Yankees final farm report: The summer is ending but not the harvest

(6) SP Justus Sheffield: 21/Trenton

3.09/1.35/79/33

Sheff was another hard to rank player.

He only pitched sixteen games this season and is currently on the DL. However, when he did pitch, he showed a lot of promise. Justus gave opposing lineups no peace over his 90 IP. He gave up almost exactly one hit per inning (89) and struck out just under one per inning (79).

I wouldn’t necessarily have him quite this high but he has some intangibles. One is that he is a lefty. Again, I found some very valuable feedback in the comments section from my last article and took it to heart. Shef has to be overvalued because of his throwing arm.

And scouts and other prognosticators love his stuff. They have been wrong many, many times, but their opinions are still incredibly valuable. Finally, the Yankees saw fit to promote him to Double-A, another interesting indicator.

So, Sheffield stays at six at least until next year. But that will be the real prove it to the Yankees year. What’s his face already believes in him.

(5) SP Dillon Tate: 23/Trenton

3.07/1.17/51/20

Tate may be older than either Shef or Acevedo at the same level, but he’s also a better prospect. While he does not strike out as many as either player, his control is more advanced.

Tate’s numbers at Tampa—58 innings pitched, 48 hits, 46 strikeouts, 2.62 ERA, and WHIP of 1.08—are better than Acevedo’s when he was there.

Remember he was once called the best arm in his draft class. And, he seems to be learning how to pitch deep into games, getting into the seventh inning or later in five of his last ten games. That’s a skill that some pitchers never learn at any age.

Plus, he seems to pitch with a chip on his shoulder; he wouldn’t be the first athlete to find success through anger.

The Rangers seemed to derail his progress, but now Tate is back on track and destined to ride the Scranton shuttle next year. He projects as anywhere from a solid three to a dominating five.

But the reason he is higher on this list than some with more talent is that Tate is a better bet to fulfill his good potential than more talented players are to fulfilling their great ones.