Breakout Bombers: Juan Carela




6-foot-3

186-pounds

Right-handed

21-years-old

Last level: High-A

Expected level: High-A

Signed: July 2, 2018


Carela came out of the gait hot in 2022, sporting a re-tooled delivery with improved control. The Yankees worked with him to tighten his slider which got a ton of strikeouts. He mowed down the competition until August, when he hit the proverbial wall over his last 27 innings. At that point he was already 48 innings over his previous career high, so it’s neither surprising nor concerning that he tired out. Even with the forgettable last month, Carela finished with respectable numbers. He finished with a 4.21 ERA and 131 K : 52 BB in 107 innings. Opponents also batted just .192 against him. Considering that he was 20-years-old in Low-A and High-A for the entire season, those are not numbers to be scoffed at.


Carela is working with a 92-94 mph fastball which already tops out at 97 and has sinking action. He has what is now a plus slider to go with the fastball. The next steps, per the Yankees, are to improve his changeup and add a two-seam fastball. Improvement of the third and fourth pitches are likely to lead to a true breakout in 2023. Now that Juan has a 100+ innings season under his belt, his strength and stamina should improve. Between Carela, Messinger, and a couple of other big arms who should be in High-A Hudson Valley this year (Thorpe, Beck), this rotation will be one to follow closely. This group could produce multiple breakouts, which could significantly increase the value of the Yankees farm system.


He’s off to a nice start in 2023 and is coming off one of the best starts of his career. He has 13 K : 5 BB and a 2.35 ERA in 7.2 innings so far. If he can wrangle in the walks, Carela could find himself in Double-A by midseason.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Breakout Alert: Jared Serna prospect profile

Image
5-foot-8 168-pounds Second baseman Right-handed batter 20-years-old  Signed: July 2nd, 2019 out of Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico The Yankees have made a habit recently of not letting height get in the way of signing guys with talent. Keiner Delgado, Abrahan Ramirez, and Jared Serna are all players are the shorter side and the Yankees are giving them every opportunity. Jared Serna has so far demonstrated that his height bears no importance on the quality of his game and the numbers he can put up. In 2021, Serna’s first season, his numbers were good but not great in the DSL. He hit .238/.404/.384/.788 with three homers, nine doubles, and two triples with 24 SB. Not the best numbers, but when combined with his mature approach, patience, hit tool, and defensive capabilities at second base it was enough to get him a promotion to the FCL in 2022.  That’s when he really took off. He hit .302/.438/.527/.965 with six homeruns, nine doubles and a triple in 37 FCL games. He also stole 16 bases, earning
Read more

Prospect Profile: Strikeout artist Danny Watson

Image
  6-foot-7 235-pounds Right-handed relief pitcher 22-years-old Draft: 15 th round of the 2021 draft out of Virginia Commonwealth University In addition to Jack Neely and Bailey Dees, the Yankees drafted a third huge pitcher in 2021. Watson is still young, and spent the whole season in Low-A last year. He had respectable numbers, finishing with 66 K : 36 BB and a 4.01 ERA in 58.1 innings. This was pretty similar to the season he had in 2021 for Virginia Commonwealth. Similar to Neely and Dees, Watson carries with him a substantial ceiling for a player drafted in the 15 th round. At the time he was drafted, Watson was already hitting 96 mph regularly on the radar gun and had a nice slider to complement it. The Yankees have worked with him to improve his control power, velocity, and secondary pitches. Watson began the year at High-A, where he has excelled. He has a 2.45 ERA and 28 K : 8 BB in 14.2 innings. That's an incredible strikeout rate, and unsurprisingly batters
Read more

Prospect Profile: Shutdown reliever Jack Neely

Image
6-foot-8 225-pounds Right-handed relief pitcher 22-years-old Draft: 11 th round of the 2021 draft out of Ohio State University In 2021, the Yankees drafted several big pitchers later in the draft. In doing so, they infused the lower minors with some high ceiling talent. One of these players was Jack Neely. In 2021, Neely was coming off a bad year for Ohio State. He had a 6.1 ERA and struggled with walks (5.2 BB/9) and homeruns (2.0/9). Despite that, the Yankees saw something in him. They drafted him in the 11 th round. 2022 was a different year for Neely. He was a dominant reliever in Low-A and briefly in High-A. The walks improved, he developed a slider and improved his strikeout rate. He finished with a 3.58 ERA and 87 K : 26 BB in 50.1 innings. Neely is equipped with a fastball that averages 97 mph and hits 98-99 regularly. If that wasn’t enough, the fastball also features a high spin rate. He added a slider in 2022 that catapulted him to bigger success. Neely stil
Read more