New York Yankees MiLB News: Here comes the Judge… and a few others

The New York Yankees No. 2 prospect in Minor League baseball is moving along faster than some people expected. Is Aaron Judge sniffing the big leagues?

Aaron Judge of course is one of the three first round draft picks the New York Yankees had in a 2013 draft that many felt reshaped the Yankees Minor League system. Since he has stepped on the field, Judge has been putting on a display of offensive excitement, and has earned a trip to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

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Judge, the 23-year old 6 foot 7, 275 pound right fielder, has been tabbed as the Minor League’s Giancarlo Stanton. He hits home runs and he hits them far. He did so last season en route to being a Mid-Season All Star for the Charleston RiverDogs, and continued to after his promotion to Tampa and then in an impressive Arizona Fall League debut.

Still the projections didn’t see Judge making it to the Major Leagues until mid-2016. Despite an impressive spring training with the Yankees, one in which his first home run was a game decider, the New York Yankees felt he needed more seasoning at Double-A. The Yankees philosophy of not rushing their top prospects was once again in full effect.

As the season has progressed, however, things have changed. Long time top New York Yankees prospects Slade Heathcott and Mason Williams finally earned their long-awaited promotions to the Big Apple. Both, in turn, were injured and are on the disabled list. Ramon Flores — the Yankees No. 25 prospect — was called up for his second stint in the Bronx. Flores has hit the ball well over his Minor League career, but struggled in his first go-round. He could excel this time.

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If he doesn’t however, the door is wide open for Judge to make his 2015 big league debut, and Yankees fans would go bananas. Judge is a special talent who left no question marks that he was ready for a promotion to the RailRiders. He slashed .284/.350/.516 in the Eastern League with Trenton, leaving the league tied for first in home runs with 12 and and third in RBI with 44.

The unfortunate truth is that in the coming weeks, Judge will have a hard time cracking the New York Yankees roster. Once Jacoby Ellsbury returns, that will relegate Chris Young back to full time fourth outfielder duties. Though Carlos Beltran isn’t getting any younger, he has certainly looked a lot more like himself in June. Garrett Jones is also on the bench as the back-up first baseman and right fielder, so the Yankees have plenty of options for right field, when healthy.

Staying healthy has been quite the chore for the Yankees the past few seasons. So has keeping a consistent bullpen. The New York Yankees kept their revolving door in the bullpen spinning by optioning Danny Burawa and Jose De Paula back to SWB and recalled Diego Moreno and Nick Rumbelow.