TAMPA — This time last year, Chase Hampton was riding high.
The right-hander was in his first big league camp and flashing his potential on the mound as a consensus Top-100 prospect in baseball, likely bound for Double-A or Triple-A with a chance to help the Yankees later in the season.
Then came a live batting practice session and the day after, when Hampton didn’t quite feel right. He knew he had to say something and did, which eventually led to a diagnosis of a flexor tendon strain, an injury that threw a wrench into his year. He did not pitch in a game until July, but then a groin strain in August ended a mostly lost season early.
“It was definitely a learning curve on how to be patient,” Hampton said Wednesday before the first workout for pitchers and catchers at Steinbrenner Field.
