by James Vlietstra
March 2, 2021
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Right Handed Pitchers 23 and Older:
The Yankees Major League roster has several pitchers that fall into this category. In the starting rotation, Cole, German, Taillon, Kluber, and Severino are all right handed. Severino is on the 60-day IL as he recovers from Tommy John Surgery.
The bullpen consists of righties Luis Cessa, Chad Green, Ben Heller, Darren O’Day, and Jonathan Loaisiga.
Michael King and Nick Nelson both exceeded their rookie status as Yankees in 2020. They both have minor league options remaining. They will likely spend the entire season shuffling between the Bronx and Scranton.
There’s four prospects that meet the criteria for being on the 40-man roster and are also Top 30 prospects, as rated by MLB Pipeline. A fifth is a top 30 prospect.
Clarke Schmidt, 25, is a former first round pick. He is the Yankees #2 prospect and #88 overall in the sport. He made his MLB debut in 2020. He will begin the year in Scranton after losing a few weeks of Spring Training with an injury.
Alexander Vizcaino, 23, is the Yankees #8 prospect. He spent 2019 in Charleston. I expect to see him break camp with Somerset.
Albert Abreu, 25, is the number 12 prospect. He made his MLB debut in 2020. However, he is out of options so this spring is the most important of his young career. It’s possible he gets a roster position as a mop up man rather than lose him.
Glen Otto, 24, is the 27th ranked prospect. He is not on the 40-man roster. He spent 2019 in Tampa.
Brooks Kriske, 27, is the 28th rated prospect. He made his MLB debut in 2020. He will be one of the first called up in case of injury.
Frank German was a top 25 prospect prior to being traded to the Boston Red Sox.
Trevor Stephan was selected in the Rule 5 draft by the Cleveland Indians.
Garrett Whitlock was selected in the Rule 5 draft by the Boston Red Sox.
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Here are a bunch of veterans that were brought in to provide depth. They currently are not on the 40-man roster but are viable options should the need arise:
Luis Garcia, 34
Lucas Luetge, 33
Adam Warren, 33
Jhoulys Chacin, 33
Asher Wojciechowski, 32
Ryan Barraclough, 30
Matthew Bowman, 29
Justin O’Connor, 28
Reggie McClain, 28
Addison Russ, 26
Stephen Ridings, 25
And here are mostly home grown Yankees that have been in the organization:
Brody Koerner, 27
David Sosebee, 27
Brian Keller, 26
Kyle Zurak, 26
Braden Bristo, 26
Aaron McGarity, 26
Nick Green, 25
Shawn Semple, 25
Greg Weissert, 25
Ron Marinaccio, 25
Jefrey Valdez, 25
Bryan Blanton, 25
Jansen Junk, 25
Keegan Curtis, 25
Mick Vorhof, 25
Freire Perez, 24
Nelvin Correa, 24
Blakely Brown, 24
Alex Mejia, 24
Carlos Espinal, 24
Danny Bies, 24
Barrett Loseke, 24
Derek Craft, 24
Justin Wilson, 24
Zach Greene, 24
Sean Boyle, 24
Nick Ernst, 24
Rodney Hutchinson, 24
Luis Ojeda, 24
Trevor Holloway, 23
Jarod Lessar, 23
Jim Orozco, 23
Jhony Brito, 23
Elvis Peguero, 23
Wellington Diaz, 23
Zach Kuhn, 23
Charlie Ruegger, 23
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