By EJ Fagan
May 2, 2024
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NOTE: The following comes from EJ Fagan's substack page and is shared with permission.
Please check out EJ's substack page for more great articles.
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Minor league baseball is underway. Let’s take a look at how Yankee prospects are doing, who might be breaking out and who stumbled out of the gate. Here are five prospects who had an interesting month.
Spencer Jones, Double-A
Jones started off the season with a minor injury, making his debut on April 13th. The Yankees sent him back to Double-A. Jones only played 17 games there in 2023, so it makes sense that they want to give him a chance to master the level before moving up.
Jones has played just 11 games, but has demolished Double-A pitching. His batting line is .348/.412/.587 in a league where the average hitter has hit just .232/.325/.368. He cut his strikeout rate from 29% to 24%.
Oh yeah, and he’s hitting home runs like these:
The knock against Jones is that he has never consistently put his incredible tools to use on the field. If that changes, like we saw this Spring, it isn’t insane to talk about Jones as a left-handed Aaron Judge. He’s just as smart, big and strong, and might even be more athletic. If he’s still hitting this well in May, look out. For now, it’s just 11 games.
Everson Pereira, Triple-A
Remember Pereira? He’s still around. He’s just 23 years old. He’s playing all three outfield positions at Triple-A. And he’s hitting .253/.333/.571.
Great news! What’s the catch? Pereira has struck out in 37% of plate appearances.
I don’t know what Pereira’s future is going to be. He’s the poster child for the Yankees problematic hitting philosophy under Dillon Lawson. Pereira has tons of power, but with a big uppercut swing that seems very exploitable. Yet, he’s hitting lots of home runs in the high minors while playing pretty good outfield defense.
Realistically, Pereira is playing for a trade. Jasson Dominguez is way ahead of him on the depth charts, and it’s not even clear that Dominguez has a roster spot without an injury, and Spencer Jones is right up there as well. Maybe some team will be interested in him at the trade deadline. Alex Verdugo’s paternity leave didn’t earn Pereira a callup, so something would have to go very wrong for us to see Pereira in the majors in 2024.
Agustin Ramirez and Ben Rice, Double-A
I think it’s time to start paying attention to Ramirez and Rice.
Both are catchers with questionable defensive futures, although Ramirez is significantly better than Rice. Both also broke out in a big way in 2023 between High-A and Double-A. Rice hit .324/.434/.615 with a 19% strikeout rate. Ramirez hit a strong but more modest .271/.364/.455 with a 17% strikeout rate.
They both mashed in April. Ramirez hit .260/.386/.644 with a 19% strikeout rate. Rice hit .256/.376/.526 with a 26% strikeout rate. The average Eastern League hitter posted just a .232/.325/.368.
Rice is almost definitely not a catcher, although everyone said that about Austin Wells too. He and Rice are splitting time between catcher, first base and DH at Double-A. Fangraphs compares him to Justin Bour. Ramirez isn’t a great catcher, but is still projected to remain there.
Other than Pereira, Ramirez looks like the biggest trade bait in the organization. The Yankees have a ton of catchers. Austin Wells looks like he’s going to stick around and take most of the 2022 Platinum Glove winner’s playing time. Ramirez is an advanced prospect who is hitting the cover off the ball. Rice, on the other hand, could find a nice spot for himself on the major league bench.
Jack Neely, Double-A
Here’s a bold prediction: Jack Neely is going to pitch high leverage innings for the Yankees in the middle half.
The scouting information on Neely is pretty thin. He’s a big dude at 6’8” 245 lbs. He threw 93-94 mph in 2023 with a big slider. His control isn’t great. Here’s some video:
But let’s scout the stat line for a second. Neely pitched 66 innings in 2023 with a 3.26 ERA, 100 strikeouts and 20 walks. That’s pretty great! So far in 2024, he’s pitched 11 innings with 17 strikeouts and 5 walks and allowed just one run.
The Yankees are desperate for a strikeout relief pitcher. Unlike a Clayton Beeter, Neely is already pitching out of the bullpen. He’s striking a ton of guys out. I wouldn’t be shocked to see them promote him to Triple-A after another month or so. If he pitches well and the Yankees bullpen continues to struggle to strike guys out, we could see Neely in the Bronx.
Yankees Prospect of the Month: Trystan Vrieling
Remember Vrieling? I didn’t.
The Yankees drafted Vrieling with the 100th overall pick of the 2022 draft. He missed the entire 2023 season with a fractured elbow. He returned to play in the Arizona Fall League, but got lit up with a 5.06 ERA in 10 2/3 innings. Not good for a player who also got lit up in his draft year for Gonzaga.
But the Yankees saw something they liked. I can’t remember the last notable player that they sent directly to Double-A from college.
I can’t find a post-injury scouting report, but he threw 91-95 mph with plus sliders and curveballs at the draft. He’s listed at 6’4” 200 lbs. The knock against him was always poor control. Here some video:
All Vrieling did after a year off in his first real minor league action, all the way up at Double-A? He posted a 1.80 ERA in 24 innings across 4 starts. He struck out 25 and walked just six. He’s in the conversation for best pitcher in all of Double-A.
Not bad! I don’t think that a promotion is imminent or something. We obviously need to see Vrieling do it over a long time period. But Vrieling was an interesting project when he was drafted in the 3rd round in 2022. The Yankees pushed him aggressively to start the season. All great signs.
