Where the Yankees' Top 30 prospects are starting the 2023 season
With the Minor League season opening this week, here's where the Yankees' Top 30 Prospects are projected to start:
- Anthony Volpe (MLB No. 5), SS -- New York (MLB)
- Jasson Domínguez (MLB No. 47), OF -- Somerset (Double-A)
- Oswald Peraza (MLB No. 52), SS -- Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (Triple-A)
- Austin Wells, C -- Somerset (Double-A) -- injured list (fractured rib)
- Spencer Jones, OF -- Hudson Valley (High-A)
- Everson Pereira, OF -- Somerset (Double-A)
- Trey Sweeney, SS -- Somerset (Double-A)
- Drew Thorpe, RHP -- Hudson Valley (High-A)
- Will Warren, RHP -- Somerset (Double-A)
- Richard Fitts, RHP -- Somerset (Double-A)
- Yoendrys Gómez, RHP -- Extended spring training (right shoulder)
- Brando Mayea, OF -- Dominican complex
- Roderick Arias, SS -- Extended spring training
- Randy Vásquez, RHP -- Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (Triple-A)
- Clayton Beeter, RHP -- Somerset (Double-A)
- Luis Gil, RHP -- New York (MLB) -- injured list (Tommy John rehab)
- Trystan Vrieling, RHP -- Extended spring training (right elbow)
- Elijah Dunham, OF -- Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (Triple-A)
- Luis Serna, RHP -- Extended spring training (right shoulder fatigue)
- Tyler Hardman, 3B -- Somerset (Double-A)
- Anthony Hall, OF -- Extended spring training (wrist)
- Matt Sauer, RHP -- Extended spring training (right forearm strain)
- Sean Hermann, RHP -- Tampa (Single-A)
- Zach Messinger, RHP -- Hudson Valley (High-A)
- Brendan Beck, RHP -- Extended spring training (Tommy John rehab)
- Chase Hampton, RHP -- Hudson Valley (High-A)
- Jhony Brito, RHP -- New York (MLB)
- Carson Coleman, RHP -- Somerset (Double-A) -- injured list (right elbow surgery)
- Sean Boyle, RHP -- Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (Triple-A)
- Brock Selvidge, LHP -- Tampa (Single-A)
Team to watch
Double-A Somerset includes five of New York's 10 best prospects: outfielders Jasson Domínguez and Everson Pereira, shortstop Trey Sweeney and right-handers Will Warren and Richard Fitts. Catcher Austin Wells will give the Patriots a sixth member of that group once he recovers from a fractured rib by the end of April.
Players we could see in MLB in 2023
Oswald Peraza was the favorite to win the Yankees' shortstop job after hitting .306/.404/.429 as a September callup and playing in the American League Championship Series, but he lost out to Anthony Volpe in Spring Training. Right-hander Randy Vásquez has the best curveball in the system and a fastball that touches 100 mph, so he could help an injury-riddled pitching staff.
New faces
Right-handers Drew Thorpe, Trystan Vrieling and Chase Hampton -- all college starters drafted in the top six rounds last July -- will make their pro debuts in 2023. So will righty Brendan Beck, who had Tommy John surgery two months after New York popped him in 2021's second round. Cuban outfielder Brando Mayea, who has a chance for plus or better tools across the board and signed for $4.35 million in January, will debut in Rookie ball this summer.
On the shelf
Beyond Wells, the Yankees have several other prospects who aren't ready to start the season. Right-handers Luis Gil and Beck still are coming back from elbow reconstructions, and righty Carson Coleman had less extensive elbow surgery but will miss most of the year. Yoendrys Gómez (shoulder), Vrieling (elbow), Luis Serna (shoulder fatigue) and Matt Sauer (forearm strain) are four more righties working their way back from various maladies. Outfielder Anthony Hall, a 2022 fourth-rounder whose pro debut ended when he broke the hamate in his right hand in his first pro at-bat, hurt his wrist and required a second surgery in January but should be able to return by mid-April.