What can the Yankees Expect from its Youngsters in 2017?

According to Keith Law of ESPN, the New York Yankees enter the 2017 season with the second-best farm system in baseball. While many of these elite prospects aren’t expected to contribute at the major league level until late-2017 or 2018, the Yankees lineup boasts a strong core of young guns who graduated from the team’s top prospects list last season.

In a previous post, I pointed out a few of the burning questions facing the team heading into 2017. In the second installment of this weekly series, let’s take a lot at what Yankees fans can expect from Gary Sanchez, Greg Bird, Aaron Judge and Tyler Austin — the four promising position players who will garner the most playing time to start the season.

Sanchez – Yankees Catcher

Despite playing in just 53 games last season (201 at-bats), Sanchez immediately became a fan favorite during his rookie season on his way to producing a remarkable line of .299 AVG/.376 OBP/.657 SLG with 20 home runs and 42 RBIs. Even though he played in less than a third of the team’s games, Sanchez earned a second-place finish in the American League Rookie of the Year voting.

Will Sanchez continue to put up Ruth’ian numbers at the plate in 2017, such as his 10.05 at-bats per home run?

While many fans are hoping to see the Dominican Republic-native swat 40 home runs in his first full season in the MLB, Sanchez faced his share of growing pains down the stretch last season.  Pitchers began primarily throwing him breaking balls out of the strike zone, due largely in part to the lack of protection he had behind him in the lineup.

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Sanchez’s power never faltered, as he hit nine longballs and recorded 21 RBIs in the final month of the season, but struggled to get on base. The catcher hit just .225 with a .314 on-base percentage (OBP). The right-hander struck out a whopping 35 times during that span, opposed to just 13 walks.

The Yankees hope that the addition of slugger Matt Holliday will give Sanchez his needed protection and that the duo will function as a lethal three-four punch in the lineup. If Didi Gregorius and Starlin Castro can replicate (or better yet, improve upon their solid 2016 campaigns) and slot in as the fifth and sixth hitters in the lineup, pitchers will be unable to pitch around Sanchez without potential repercussions.

Prediction: .284 AVG/.361 OBP/.566 SLG, 36 home runs, 102 RBIs

Greg Bird- Yankees First Basemen

Bird burst onto the scene in 2015, after replacing the oft-injured Mark Teixeira as the Yankee’s everyday first basemen for the last month and a half of the season. The left-handed slugger quickly made a bid to be the team’s first basemen of the future, as he went on to hit to a .261 AVG/.343 OBP/.529 SLG clip with 11 home runs and 31 RBIs in just 46 games (157 at-bats).

Unfortunately, Bird missed the entire 2016 season as he recovered from surgery to heal a torn labrum.

Will Bird return to his 2015 form? Or could he become a modern-day Kevin Maas —  a name that still can make many Yankee’s fans cringe.

Bird may be the heavy favorite to serve as Teixeira’s replacement at first base but will compete against Austin for the job in spring training. In all likelihood, Bird will take up the majority of games at first, while Austin serves as a platoon option against left-handed pitchers.

It’s hard to predict how a player will perform after missing an entire season due to injury. Bird struggled in the Arizona Fall League after the MLB season concluded, as he hit just .215 AVG/.346 OBP/.354 SLG with one home run and 10 RBIs in his first 17 games (65 at-bats) back.

The Colorado-native is determined to return to the Bronx and produce at a high level, and I don’t expect the small sample size from his AFL performance to carry into his performance this season.

Prediction: .269 AVG/.344 OBP/.482 SLG, 21 home runs, 79 RBIs

Aaron Judge- Yankees Right Fielder

After making national headlines by homering in his first plate appearance (as did Austin, the previous hitter), Judge cooled off dramatically before his season ended prematurely with a right oblique strain in mid-September.

Judge will compete with Austin for the starting job in right field come Spring Training, and despite Judge’s lackluster performance after his first call up, he is the favorite to man the job.

The Yankees’ first round pick in 2013 enjoyed an impressive season for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders in the International League (AAA) before his promotion. Judge hit to an impressive .270 AVG/.366 OBP/.489 SLG clip with 19 home runs and 65 RBIs in 93 games (352 at-bats).

Due to his menacing stature (6’7″, 275 lbs.), Judge has elicited comparisons to Giancarlo Stanton since being drafted. While it would be unwise to expect Judge to produce at Stanton’s career-level this season, I believe he will turn in a very strong season as there will be far less pressure on him to carry the team like there was when he was called up. Unlike in August, the time of his promotion, the Yankees now have productive hitters in the middle of its order, and Judge only needs to play a complementary role to turn in a successful 2017 campaign.

Prediction: .258 AVG/.346 OBP/.490 SLG, 20 home runs, 82 RBIs

Tyler Austin- Yankees First Basemen/Outfielder

I see Austin serving as an above-average versatile option off the bench for the Pinstripers in 2017. Capable of playing first base and the corner outfield positions, Yankees fans can expect Austin and

fellow bench player Aaron Hicks to spell some combination of Bird, Brett Gardner, and Jacoby Ellsbury the majority of games the Yankees face a left-handed starter.

Assuming Judge wins the right field gig out of spring training, Austin could see his playing time increase if Judge struggles the way he did for the Yankees in 2016.

The right-hander delivered a serviceable offensive production during his first 31 games in the show at the end of last season, as he hit .241 AVG/.300 OBP/.458 SLG with five home runs and 12 RBIs in 83 at-bats in 2016.

While expectations are lower for Austin relative to the three players mentioned above, he will have every opportunity to prove his abilities in Spring Training. While Bird and Judge are believed to have the higher upsides, Austin demonstrated down the stretch that he is a gritty player who could perform in clutch situations.

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If Bird or Judge (or perhaps even Ellsbury) struggle through camp, don’t be surprised if we see Austin receiving steady playing time early in the season.

Prediction: .262 AVG/.352 OBP/.466 SLG, 14 home runs, 52 RBIs