3 Yankees prospects that could make unexpected impact at spring training

2. Andres Chaparro

The Yankees gambled when they didn't protect Andres Chaparro ahead of the Rule 5 Draft, but it was one that paid off. Nobody took the slugging third baseman, and now New York can see what they have in the budding prospect across the 2023 campaign.

Another "older" prospect heading into his age-24 season, Chaparro, after a slow start to his pro career and the lost 2020 season, really showed out in 2021 and 2022. He reached Double-A last season and hit .289 wth a .963 OPS, 19 home runs and 52 RBI in just 64 games. The year prior, he hit 15 homers in 101 games. He fixed something.

He's mostly played third base (291 of his 361 games) throughout his minor league career and has fielded at an unsightly .917 rate. That's not going to cut it. But he was better at first base after logging 14 of his 65 total games at the position just last year. Maybe a position change is in the works? Either way, if his bat continues to come around, he'll be an asset. A fast start in spring training could catapult him to Triple-A, and then we're one step away from The Show.

Though his trajectory is hardly set in stone, his ascension over the last two years, like Boyle's, cannot be ignored.