2015 Preseason Yankees Top 30 Hitting and Pitching Prospects

by: Ben Embry

As I mentioned yesterday in my top 30 overall prospects list, the top 30 lists for hitters and pitchers can be an interesting deep dive.  Just like the overall top 30, this is a weighted average of several sites, the citation for which you can find in yesterday's post.  The hitters list is first:

Rank	Player	Position	Born
1	Aaron Judge	RF	1992
2	Greg Bird	1B	1992
3	Jorge Mateo	SS	1995
4	Gary Sanchez	C	1992
5	Rob Refsnyder	2B/LF	1991
6	Luis Torrens	C	1996
7	Eric Jagielo	3B/1B	1992
8	Miguel Andujar	3B	1995
9	Tyler Austin	RF/1B	1991
10	Tyler Wade	SS	1994
11	Jake Cave	CF	1992
12	Abiatal Avelino	SS	1995
13	Mason Williams	CF	1991
14	Ramon Flores	CF/RF	1992
15	Leonardo Molina	CF	1997
16	Jose Pirela	2B	1989
17	Gosuke Katoh	2B	1994
18	Angel Aguilar	SS	1995
19	Slade Heathcott	CF	1990
20	Dante Bichette, Jr.	3B	1992
21	Thairo Estrada	SS	1996
22	Kyle Roller	1B	1988
23	Ben Gamel	RF	1992
24	Alexander Palma	RF	1995
25	Mark Payton	CF	1991
26	Dustin Fowler	OF	1994
27	Chris Breen	RF	1994
28	Michael O'Neill	CF/RF	1992
29	Taylor Dugas	CF/RF	1989
30	Yonauris Rodriguez	SS	1997

Dante Bichette, Jr. had a nice bounce back season in 2014, hitting .271/.352/.410 with 9 HR in 402 AB before his promotion to AA.  He was close to falling off the list and becoming a non-prospect but his showing in 2014 helped bring him back to almost cracking the overall top 30 again.

I also mentioned yesterday that I tend to be more interested in the younger July 2 guys who have a lot of potential but are super raw.  I find them more compelling then your stereotypical 26 year old corner infielder playing in AAA.  Yonauris Rodriguez is one of those young July 2 kids that I find interesting.  Last August, Baseball America had this to say about Rodriguez: "[He] landed a $570,000 bonus on July 2, 2013 mainly on the strength of his defense. With a live, wiry frame, he projects as a true shortstop with smooth hands, good range and reads off the bat.  The pleasant surprise has been Rodriguez’s hitting, which several clubs thought would need time to come around. Instead, he has been one of the better hitters in the Dominican Summer League, batting .315/.435/.427 in 89 AB. The power isn’t there yet, and it might never be part of his game, but Rodriguez is a more advanced, more complete player than scouts were projecting him to be when he signed."

Now for the top 30 pitching prospects:

Rank	Player	Position	Born
1	Luis Severino	SP	1994
2	Ian Clarkin	SP	1995
3	Jacob Lindgren	RP	1993
4	Domingo German	SP	1992
5	Bryan Mitchell	SP	1991
6	Austin DeCarr	SP	1995
7	Ty Hensley	SP	1993
8	Jose Ramirez	RP	1990
9	Brady Lail	SP	1993
10	Chasen Shreve	RP	1990
11	Johnny Barbato	RP	1992
12	Nick Rumbelow	RP	1991
13	Tyler Webb	RP	1990
14	Jose Vicente Campos	SP/RP	1992
15	Rookie Davis	SP	1993
16	Danny Burawa	RP	1988
17	Domingo Acevedo	SP	1994
18	James Pazos	RP	1991
19	Branden Pinder	RP	1989
20	Simon de la Rosa	SP	1993
21	Jordan Foley	SP/RP	1993
22	Jordan Montgomery	SP	1992
23	Caleb Smith	SP/RP	1991
24	Daniel Camarena	SP	1992
25	Nick Goody	RP	1991
26	Jonathan Holder	SP	1993
27	Alexander Vargas	SP	1997
28	Anderson Severino	SP	1994
29	Orby Tavares	SP	1994
30	Nestor Cortes	SP/RP	1994

You may notice that there's a helluva lot of relief pitchers (RP) on this list. The Yankees have insane bullpen depth in the minors for what is easily their strong suit in the big leagues. Even Nick Goody at 25 I think has a decent shot to make it to the major leagues one day. It's kind of interesting that only one year ago Mark Montgomery was their top RP prospect; not only is that no longer the case, he's been purged off the pitchers list completely.  He didn't receive a single vote from any of the ten lists I used in my rankings.

Well, that was a fun exercise! I'll do one again mid season and one at the end of the season. I'll now turn my attention to the big club for a while and then it'll be time to look at the draft.  Have a good day!