Spring Training Prospect Update: Week 3

By: Josh Sabo | Minor League Writer

Throughout spring training, we here at Yanks Beat Blog will be updating you on the the progress of the team. In this series, I will give weekly updates on the stats and performances of the Yankees prospects.

The term prospect will be used loosely here and will include a lot of fringe prospects, and some players that shouldn't be considered prospects. When this feature continues on into the year I will be more restrictive in my usage of the word prospect. The players will be listed in random order and the player stats will be listed after their names.

The following stats will be given to position players: games played, AVG, OBP, and SLG. Pitcher's stats will be: innings pitched, strike outs, ERA and WHIP.

1. Yangervis Solarte,  14/.517/.563/.724: Solarte has been one of the hottest, if not the hottest Yankees this spring. But he still needs to displace Eduardo Nunez on the Yankees roster. Considering that Nunez has done well this spring, has played in the majors and is on the Yankees roster, Nunez has an advantage.As of now it looks like he is on equal footing with Scott Sizemore and Adonis Garica, but ahead of ahead of Dean Anna.

2.  Adonis Garcia, 14/.455/.455/.500: Garcia has been very steady this spring, but hasn't blown people away to the same degree that Solarte has.Like Solarte he is better suited as a super-utility player, and most likely would only make the team later on into the year.

3. John Ryan Murphy, 12/.083/.120/.208: There was little doubt that Murphy would be starting the year in the minors, but his performance is still surprisingly poor. Fortunately no good GM will think less of him, but it would have been nice if he could have impressed a few scouts. He won't be an early cut, so he has some time to turn his spring around.

4. Dean Anna, 13/.250/.379/.250: Anna is still getting on base, but his overall numbers are done since his hot start. I think everyone realizes he can get on base, but his power has to greater than it has been so far. With that said he is on the 40-man roster, so I wouldn't be surprised if he is a Yankee at some point. Of course it's also possible that Anna would be one of the first players the Yankees DFA if they need a roster spot.

5. Gary Sanchez, 8/.364/..364/.909: Thanks to a few split-squad games Yankee fans have gotten the chance to see a bit more of the team's best prospect. He has really done well against decent competition. Hopefully his performance is a sign of what he can do in AA, where he will spend most of his year.

6. Jose Pirela, 14/.381/.409/.571: Pirela is quietly having a very nice spring, but then again all the Yankees infielder are doing well. I personally consider him more of a prospect than the previous infielders; because he is younger, but he is still a long shot to make the team. He should finally start in AAA, and could be more valuable to the Yankees than Anna or Nunez.

7. Ramon Flores, 14/.269/.310/.423: Flores was really impressive in yesterday's game. Flores knocked two hits versus solid competition. His first hit came against Julio Teheran, and the second came against Atahualpa Severino. His performance may mean that he gets an opportunity to start in AAA, but either way he is expected to play there at some point next season. It's interesting that he has shown more power than on-base potential this spring, but that's what we get when we use small samples.

8. Mason Williams, 15/.174/.192/.261: Williams also had a hit versus Teheran yesterday, and looked pretty good at the plate the past few games; though the results are still not there. Perhaps more important than his spring stats is that he looks to be in good shape, and is hustling. It's nice to see him attempt to beat out grounders, because his attitude was considered a major problem for him. Williams will get to play with the big league camp for a few more games, but will probably be cut sometime soon. He is slated to begin the year in AA.

9. Austin Romine, 11/.200/.259/.200: Romine has started playing more games this past week, and has looked slightly better, but is not ready for the season. He will get more and more opportunities to play but he most probably won't begin the season with the Yankees. Unless the Yankees decide to trade him or another catcher.

10. Russ Canzler, 9/.158/.200/.158: Canzler wasn't playing well, and now he has to deal with a hip injury. He will have to battle a few other players for playing time in AAA.

11. Dellin Betances, 9/8/1.00/0.67:  Betances was a bit shaky yesterday, but I don't think anyone expected him to perfect for the rest of his career. He deserves a spot on the team, and he could play a huge role in their playoff race.

12. Cesar Cabral, 7.1/8/0.00/0.82: Cabral really looks good this spring, though he has walked a few more batters than one would like. Cabral is a virtual lock to make the team, but he will have to hold off Fred Lewis and Vidal Nuno for the entire season.

13. Fred Lewis, 6.1/5/0.00/1.26: Lewis has looked pretty this spring, but I don't think the Yankees will open up a spot for him just yet. Lewis has been getting praise from Joe Girardi, so it does look like he has a future on team. The late bloomer will begin the season in AAA.

14. Manny Banuelos, 1/2/63.00/7.00: Manny is back, but he's clearly very rusty. He will begin the season in Tampa to avoid cold weather, and it might take him some time to get back to form. The Yankees just need to be patient, the important thing is that he is back.

15. Danny Burawa, 6.2/2/2.70/1.20: I don't think they keep track of ground ball outs in spring training, but I have really been surprised on just how many grounders Burawa has induced. Most of the hits off of Burawa have been groundball singles as well. He and Matt Daley have looked very good this spring.

16. Mark Montgomery 4.1/2/2.08/0.23: Montgomery hasn't really shown that he has recovered his velocity, but his command seems to have bounced-back. That might be enough to make him a good prospect again, as he was mostly a slider guy anyway.

17. Chase Whitley, 4.2/4/13.50/2.57: Whitley has really had a bad spring, and his struggles continued in Panama versus the Marlins. Despite allowing a run in his one inning of work his ERA went down. That probably tells you all you need to know about his spring. It's nothing to really be concerned about but he'll have to bounce-back in AAA.

18. Vidal Nuno, 6/6/1.50/.67: Nuno pitched a very good game versus a good Orioles lineup. He looks like he is could actually be a decent starter, though time will tell if he ever gets that chance with the Yankees. At a certain point you have to ignore stuff and just look at a player's performance, and Nuno always seems to perform well. He should begin the 2014 as a starter in AAA.

19. Bryan Mitchell, 3/5/0.00/1.00: His opponent quality is 9.2 out of 10, but you wouldn't know that by looking at his performances.  He has looked really good and confident this spring. He has struck several major league players, including Jose Bautista. He has yet to walk a single batter, which was his main weakness in his career. Of course this is a tiny 3 inning sample, but I like the way he has looked this spring. This has probably been said about Mitchell before; but this might be the year he plays to his potential.

20. Shane Greene: 5/7/3.60/1.00: Pretty much everything I just wrote about Mitchell can be said about Greene. Greene has shown that he has good movement on his 2-seamer and that his off-speed stuff is pretty good. Green really did well versus the Braves starting lineup, though one bad pitch resulted in a Justin Upton homerun. Greene will begin 2014 in AA with Mitchell but will probably move faster than him.

21.Peter O'Brien: 10/.000/.063/.000 O'Brien is clearly trying to do too much at the plate, and is swinging at way too many pitches. He had a nice at-bat yesterday versus Teheran, which shows he has some talent, but he has too be more patient. Just because he has power doesn't mean he should swing at everything. He'll be fine once he gets back to being himself, he just needs to go the minors.

22. Tyler Dugas: 4/.250/.250/.500: Dugas had a very good at-bat versus Darren O'day. He fought off a few tough pitches and ended getting a double. This at-bat pretty much shows the type of hitter he is; he is a pesky hitter that makes the pitcher work. I really hope the Yankees give him a shot, as he just keeps on hitting.