Yankees minor league baseball begins today with a prospect preview

A Big Bat in the Outfield

Left fielder Frederick Cuevas had a breakout year as a 20-year old in Pulaski. His slash featured career highs in AVG and SLG: .312/.373/.455. Promising in equal measure are his three home runs in 43 games, at the age of 19, and that he hit them as a lefty, as helpful to a hopeful Yankees hitter as a pitcher.

However, one good season does not make a prospect. But it does make him of real interest; did he figure it out or already have his career year? He doesn’t have to prove it this year, but he cannot fall off of a cliff either. Now on to one of his playmates.

"Joining him in the outfield will be fellow RiverDog-returner Steven Sensley , a lefty masher with huge raw power. The former Ragin’ Cajun clubbed 13 home runs (including four with Charleston) in just 50 games after being drafted in the 12th round out of Lousiana-Lafayette, the third-most long balls of anyone from the 2017 class."

We went back to Matt Dean’s fine piece for that last quote. One thing not mentioned is that the right fielder is also older than the others we have looked at, and will play this season at the age of 22. However, that does not account for the disparity in home runs.

Average Power

But Steven has always been more than just a big bat. Here’s a piece from two years ago from Stephan Wiebe from the Anchorage Daily News:

"Through Thursday’s games, Sensley ranks third in the ABL in batting average (.318), second in RBIs (19), fourth in runs scored (16) and is tied for second in home runs (3). In his second game in Alaska, Sensley smacked a seventh-inning grand slam that put the Bucs ahead in an 11-8 win over the Mat-Su Miners. The lefty from Baton Rouge was drafted out of University High in 2013 in the 33rd round by Minnesota, but he chose not to sign. He was drafted again in 2015 in the 38th round by Tampa Bay after a year of junior college play at Louisiana State-Eunice, and again he declined the offer."

And last year, Sensley continued to show his hitting skills, finishing .292/.370/.584. Now he has to show he can do it against age-appropriate talent. But if he does, he will find himself soon moving up in the Yankees system and rankings. And in the eyes of the fans.