Yankees Draft: Days Two and Three Recap

11^th round 332^nd pick: Matthew Borens RHP Eastern Illinois       

This pick really solidified the difference between this year’s and last year’s draft. Their first day three pick last year was Kendall Coleman, a young outfielder, who is a risky upside type pick. He may be a lottery ticket, but fans like when teams take lottery tickets in the draft. Though there isn’t as much information available on Borren’s it doesn’t sound like he has that type of upside, but is a safer pick. It isn’t as big of change as some are making it seem, but they clearly changed their philosophy a bit and are sticking with college kids. He is a big 6’7’’ pitcher who can add muscle, so there is some intrigue here, it’s just not the same level of mystery as taking a high school kid.

12^th round 362^nd pick: Chris Gittens 1B Grayson County College                

Rated as the 438^th best player in the draft, Gittens, is a two-way player that scouts like better as a hitter due to his tremendous power potential. BA states that he has easy raw power, and some natural hitting ability. He’s slimming down, but his size still limits him to first base. Power is going down throughout baseball, so I like this pick. Sure they draft several first baseman, and they have Bird, and O’Brien, but it makes sense to load up on power hitting prospects,

13^th round 392^nd pick: Bo Thompson 1B The Citadel SC    392     

Like Gittens, Thompson is known for his power potential, he doesn’t seem to have the same hitting ability but he does have a nice combination of power and patience. He already signed for just 60 k, and is slated to begin his Yankee career in Charleston. Like Gittens, he is too big to play anywhere but first, so it will interesting to see what they do, once Ford comes off the DL.

14^th round 422^nd pick: Sean Carley RHP West Virginia    

Ranked as BA’s 388^th best draft prospect, the Kenny Powers lookalike is an intriguing pick. Carley, has already agreed to join the team, and should begin the year in Staten Island. He is a three pitch pitcher, who may be best suited for the pen. He throws an 88-94 MPH fastball, a slider with average potential, and a raw changeup.  He already had Tommy John surgery, which is why he is a 5^th year senior, and why he is a bit rawer than other college guys.

15^th round 452^nd pick: Andrew Chin LHP Boston College               

Was ranked as BA 399^th best prospect, but didn’t have a scouting report. When he was drafted in 2011 (5^th round by the Jays), this was his scouting report.

"Chin might be the most complete pitcher at this point. Maybe he's not the same type of thrower or class as these other guys -- he tends to be in the upper 80's with his fastball, good in and out, good with the changeup -- but he understands the craft and is willing to work at it. He's a classic left-hander with good feel for how to set hitters up." Per ESPN

He might throw harder now, especially since he has recovered from Tommy John surgery. Either way, he sounds like a pretty interesting selection.

               

16^th round 482^nd pick: Derek Callahan LHP Gonzaga, WA              

In 2012 Callahan was ranked as the 9^th best prospect in the West Coast Summer league, but didn’t play up to his potential during the subsequent college season. He is a 4-pitch pitcher, with an 89-91 MPH fastball, a 78-81 MPH slider, a 74-76 MPH curveball, and an 80-82 MPH change. His slider is his strikeout pitch.

17^th round, 512^th pick: Garrett Cave RHP South Sumter HS, FL    

With the 17^th pick of the draft, the Yankees finally took their first real tough sign. Cave is a pretty good prospect and was ranked as the 116^th best prospect by BA. His fastball jumped to 93 MPH this season, and has led him to receive national attention. BA states that

 “He has a loose arm, athleticism and feel for spinning a curveball. He doesn’t use his changeup often but it flashes average. Cave will need to throw more strikes to remain a starter but has the attributes to do so if he cleans up his delivery, which has some east-west movement and a head whack. That also means his arm slot is not consistent.”

18^th round 542^nd pick: Justin Kamplain LHP Alabama       

Yet another college lefty Kamplain has had success in college and in the Cape Cod League. Kamplain put up the following stats in what could be his final season in Alabama: 90 IP, 69 K, 31 BB, 2.90 ERA, 1.07 WHIP. He is primarily a fastball changeup guy. His fastball sits in the 88-91 range. His change is slowly becoming his best pitch.  In addition to these two pitches, he also sprinkles in a curveball from time-to-time.

19^th round 572^nd pick: Joe Harvey RHP University of Pittsburgh                 

Ranked as the 468^th best prospect by BA. Harvey is new to starting. He has only been a starting pitcher this season. BA had this to say about him “He pitches at 90-92 mph and touches 94 with sink and fastball life. His control has improved significantly. While he has a durable build at 6-foot-2, 220 pounds, his lighter secondary stuff prompts some scouts to project him as a reliever. His curveball flashes average but plays well below that. His changeup also needs development.”

20^th round 602^nd pick: Corey Holmes RHP Concordia University, TX         

BA’s 13^th best prospect in the Mid-Atlantic Conference. He has already signed with the team, and should be making his debut shortly.

