Yankees Land Four on KLaw’s Top 50 Midseason Prospects

Four New York Yankees minor leaguers made Keith Law’s midseason list of the top 50 prospects in baseball.

Keith Law of ESPN released his annual midseason list of the best prospects in the game on Thursday (subscription required) and Yankees fans should be pleased to learn that four members of the organization cracked the top 50.

Aaron Judge ranked the highest on the list at 23. In his writeup, Law notes that “If Judge hits at all, he’ll be a monster” and is encouraged by the progress the big man is making cutting down on his strikeouts in Triple-A. Law thinks he’s shown enough to take over for Carlos Beltran after the deadline if the incumbent rightfielder is dealt.

Next comes Scranton Wilkes-Barre catcher Gary Sanchez at 36. Law sees Sanchez as a 25-plus home run bat in the majors. He points out that between the power and exceptional throwing arm behind the plate, the rest of his game would have to be pretty flawed to keep him from becoming at least an average regular. 

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Yankees 2016 first round pick Blake Rutherford is a pleasant surprise at number 43 on the list. Law describes the 19-year-old Rutherford as “an advanced enough hitter with above-average present power.” He does caution that there is some pressure on Rutherford to produce in Rookie ball given his slightly advanced age for a high school pick, so he can show he’s ready for a full-season assignment in 2017.

The currently-suspended Jorge Mateo just barely made the list, squeezing into the 50th spot. Law dropped the 21-year-old speedy shortstop all the way down from 25th on his list from before the season because of a mediocre start to the year. Law chastises that “it’s time for him to start performing up to the level of his tools.” He cites a lack of consistent effort and hard contact as Mateo’s two main problems at the moment.

It’s an exciting time to follow the Yankees minor league system, with high-end talent scattered throughout the system. Two of these top 50 prospects in Judge and Sanchez look primed to explode onto the scene as Yankees regulars as soon as the second half of this season.

Next: Yankees Pitching Coach Sees Improvement from Luis Severino

If it weren’t for the elbow injury that has kept him out for much of this year, James Kaprielian might have been a contender for this list the way he was pitching in the early going. He made Law’s top 100 prior to the season, so it’s not a huge stretch.