Yankees Farm Report Part One: Low-A Charleston RiverDogs

3B Miguel Andujar, Double-A Trenton.

Andujar is the Yankees ninth-ranked prospect and projects as a power-hitting sixth or seventh hitter. Most of his numbers are promising. He, like Mateo, has by far the most AB’s on the team but he is doing more with his chances. Miguel leads in most power categories, and some of them are not even close.

For instance, Miguel has 37 RBI’s in 184 at-bats. The next closest is Zach Zehner, and it took him 150 AB’s to reach 22 RBI’s. And Miguel’s numbers hold up against the rest of the league. He is fifth in the Eastern League in AB’s but second in both doubles and RBI’s, as well as ninth in hits. But he has one glaring error: errors.

Andujar currently has seven errors. He will not be a serious prospect until he cleans up his game.

SP Albert Abreu, High-A Tampa.

Abreu is currently ranked tenth in the Yankees system and started out doing well at Low-A Charleston. Albert posted an ERA below 2 in his first four starts and a WHIP of 1. His first start was his worst when he posted a 2.25 ERA.

Since being moved up, though, his numbers have plummeted.

Unlike Low-A, here his first start was his best, posting a 1.29 ERA; his last three have not been as good. Abreu’s ERAs over that time read: 4.50, 4.85, and 4.50 again. His WHIP at High-A is 1.63. This is not to say that Abreu cannot be a good player for the Yankees one day. For instance, he has 14 strikeouts in 16 innings at Tampa. But right now he is struggling, and that puts him on this list.

And, finally, CF Jake Cave, Trenton Thunder.

He seemed like a fast-rising star, but maybe he rose too fast. He was selected by the Reds in the Rule 5 draft last year but did not make their roster, and so was returned. Cave finished the season at Scranton but with a familiar problem for young speedy outfielders, namely, no power.

Cave hit only eight home runs and had 55 RBI’s for the year. He did not score a lot of runs, 59, take a lot of walks, 36, or steal many bases, six. Jake was caught stealing more times, seven than he was successful. Jakey, as Joe Girardi would surely call him, just did not excel at anything other than defense.

Worse is that Cave might be injury prone. He is currently in the second of his two DL stints already this year. But he is 24, the injuries might be an aberration, and he might still develop more power. Right now, however, he is fighting to keep his spot on the team as there are players at Low-A Charleston who might be coming for his job.

So let’s start there for some good news.