Yankees News: Alex Rodriguez impressed by top two hitting prospects

Right fielder Aaron Judge and first baseman Greg Bird have surpassed catcher Gary Sanchez as the New York Yankees top two major league ready hitting prospects.  Praise of Judge and Bird’s abilities has been consistent throughout camp, while, unlike previous years, Sanchez has not been a high-profile prospect.

While Judge is only 2-9, he does have an OPS of 1.017 thanks to a home run and four walks.  Bird, on the other hand, is absolutely tearing the cover off the ball.  He is 5-10 with a home run and three doubles leading to an even higher OPS of 1.600.  Unlike his counterparts, Sanchez is struggling.  Before his ninth inning home run on Tuesday, he was 0-7 with four strikeouts and hadn’t reached base.

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Continuing the praise of Judge and Bird was third baseman Alex Rodriguez as he brought the two prospects up when speaking with reporters:

"And the other thing I’ve seen, two of the finest young hitters I’ve seen in a long time.  One is righty, one is lefty.  I think that they’re both under the age of 24, so that’s really encouraging.  I also saw today that our lineup has the potential to be pretty deep.  And I think that is something that can help us.  I mean, you don’t see those type of young hitters come around very often… we’re lucky to have two of them.  I was impressed."

Say what you want about Rodriguez, but he has been around the game for a very long time, and has played with some very great hitters, most notably, Ken Griffey Jr. and Derek Jeter, two of the greatest hitters of all-time.  Rodriguez himself is one of the greatest hitters and talents of all-time, but is not viewed that way to due his off-the-field issues.

This means that he has an eye for baseball talent, and I have never heard him praise prospects in this way before.  While anyone could tell you that Judge and Bird both have star in the making written all over them, hearing a guy who has done everything in baseball and will soon be fourth all-time on the home run list has to be pretty special.

While Judge and Bird have both been excellent in Spring Training, a 2015 debut doesn’t seem likely, as they are both currently blocked off at the big league level.  While Carlos Beltran and Mark Teixeira both have battled with injuries, it is unlikely that either Judge or Bird would make the jump if one of the former All-Stars went down.

Judge and Bird are both key components of the future of this organization, and by no means should Brian Cashman trade either prospect, unless the return is significant.

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