Yankees top 30 prospects Part 2; a longer look

No. 18 Hoy Jun Park

Considered to be one of the better prospects of the Yankees’ 2014 International signing spree, Park has never lived up to the expectations.

After a down year in 2016, Park recuperated some of that stock with a solid year in Low-A Charleston and earned himself a promotion to High-A Tampa upon the trade of Jorge Mateo at the deadline.

The Yankees liked Park’s upside as a lefty shortstop with some pop when they signed him. He is inconsistent defensively, but he has a good arm and the tools to figure it out.

After initially disappointing upon his promotion to Charleston in 2016, he figured it out in 2017. Hopefully by now with some experience in Tampa, he excels there next year. Like some of the aforementioned middle infielders, Park likely never plays for the Yankees.

However, with a high upside and still only 21, Park has a slight chance to be the top prospect the Yankees once thought he would be.

No. 17 Jake Cave

Already 25, Cave has suffered the sad fate of falling out of relevance due to being thoroughly blocked at his position. Possibly major league ready for a couple of seasons already, Cave had to start last season in Double-A Trenton due to the gut of outfielders the Yankees have.

Cave has hit for average at every level of the minors and has solid pop. His glove is pretty good, although not spectacular.

After Aaron Hicks got injured in June, the Yankees called up Mason Williams, and Cave returned to Triple-A Scranton. Through the rest of the season, Cave went deep 15 times in addition to the five he had already hit in Trenton.

Barring injury, it’s hard to see Cave getting major league playing time. However, with the capability to man centerfield, Cave could get his shot if Hicks goes down (which he probably will considering the amount of muscle he put on this season and his propensity for getting injured).

No. 16 Thairo Estrada

Relatively unknown before last season, Estrada was invited to the Yankees’ big league camp and proceeded to destroy pitching in his very limited games there.

Estrada’s OPS was an outstanding 1.857. That was higher than both Greg Bird and Gleyber Torres, the offensive heroes of Spring Training 2017. Estrada made a name for himself by continuing his success in a full season in Double-A Trenton.

In 122 games, Estrada hit .301 with a .353 OBP. He had a stable 6.4 walk rate and a low 10.4 percent K rate but has limited pop and upside.

However, Estrada has good speed and a high contact bat. Most scouts see him as a potential utility player with maybe the possibility to develop some more power as he matures.

Because of other players such as Jorge Mateo, and Gleyber Torres, Estrada had to move around the field quite a bit. Luckily, he is more than capable of playing both second base and shortstop. He has a pretty good glove and MLB.com’s scouts give him plus grades for both fielding and his arm.

Estrada will probably start the year in Scranton and does have a chance to be a September call-up if he continues to hit minor league pitching. Keep in mind, Estrada is still only 21 and is already working his way up to Scranton.

As such Estrada does have a chance to play for the Yankees further down the road, at least this year, his success has earned him a non-roster invite to Spring Training.

No. 15 Nolan Martinez

Drafted out of high school in the third round of the 2016 draft, Martinez, 19, has only pitched 20.2 innings in his professional career. Right now, Martinez is still quite young and has yet to fill out.

His fastball sits in the low 90s, but he is expected to increase velocity as he continues to mature. The go-to fastball Martinez possesses has a good spin rate which gives it a bit of run on hitters (think Chad Green’s jumping fastball, according to River Avenue Blues).

Though he’s not very physical, Martinez currently pitches with an 89-92 mph fastball than can reach 95. His heater had the best spin rate (2685 rpm) at the 2015 World Wood Bat Association World Championship, giving it riding life that makes it tough for hitters to barrel. The former two-way prep player should add more velocity as he focuses on pitching and continues to mature physically.

No. 14 Tyler Widener

Drafted in the 12th round of the 2016 draft out of college, Widener has moved quickly through the Yankees’ system. Originally a reliever, the Yankees converted him to a starter in 2017.

With a fastball that now sits in the mid to upper 90s and a solid slider and changeup, the righty pitched to a 3.39 ERA with a sparkling 1.15 WHIP in 27 starts at High-A Tampa.

The Yankees know that the key to starting in the major leagues is having a quality third pitch. As such, the Yankees have worked on developing Widener’s changeup. His slider can be devastating at times; however, it has been pretty inconsistent.

As he was drafted at out of college, he is already 23. Whether Widener will get the opportunity to start or return to the bullpen, will likely depend on how he develops his secondary pitches.

Recently a scout for NY Daily News remarked:

I really like him. He came out of nowhere in a way. His command and pitchability really improved.

Widener also earned an invite to this year’s Spring Training.

