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The New York Yankees have three top pitching prospects all doing exceptionally well at Double-A Trenton: Justus Sheffield, Dillon Tate, and Domingo Acevedo. The three look like the future of the pitching staff and are due to arrive at the same time. Now all they need is a nickname.
The New York Yankees pitching prospect cupboard has five pieces of fine China in it right now.
23-year old right-hander Jonathan Loaisiga looked like the best of the lot before the season started and looks more like a level-jumper now. His ERA and WHIP are currently competing to see which one is more impressive after four starts (1.35/1.00). Meanwhile, his strikeouts-to-innings-pitched knows the truth (26/20).
But he’s in Tampa and has miles to go before he sleeps in Manhattan. Josh Rogers, by far the best starter at Scranton, rebounded from his worst start to have his best. Now after four altogether, the lefty doesn’t look like the next man up, but a potentially very good man.
And his numbers look great everywhere you look.
His 24 total innings pitched shows an average of six per game, which is okay. But in two of them he completed seven full, the ability young pitchers have the hardest time adding. And one no other pitcher on this list can claim.
His ERA of 3.00 and WHIP of 1.04 coupled with his 27 strikeouts are quite showy. Come the next stubbed toe in the Bronx; Rogers will be showing his arm off on YES.
But that’s it currently at Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes/Barre: Rogers. The fading Chance Adams has a 5.11 ERA and WHIP of 1.42…and he looks like the next best option.
Which brings us to Double-A Trenton.
The Paw-Paw Patch
Down there all three New York Yankees starting stud hopefuls are performing like it. It’s hard to say which one is doing worst, so I’ll start with the one who has had the fewest starts: Domingo Acevedo. While he has had only two starts due to a blister issue, the incredibly early returns are encouraging.
But with Domingo Acevedo, the encouragement comes from a strange source.
Typically one of the first stats you look for in a minor league pitcher is a roughly one-to-one strikeouts to innings pitched ratio. The idea is if you cannot overpower that many hitters in the minors, you might get destroyed by more powerful ones in the majors.
So his eight SO in ten innings is unremarkable. That’s especially true when you consider Domingo Acevedo’s main weapon is his blistering fastball. But what Domingo Acevedo needs is to control the zone and continue to develop his off-speed stuff; so far, so good.
In his very limited sample size, both his ERA (2.61) and WHIP (1.16) are ever so slightly below his career averages (2.81/1.19). That’s better news than it seems. Domingo Acevedo has relied on his fastball during much of his career. Throwing 100-mph against 19-year-olds always helps depress an ERA.
But he’s throwing a lot more soft stuff now. The reason he started the season in Trenton instead of being prepared to pitch in the New York Yankees pen was for just this reason.
And so the fact that he is having success with secondary pitches still in need of work is very promising. More tangible results can be seen in his giving up just five hits in 10.1 innings pitched. His walks are up (7), but his numbers are overall down.
He will make another start soon and will be depressing batters in Scranton not long after.
But Not Yankees Fans
Whether he moves up first, however, or has to play catch up is soon to be decided. And that’s because both Dillon Tate and Justus Sheffield are fulfilling a lot of promises right now.
The righty Dillon Tate has made twice as many starts as Domingo Acevedo, and his numbers look twice as good. His ERA is a bit worse although still excellent (3.00), but his WHIP is much lower (0.81). He is still trying to get deeper into games, though, as he has only completed six innings twice.
But when he’s in there, he controls the game. He has allowed only 14 hits in his 21 IP, and he’s struck out 19 men while only walking three. And the best part of Dillon Tate’s performance so far? It’s made him only the second best pitcher on the team.
The title of primo belongs to Justus Sheffield. He already had the better pedigree and prospect ranking; now he’s pitching like it. His ERA of 2.86 and WHIP of 1.09 show a solid, commanding pitcher, the type the New York Yankees want.
His 30 strikeouts in 22 innings, with only 11 walks and 13 hits, however, show a lefty starter the Yankees need. And one they will soon be moving to Scranton.
To The Bronx Side
In fact, all three will be on the move before long.
There are currently four starting pitchers at Triple-A who have ERA’s over five: Daniel Camarena (6.35), David Hale (5.52), Brody Koerner (5.49), and the already unmasked Adams (5.11). Chance is going to get a longer leash, and even Camarena might get one or two more starts, at the most.
But none of the non-Adams pitchers are highly ranked or highly thought of. And as the New York Yankees need some additional quality depth at Triple-A, things will have to change sooner rather than later.
All three Double-A’ers, then, seem destined to move up more or less at the same time, and soon.
And if they all arrive at Triple-A and do as well as expected, they will gain fame as a trio; we’ve seen it before. That means all they need now is a nickname.
I bring this up so we can avoid the perils of the past. Fortunately, there is no chance the “Killer Bee’s” can be used; that’s as verboten a term as “Butt Fumble” in this town. But they need something.
Because the New York Yankees might have three of their most essential pitchers for the next decade due to arrive at the same time, a time that is coming soon.
