By Greg Corcoran

Every year the Yankees hold a competition in spring training to see who will get the privilege of starting games for the Tampa Tarpons. It has become a yearly rite of passage for minor league enthusiasts such as myself to predict the starting rotation and fail miserably. There are many factors that play into the difficulty of this endeavor including unforetold injuries, innings limitations, unexpected regressions, and huge improvements made at the gas station.

Nevertheless, I’m going to take another crack at it this year.  I will break it into three categories: high probability, good chance, and long shot.

High probability:

Luis Serna has pitched at spring training and has impressed the Yankees brass. He has a deep repertoire, excellent control, and big movement on his pitches. Serna is on the smaller side and his velocity is not as high as some of the other bigtime prospects, but he’s polished and should be able to move quickly.

Trystan Vrieling had some success in the desert. The only way he will not be on the Tampa roster will be if the Yankees opt to have him skip Low-A and move straight to Hudson Valley. He has a nice three pitch package and it was always felt he would move quickly in this system.

Kyle Carr, the Yankees’ third round pick in 2023, will also most likely start his season in Low-A. He has a low-90’s fastball that has touched 97 in the past, and he also throws a sweeping slider and a changeup. Coming from the left side with that kind of repertoire, it would be hard not to give him a shot in Tampa.

Speaking of lefties, Henry Lalane is a shoo-in to be in the Low-A rotation at some point this season. The only question is whether the Yankees will wait until the season progresses to put him there in order to limit his innings. Lalane has surprising control for his size, and a deep pitch mix. He’s one of the most exciting players in the entire farm system.

Carlos Lagrange is just as big as Lalane but throws from the right side instead. His control is not on par with Lalane, but his stuff might be even nastier. He routinely hits triple digits with his fastball. He throws a four-seam, a two-seam, slider, and curveball. Similarly to Lalane, he’ll be at Low-A this year, it’s just a matter of when.

Good chance:

Cade Smith was the sixth-round pick in the 2023 draft for the Yankees. He has a fastball that sits in the mid-90’s with a ton of vertical break. He also throws a slider, curveball, and changeup. Smith has had some trouble with control in the past, but the Yankees development team has shown the ability to fix that quickly with other starters. He reminds me of Will Warren so if the adjustments help he could make quick work of the low minors.

Will Brian began the year in Low-A in 2023 but succumbed to injury early in the season. Brian has a very good four-pitch mix with a ton of movement on all of his pitches. He sits low-90’s and topped out at 94.2 last year with his fastball. If he’s healthy again, he could slot into the rotation in Low-A.

Ryan Harvey had a mini-breakout towards the end of 2023. He pitched well in the FCL and was promoted to Low-A late in the season. His fastball tops out at 93 but has excellent sinking movement. He also throws a slider and curveball. If he can bring the velocity up a bit and limit the free passes, Harvey could be in line for some more starts this year in Low-A or higher.

Josh Grosz has college experience at a big university with success against good competition. He has a fastball in the low-90’s topping out at 95, and he also throws a changeup and slider. Word is the Yankees were able to get more velocity out of him at the gas station this year. The Yankees picked him up in the 11^th round of the 2023 draft, and he could prove to be a steal.

Bryce Warrecker was drafted in the last round of the 2023 draft by the Yankees. The 6-foot-8 behemoth had a fastball that barely scraped the 90’s in 2023, but that has already gone up to 92-93 in spring training. He showcased his nasty sweeper in his first spring training game as well. Warrecker has surprising control and athleticism for a guy his size too. The Yankees may want to give him a shot to start in the Low-A rotation. He used a changeup in college so if there were some improvements to that he could start.

Long shots

Eric Reyzelman impressed scouts with his upper-90’s fastball in college. It was so good he really didn’t have the need for a second pitch. He didn’t get a chance to play much in the minors last year but if he’s learned a second or third pitch Reyzelman could switch roles in his first full season. It’s more likely he begins the year in the bullpen and has the potential to be a fast mover.

Brian Hendry has a similar profile to Reyzelman. His fastball hit 98 this year in college and he has an above average slider to go along with it. The Yankees could put him in the rotation if he’s learned that elusive third pitch this offseason.

