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TAMPA — Among the competition for the last spot on the Yankees bench is an excellent, flexible defender with a bat perhaps capable of more than it has shown. 

Max Schuemann played six positions just last year for the A’s.

He is a natural infielder who most often manned second base but is capable at shortstop, which is part of why he is in the mix for a spot on the Opening Day roster.

The 28-year-old brings a strong glove to each position and can be a backup to José Caballero while Anthony Volpe recovers. 

The path to a spot and playing time would be much wider if Schuemann, playing in a different organization for the first time and enjoying life and technology with the Yankees, can hit more than he has in the past. 

With the A’s, Schuemann hit like, well, a utility player, sporting a .212 average and .603 OPS in 234 games the past two seasons. 

With the A’s last season, Schuemann played his home games at a minor league ballpark without modern luxuries.

A tool such as the Trajekt machine — which is basically a robot that mimics any pitcher’s delivery and repertoire — was not available because the A’s didn’t have one. 

“That’s been fun to use,” Schuemann said Sunday from Steinbrenner Field, where he has played with the machine just about every other day. “Whether it benefits me or not, I’m not really sure. But I do feel like it’s helpful for timing going into a game. 

“I mean, you’re basically facing a pitcher before you actually face him.” 

The machine is universally praised by hitters who have access and is standard prep for Yankees hitters.

For a hitter like Schuemann — who has shown a strong knowledge of the strike zone, rarely chases or strikes out but has not hit the ball hard in his short career — it can’t hurt, and the way-too-early returns have been nice: 5-for-12 with seven walks plus two steals in 19 Grapefruit League plate appearances. 

The different minds around the team can help, too.

Schuemann had been with the former Oakland franchise since being drafted in 2018 until the trade last month in which the Yankees gave up minor league righty Luis Burgos.

The Yankees do have a strong history with infielders from Michigan. Schuemann was born in Kalamazoo. 

“I have my fair share of [Derek] Jeter memorabilia,” Schuemann said with a smile. “He was definitely a role model of mine.” 

Schuemann has several minor league options so he will be with the organization regardless, but continuing his strong camp would give the Yankees plenty to think about in constructing their roster.

Paul Goldschmidt and Amed Rosario will be on the bench, and Randal Grichuk is the leading candidate for another spot as a righty-hitting outfielder.

If the Yankees do not believe Ryan McMahon can ably fill in at shortstop and if Oswaldo Cabrera is still recovering, perhaps Schuemann becomes the 26th man rather than, say, J.C. Escarra. 

Such decisions and concern over those decisions are for another day. 

“Really just trying to get my feet on the ground, basically, and show [the Yankees] that I can play all the positions that I’m set to play,” Schuemann said. “My goal in camp is just check as many boxes as possible.”

Box Score

Jake Bauers and Andrew Vaughn both had two extra-base hits, Ethan Murray channelled his inner Barry Bonds, and Kyle Harrison struck out over half of the batters he faced to earn Milwaukee their fourth straight spring victory.

The only batter to reach base for either team in the first inning was Jake Bauers, who laced a one-out double into right off of Mariners starter George Kirby. In the top of the second, a passed ball by Jeferson Quero allowed Patrick Wisdom to reach on a strikeout. The next batter up was Leo Rivas, who hit a 441-foot home run to give Seattle an early 2-0 lead.

Aside from the Rivas home run, Harrison — Milwaukee’s starting pitcher — pitched incredibly well today. Harrison struck out eight Mariners in just three innings of work, with four of those strikeouts coming in the second inning. He walked two batters, but only allowed two hits — the other a double off the bat of Lazaro Montes in the second.

Milwaukee finally broke through in the bottom of the fourth.

Andrew Vaughn led off with a ground-rule double, prompting Mariners manager Dan Wilson to remove Kirby in favor of Troy Taylor. Taylor got David Hamilton to fly out for the first out, but Blake Perkins ripped a single into right field to score Vaughn from second. Perkins advanced to second on the throw home, giving Milwaukee another runner in scoring position with only one out. After Brock Wilken popped out for the second out, Quero walked on a 3-2 count to keep the inning alive. That brought up prospect Ethan Murray, who crushed a monster 477-foot home run (110-mph exit velocity) to give the Brewers a 4-2 lead.

The scoring didn’t stop there, either.

In the bottom of the fifth, Bauers homered off of Josh Simpson for his second hit of the game. The next batter, Christian Yelich, worked a walk, and Vaughn doubled again to knock him in. Vaughn then advanced to third on a wild pitch — still with nobody out. Unfortunately, despite a two-out walk by Brock Wilken, Simpson was able to bear down. Hamilton, Perkins, and Quero all struck out to end the inning with the score 6-2 Milwaukee.

Jacob Misiorowski gave up a home run to Brennan Davis to start the top of the sixth, but the scoring would end there as the Brewers picked up their fourth straight win.

Harrison and Misiorowski (3 1/3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 6K) both looked ready for the season. Jared Koenig, Jesús Broca, and Will Childers all held the Mariners scoreless in their appearances. Vaughn and Bauers both had multiple extra-base hits. Murray only had one hit, but his moonshot was probably the highlight of the game.

The Crew will look to make it five straight tomorrow in an NLCS rematch against the Los Angeles Dodgers. First pitch is scheduled for 3:10 p.m. CT.

PORT ST. LUCIE — The power has always been there for Ryan Weathers. 

Where the hard-throwing lefty has had issues in the past is in pitching effectively and staying healthy. 

