New York Yankees Editorial: Who the Yankees Should Target in 2015 MLB Draft

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Mandatory Photo Credit: New York Daily News

We are just four days away from the highly anticipated 2015 MLB Amateur Draft, where teams will select collegiate and high school prospects from around the country in hopes that they will one day develop into franchise corner-stones and benefit the future of their organization’s foundation.

The New York Yankees own the 16th overall pick, their highest draft slot in over 22 years. Thanks to Mr. David Robertson, the Yankees have another pick at number 30. In the later rounds the Yankees will select 57th and 92nd overall.

This year at Yanks Go Yard, we decided to give you, the greatest fans in the world, a special post on who our staff writers Michael Cambria and Jason Evans and District on Deck editor Ricky Keeler believe the Yankees should target with their first two picks.

We’ve followed the NCAA College Baseball regionals to a tee, we’ve held Q&A with some of our top college baseball writers and we profiled top players throughout the country who might, or might not be a perfect fit with the New York Yankees.

So without further adieu, let’s dig in!

Mandatory Photo Credit: mlb.com

Walker Buehler, RHP, Vanderbilt University

If you scour the Yankees farm system for impact pitching depth, just two names stick out, Luis Severino and Jacob Lindgren. Outside of those two, Ian Clarkin and Bryan Mitchell might raise an eyebrow or two, but the bottom line is the Yankees are weak in terms of minor league pitching.

With that said, one player the Yankees should target with their 16th overall pick in the 2015 MLB Draft is Walker Buehler, a 6’2″ right-handed pitcher out of Vanderbilt University and a native of Lexington, Kentucky.

Buehler, currently in his junior year with the Commodores has a 16-5 record with a 2.83 ERA over 35 collegiate appearances. According to his coach, Buehler has been very consistent and a natural winner on the Vanderbilt pitching staff since his freshman year in 2013.

“He came to us with an advanced skill set for pitching and he has continually improved upon that. Walker has great aptitude for the game and his ability continues to move forward.”

Most recently, Buehler pitched for Vanderbilt against Radford University on June 1st in the NCAA Regional Final, earning a win after tossing five scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and striking out seven. It was Buehler’s second straight NCAA Regional Championship win. This season he’s also had an impressive streak of four consecutive quality starts (4/10-5/3), which included a seven inning performance in which he struck out nine in a no-decision against the University of Missouri. On April 10th he recorded a collegiate career high 13 strikeouts over eight innings in a no decision v. Ole Miss.

The Commodores are heading to Illinois for a Super Regional matchup with a College World Series birth on the line. Game one is against the Illinois Fighting Illini, and though Buehler won’t be on the mound, you can certainly expect to see him pitch in game two or three should Vanderbilt make it that far.

The last time Vanderbilt appeared in the College World Series was in 2014, as Buehler tossed 5.1 no-hit innings out of the pen against UC Irvine while punching out seven to earn the win. He capped off 2014 with an impressive 12-2 record with a 2.64 ERA and 111 strikeouts over 102.1 innings pitched.

Vanderbilt has a history of developing some of the top pitching in the country, some of whom, (David Price, Sonny Gray) have the ability to turn a franchise around.

Walker Buehler would probably become the Yankees second best pitching prospect right after Luis Severino.

Mandatory Phot0 Credit: Pac12.com Kevin Newman, CI, University of Arizona

Should the Yankees elect not to pursue pitching, and instead try and refine their ‘center-of-the-diamond’ approach, Kevin Newman, a 6’1″ corner infielder out of the University of Arizona and a native of Poway, California might be a player they should look into. The 21-year-old junior and right-handed batter, is the only player ever to win two consecutive batting titles in the Cape Cod Summer League. In the summer of 2014 he hit over .380 in 31 regular season games for the Falmouth Commodores, including seven doubles and a home run with 20 runs scored and 20 RBI.

Newman has hit for a very high average in his three years so far at Arizona as well, including a .370 batting average in 2015.

He also posses other tools, including an above average glove on the defensive side of the ball (2014 Pac-12 All-Defensive Team) as well as speed. In 2015 alone, he swiped 22 bases in 25 attempts, which leads the entire Pac 10 baseball conference.

The only thing he’ll need to develop in order to reach the Bronx is power. He’s hit just two home runs this season, and they are the only two home runs he’s hit in his three seasons with the Arizona Wildcats.

The Yankees missed out on corner-infield prospect Yoan Moncada this off-season. Newman might just be their plan B.

Mandatory Credit: www.azdesertswarm.com

Scott Kingery, 2B, Arizona Wildcats

If the Yankees aren’t happy about a certain Arizona Wildcat second baseman they have in their system, maybe they can look to getting another one with one of their two first round picks.

Kingery is less regarded then his keystone mate Kevin Newman, however, all the guy does is hit. Kingery is 11th in batting average in all the NCAA with a .392 clip. He’s only 5′ 11″ and you get the feeling that if he was 6’2″ he’d probably be in the top 10 selections.

He wasn’t drafted out of high school, but got to Arizona and blossomed.

Here’s part of his MLB.com report:

Power isn’t a part of his game, which is fine for a hitter who profiles as a top-of-the-order catalyst. Kingery uses his plus speed to take extra bases and he should be a base-stealing threat in the future. A center fielder in the past, Kingery has the skills to play second base as well as the athleticism to return to the outfield if need be./blockquote]

Yes the Yankees have added a lot of bats in the international free agent market, and have some more coming, but why not add another?

