Yankees: Who can replace Jordan Montgomery from the farm system?

Now that Jordan Montgomery is out recovering from Tommy John surgery, his season is over and the Yankees hunt for another capable arm in the starting rotation is on.

Sure, a trade can be amassed, especially with the plethora of talent the Yankees have to move around. But first why not try someone from the farm system? With all the star-studded young position players currently on the major league roster, the organization has shown that they are developing the kids the right way in the minor leagues.

Yanks Go Yard’s own Mike Calendrillo wrote a great piece on how Jonathan Loaisiga could be the next man up, and in addition to him, there are some more names who could be in contention.

Domingo German has been okay since he got the call and is a fine option for the time being but should he falter there are three other capable arms that could be promoted to the Bronx to replace Montgomery.

Justus Sheffield

The former first-round pick out of Tullahoma High School in Tennessee has seen AA and AAA experience over the course of this season. Splitting the time with five starts in each league, Sheffield has shown positive marks despite a losing record.

Sheffield has a 1-2 record in Trenton and 0-2 in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, but behind those discouraging numbers, there are bright spots. He has only allowed two long bombs this season, with only 31 hits in 49.1 innings. He is holding opposing batters to a dismal .178 batting average across the two levels.

Brandon Kuty of NJ Advance Media wrote up a progress report on the left-hander and spoke to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre manager Bobby Mitchell about Sheffield. Mitchell was also Sheffield’s manager during his tenure with Trenton in 2017.

“He’s not far off, but he’s got some things to take care of. And he knows. I can’t say what they’re thinking up there at all. All I know is that he’s very young still. He needs more work here for a little bit. But who knows. He could go up there and, you never know.”“When the guys go up there, the adrenaline gets flowing and all of a sudden the competition is good and it may not be much more than it is here sometimes. He’s on his way. I just don’t know how soon.”

He is designated as the number two prospect on the Yankees top 30 per MLB Pipeline so the future is very bright for the young left-hander. 

Erik Swanson

Erik Swanson has nearly been perfect at the AA level this season. Posting a 5-0 record with a blistering 0.44 ERA, Swanson has wowed many in Trenton. But once he was promoted to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, all of that magic seemed to disappear. In his four appearances, Swanson holds a 0-1 record with a 5.79 era and allowed 12 earned runs over 18.2 innings of work.

Swanson is effective in getting batters out by himself. He is averaging 11.51 K/9 at AA and 10.13 K/9 at AAA, according to FanGraphs.com, despite his shaky performances. The Yankees are 11th and 12th in the AL in both errors and fielding percentage, respectively, so having a pitcher that can get the outs on his own would be beneficial.

Time will tell if his time in AAA will get better, but if he can re-capture his incredible run in Trenton he could be an option for the Yankees later this summer. 

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Josh Rogers

Of these three potential options, Rogers seems the most unlikely. His development has come along, but it may not be enough to get him out of the minors.

Josh Rogers has spent this entire season at the AAA level. He has started 11 games and registered a 5-4 record with a 3.29 ERA.

He has shown length this season with a complete game shutout on May 11, going 7 innings in the second game of a doubleheader. This is one of five starts that he has gone at least seven innings.

Next: Why a Yankees trade for Jacob deGrom is not going to happen

However, one of the downsides to Rogers is his propensity for allowing the long ball. He has given up seven home runs this season, which is one below his total for all of last season. What Rogers lacks in allowing home runs, he makes up for in throwing strikes. He has hit the strike zone on nearly 67% of his total pitches this season, according to Fangraphs.com.

That bodes well for any starter making the leap to the big leagues, but there are still questions if Rogers has the stuff to get through a major league lineup.