21^st round pick 632: Porter Clayton LHP Oregon               

Porter is an interesting pick, as he barely pitched the past few years; as a Mormon he served his mission. He tried to make up for lost time this season. Overall, he has a good delivery, and has three pitches. His fastball is in the upper 80s/low 90s. His curveball is tends to sit in the upper 70s and his changeup is in the low 80s. The fact that he has pitched so little makes him a bit more intriguing to me, at worst his fastball, and curve combination could lead to a role in the pen, but I’m pretty curious to see if that’s where he starts.

22^nd round pick 662:  Jake Kelzer RHP Indiana

Ranked as the 486^th best prospect by BA, and the 12^th best prospect in Indiana, Jake is a definite relief prospect. He only has one above-average pitch, which is his slider. He has 90-91 MPH fastball which is rather straight. He did strikeout 44 batters in 32 innings, but I’m not sure of the extent of his strike-out ability, unless he throws a plus slider. He was a two-sport athlete, as he was on the swim team, so maybe his stuff will improve now that he only needs to focus on one sport. He was also injured, and is a redshirt freshman, so he doesn’t have a lot of experience.

23^rd round 692^nd pick:  Will Toffey 3B Salisbury School, CT           

Was DeCarr’s teammate, and hopefully will remain his teammate. Toffey is best described as an infielder, though he was playing short, and fits best at third. He has an above-average arm. He isn’t very quick out of the box, though he seems to be getting faster. He has good bat speed, and has decent power that should improve. He was a hockey player for a while, so he hasn’t really focused solely on hitting. He is committed to Vanderbilt, so he thought of as a tough sign, though maybe DeCarr will help. He was one the teams few prep picks, and he is a player I hope they sign. They didn’t draft many prep players so it will be disappointing if they can’t sign one of the best one’s that they drafted.  He was ranked as the 353^rd best prospect by BA, and the 4^th best in the state.

24^th round 772^nd pick: Dominic Jose CF Stanford       

Jose is the son of former Yankee Felix Jose, and was a toolsy outfielder when he first entered Standford. The school didn’t really offer him the opportunity to showcase his tools, and now the Yankees have to personally attempt to fix his swing. He has good power, and should be an adequate corner outfielder. The Yankees have a little project on their hands, as he has to prove he can hit. Overall this is a pretty good pick, he was ranked as the 261^st best pre-draft prospect by Minor League Ball, and was ranked as the 461^st best prospect by BA. The Yankees didn’t draft many position player prospects, or outfield prospects, so he should have an opportunity to play with the team.

25^th round 752^nd pick: Dylan Barrow RHP Univ. of Tampa              

Yet another college pitcher with little experience. He was an infielder in high school, and only began to pitch three years ago. In those three years he has learnt to throw a breaking ball, and throws a mid-90s fastball. I couldn’t find a lot of information on him, but he has reached 96 MPH in the past, and that alone makes him an interesting prospect.  Last season the Yankees took two relatively unknown kids in Ryan Butler and Nick Green. Neither signed, but were both picked a lot earlier this season. The Yankees have shown the ability to find some hidden gems in the past, and hopefully Barrow is another one.

26^th round 782^nd pick: Collin Slaybaugh C Washington State        

His academics are very good for a student-athlete and was the PAC-12 Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year. He a 4.0 GPA in college, which suggests he is somewhat intelligent. His smarts and character might be better than his actual baseball tools. Though he did have a slash line of .299/.329/.364 in his final year. That’s not bad, but he’d need to show more power to be regarded as a major league player. Perhaps his smarts, and defense will allow him to become a backup catcher. Pitchers trust guys like him behind the plate.

27^th round 812^th pick: Griffin Gordon OF Jacksonville State

Had a .968 OPS in his final season, and showed a bit of speed with ten bases. Hopefully this means he is a true outfielder. There isn’t much info on him, so it’s hard to tell what kind of pick this was. It’s worth noting that he is a college senior, and was rated as the 172^nd best outfield prospect by BA.

28^th round 842^nd pick:  Lee Casas RHP USC           

Another player who is a bit of an unknown, had decent numbers as a two-way player.

29^th round 872^nd pick: Mariano Rivera RHP Iona                

Opposite of a no name player, Marino is the son of the greatest closer of all-time. His dad wants him to finish school, but he seems ready to leave. He throws a low 90s fastball and a slider. He doesn’t have a cutter. He reportedly has a nice easy delivery. I don’t think legacy picks are a bad thing, but would’ve thought that this is a tad bit early, I guess not.

