Yankees MiLB News: Thunder Year in Review

Mandatory Credit: Robert M. Pimpsner/Pinstriped Prospects.com

Coming into this season, the Thunder’s outfield was slated to have three elite New York Yankees prospects roaming the field. Slade Heathcott was number two overall, Mason Williams was locked in at three, and Tyler Austin was right there around number ten. By the time the midseason re-rankings by the MLB Network came out, all three had dropped out of the top ten. Part of it was due to the outstanding play of younger prospects like Luis Severino, Aaron Judge, Luis Torrens and Jacob Lindgren, but a larger part of it had to do with a total regression in talent.

Williams was supposed to be a speedster at the top of the order who would get on base, cause havoc on the base paths and score tons of runs.  It is very tough to do that when you barely bat you over .210 for most of the season.  A late season surge helped Williams finish with a .223 batting average, the lowest of his young career. He was also known for his fielding and in a brief stint in right field when they had to make room for Jake Cave, he stunk up the joint, posting the lowest fielding percentage of his career.

Slade Heathcott has simply not been able to stay healthy. A knee injury cut his season short in 2013. Still recovering at the onset of this season, Heathcott began the year in extended spring training. Upon his return to Trenton, he lasted a whopping nine games, batting .182 over that time.

Tyler Austin was struggling. In a July article right here on Yanks Go Yard, I called out Tyler Austin and said he may not be a top 20 prospect in the system. Well, he must have read the article because he went from batting in the .220s with two home runs, to finishing the season at .275 with nine homers. Austin gets a pass due to the distraction of the Thunder trying him at several different positions. This was a big learning curve for Austin. 2015 will tell a lot.