Yankees: 8 players unable to live up to the hype

UTIL Rob Refsnyder (2015-2017)

Just before the “Baby Bombers” exploded onto the scene, Rob Refsnyder was the first, even before Gary Sanchez became New York’s breakout star in 2016.

Refsnyder burst onto the scene in 2015. In his first series with the big league squad, he hit a massive home run to help secure a win against the Boston Red Sox in Fenway. Obviously, that led to overblown expectations as fans prepped to name him the replacement for recently departed second baseman Robinson Cano.

Remember how excited we all got for Yankees prospects before Aaron Judge and company? Those were the days (Not really).

Media coverage around Refsnyder was wild. He was expected to become the next big thing as fans were excited to have some homegrown talent hit the roster. With fellow prospect Greg Bird in tow, it seemed like the future finally appeared.

It also didn’t help that Yankees fans had to bear witness to Brian Roberts and Stephen Drew at second base before Refsnyder made his debut.

Refsnyder played in just 16 games in 2015, he performed well, posting a .302/.348/.512 line. With only a handful of Major League at-bats under his belt, he started in the 2015 Wild Card game.

In the following season, Refsnyder played in 58 games but without a firm position and coming back down to earth at the plate (.250/.328/.309) he was never able to claim an everyday role.

Without a spot on the roster, Refsnyder would never get another legitimate shot with the big league club.

Refsnyder was part of the last vestiges of an era for New York. Throughout the 2000s there were a plethora of Yankees prospects that fans and the media crowned too soon and before the Baby Bombers were able to change the reputation of the Yanks farm system.