TAMPA Nathan Eovaldi Jersey , Fla. (AP) — Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner thinks New York has a championship-caliber team as it heads into Thursday’s opener against Baltimore.“We’re excited,” Steinbrenner said Tuesday after watching CC Sabathia pitch in a minor league game. “We’re as good as anybody. The team is going to do everything they can to win this thing. I believe they’re going to play up to their potential.”Steinbrenner thinks the Yankees have enough depth to overcome injuries to Sabathia, Luis Severino, Dellin Betances, Didi Gregorius, Aaron Hicks, and Jordan Montgomery.“I’d like to be more healthy, but the good news is none of the injuries are significant and the guys are going to be back,” Steinbrenner said.New York went 100-62 last season for its best record since 2009, yet finished eight games back of the AL East champion Boston Red Sox, who won the World Series for the fourth time in 15 seasons.Last year’s Yankees, led by Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton set a major league record with 267 homers, three more than the 1997 Seattle Mariners.The Yankees focused on pitching during the offseason, adding Adam Ottavino and James Paxton http://www.raysfanproshop.com/authentic-evan-longoria-jersey , and re-signing Sabathia, Zack Britton, and J.A. Happ.Youngsters Domingo German and Jonathan Loaisiga will fill two spots in the rotation in the opening weeks.“Our pitching from top to bottom is still very good,” Steinbrenner said of Yankees’ minor league system. “Charleston may have the best rotation of all. We’re strong.”Sabathia made his second start since undergoing a heart procedure in December. He allowed one run, two hits and struck out three over three innings in a Triple-A game against Philadelphia minor leaguers. He also made a nice defensive play, coming forward off the mound to field a grounder and then throwing the batter out at first base.“I felt great,” Sabathia said after throwing 28 of 40 pitches for strikes. “Just try to build up the next start.”Sabathia, scheduled to pitch again on Monday, will remain in Florida to work out and will not be at Yankee Stadium for Thursday’s opener. He plans to retire after the season.“Opening day is not that special, I’d rather be there for the World Series,” a smiling Sabathia said.When asked if he was going to watch the opener on TV, Sabathia jokingly said he had to see first if he had “some Netflix shows” to watch.The 38-year old, who is expected to miss his first two of three regular-season starts, will be on the opening day roster while serving a five-game suspension for hitting the Tampa Bay Rays’ Jesus Sucre with a pitch in his final outing last season.NOTES: German pitched in a Double-A game. … OF Clint Frazier Matt Andriese Jersey , coming back from a concussion-wrecked season, played center field in the Triple-A game. Hicks, the starting center fielder, will begin the season on the injured list with a lower back ailment. ST. LOUIS — There will be playoff implications all around when the Los Angeles Dodgers travel to St. Louis for a four-game series starting Thursday, including thoughts of a potential preview for a one-game National League wild-card matchup.Where that playoff game could potentially be played could be decided starting with Thursday’s series opener, which will pit the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw (7-5, 2.42 ERA) against the Cardinals‘ Austin Gomber (5-0, 2.93) in a battle of lefties.The Cardinals won all three games between the teams in Los Angeles three weeks ago. One victory in this series would give the Cardinals a home game if they were tied with the Dodgers at the end of the season in the wild-card standings.Article continues below ...The Dodgers are two games behind the Cardinals, who currently hold the second wild-card position in the National League.The Dodgers, though, remain intent on winning their sixth consecutive National League West title. By finally defeating the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday for the first time this season, the Dodgers temporarily moved one game behind the division-leading Colorado Rockies.The Dodgers had some offensive flow in that game, scoring eight runs, but otherwise it has been a stop-start year for the bats. The Dodgers have scored eight or more runs 11 times since the All-Star break. But they scored have three runs or fewer 25 times in the same span.“Our players have got to accept it because this is the way it’s gotta be with our roster C. J. Cron Jersey ,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, according to the Orange County Register. “I know it’s going to turn. We haven’t had (offensive) consistency all year. September, we obviously have a deeper roster but we’ve had these same inconsistencies all year. So it’s not about just September and this sample of September.”The Cardinals have found far more consistency in the second half as they went from near sellers at the non-waiver trade deadline to definite contenders barely over a month later.When the Cardinals swept the Dodgers toward the tail end of August, they were playing at their best. They lost Wednesday to the Pittsburgh Pirates and have endured a three-game losing streak since their sweep of the Dodgers, but St. Louis has still won 23 of its last 33 games.Not far away from being an afterthought in the NL Central, the Cardinals are still in striking distance of a division title, but still would have to leapfrog the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers to claim that prize.Gomber has been a key contributor in the turnaround. He has solidified his spot in the rotation by going 4-0 with a 2.77 ERA in seven starts since the beginning of August. He faced the Dodgers last month, giving up two runs over five innings in a no-decision while seeing his 15-inning scoreless streak come to an end.Gomber is new to the league so this is his first charge toward the playoffs. But it is also new to the Cardinals’ Marcell Ozuna, who was previously with the Miami Marlins.“I’ve never been in that spot before,” Ozuna said, according to mlb.com. “Every at-bat, I go trying to push my team on top.”Kershaw is far more familiar with the rigors of a second-half playoff drive. He will enter Thursday’s start having not given up more than two earned runs in nine consecutive outings. Kershaw is 6-5 in 16 career starts against the Cardinals with a 2.99 ERA, but he has not faced St. Louis this season.