TAMPA, Fla. >> Yankees pitching prospect Chase Hampton has a flexor injury in his right elbow for the second straight year, raising the possibility he may need Tommy John surgery.

Manager Aaron Boone said the problem arose Friday, when the 23-year-old right-hander threw a bullpen session. Hampton was in New York on Wednesday to be examined.

“Just complaining of some elbow stuff, so he’s got a flexor strain, something going on with the UCL,” Boone said. “We’ll have more, I’m sure, in the next 24, 48 hours.”

Selected in the sixth round of the 2022 amateur draft from Texas Tech, Hampton signed for a $497,500 bonus and was rated the Yankees’ No. 6 prospect — second among pitchers — last year by MLB.com.

He was 4-3 with a 3.63 ERA in 20 starts for Class A Hudson Valley and Double-A Somerset in 2023, striking out 145 in 106 2/3 innings, then didn’t pitch in a game last year until July 1 because of a flexor strain. He went 0-1 with a 2.41 ERA in seven starts, striking out 16 in 18 2/3 innings. Hampton didn’t pitch after Aug. 10 because of a lower body injury.

“Just having an uneven season last year with some injury, he’s pretty bummed about that,” Boone said, “but we’ll see what we have and try and get it right.”

Hampton was in big league camp as an invitee for the second straight year.

Dodgers’ Sasaki has some success throwing live batting practice>> Even in practice, Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki draws a crowd.

The 23-year-old threw 27 pitches over two innings of live batting practice on Wednesday in front of hundreds of fans and several teammates. It also seemed like the entire Los Angeles Dodgers organization was watching behind home plate at Camelback Ranch.

Sasaki wasn’t particularly fazed by the attention and looked much more comfortable than last week, when he was a little wild during a bullpen session in chilly weather. He recorded two strikeouts, including one on back-to-back splitters to Eddie Rosario.

“Because it was my first time, I was feeling out how things would go,” Sasaki said through an interpreter. “But I did feel like today went better than I felt in my bullpen.”

Imanaga honored to be part of historic pitching matchup in Japan >> Chicago Cubs left-hander Shota Imanaga said Wednesday he was “very honored” to receive the opening day start against the Los Angeles Dodgers when the teams meet March 18 in Tokyo.

It is the first of two games between the Cubs and Dodgers in Tokyo.

The Dodgers will counter with Yoshinobu Yamamoto, marking the first time two Japan-born pitchers have started against each other in a major league regular-season game in their home country.

“The reason that Japanese players are getting a lot of attention is because of all the players in the past that came before us who created this path for all the Japanese players,” Imanaga said through an interpreter. “We’re walking on their history.”

Imanaga comes off a strong rookie season in which he went 15-3 with a 2.91 ERA, striking out 174 hitters in 173 1/3 innings.

Yamamoto, whom the Dodgers signed to a $325 million, 10-year contract in December 2023, finished his rookie season 7-2 with a 3.00 ERA with 105 Ks in 90 innings.

Springer likely to share leadoff spot for Blue Jays,>>His spot at the top of the batting order no longer secure and his statistics trending downward, George Springer has plenty to prove as he enters the penultimate season of his six-year deal with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Manager John Schneider plans to give the veteran right fielder some reps in left field this season and says the leadoff spot will likely be “a fluid situation.”

“He’s open to anything and everything, which is awesome,” Schneider said. “So it’s just trying to use him appropriately.”