Three New York Yankees Prospects Set to Break Out in 2017

Drew Finley

High school pitchers take a while to develop, so it’s easy to lose track of them during their slow climb through the minor leagues, even when they were as highly-touted as Drew Finley.

Selected by the Yankees with their third-round pick in the 2015 June amateur draft, Finley was advanced for his age but still has been handled with kids gloves during his first two seasons as a professional. He  spent much of 2016 in extended spring training camp before making just six starts for the short-season Staten Island Yankees.

Finley’s numbers were pretty pedestrian in a small sample size this year, with a 4.28 ERA in 27.1 innings of work in the NY-Penn League. He struck out 17.2% of the batters he faced and walked 7.8%. There’s no glaring problem there, but he didn’t do much to stand out from the stable of impressive arms the team has in the lower levels of the minors.

The 20-year-old is best known for his plus curveball that MLB Pipeline calls, “a true downer that he’ll throw in any count,” but he also has a low-90’s sinking fastball that is expected to be an above-average major league pitch as well. Throw in a useful changeup and you have a fairly polished arsenal that should make him a solid number three starter within the next few years.

New York has done an excellent job of coaxing a few extra mph out of their top young arms the last few years, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Finley was the next guy to see his heater take a big step forward as he continues to develop physically.

If that happens, Finley could follow the path of fellow 2015 draftee James Kaprielian, who went from a high-floor, low-ceiling arm to a potential front-of-the-rotation guy because of the improvement in his fastball.

2017 could be the year Finley gets his first full-season assignment, most likely with Low-A Charleston, and it will be very interesting to see how he responds. I wouldn’t be surprised if Finley had established himself as one of the team’s top two or three pitching prospects by this time next year.