New York Yankees: Could James Kaprielian Be in Rotation This Season?
By Jason Evans
The New York Yankees’ rotation is full of question marks. Could a former first-round pick be the answer?
When the New York Yankees drafted James Kaprielian in the first round of the 2015 draft, the plan was for him to move pretty quickly through the farm system and become a member of the rotation. He missed most of last season with arm troubles and came back to make just three starts in High A and seven starts in the Arizona Fall League.
The original plan this spring was to bring him along slowly and that he may not even get into a game during Spring Training. Well, things change and now Kaprielian may get into a game this spring. Per the New York Post:
"“I think we’re probably going to see him in a game,” Girardi said of the 16th pick in the 2015 draft out of UCLA. “I’m not sure when, but I think our plan is his next appearance is going to be in a game. We’ve taken it slow on purpose because he’s pitched in the fall league.”"
If Kaprielian can get through that and start the season well, there’s even a chance he could be up in the bigs before the year is out.
"“He’s another kid that we think can move pretty quickly,” Girardi said. “Whether he gets here this year, I don’t know, but there’s a ton of talent there. I think the biggest thing for him is to stay healthy. If he does that, there’s definitely a chance I think.”"
The Yankees have a ton of rotation questions, not only this year but in the future as well. Masahiro Tanaka can opt out of his contract after this season and has the partial tear in his elbow. CC Sabathia and Michael Pineda are free agents after the season. Young pitchers like Chad Green, Luis Cessa and Luis Severino have a lot to prove, and there are other prospects like Chance Adams and Jordan Montgomery.
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If Kaprelian turns out to be the real deal and comes up at some point during the season to show that, it gets rid of one question in their rotation moving forward. The Yankees will have money to spend and there could be free agents like Yu Darvish and Jake Arrieta hitting the market after the season, but as we’ve seen, spending big money on free agent pitchers is sometimes not the way to go.
I would expect the Yankees to get some of their young arms up in the big leagues at some point this year to see what they have and if Kaprielian is healthy, it wouldn’t shock me if he was one of them.