James Kaprielian Dazzles in Yankees Spring Training Debut

In his first career Spring Training appearance for the New York Yankees, 2015 first-round draft pick James Kaprielian certainly lived up to the hype.

After two shutout innings from Bryan Mitchell followed by a less-than-stellar performance by Vinnie Pestano, the Yankees handed the ball off to 22-year old RHP James Kaprielian in the bottom of the fifth inning with his team trailing 3-0, and of course, he retired all six batters he faced in order against the Detroit Tigers on Friday afternoon at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Florid.

He struck out MLB veterans Jose Iglesias and Ian Kinsler and induced four more outs via three weak pop-flies and one slow roller to second base, and perhaps even more impressive is that it only took the young right-hander just 26 pitches to do so.

Keep in mind that Kaprielian isn’t expected to make his first major league appearance until at least the tail-end of 2016, but his spring training debut was certainly a step forward in the right direction.

"“Obviously, I’m not fighting for a starting spot in the rotation right now,” Kaprielian told Ryan Hatch of NJ.com after his performance. “I just want to go out there and compete.”"

The most important takeaway from Kaprielian’s performance today was not only that he made light work of six Detroit Tigers batters, but he also showed the capability of working into and out of a jam.

At one point Kaprielian was down in the count 3-1 to 10-year MLB veteran Ian Kinsler, but he fired back with consecutive hard fastballs for strike two and then another to get Kinsler swinging.

The one constant that skipper Joe Girardi and Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild always bring up when they talk about Kaprielian is his poise and maturity, which will play a major factor in his development down in the minors.