2 breakout Yankees pitching prospects who ended 2024 on a high note

In a season where some top Yankees prospects — including Spencer Jones, Will Warren and Chase Hampton — have taken a step backwards, there are a few under-the-radar pitching prospects who’ve built a case for higher ceilings than previously expected.

That’s something positive to take away from a year which saw a big fall in the Yankees farm system rankings after Baseball America ranked them at No. 9 and ESPN ranked them No. 6 in their 2024 preseason rankings. In the most recent updates following graduations, the July amateur draft and trade deadline moves, that ranking fell to No. 19 per Baseball America and No. 14 per ESPN.

Two Emerging Yankees Pitching Prospect Who Deserve Accolades

Josh Grosz

2023 11th-round (No. 342 overall) draft pick Josh Grosz stands 6’4” and was the youngest pitcher on the Yankees' High-A affiliate Hudson Valley Renegades this year, two years younger than the average pitcher in the South Atlantic League.

Having just tuned 22 on Sept. 5, the righty has positioned himself to play against baseball’s top 22~23-year-old prospects in the Arizona Fall League, unless the Yankees organization has an innings limit for him after he pitched a total of 121 2/3 innings in his first professional season.

While he’s yet to make any top 30 rankings of Yankees prospects, Grosz finished strong in High-A ball, going 4-2 with a 2.77 ERA in seven starts and 39.0 innings with Hudson Valley. The East Carolina University product posted a WHIP of 1.077 against older players, and punctuated his strong finish with a one-hitter over his last 5.1 innings, allowing only one run and a walk, with seven strikeouts in an 8-1 win over the Asheville Tourists.

Grosz struck out five or more batters in each of his last four starts. Since June 28 dating back to his starts with the A-ball Tampa Tarpons, Grosz was charged with just nine earned runs in his last 64 innings, good for a 1.26 ERA. He helped Hudson Valley’s pitching staff post a 3.25 ERA overall, the best in High-A and sixth-best in the minors during the 2024 regular season, marking a third straight season in which Hudson Valley has led the South Atlantic League in team ERA.

Cam Schlittler

Another strong contributor to that ERA title in 2024 was a similar tall, lanky righty in Cam Schlittler. The 2022 seventh-round pick (No. 220 overall) stands 6’6” tall, and was outstanding in 17 starts for Hudson Valley. He went 6-4 with a 2.60 ERA over 86 2/3 innings with 108 strikeouts for the Renegades, which earned him a No. 25 ranking on MLB Pipeline’s updated top 30 Yankees prospects list, as well as a promotion to the Double-A Somerset Patriots on Aug. 6.

In Schlittler’s last start of the season for Somerset, where he was 1.5 years younger than the average Eastern League pitcher, he struck out nine Binghamton Rumble Ponies in 4 1/3 innings, allowing only one earned run. The 23-year-old’s nine Ks matched a career high and were his most with Somerset this season. Schlittler’s 145 punchouts this year led all Yankees minor leaguers, while his 3.42 ERA ranked fifth and a .218 batting average against was the fourth-lowest mark in the organization.

He’s also in line to pitch in the Arizona Fall League this year unless his 115 2/3 innings overall is near any innings limit imposed by the Yankees organization.

Both Grosz and Schlittler should see their stock continue to rise among Yankees prospects heading into the 2025 season. Along with 6’5” righty and top 2024 draft pick (26th overall) Ben Hess, 2024 second-round pick and fellow 6’5” righty Bryce Cunningham, 6’3” lefty Brock Selvidge, and 6’6” right-hander Zach Messinger at Somerset, plus 6’7” lefty Henry Lalane and 6’7” righty Carlos Lagrange at Tampa, that’s at least eight starting pitchers all 6’3” or taller from Rookie Ball to Double-A in their system that will all likely rank in their top 20 prospects going into the 2025 season. That speaks to a solid pitching development program, and should help improve the Yankees farm system ranking ahead of next year.