Evil Empire Yankees Blog

  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...

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...

6-foot-1 180-pounds Shortstop/Second baseman/Third baseman Right-handed batter 23-years-old Draft: 10th round o the 2021 draft out of the University of Maryland The Yankees have been successful in recent years with drafting middle infielders in the middle rounds. They have drafted Trevor Hauver, Josh Smith, Rob Refsnyder, and Cooper Bowman in recent years. All of these players have worked out nicely for them, mostly in terms of trade returns. Cowles is the latest in this line of players, and he has acquainted himself nicely to pro ball so far. In 2021, Cowles had his best year in college at Maryland, where he hit .287/.409/.632/1.042 with 18 homeruns and six doubles. The Yankees then drafted him and he continued to be successful in the Yankees system. He finished the year with an .804 OPS in 36 games. Ben hit the ground running in 2021, starting in Low-A and hitting his way to a promotion about three quarters of the way through the season. He hit a bit of a wall in High-A, but he didn’...

  6-foot-3   155-pounds   Right-handed relief pitcher   21-years-old   Signed: August 16 th , 2018 out of the Dominican Republic   What’s the best way to start your season as a pitcher? Outside of a perfect game, most pitchers would say a no hitter. Yorlin Calderon did just that in 2022, with a seven-inning no-no for Tampa in his first appearance. He went on to have his best season as a professional, with 75 K : 16 BB in 58 innings pitched. Finishing with a 3.88 ERA, he was then sent to the Arizona Fall League where he threw 12.2 ineffective innings.   The results matter not; the important part is that Calderon threw a career high 70.2 innings, which is 40 more than his previous high. This will allow him to throw at least 100 this season if he earns it and stays healthy.   Calderon has a fastball that sits 90-93 mph with big spin and a nasty changeup. He already has two good pitches to work with. He also throws a slid...