New York Yankees Top Pitching Prospects Evaluated By Scouts

The New York Yankees have a plethora of prospects that scouts are high on.

The New York Yankees are entering what could be a very exciting time. For the first time in a long time, the Yankees have a lot of top prospects close to making their major league debuts. A lot of those top prospects will be coming from the mound.

Not since Andy Pettitte, who debuted 22 years ago, have the Yankees developed a pitcher that made 150 starts with the team. That is a streak they are hoping ends in the coming seasons.

The Yankees farm system is loaded with talented young arms. They have a mix of players they drafted and acquired via trade in the past couple of seasons that are getting closer to making an impact at the major league level.

"“They do have an impressive depth of starting pitching prospects,” one National League scout who follows the Yankees system said."

Heading that list are James Kaprielian, Chance Adams, and Justus Sheffield. They are the three top-rated pitchers in the Yankees system according to Baseball America. Also on Baseball America’s list is Domingo Acevedo, and the Yankees also have high hopes for Dillon Tate and Jordan Montgomery.

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Kaprielian was the Yankees first round pick in 2015 and could be the first to reach the major leagues. He missed much of last season with a strained right flexor tendon, but looked healthy in the Arizona Fall League; he was clocked at 97 miles per hour there.

While Kaprielian may be the first to debut, Sheffield is the player that people are highest on. Sheffield was acquired by the Yankees from the Cleveland Indians, along with fellow top prospect, outfielder Clint Frazier, in exchange for Andrew Miller. Sheffield has also been clocked at 97 MPH and is highly sought after.

"“A lot of people love him,” one National League executive said. “His name is out there. When teams talk to the Yankees about trades, he’s the one they ask for.”"

But, scouts have reservations about the group. While there is a ton of depth and potential, they caution that there does not look to be an ace in the group. Scouts are impressed with the depth but believe they project as solid second starters who figure to round out a major league rotation.

That should not be a discouraging thing. If Masahiro Tanaka is able to stay healthy he has shown that he can anchor a rotation. Michael Pineda has the stuff of a front-line starter but does not yet possess the killer instinct or mental aspect of one.

If those two stay the course, the Yankees could be in a position of power to upgrade other areas of the team. For example, they could ship some of the younger players for a known commodity, much like the Boston Red Sox did for Chris Sale this offseason.

But, that is where scouts believe the Yankees could come up a little short. One of the top prospects that the Red Sox sent to the Chicago White Sox, Michael Kopech, projects to be an ace at the major league level; the same cannot be said for the Yankees’ current batch of prospects.

"“The Yankees don’t have anyone like that,” one of the NL scouts said. “There are not a lot of givens with their guys. They could end up with the best pitching on the planet, or they could have problems.”"

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Players overachieve on projections all the time, so the opinions of scouts should not impact them. The Yankees have a right to be excited currently as they look to find their new Core Four. They have a ton of top prospects and if just half of them hit projections, the Yankees will be looking at an impressive foundation to build upon.

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