New York Yankees non-roster invitees part two – pitchers

The New York Yankees have invited an interesting group of non-roster pitchers to spring training in 2019. Some have a chance to make the big team while others are big long shots.

The first words of any baseball season are “pitchers and catchers report.” That’s February 13th in Tampa, Florida, for the New York Yankees. Five days later position players report. As with any spring training camp, there are several sets of players.

First, are the main roster locks. For example, unless some sort of trade or injury happens players like Gary Sanchez, Aaron Judge, Gleyber Torres, and Luis Severino will make the team.

The next group is the up and coming prospects from the 40-man roster. These are the young players, from within the organization, that are looking for a chance to impress the coaching staff. You know the guys with high jersey numbers and usually play in the first few spring training games.

Finally, we come to the non-roster invitees. It’s usually a group of re-tread major leaguers who couldn’t find a guaranteed job, or career minor leaguers trying to break through for the last time. Anyone of them could be a contributor this season.

The last thing any team wants to do is overuse quality pitchers in meaningless spring training games. It’s why there are so many pitchers at Major League spring training. One or two of the pitchers New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman brought into camp this year have a chance to make the team out of training camp. Even if they don’t some could see time with the Yankees later in the season.