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RailRiders will sell out Opening Day for first time in Yankees era on Thursday

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Syracuse postpones first 4 games, 2 moved to Allentown

<p>MOOSIC &#8212; He was in the starting lineup for the biggest game the New York Yankees played last season, an American League Wild Card playoff loss to Houston.</p><p>Now, Rob Refsnyder will start another season in Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.</p><p>And the trip between those two moments has been a rough experience.</p><p>For the second time in four years, Refsnyder will shift to a new position in the New York Yankees minor league system as he embarks on an endeavor to become a third baseman.</p><p>Although he&#8217;s clearly not enamored with that idea, Refsnyder&#8217;s more than willing to give it a try.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a job,&#8221; Refsnyder said sternly. &#8220;As long as you&#8217;re playing and presented with the opportunity to get a steady job &#8230; that&#8217;s how I see it.&#8221;</p><p>The Yankees saw him struggle with the transition, which began late in spring training.</p><p>On consecutive spring training days on Easter weekend, Refsnyder was hit in the face with bad-hop ground balls and knocked from both games while playing third base for the New York Yankees. On the third day, Easter Sunday, Refsnyder was sent to minor league camp, presumably to become more familiar with the third base position while playing in the minor leagues with the RailRiders.</p><p>&#8220;Learning a new position,&#8221; Refsnyder said.</p><p>It&#8217;s not the first time.</p><p>Drafted out of the University of Arizona as an outfielder, Refsnyder converted to second base for the past three seasons and played 16 games there for the Yankees while hitting .302 with two homers and five RBI in 16 games over two separate stints during his major league games.</p><p>And he was in the Yankees lineup New York&#8217;s lineup for their only playoff game of 2015, going 0 for 3 while becoming the favorite to earn New York&#8217;s second base job, or a utility role, this season.</p><p>&#8220;It gave me some confidence for this year,&#8221; Refsnyder said.</p><p>But the game threw him a few curves.</p><p>Over the offseason, the Yankees signed Starlin Castro to be their everyday second baseman. They began working Refsnyder at third base, with the idea of keeping him in the major leagues as a backup who could fill in at either second or third base.</p><p>But out of spring training, that job went to Ronald Torreyes, an infielder who was signed as a free agent over the offseason after spending some time with the Los Angeles Dodgers last season.</p><p>That left Refsnyder, who hit .257 with a homer, double and three RBI in 19 spring training games to Torreyes&#8217; .279 spring average, back with the RailRiders to open a third season while growing more comfortable around third base.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s part of the job, part of the business,&#8221; Refsnyder said.</p><p>The other part of his job will be spending some time at his more familiar second base.</p><p>&#8220;So I think it&#8217;s going to be good for him to play multiple positions,&#8221; new RailRiders manager Al Pedrique said. &#8220;We know, offensively, he should be able to do good things. The priority (for Refsnyder) will be third base, yes, but he&#8217;s going to be playing a few days a week at second base.&#8221;</p><p>How smoothly he&#8217;ll handle switching between the two spots remains to be seen.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not sure,&#8221; Refsnyder said. &#8220;I haven&#8217;t really done it before.&#8221;</p><p>The RailRiders might expect some rough spots through the process.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s the mental part,&#8221; said Pedrique, who moved from spot to spot as a utility infielder with the New York Mets, Pittsburgh Pirates and Detroit Tigers. &#8220;It&#8217;s not easy moving around the infield, especially when you haven&#8217;t played a whole lot at one position. Refsnyder hasn&#8217;t played third (in a regular-season game). I think the mental part is huge. You have to trust the fact that you can do it, be willing to listen, be willing to try different things.</p><p>&#8220;A lot of reps, a lot of drills will help you speed up the process.&#8221;</p><p>And along with it, that versatility could help the 25-year-old stabilize a spot in New York. That&#8217;ll be one of his biggest expectations as a new baseball season starts.</p><p>&#8220;To win,&#8221; Refsnyder said, &#8220;and to get to the big leagues.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Starting in New York Yankees spring training last month, Rob Refsnyder began trying his hand at playing third base, a new position he hopes to perfect as he opens the season in Triple-A with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_RR-Refsnyder-1-.jpg</photo0><caption0>Starting in New York Yankees spring training last month, Rob Refsnyder began trying his hand at playing third base, a new position he hopes to perfect as he opens the season in Triple-A with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. </caption0><photoCredit0>Tony Gutierrez | AP photo </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_TTL040616railriders5.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Rob Refsnyder watches the Yankees on TV as he entertains thoughts about joining them soon while trying to become a versatile infielder capable of playing multiple positions with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_TTL040616railriders5.jpg</photo1><caption1>Rob Refsnyder watches the Yankees on TV as he entertains thoughts about joining them soon while trying to become a versatile infielder capable of playing multiple positions with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_RefsnyderMUG.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Refsnyder </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_RefsnyderMUG.jpg</photo2><caption2>Refsnyder </caption2><photoCredit2>Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Refsnyder taking his shots at the hot corner</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Paul Sokoloski</p><p>psokoloski@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Paul Sokoloski at 570-991-6392 or on Twitter @TLPaulSokoloski</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Another position change with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders leaves Rob Refsnyder facing a learning curve