Evil Empire Yankees Blog

Short Season Low-A Staten Island Staten Island has one of the most intriguing pitching staffs in the entire system. By the same token, there is not much going on with the position players this season. Their excellent record, which is the best in the New York-Penn League, doesn’t have much to do with their hitting. That just goes to show how good their pitching has been. There’s only one hitter worth highlighting on the team right now. Keith Skinner – 23-years-old, C/1B – Skinner has been on fire his last 10 games. He is 15/35 (.429) with two walks (.459 OBP), and five doubles (.571 SLG). On the season he is a less impressive .252/.291/.311/.602, but he has been bounced around a lot. He was a 7 th round senior pick last year, so probably more of an organizational guy at this point. You never know when a guy can change organizational perspectives though. He seems to be doing his best to do just that. Daniel Alvarez – 21-years-old, RHP – He’s enjoying solid success with Stat

Low-A Charleston Ryan Lidge – He’s a catcher out of Notre Dame that the Yankees picked up in the 20 th round. He’s a switch hitter, and extremely patient, although he hasn’t shown much power yet. He’s one of those defense first catchers the Yankees usually draft to fill out rosters in the minors. So far, though, he has hit really well. In his first 16 games as a professional, he has a .292/.424/.313/.736 line with a double and 10 walks. Not much of a prospect as things stand right now, but he’s relatively new and we have limited information on him so far, so a lot can change. Carlos Vidal – He has been on the 7-day DL since 8/7, but before that he was on a tear. He is 12 for his last 34 (.353) with four walks and six doubles. That’s good for a .421 OBP and a .529 slugging percentage. That brings his season line to .304/.363/.374/.737 with 13 doubles, a triple, and a homerun. Not a bad line, but he’ll have to improve his power output as he moves up if he wants to be consider

High-A Tampa Yankees Tim Lynch – 24-years-old, 1B - Lynch really came out of nowhere when Chris Gittens went down with injury. He played so well he ensured that when Gittens returned, the Yankees still continue to find playing time for him. In 48 games, Lynch has a .311/.375/.572/.947 line with 11 homeruns, 12 doubles and a triple. He has a good contact rate with just 37 K. Overall he is hitting like a 24-year-old first baseman should be hitting in High-A, and Double-A will be the real test. He definitely passed his first test though, and as a player in his first season as a pro in High-A, that’s still impressive. By the way, he hasn’t slowed down since Gittens returned, hitting .410 with five doubles and a homerun in his last 10 games. Estevan Florial – 19-years-old, OF - He hasn’t let his promotion to High-A slow him down one bit, although neither have his strikeouts. He sports a .306/.386/.429/.815 line with one double, one triple, and one homerun in 12 High-A games.

In season’s past I have been able to do a piece on the entire farm system on who has been playing well. This season it takes me days to make an article like that because there are so many players who are performing well. I’ve decided to do it one level at a time from now on, since it is much easier to knock that out in one day. Trenton Thunder Jhalan Jackson – Jackson wasn’t doing much in High-A, but he was called up to Trenton recently and has really clicked since then. He has a .346/.469/.423/.892 line with two double and a triple in 18 games since his promotion. It’s great to see him doing well, but he’ll really have to carry that success to the end of the season to start turning some heads. Thairo Estrada – In the midst of his first slump of the season, Estrada has been amazing for a 21-year-old in Double-A. He has a .298/.351/.393/.744 line with 17 doubles, two triples, and six homeruns. The power is slight, but that’s not his calling card anyway. I saw him play

Let’s start by admitting something. Sonny Gray is good. He’s ace good. The reason for that is he has a strikeout and ground ball-inducing stuff. 2016 was a rough, injury-ridden year for him, and started slow after coming off the DL this year. Now he appears to be back to the Sonny Gray of 2014-2015, when he was one of the most coveted pitchers in the league. At 5-foot-10, Gray is definitely diminutive compared to his average colleague, but that hasn’t stopped him so far from being an ace caliber pitcher. His average velocity this season is 94.1 mph, which makes him 90 th among active starting pitchers. That’s not what makes him effective though. It’s his fastball movement and secondary pitches that make him the pitcher he is. Given his size, injury history, and inconsistencies, he is not the perfect target on the starting pitcher trade market, but he is the best option currently available. Yu Darvish is the most talented, but he does not come with two additional years of

I know the deadline isn't until Friday, but the Yankees aren't going to sign anyone who would make this list. Several guys have graduated to the major leagues, even if it was just in a short stint. My rule is anything other than a September call-up in the major leagues gets you off the prospect list. That means Aaron Judge, Jordan Montgomery, Giovanny Gallegos, Ronald Herrera, Jonathan Holder, Luis Cessa, Chad Green, Domingo German, Ben Heller, and Kyle Higashioka are all newly ineligible. 1. Gleyber Torres – 6-foot-1, 175-pounds, RHB, 20-years-old, SS – Everyone has heard of this guy by now. He’s a solid shortstop with an exceptional bat for his age. The Yankees moved him to third base recently in hopes that he would be Chase Headley’s rather immediate replacement, but he then hurt his elbow and needed Tommy John Surgery on his non-throwing arm. The prevailing view is that he will return around the beginning of next season. If so, he wouldn’t miss much time. He was in t