Ranking Yankees prospects heading to Arizona Fall League

5. Yorlin Calderon

Signed out of the Dominican Republic back in 2019, Yorlin Calderon took a nice leap in 2022 after a rough 2021 and canceled 2020. The right-hander logged 58 innings across 14 games (a mix of starts and relief appearances) and finished with a 3.88 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 75 strikeouts between the Rookie League and Single-A Tampa.

Compare that to last year (10 games, both starts and relief outings, with a 11.87 ERA, 1.68 WHIP, 35 strikeouts, 8 walks, 6 hit batters and six wild pitches in 30.1 innings), and it seems as if he’s honed some control that’s given the Yankees confidence for this promotion.

4. Nelson Alvarez

Here are a couple more guys we don’t know much about. Nelson Alvarez, taken in the 13th round back in 2019, has seen 81 minor-league games after his one year at South Florida, but hasn’t been particularly good. The right-handed reliever got back on track this year, though.

After sporting an 8.57 ERA in his first 46 pro outings, Alvarez finished 2022 with a 2.85 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 65 strikeouts in 53.2 innings with Hudson Valley. Only problem? He walked 32 batters. The good news is that he cut down on his homers and drastically boosted his strikeouts from last year’s stint with the Renegades. Seems like the Yankees want to ride with the hot hand right now.