Yankees minor league baseball begins today with a prospect preview

Big and Nasty

First up has to be Domingo Acevedo. If he is going to help the Yankees this year, it will have to be as a reliever. He is still a two-pitch pitcher, which is bad for a starter, but one of those pitches is a 103-mph fastball, which is great for a reliever.

Several players are only starting the season at Trenton; Domingo is certainly one.

Bolstering his credentials is his ninth place ranking in the Yankees system, and spot number 103 on Sickel’s list. If I were going to bank on the next long-term fire-baller out of the bullpen a la Betances, my money would be on Acevedo.

Not that he doesn’t have some company. The 17th ranked Cody Carroll has two things going for him: One, he is coming off of his best season (2.54 ERA/1.13 WHIP; 89 SO in 67 IP) and, two, he caught manager Aaron Boone’s eye in Spring Training.

Trust is a big factor in bullpen arms and that Carroll has some of Boonie’s already might be a key factor in any call-ups.

Penned Up Yankees

Beyond these, there are two other arms of interest starting the season in Trenton’s pen: Jordan Foley and Jose Mesa jr.

Foley, the big right-hander, has been slowly making his way through the system with just average numbers. But in the last two years, his SO/IP ratio has taken off. Two years ago it was 88/65, while last season saw him strikeout 49 in only 31 innings. That’s a promising trend for a pitcher at Double-A.

And joining him is the just returned Mesa. The Yankees sent this confirmation tweet just a few days ago:

His time there proved that any big league future he has will be out of the pen, as this summary by northjersey.com makes plain:

"Mesa Jr. struggled with the Orioles in spring training, allowing five runs in 7.2 innings. With the Yankees, Mesa Jr. did not move past High Class A ball until this past season. In 34.1 innings with Class AA Trenton last season, he excelled with a 0.79 ERA to go with 39 strikeouts. With Class A Tampa in the Florida State League, he posted a 2.72 ERA in 49.2 innings."

I was sorry to see him go and am glad for his return. It seems a fait accompli that Mesa gets a big league bullpen tryout in 2018. And without more starting depth already at Scranton, that is probably true for one of the three standout starters in Trenton, as well.

Which one depends on who has the best first half of 2018.