Kingery was on Baseball America and Louisville Slugger’s All-American third team. He was named the Pac-12 player of the year and was also on the all-conference defensive squad.

He also led the conference for the second time in batting average.

I don’t expect them to target him at 16, but he could be a nice pickup if still there at 30.

Mandatory Credit: Baseballamerica.com

Cody Ponce, RHP, Cal Poly Pomona

Yeah I’d never heard of the school either until hearing about this right-hander but Ponce could be a guy Damon Oppenheimer and the scouting department look at.

Being a So-Cal kid fits the profile that the Yankees go after. Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes are from there as well.

Ponce was a reliever as a freshman and is now a starter. Ponce can hit 96 MPH with his fastball. He’s also got a slider as well as a curve and a cutter and changeup.

In watching some video on Ponce, you can tell he’s got some pretty good mechanics and leg drive. His secondary stuff needs some help in terms of location, but the building blocks are there for some pretty good power stuff.

Ponce had a 1.44 ERA and struck out 67 in 52 innings while walking just 14.

Baseball America’s Mock Draft from this past Saturday has Ponce going to the Yanks at 16. Here’s what MLB.com said about him;

Ponce stands out primarily for his size and fastball. The 6-foot-5, 235-pounder sits at 91-94 mph and touches 96, though his heater gets hit more than it should because it tends to straighten out. Ponce’s secondary pitches are still a work in progress. His improving cutter is his No. 2 option, he’s not afraid to throw his firm changeup and he also has a curveball that often devolves into a slurve. He does a nice job of using his height to drive his pitches down in the strike zone. Ponce missed some time in 2015 with biceps tendinitis and will need to prove he’s healthy, along with an ability to maintain his stuff deep into starts, as the Draft approaches.

(Mandatory Photo Credit: Don Liebig, UCLABruins.com)

James Kaprielian, RHP, UCLA

One of the top pitching prospects in this year’s draft is UCLA starting pitcher James Kaprielian. In the latest mock draft done by Baseball America, the 21-year old right-hander is projected to go ninth overall to the Chicago Cubs. Kaprielian has been picked in the MLB Draft before. In 2012, he was selected in the 40^th round by the Seattle Mariners, but elected to go play for the Bruins.

This season, Kaprielian went 10-4 with a 2.02 ERA in 17 starts, striking out 114, and walking 33 batters. He was part of a UCLA team that was the number one overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. They lost to Maryland in the regionals on Monday.

In that Game 3 loss on Monday, Kaprielian pitched out of the bullpen on three days rest after started the first game against Cal St. Bakersfield (seven innings, two runs, five hits, six strikeouts, one walk). In that appearance against the Terps, he went two innings, gave up one run on two hits, struck out one, and walked one, using mainly his offspeed pitches.

One of the stats that I found impressive about this young pitcher is that opposing baserunners don’t usually steal against him. This past season, runners were safe only twice on eight stolen base attempts.

To get more info on Kaprielian, who has been both a starter and a reliever over his three year with the Bruins, I spoke with Nathan Eberhardt, a writer over at Go Joe Bruin, UCLA’s Fansided site, to help give us a scouting report about what Kaprielian brings to the table:

Ricky: What improvements did you see from Karpeilian from his sophomore to junior year?

Nathan: Statistically, improvements were made almost across the board. The biggest growth area for him this last year has been getting more comfortable with his curve ball (11-5 break, high 70s to low 80s), fleshing out his off-speed repertoire, which is where he does most of his damage. Here’s a comparison of some his stats from the last two seasons:

– 2014 – 2.29 ERA – 9.17 K/9 – 2.97 BB/9 – .201 BAA

– 2015 – 2.03 ERA – 10.69 K/9 – 2.58 BB/9 – .226 BAA

R: What was the best outing you saw from the right-hander this year?

N: His best outing was probably his no-hitter against Arizona on May 15. It was UCLA’s first ever no-hitter, and although it was technically a combined effort, Kap pitched a full nine innings and only came out when the game went into extras tied 0-0. Our closer, David Berg, came in and continued to blank the Wildcats in the 10th before a walk-off win in the B10. So Kap doesn’t get credit for that complete game, but he earned it. One of the things that makes that game so impressive is that he used his developing curve ball as the out pitch on 9 of his 11 strikeouts.

R: In your opinion, does he project more as a starter or a reliever at the next level?

N: I’ve only ever seen him projected as a starter, and that makes sense to me. He pitched an average of six and a half innings for each of his starts this year, with one complete game, if you count the nine innings in the no-hitter. He’s definitely a team leader, if that kind of thing fits into your scouting. He’s also got four pitches, which are:

Fastball (89-92 mph, but can reach back for 93-95 on occasion)
Slider (low 80s), excellent command
Change-up (80-85), nasty sinking movement (this is his favorite pitch)
Curveball (79-85)

He’s got excellent command/location. He’s not going to overpower you with his stuff, but he’s an incredibly intelligent pitcher that mixes his pitches well and can reliably place them where he wants to. He’s got solid-to-good mechanics with an over-the-top arm slot. I’m no pitching coach, but I’ve seen scouting reports that say that there are a couple of minor tweaks he could make in his follow-through, but nothing concerning.

We would like to thank Nathan for taking some time to answer questions on what should be one of the first pitchers off the board when the MLB Draft starts on Monday night.

Don’t forget to stick with us throughout the entire MLB Draft. Our staff will provide complete coverage and break down each and every New York Yankees draft selection once they’re announced.

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