New York Yankees: Stock Up, Stock Down for Top 10 Prospects Entering May
April 28, 2014 · Peter F. Richman · Jump to comments
Article Source: Bleacher Report - New York Yankees
Since the start of the 2014 season, we’ve taken a look at the weekly progress and stocks of the New York Yankees‘ top-10 prospects. With April baseball nearly completed, this report provides the one-month stock updates of some of the Bombers’ young organizational talent before heading into May.
Although only six of the 10 prospects have seen playing time, they’ve provided us with four-week sample sizes that give ample, early indications of their outlooks for 2014.
And despite a stellar 15-10 record and 2.5-game lead in the AL East, the big league team has not been immune to injury and underperformance in the month of April, both of which have already opened the door for several minor leaguers. The 162-game schedule quickly resembles a war of attrition, and as we’ve seen early on, the Yankees will be wise to keep that revolving door moving—to be just as confident in calling up a hot hitter as they are in sending down a struggling one.
Over the past week, the formerly cold-hitting catching prospect John Ryan Murphy (No. 3) has begun to establish himself as a viable MLB backup in the wake of Francisco Cervelli’s trip to the disabled list, even picking up three of the team’s four RBI—including his first major league home run—in Saturday’s 4-3 win over the Angels.
Meanwhile, outfielder Aaron Judge (No. 7), the 2013 first-rounder, has been locked in for four weeks in Charleston, going 25-for-75 for a .333 average in the first month of his professional career.
And another catcher, unanimous top Yankees prospect Gary Sanchez (No. 1), has continued to tear up pitching in Double-A. At the least, he’s proven his hype; at the most, he’s increasing the pressure for a promotion if he stays hot, and he could be on the move to Scranton in the coming months.
Based upon their statistics and performances from April, this report breaks down which top-10 Yankees’ prospects’ stocks have risen or fallen ahead of baseball’s second month.
*Note: OF Slade Heathcott (No. 2), 1B Greg Bird (No. 8), RHP Jose Ramirez (No. 9) and LHP Ian Clarkin (No. 10) have not logged any playing time in 2014.
Heathcott will begin in Triple-A but is recovering from offseason surgery; Bird is being held back from a start in Double-A due to a back injury; Ramirez is recovering from a strained oblique after competing for a big league role in the spring; and Clarkin will see time in Low-A but with just five innings of rookie ball under his belt, he’ll pick up more experiences before pro ball.
**All statistics courtesy of milb.com, baseball-reference.com and yankees.com unless noted otherwise.
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