Smart teams will call Yankees about hidden prospect with huge metric leap

The only thing that'll make an executive's eyebrows rise higher than an impressive exit velocity is a massive leap in the power metric year-over-year. When a prospect's raw tools shine, scouts make a note. When a prospect's raw tools progress? He's both talented and coachable.

Those gains can be even more tantalizing when they're paired with a still-teenaged prospect growing into his projectable body, rather than overhauling his swing. If such a big leap is plausible naturally, what might come next, once the player's approach is streamlined and honed?

Baseball America recently published an examination of the prospects throughout the minor leagues who registered as "90th percentile exit velocity gainers" this past season. These are the sluggers who posted the largest percentage increases in the most powerful 10% of the total balls they hit last season. Sure, they may not impact the ball as often as you'd like them to, but when they do, they strike it with fervor.

The Yankees may possess one of the list's most unknown quantities. What if we told you that an 18-year-old in his second season of Dominican Summer League ball had the fourth-largest exit velocity increase of any prospect in the minors? Between 2024 and 2025, Richard Matic hit the ball 6.2% harder on his very best days. The only prospects who outranked him were three other teenagers: Jorge Quintana of the Padres, Eliesbert Alejos of the Diamondbacks, and (sigh) Enddy Azocar of the Red Sox, who topped the list at 7.4%.

New York Yankees prospect Richard Matic is one of the best exit velocity gainers in the entire minor leagues

Matic's surface numbers matched his remarkable metrics; he hit .336 with a .487 OBP and 1.053 in 143 at-bats in summer ball, one year after he finished at .196/.333/.581. It's rare to see growth so clearly illustrated.

For now, Matic is a third baseman, but that could easily change as he matures further. Next season will be a major challenge, as he presumably makes the leap to full-season ball at Low-A Tampa.

Of course, he might not make it to Opening Day in the Yankees' organization, either, if rival teams get especially creative in trade talks. This exit velocity data is publicly available, after all. This could easily be the final season where shrewd front offices can pick Matic off as a third piece in an extended package rather than as the main course. Hopefully, the Yankees know exactly what they have here in the final winter before his talent can no longer be effectively hidden.