Yankees Prospects Who Can Contribute in September

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September is approaching. If it were any other season, the New York Yankees would be looking to get in their best form and make a long run in the post-season. However, that’s not what this year’s Bronx Bombers have in store.

Sure the Yankees are 61-59 and are still afloat despite a season plagued with inconsistency, but with just 42 games to go and playing in the strong conference that is the American League, the Yankees will likely have to go around 30-12 to make the post-season.

While stranger things have happened, the Yankees’ prospects of making the post-season are slim-to-none. But in a year where the Yankees traded away three of their best players in return for prospects, it’s clear that it’s a new era in the Yankees dynasty. With the departures of Alex Rodriguez, Andrew Miller, Aroldis Chapman, Ivan Nova, and Carlos Beltran, the Yankees have been given the opportunity to see what their future holds.

Even before the trades that brought in top prospects like Clint Frazier, Dillon Tate, Gleyber Torres, and Billy McKinney, the Yankees still had some guys in their farm system that were on the verge of breaking out. Gary Sanchez, Aaron Judge, and Tyler Austin were three players that were tearing it up in the minors. The Yankees gave the three chances to become mainstays on the roster and the results have been impressive.

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While the Yankees may not be a more talented team than they were before the big trades, they’re at least much more fun to watch. Looking at Sanchez and Judge in particular, their arrivals seemed a little fluky in the beginning. But their production is starting to hit and become reality. In 50 at bats, Sanchez has 18 hits, five of which have gone for home runs. His bat has never been the problem.

What kept him in the minors for the past few years has been his play behind the plate. However, Sanchez has looked spectacular behind the plate. Considering the Yankees had interest in trading Brian McCann in a post-waiver deadline move, Sanchez’s impact has given them more of the reason in the world to do so.

We’ve seen a smaller sample size out of Judge, but there are still a ton of positives. We know about Judge’s power and his massive frame, but we also know about his elongated swing and his difficulties with fending off a big strike zone.

Those problems haven’t necessarily been nonexistent, but hitting coach Marcus Thamas has done an excellent job within both of these departments. While Judge may see more strikes because of how big he is, he has made vast improvements which have allowed him to swing quicker through the strike zone and harness his power to carry the ball.

Sanchez and Judge seem to impress more and more by the day and with September approaching, the Yankees will have another opportunity to flaunt their young talent and see what else they could be getting from their farm system within the near future. These five players have the potential to make impacts for the Yankees in the final push before the post-season.

Next: A Forgotten Man in the Farm System

Mason Williams

Selected by the Yankees in the fourth round of the 2010 MLB Draft, Williams has been a player that has consistently been looked at as one of the bests in the farm system. Despite being in the Yankees’ organization for what seems like forever, Williams is still 24 years old. He’s continuously made improvements, but he’s yet to really turn his potential into gear and become a prospect that is worthy of a call-up.

I’m still holding onto the hope that Williams can be a productive MLB player one day. The speed is there and the fielding skills are some of the best you’ll see from a prospect, but the reality is that Williams has not filled out his frame as much as he can yet. I don’t expect Williams to develop into a home-run hitter, but he’s the type of player that can be a nice slasher. Plus, playing in Yankee Stadium will give him the chance to hit some line-drive home runs.

With the Scranton-Wilkes Barre Yankees as one of the best teams in Triple-A, Williams will be able to get some much-needed experience against some of the best pitchers in the minors. With the Yankees drafting Blake Rutherford, however, the clock for Williams to get to the Bronx may be ticking.

Next: A Reliever with Potential

Bryan Mitchell

After the Yankees traded away Miller and Chapman and replaced them with Adam Warren and Tyler Clippard, the bullpen still was quite good. However, that thought went quickly out the window when the Yankees lost all of their momentum after blowing a 6-0 lead against the Toronto Blue Jays just a few days ago.

At the beginning of the year, Mitchell looked like a lock to be in the bullpen. However, a fluky foot injury kept him off the roster. In terms of his talent, Mitchell is definitely worthy of being on the MLB roster. But the problem is that the injuries are limiting his talent.