He was not at his sharpest on Sunday against the Mets, but the 26-year-old, expected to be an important new piece to the rotation, said he’s still getting used to being in game competition at this point in the spring. 

For a pitcher who’s never started more than 18 games in a major league season, just staying healthy is key. 

“He has immense talent,’’ pitching coach Matt Blake said Sunday. “The biggest thing is supporting him to keep his routine together to help keep him on the field.” 

Blake has a good understanding of what kind of potential the 26-year-old has. 

Part of Blake’s job when he worked in player development with Cleveland before the Yankees hired him to be their pitching coach prior to the 2020 season was to be involved in the draft process. 

It was when Blake was in that role when he first encountered Ryan Weathers, then a top prospect at Loretto High School in Tennessee. 

“He was a baseball player, not just a pitcher,’’ Blake said Sunday, before Weathers started at Clover Park. “He had a good feel for the game. And you wouldn’t necessarily think he was a great athlete, you watch him on the mound and he moves really well. He handles himself and has good instincts.” 

Aaron Boone talked about the 26-year-old’s athleticism and power. 

But the lefty has yet to put it all together in the majors after San Diego made him the No. 7 overall pick in 2018. 

“I saw him there and then watched him ascend from San Diego to Miami,’’ Blake said. “It’s hard to know, especially when they come out of high school, what direction they’re gonna go in. You think they can improve their body and throw harder, but it takes a guy to commit to the process. Young guys like that can get chewed up in the minors, but he got up there quickly and has had to go through some ups and downs and fight to stay on the field.” 

If that happens, the Yankees believe the results will follow. 

Sunday was not a great example of that, as Weathers was knocked around for six runs — five earned — in two innings over a 59-pitch outing. 

He routinely hit 99 mph on the radar gun, but allowed seven hits and a pair of walks as he rushed his delivery, especially with runners on base and when he was trying to finish off at-bats. 

“What I didn’t do well, because it’s been so long since I’ve been in that game-type atmosphere where there’s traffic, is I’ve got to do a better job of slowing down and not trying to do too much,” Weathers said. 

Boone, who remains confident Weathers can be a “front-line starter,” agreed. 

“I think he has a lot of room to grow,’’ the manager said. “These are good situations to be in right now.” 

Blake said they are working with Weathers — the son of former Yankees reliever David Weathers — to alter his workout routine in an effort to avoid injuries. 

He spent time on the IL with a strained lat and a flexor strain a year ago. The Yankees are counting on more than that. 

“He’s really impressed everyone,’’ Aaron Boone said. “His stuff is real. The big thing for him is getting out there and going to the post. I think he’ll do special things. He’s a beast.”

MESA, Arizona — The Cubs who played in this game who will actually be on the Opening Day roster did very well. They got five runs out of (most) of the starting lineup and three relievers who will be in the Opening Day bullpen threw scoreless innings (and so did Luke Little, which is a good sign).

Then things went off the rails with guys who aren’t going to sniff Wrigley Field this year. The Cubs lost to the Giants 9-5, but the result is meaningless. Let’s talk about the good stuff, which includes some more ABS challenges won by Moisés Ballesteros.

The Cubs took a 1-0 lead in the first. Nico Hoerner doubled with one out, and one out later, after a Dansby Swanson walk, Michael Conforto singled Nico in [VIDEO].

The Cubs got another run in the fourth. Dansby Swanson led off with a triple and one out later, scored on a ground out by Ballesteros.

Three Cubs runs crossed the plate in the fifth. Michael Busch led off with a single and advanced to second on a walk by Hoerner.

Swanson’s double scored Busch [VIDEO].

Hoerner took third on the double and he and Swanson both scored on this single by Ballesteros [VIDEO].

Here’s Dansby on his two-hit afternoon [VIDEO].

As I noted in the game preview, this was a bullpen day. Caleb Thielbar, Phil Maton and Hoby Milner combined for three no-hit innings. The only baserunner was Luis Matos, who was hit by a Maton pitch leading off the second. So that’s all good. So was Luke Little’s scoreless inning. He allowed a leadoff walk to Jesus Rodriguez, but then picked him off and retired the next two hitters.

The Giants teed off for 13 hits and nine runs off Corbin Martin, Connor Schultz, Vince Reilly and Brooks Caple, and you will not likely hear those names as MLB Cubs after March 24.

The other thing I wanted to mention was more successful ABS challenges by Ballesteros. Here’s one [VIDEO].

There were also two by Busch — in the same at-bat! Here’s the first [VIDEO].

Here’s the second — 0n the very next pitch! [VIDEO]

Busch wound up with a single in that at-bat and later scored. I like that the guys are taking advantage of challenge situations to try them. It’s good practice, in my view, for using them during the season, what situations are best to use them, etc.

Attendance watch: A near-sellout of 15,033 saw this game on a very warm (86 at game time) afternoon. That makes the season total 120,808 for 10 games, or 12,081 per date.

The Cubs are off Monday, one of two scheduled off days this spring. They will resume the spring schedule Tuesday afternoon in Surprise against the Rangers. Cade Horton will go for the Cubs. At the posting time of this recap, the Rangers did not have a starter listed. No TV or radio Tuesday.

Monday, there will be six WBC games, three in the afternoon and three in the evening. The evening games include the USA vs. Mexico. I will post two game threads Monday, one for the afternoon games at 10:30 a.m. CT (first games are at 11 a.m. CT) and another for the night games at 5 p.m. CT (the first night games are at 6 p.m. CT). Stick around, there will be plenty to discuss here Monday!