No. 13 Tyler Austin

Drafted way back in 2010, Austin has been up and down in the Yankees’ system for a while. At times, Austin had been a top 100 prospect.

However, due to injury and trouble adapting to more advanced pitching, he tumbled down prospect ratings.

In 2015, the Yankees designated Austin for assignment, and he cleared waivers. However, after a big 2016, the Yankees called him back up in August as part of the Yankees’ youth movement.

Austin wasn’t fantastic, but he showed off his power and hit a couple of clutch home runs.

Coming into 2017, Austin was expected to split time with Greg Bird at first base and help against tough lefties (it doesn’t take more than a look at his righty/lefty splits to see why).

But before Grapefruit League games even began he broke his foot. During the regular season, with Austin successfully rehabbing, the Yankees designated Chris Carter for assignment.

With Bird once again injured, the intent was to give Austin the starting job. However, after only a couple of days, Austin found himself right back on the DL. If he avoids injury, Austin could be a useful first baseman off the bench especially against lefties.

In the case of another Bird injury, Austin would provide adequate backup both at the plate and in the field on defense.

While he won’t get much playing time in New York, Austin could be enticing to other teams as trade bait. Randy Miller, of NJ.com, recently said:

Austin to me would be a good platoon first baseman, left fielder or DH right now for a rebuilding club like Tampa Bay. I’ve always liked his bat, his power, the way he drives balls the other way and his mental toughness.

On driving the ball the other way, one might recall Austin’s biggest hits were both two-run home runs to right field. At 26, Austin will likely play in the Bronx this year or be traded as he is running out of options in the minors.

However, as the Yankees’ only current major league ready first baseman besides Bird, Austin will likely remain in tow.

No. 12 Dillon Tate

After being drafted 4th overall in 2015 by the Rangers, Tate lost a lot of his stock when the Rangers tried to change his mechanics resulting in disappointing performances.

In 2016, when the Yankees were unloading their aging veterans, the Yankees flipped Carlos Beltran for Tate at the trade deadline. Since then, Tate has found success in the minor leagues.

Earlier, I wrote about Tate in my underrated prospects piece.

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.

Tate relies mostly on an upper 90s fastball with life, along with a nice slider. After pitching to a 2.87 ERA last year between Tampa and Trenton, Tate, a non-roster invitee to spring training this year, could find himself in Scranton by the summer and get a shot in the rotation or bullpen by 2019.

Like many others on this list, his climb to the bigs will depend on how the 23-year-old matures, and the overall development of his changeup.

No. 11 Clarke Schmidt

After tearing up college, pitching to the tune of a 1.34 ERA over his first nine starts, Schmidt blew out his arm and underwent Tommy John surgery in May 2017.

Scouts always questioned the sustainability of his delivery and his durability. The Tommy John surgery confirmed those doubts.

However, it was clear that when Schmidt did pitch, the action on his ball was good enough to be drafted in the first round, despite being shut down at the time of last year’s draft.

Schmidt has four solid pitches, although, none of them are as good as his fastball. Here is what scouts from MLB.com have to say.

When healthy, Schmidt relied on a 92-94 mph fastball that topped out at 96 and featured heavy sink. Both his slider and curveball can be plus pitches but aren’t as reliable as his heater. He also mixes in a decent changeup with some tumble. While Schmidt generally throws strikes, he gets hit when he doesn’t keep his pitches down in the zone. Even before he got hurt, scouts worried about his durability because he’s not big and doesn’t have the cleanest delivery. The Yankees see him as a starter, and his fastball/slider combo gives him a fallback as a late-inning reliever.

Schmidt likely won’t pitch in Class-A until at least the summer, so he probaly won’t find himself in the Bronx until at least 2020.

The big 10

The top 10 has gotten very pitcher heavy compared to last year’s hitter heavy list. This compilation is quite scary, as most of these players have gotten to or near Triple-A Scranton.

In parenthesis is each player’ age followed by their highest level of play so far.

• 10. Matt Sauer (19, Rookie-ball)
• 9.  Freicer Perez (21, Single-A)
• 8. Nick Solak (23, Double-A)
• 7. Albert Abreu (22, High-A)
• 6. Domingo Acevedo (23, Triple-A)
• 5. Miguel Andujar (22, Triple-A)
• 4. Justus Sheffield (22, Double-A)
• 3. Esteven Florial (20, High-A)
• 2. Chance Adams (23, Triple-A)
• 1.Gleyber Torres (21, Triple-A)

If you look at the bottom of the list, you can see just how close to the big leagues many of the names have come. Considering Sheffield likely begins the season in Triple-A Scranton and Florial in Double-A Trenton, there’s no surprise that the Yankees have one of the premier farm systems in Major League Baseball.