap was a timing mechanism which left little room for error, while the stride toward the plate prevented him from opening his hips up and taking a direct path to the inside pitch. This spring he has completely removed the stride, utilizing a toe lift to start the load of the hands and weight.

3. Alex Rodriguez appears to be in great shape. You can definitely see that he has lost 10 lbs this off season (attributed to the hip being healed and finally able to train rather than rehab). Although he put up above average numbers over the past two seasons, I think we may see Rodriguez re-establish himself as one of the elite players in baseball.