Yankees most underrated prospects headed into the 2018 season

Dillon Tate

During the Yankees’ 2016 sell-off, the club acquired Dillon Tate for aging veteran Carlos Beltran. The Rangers drafted Tate 4th overall in the 2015 amateur draft, so on paper, this was quite the coup for general manager Brian Cashman.

With the Rangers infamously poor pitching development, Tate struggled in the minors and lost much of his stock before being dealt away for the soon-to-be free agent Beltran.

The Yanks managed to fix some of what the Rangers ruined, and the sturdy right-hander went back onto the path to becoming a real prospect. He enjoyed a successful 2017 and found himself in High-A Tampa by the end of the campaign.

Tate is expected to begin 2018 in Double-A Trenton and is viewed as a legit swingman out of the bullpen or back end of the rotation starter in the making.

Domingo Acevedo

After struggling at the start of the 2017 season, Domingo Acevedo got promoted to Double-A Trenton and found his groove. He soon dominated Double-A and even earned a spot in the MLB Futures Game held in Miami during the All-Star festivities.

Acevedo put up an impressive 2.38 ERA in Trenton and a dominating 9.3 K/9. He also has a strong career BB/9 of 1.9 which scouts expect to get even better as he continues to mature.

The flamethrower also had a low HR/9 rate of 0.9 which is becoming ever more critical in today’s long-ball era — especially if and when he reaches the tiny spaces of Yankee Stadium.

Acevedo’s changeup is rated as the best in the Yankees’ system and is reportedly working on a slider to give him the third pitch to help translate his minor league success into big league success.

Towards the end of ’17, his stellar Double-A stats earned him a short promotion to Triple-A Scranton where he is expected to begin the new season. Acevedo would add to an already excellent Triple-A rotation that is headlined by Chance Adams and company.