YGY SI Yanks Year In Review: Top 5 Pitchers Of 2014
By Ricky Keeler
Home of the Staten Island Yanks. Mandatory Credit: MiLB.com
Last week, we focused on the top five hitters from this year’s version of the Staten Island Yankees in the New York-Penn League. This week, we are going to take a look at the pitchers. In June, the New York Yankees’ draft was mainly focused on pitching as they tried to bring some young arms into the organization. Some of those top arms made it down to Staten Island, including three of the Yankees’ first five picks (Jordan Mongtomery, Jordan Foley, and Jonathan Holder). Later in the season, the fans got to see Ty Hensley, the Yankees’ first round pick in 2012, make some starts as well.
Overall, the pitchers for manager Mario Garza, had a 3.46 ERA, which ended up being sixth in the 12-team league. One of the things that the Baby Bombers’ pitchers were really good at was striking out hitters. The team’s 661 strikeouts were second in the league, behind the Brooklyn Cyclones. There were also league honors given out during the season. The 34th round pick in this year’s draft, Matt Wotherspoon, was named pitcher of the week in the league during the month of July.
Before we move to my list, I want to recognize two pitchers who were upgraded to Low-A Charleston during the year. Starter Justin Kamplain went 1-0 with a 0.43 in eight games (five starts), including a start on July 21 vs. the Jamestown Jammers where he threw four no-hit innings and struck out five. Reliever Conor Mullee went 2-1 with a 2.01 ERA in 14 relief appearances. He had strong command in his outings considering he struck out 28 batters and walked only eight in over 22 innings of work.
Here are my top five pitchers from the Staten Island Yankees in 2014: