Yanks Day 2 Review

Today's theme was, once again: right handed pitching. There are a couple of things at work here, I think.  First, the slotting rules. Right handed pitching is far more plentiful than Left handed pitching.  Thus, picking in the second halves of rounds there are always likely to be more right handed pitchers left than lefties.  That's probably true in every draft.  And the first ten rounds of a draft are now so strategic that there's rarely meritocracy in any of the top 10 rounds.

Last night, the Yanks went to one of their favorite programs and drafted their injured ace because the value/price was probabley irresistible and immediately allowed them to turn around and add an 18 year old with an unlimited upside.  That made perfect sense, and essentially might have been the best way to balance their bets.

Today, they took 6 more RHP's as well as a Yankee Type Bat and an athletic lefty pitcher.  So we already realize that there were  likely to be a lot of RHP's available.  Here's where I think what they did was interesting. Chance Adams, who'm they took 2 years ago is already in AAA and the Yanks currently have a bunch of other RHP's who are thriving and starting to knock. So there's two things the amateur scouts and international scouts are finding RHP's they can develop, and then the coaches and coordinators are developing them. Sounds simple, but it hasn't always worked out so seemlessly.

So today, I'm seeing three RHP's I'm excited about and those are Trevor Stephan, Glenn Otto and Dalton Higgins. Stephan was the best best pitcher for Arkansas and has a seemingly unhittable fastball. He's got good size and I think they'll do everything to add more pitches and keep him a starter.

Likewise,  Glenn Otto is a big man with a big fastball and a deadly curve.  He was only still around because he'd been shutdown for a while at Rice.  Now, even though that does make him a little more likely to need surgery at some point, the fact that he didn't already have to have it, means he might have taken just the right approach by shutting down for awhile. Guys with this kind of curve are fun to watch.

Dalton Higgins is the guy from Texas Baptist, henceforth known here as Chance Adams Academy.  Last year they took Taylor Widener from South Carolina because he reminded them of Chance Adams.  That was the case with a couple of other college relievers they took last year who will now be starters whenever they get out of Extended Spring Training.  And I expect Dalton Higgins will also be converted to starting.

Speaking of EST, the Yankee system is now so loaded with talent, it is like an iceberg where not all of it is visible at any given time.  A lot is constantly going on below sea level.

As for Canaan Smith, he is exactly what we look for in a bat. He takes all of his walks, and loudly hammers strikes.  And he's a left power hitter.  Not that handedness has been a probelem for Sanchez or Judge,  the stadium has always favored lefties.

Speaking of which, Dalton Lehnen, is a really athletic and intriguing small school lefty and I am sure they will keep him in a rotation role all the way up or for as long as they can.

As per the three Senior RHP's we took at the end, we still do have money that needs to be saved, as well as short season pitching slots that need to be filled. Whitmer has alread pitched a lot this year and will either be the #1 starter at SI or get shutdown, both Austin Gardner and Kyle Zurak, might have a bit more than appealing price tags to recommend them.

I don't think we're picking 30 more RHP's tomorrow, but we might.