New York Yankees: Gary Sanchez, Chance Adams Named Yankees Prospects of the Year
Gary Sanchez‘ rookie season with the New York Yankees took the baseball world by storm as he catapulted himself into Rookie of the Year contention after playing just 53 games.
For his heroic efforts, MLB Pipeline named him one of the top New York Yankees prospects of the year earlier this week.
Not only did the 23-year old Sanchez tie an 86-year old Major League record by hitting 20 home runs through his first 51 big league games, but he also became the quickest player in baseball history to 19 home runs, breaking a record previously set by Wally Berger in 1930.
After slashing .299/.376/.657 with an outstanding 1.032 OPS, Gary Sanchez solidified himself as the every-day catcher for the Yankees moving forward, even with the veteran Brian McCann under contract through 2018.
Sharing the honors with Gary Sanchez as the MLB Pipeline Top Yankees Prospect of the Year is 22-year old right-handed pitcher Chance Adams.
Adams, who was selected by the Yankees in the 5th round of the 2015 Amateur Draft out of Dallas Baptist University, is currently ranked as the Yankees No.13 overall prospect after pitching to an incredible 13-1 record with a 2.33 ERA in 25 games. 24 of those games were at Double-A with the Trenton Thunder, the other was with the Class A Advanced Tampa Yankees.
When all was said and done, Adams pitched a combined 127.1 innings, striking out 144 and walking just 39 batters. Next year Adams is likely to start in Triple-A as a member of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders starting rotation, and if he continues to progress he might just be in pinstripes by the end of 2017 season.
Next: Is Gary Sanchez A Legit Rookie of the Year Candidate?
Other New York Yankees prospects have continued to make headlines as of late, including the recently acquired Gleyber Torres, who began the 2016 Arizona Fall League as the No.2 ranked prospect behind Red Sox prospect Yoan Moncada.
Other New York Yankees prospects getting underway in the Arizona Fall League include Greg Bird, Tyler Wade, J.P. Feyereisen, James Kaprielian, Brody Koerner and Dillon Tate.