Brady Rose or Andrew Landry could make their way into the rotation if they had strong offseasons as well. Rose is a lefty whose fastball reached 95 last season in college, and Landry started 12 games in college last year at Southern Louisiana. He could be called upon in the rotation this year if his stuff has improved in the offseason.

Cade Austin was nasty in relief last year for University of South Carolina, and could be moved to the rotation if he made some improvements in the offseason. It’s more likely a relief profile, but I the gas station has worked bigger miracles than this in the past.

Jordarlin Mendoza and Allen Facundo both started games in the FCL last year. If either comes to camp with improved stuff or control, they could be candidates to start for Low-A Tampa as well.

Summary:

With a plethora of options for the Low-A rotation, only one thing is certain. The competition will be stiff. The Yankees are yet again in a fantastic position to produce more top pitching prospects. Low-A is one of the most entertaining levels to watch in the minor leagues. With all of the fresh faces, these guys have a chance to make a name for themselves in 2024.

The post What starting pitchers will break camp with Low-A Tampa? appeared first on NYY UNDERGROUND.

By Greg Corcoran

Starting from the top, the Yankees have a talented group of left-handed pitchers in their organization. Effective left-handed starting pitchers have a ton of value, as they make it much harder for opposing teams to plan their lineups. The Bombers’ front office has recently made a strong effort to build that depth.

The major league rotation has two talented lefties, Carlos Rodon and Nestor Cortes. Both are coming off injury filled, ineffective seasons, but both seem determined to put that in the past. Rodon has been vocal about his desire to get back to the 2021-2022 version of himself. He showed up to camp in great shape and ready to compete as a result. Nestor Cortes has been quietly angry about his performance in 2023, and there have been reports that the Yankees are pleased with his offseason work.

I am expecting rebound seasons from both of these guys in 2024. It is uncertain if they will reach their previous levels of success, but it’s hard to envision anything but improvement from last year’s performances.

Beyond Nestor and Carlos, the Yankees won’t start the season with much left-handed starting pitcher depth in Triple-A. They have Tanner Tully, but he is more of a “break glass in case of emergency” option. He is a guy who could eat innings for them if injuries rear their ugly head. You need guys like that to get through a major league season.

This is where it gets exciting. There are several players climbing through the minor leagues with big potential. The closest to the major leagues is Brock Selvidge. Selvidge took a huge leap forward in 2023, with career-bests in multiple different statistical categories. More importantly, his velocity and stuff improved at the same time as his command and control. That’s the ideal situation.

Exciting news just broke about Selvidge as well. He has reported to camp looking significantly better. The coaching staff and development team are drooling at the thought of what he could do this season. It is likely that he will spend significant time in Double-A in 2024, getting enticingly close to the major leagues.

Behind Selvidge is another potential star, Henry Lalane. Lalane has a longer way to go to the major leagues, but his stuff and command have scouts making some lofty comparisons of this left-handed giant. I don’t like to make major league comparisons because they are inherently unfair. At 6-foot-7 with a fastball that regularly hits the upper-90’s, I’ll let the reader ponder who Lalane may have some similarities with. They have more in common than the “big units” of measurement of their height too.

Needless to say, if Lalane hits his ceiling the Yankees will have a star on their hands. He’s got a long way to go, but the Yankees are happy to have Henry. Believe me when I say other teams wish they could have him too.

Next up is Kyle Carr. The Yankees drafted Carr in the third round of the 2023 draft. Carr spent the 2023 season at Palomar junior college, where he dominated. He has a 92-95 mph fastball with has touched 97. His slider is filthy, and he’s working hard on improving the changeup. Kyle should start in Low-A and has the potential to be another top prospect in the Yankees’ system.

The Yankees have several more lefties making their way through the system with potential. Brady Rose and Ben Shields are both lefties with size who are already in the mid-90’s with their fastballs. Will Brian was poised for a breakout in 2023 when he got injured and missed the rest of the season. He could be back in 2024 and ready to give it another go.

Deeper in the minors, Allen Facundo has been a steady force in the DSL and was effective in the FCL in 2023.

Left-handed pitchers have always had an advantage in Yankees’ stadium. They are better able to neutralize lefties in a ballpark that is known to be advantageous to them. It’s encouraging to see that there are several high-end lefties in development on their way to help the Bronx Bombers in the years to come.

The post Yankees organizational depth: left-handed starting pitchers appeared first on NYY UNDERGROUND.