Yankees: 4 Unexpected Prospects Who Will Contribute in 2020

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Brooks Kriske #82 of the New York Yankees (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

1. Brooks Kriske

The Yankees think they have a relief ace in Brooks Kriske.

Brooks Kriske shares something with Medina and Nelson: 40-man roster pedigree. However, unlike the rest of the top prospects who were added this offseason, Kriske was a relative unknown.

Protecting Kriske meant the Yankees left some previously prominent names exposed, and they certainly had their reasons. The 26-year-old got a late start to his career, but dominated at Trenton in 2019, whiffing 64 in 48.2 innings pitched to light a fire under the Yankees.

Kriske threw the eighth inning in Monday night’s spectacle at the Stadium, and made it clear this would not be his final impression on that stage.

No clue how to keep track of what's going on in this game with Calvinball rules, but Brooks Kriske just came up 1 pitch short of an immaculate inning during a 1-2-3 8th.
— James Smyth (@JamesSmyth621) July 21, 2020

If New York needs a more experienced bullpen arm from their shuttle squad at any point, we’d bet on Kriske arriving before Nelson. But in terms of dominating the narrative, these two men drew even on Monday, leaving Philadelphia in their wake.

Neither doing the exact same thing in September would surprise us.

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