At 6’3″, 215 pounds, Mitchell is a taller pitcher that uses his size to throw a devastating, upwards of 95 miles per hour fastball. He also can mix in a curveball that clocks in around the low 80’s as his strikeout pitch. Unfortunately, Mitchell is more of a two-fold pitcher that relies upon his fastball and curveball, whereas his changeup still needs a ton of refinement.

Options like Anthony Swarzak and Blake Parker aren’t particularly spectacular. And if Mitchell can stay away from injury, he could be a mainstay in the Yankees’ pen a la Scott Proctor-esque.

Next: An Infielder with MLB Experience

Rob Refsnyder

Yeah I know, it was inevitable, but still. You may not find a bigger fan of Refsnyder on here than me. It just feels that the Yankees have other plans for him. Nevertheless, when he’s up in the big leagues, he’s productive. I get that his position is still up in the air, but the Yankees have lacked hitters this season, despite paying guys like Jacoby Ellsbury and Mark Teixeira boatloads of money.

In 125 at bats this year, Refsnyder has a slashed a batting average of .264. Not so good, but no so bad either. However, it’s worth noting that it’s hard to get hot when you are consistently sent up and down. Unfortunately, there is a possibility that the Yankees do not have Refsnyder in their long-term plans. Considering there are guys like Judge and Austin, who deserve more at bats for further evaluation, the reality is that Refsnyder’s at bats and playing time will be limited when he does undoubtedly return to the MLB roster.

Refsnyder is a guarantee to get called up and considering he’s not particularly spectacular at any position, the Yankees can use his bat in the lineup and play in anywhere in the field as well. Sometimes it’s best to trade fielding impact for hitting impact and that’s where “Refy” excels.

Next: A Lefty in the Bullpen

Richard Bleier

Admittedly, the addition of Tommy Layne to the Yankees in the past two weeks has greatly diminished Bleier’s staying power on the Yankees’ active roster, but still, Bleier’s been good when he’s been at the MLB level. In 16 games, he has posted an ERA of 3.38.

If there is one manager in all of baseball that is a stickler for finding the best matchup, whether that’s a lefty pitcher versus a lefty batter or vice-versa, it is Joe Girardi. Having a guy like Bleier who can win with consistency against lefties gives the Yankees a solid option when they have to face players like David Ortiz, Edwin Encarnacion, and Chris Davis when their starters exit the game.

He may not be effective enough to pitch complete innings, but his impact can be felt against lefties. Bleier is basically a lock to make the roster when the roster expands. A battle between him and Layne for the lefty specialist gig could ensue in September.

It’s also worth mentioning that Bleier is extra versatile because he was originally supposed to be a starter when he was going through the Yankees’ organization. If the Yankees are truly out of it when September rolls around, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the Yankees test out their minor league pitchers to find out if there is someone who could be in the rotation next year. His flexibility between being a spot-starter and a lefty-specialist in the pen makes him quite valuable.

Next: A Potential Starting Pitcher

Dietrich Enns

I’ll preface this by saying that the Yankees need to find legitimate starting arms for next year and the fact of the matter is that they may not come from free agency. At this point at least, the best starting pitchers on the market are Andrew Cashner and Jeremy Hellickson. Rather than overspending on a back-end starting, the Yankees should choose to promote from within.

One player that could potentially pitch in the big leagues is Enns. Drafted in the 19th round of the 2012 MLB Draft, Enns’ development has been very impressive. He’s had an ERA over 2.94 just once. As a whole in the organization, he’s had an ERA of 1.81 while pitching over 337 innings.

Next: Should the Yankees Trade Gardner or Ellsbury?

He doesn’t particularly do anything special, but he’s a lefty pitcher who can manufacture outs using his intelligence. He’s a little erratic and he doesn’t really have a go-to pitch, but the Yankees could benefit from bringing up a guy in the minors to the big leagues. As I said with Bleier in the last slide, Enns is a guy that may have the opportunity to start in September for the coaching staff to evaluate him and see if he has staying power going into next season.

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Five Yankees Prospects Who Can Contribute in September