Forgotten Yankees catching prospect inexplicably resurfaces as bullpen weapon

When we first learned a year ago that former top-flite Yankees catching prospect Antonio Gomez was converting to pitching, we were intrigued, but had very low expectations (down to and including "never seeing him again" — aka the Joey Gallo). Rumor had it he could already touch 100, which is enough to give you a bit of pause on whether you're being too cavalier with your dismissal, but ... come on. When does this ever work, outside of Kenley Jansen?

Well ... spoiler alert, but it worked. We've still got a ways to go before Gomez is an MLB-ready contributor, but the transition definitely worked.

The right-hander, still just 24 years old, showed up in Low-A Tampa this weekend — which, all of a sudden, with Yostin Peña, Wilberson De Peña, and Dax Kilby, looks like the hottest roster in the minors — and wowed in a star-studded crowd.

Not only did he bring the velocity, but he revealed that he'd spent the past year harnessing it in incredible fashion. His initial round of heaters were 80-grade, with the type of induced vertical break typically reserved for the game's elite. He touched 100.7 MPH and whiffed the first two batters he faced on six delicious pitches. What ... do we have here?

Can Yankees fans start dreaming on Antonio Gomez, Bullpen Weapon?

All that from a catcher who wrapped the 2025 season mid-stream hitting .167. Astonishing.

No, Gomez isn't on the cusp of the majors just because he unveiled his newfound abilities once, but this looks like much more than just a party trick. Gomez appeared in four games on the mound with Tampa last summer before spending a winter in the lab and allowed six hits and six earned runs in 2 2/3 innings. This time around, he recorded a hold, whiffing two and allowing one hit in a scoreless inning. It's not usually this easy to calculate what a difference a year makes.

Expect Gomez to finish out the summer in Tampa, then receive a promotion challenge next spring, as long as he makes it through the winter unscathed. Hopefully, the lockout doesn't last as long as we fear it will, but following Gomez's upward trajectory, as a non-40-man prospect, could be a joyous distraction during a very strange time.

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