30^th round 902^nd pick: Jorge Perez RHP Grand Canyon University

Baseball America ranked Perez as the 328^th best prospect in the draft. So he’s a pretty good value pick at 902, assuming they can sign him. The reason that he dropped this far was that he suffered from shoulder tendinitis and teams were scared off. He has a fastball that sits around 93 MPH, a slider that sits around 80 MPH, and a changeup that sits below 80 MPH. His fastball has good sink to it. BA states that his change is an above average offering, but his slider is not. He profiles best as a reliever.

31^st round 932^nd pick: Devyn Bolasky CF UC Riverside, CA            

Another scrappy outfielder, but at least this one can run. He is a contact orientated hitter that doesn’t walk or strikeout much. He has little power, but a lot of speed. He might be able to become a leadoff hitter if he gets his average up there. These were his stats last year: 54 games, 30 runs, 6 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 26 RBI, 14 SB (7 CS), 13 BB, 18 K, .336 AVG, .370 OBP, .398 SLG%, .768 OPS.

32^nd round 962^nd pick: Jordan Ramsey RHP UNC Wilmington

Ramsey is an interesting pick because he is coming off of a down season that was riddled with injuries. These injuries may have affected his stock. Overall he was ranked as BA 288^th best draft prospect, but that might be undervaluing him a bit if he rebounds with the Yankees. He had blister and triceps injuries, and this really affected his performance he was much better last year. He still might end up being just a reliever as his secondary pitches aren’t that great, but he has a good 92-95 MPH fastball when healthy. He can throw a potentially average change, and a slider that occasionally looks good. If he signs this would be a pretty good pick as he ranked pretty highly, and probably only fell because of his injuries.             

33^rd pick 992^nd pick David Graybill RHP Arizona State University               

Yet another pitcher with little pitching experience, he was a two-way player out of high school but stuck with the bat in college. Now the Yankees are going to try to make him a pitcher again, this is very similar to what they did with Chase Whitley. I like this pick, he comes from an athletic family; his father was an Expo minor leaguer. I trust the team when it comes to these types of picks.

34^th round 1022^nd pick: Matt Wotherspoon RHP University of Pittsburgh             

Wottherspoon is a three pitch pitcher that could work of the rotation of the pen. He throws a mid-90’s fastball, a good breaking ball and a promising changeup. Hopefully he will be given a chance to start. It’s a bit surprising that he’d still be in school, he seems to have a decent three pitch mix, and he was ranked as the number 28^th best pitcher among college seniors.

35^th round 1052 pick Christopher Hudgins C Valhalla HS, CA       

Hit over .400 last year in 35 games, also had 12 homers and 2 doubles. Seems like a decent hitting prep player. And it’s really about time they took another prep player. Might be a tough sign but he played on their scout team, so maybe they can use that connection

36^th round 1082 round   William Gaddis  RHP Brentwood HS, TN                

Gaddis was just one of three high school pitchers taken in this draft, and he is pretty raw. He throws a fastball that has yet to reach 90 MPH, a slider and a changeup, he has good mechanics, and his fastball and slider have shown potential. People are really down on the fact the team didn’t draft many prep pitchers, but if they can get Gaddis, Cave and DeCarr, they would actually have signed as many prep pitchers as they did last year. Plus I think Gaddis might have a bit more upside than Alex Polanco, though it’s hard to tell at this point.

37^th round pick 1112: Ryan Lindemuth 2B College of William and Mary, VA         

Lindemuth is a high contact second baseman that had a .446 OBP in his senior year. He also showed some power slugging .525. He already signed a contract with the team and will begin the season in Staten Island. Normally college seniors are just organizational types, so I don’t expect much. However it’s worth noting that the Pirates drafted him in the 20^th round last year, so maybe he just had a down season. I like that he signed quickly. These types of players are important for a system.

38^th round 1142^nd pick:   Andre Del Bosque RHP University of Houston - Victoria

Bosque is a 5^th year senior, and has already undergone Tommy John surgery, he’s also had other arm troubles. Also missed some time with an oblique injury. Can throw a low-to-mid-90s fastball. There isn’t much more information on him available.

39^th round 1172^nd pick:  Cameron Warren 1B Carl Albert HS, OK

Had solid numbers on the mound and at the plate but suffered a thumb injury this season, which hurt his stock. He is has a powerful build and may be underrated pick. First-base high school prospects aren’t that exciting but he has power, and has hit his entire career. Last year they drafted and signed a 1B/3B prospect in Drew Bridges, and he seems like a similar type of pick. Bridges was rated as the better player, but the thumb injury really hurt Warren. He is committed to the University of Oklahoma, but the Yankees may be able to break that.

40^th round 2012^th pick:  Madison Stokes SS A.C. Flora HS, SC       

With their final pick of the draft Yankees may have selected their promising selection of the day. Stokes was ranked as the 347^th best prospect in the draft, and is considered an unsignable player. He even tweeted that he is going to college. He might need to move to second, and he would have a good bat at that position.