TAMPA — Ryan McMahon is entering his 10th season in the majors. He spent five-plus years in the minors.

In that time, he’s played a total of 9,451 innings at third base, nearly 2,182 innings at second base and 1,845 innings at first base.

And only a few more than you at shortstop.

With Aaron Boone eyeing his third baseman for the backup shortstop role to start the season, McMahon got much-needed reps at the position during the Yankees’ 11-1 exhibition win over Panama, but displayed the need for more while flubbing a relatively straightforward grounder.

With José Caballero set to start the season at shortstop — and Anthony Volpe still recovering from shoulder surgery — McMahon could provide the Yankees with roster flexibility as the backup. But before Tuesday, McMahon had only played three innings at shortstop as a pro, coming in 2020.

“It feels, it looks so much different for me,” said McMahon, who was pulled after five innings. “There’s a lot more space. I think I gained a little bit more respect for what these shortstops have to deal with on a daily basis. But it was fun getting out there. I botched one, but I feel like if I see that one a couple more times that would be no problem.

“I feel pretty comfortable out there. I think of myself as a baseball player. I think if I just take some more reps I’ll be able to handle it. I think I’ll get better at it.”

McMahon, who has received five consecutive Gold Glove nominations at third base, turned an inning-ending double play in the first, but fumbled a chance to end the fourth when he bobbled a grounder toward the middle. He then recovered to handle another opportunity in the fifth.

“It’s just getting reads off the bat,” said McMahon, who went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run. “The angles are different. You get so used to seeing it from the spot you’ve been at. You just step into a different area and I think that’s something reps can definitely fix. 

“It’s baseball … Just getting it to where it’s second nature. At third base I don’t think about it, I just do it.”

Boone plans to have McMahon, 31, work exclusively at shortstop Wednesday, then put him back there for Thursday’s spring training game against the Twins.

“It was good to get him out there,” Boone said. “The error kind of took a bad hop on him, although it’s one he’s probably gotta attack if you read it perfectly or you can give a little more ground, especially with his arm, and put yourself in a better position to handle that hop. But watching him in pregame on the back field, he looks really good there. I definitely think he can handle it. Obviously the arm really plays. He’s just so natural picking up a ground ball.”

Observations from Yankees’ spring training Friday:

Bombs away

The Yankees crushed five home runs in a blowout of the Twins, with Jasson Domínguez, J.C. Escarra, Spencer Jones, Paul DeJong and Duke Ellis all going deep.

Challenging

The Yankees ran out of ABS challenges by the bottom of the first inning after right fielder Yanquiel Fernandez and Luis Gil were both wrong in trying to get calls overturned.

Gil later tried to challenge a ball in the second inning (that looked like a strike), but did not have one to use.

Caught my eye

Escarra launched his first homer of the spring off righty Cole Sands, a 413-footer that came off the bat at 109.6 mph — the hardest-hit ball of his career, according to Statcast.

“That means I’m eating well,” Escarra joked.

Saturday’s schedule

Paul Blackburn, who pitched in a piggyback role in his first appearance, will start against the Blue Jays on Saturday afternoon at Steinbrenner Field, the last game for all of the Yankees’ WBC participants.

Max Scherzer is returning to the Toronto Blue Jays.

Two weeks into spring training, the three-time Cy Young Award winner has agreed with the reigning American League champions on a US$3 million, one-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press early Thursday.

The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal was subject to a successful physical and had not been announced.

The 41-year-old Scherzer can earn another US$10 million in performance bonuses.

Scherzer went 5-5 with a 5.19 ERA in 17 starts and 85 innings for the Blue Jays last season, his 18th in the major leagues. Then he made three starts in the postseason, beating Seattle 8-2 in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series before getting the ball twice in the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The right-hander pitched 4 1/3 innings of one-run ball in Game 7 and left to a rousing ovation from fans in Toronto, but the Blue Jays lost 5-4 in 11 innings.

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Scherzer signed a US$15.5 million, one-year contract with Toronto in February 2025. A free agent again this winter, he’s set to rejoin the Blue Jays and provide even more depth for a strong rotation expected to feature some combination of Dylan Cease, Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, Trey Yesavage, Cody Ponce, José Berríos and Eric Lauer.

“He’s not afraid to question baserunning, question defense, question offense. He still thinks he’s our best baserunner on the team from his days with the Nationals,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said about Scherzer last fall. “He’s not afraid to push the envelope. He’s not afraid to be curious. He’s not afraid to share things that he’s been through that maybe I haven’t been through.”

Scherzer has won two World Series titles, with Washington in 2019 and Texas in 2023. The eight-time All-Star is 221-117 with a 3.22 ERA for the Diamondbacks, Tigers, Nationals, Dodgers, Mets, Rangers and Blue Jays.

He ranks 11th on the career list with 3,489 strikeouts — 20 behind Hall of Famer Walter Johnson.

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Twins right-hander Joe Ryan has gone down with a back injury which could jeopardize his participation in this year’s World Baseball Classic.

Ryan, 29, was scratched from his scheduled spring training start on Saturday because of lower back tightness, and was set to undergo an MRI exam to find out more about his condition.

“It happened during his prep work,” Twins manager Derek Shelton told reporters, according to The Athletic. “We sent him for imaging just to be sure. … There is day-to-day soreness with everybody, but this is something that came up.”

The exact details of Ryan’s injury and a potential timeline to return still remain unclear.

Ryan’s apparent injury also raises concern about if he would be able to pitch for Team USA in the WBC in March. He is expected to join the team in Houston at the end of the month.

Despite Ryan needing to be ready earlier in the offseason to account for the WBC, he has previously said that he did not make many changes to his preparation.

“It didn’t feel like this crazy overhaul in any way,” Ryan told reporters earlier this month. “We just started things a little bit earlier and let the program and the process take care of the rest.”

Ryan is coming off of his best season in the MLB in which he pitched to a 13-10 record with a 3.42 ERA and 194 strikeouts through 30 starts, earning him his first career All-Star appearance.

His injury also comes just a day after fellow Twins righty Pablo Lopez announced that he will be undergoing season-ending Tommy John surgery.

“I don’t think its hit me yet,” López told reporters on Friday. “It’s sitting definitely heavy. … I think it’s going to hit me harder next week when (surgery) happens and all of that. We knew what we were looking at. I think I’m a pretty realistic person.

“I know what’s in front of me.”