Ryan Garcia
The first half of the Minor League season is almost over; isn’t that crazy? The Yankees’ MiLB affiliates have been bringing some interesting action, and while the near-MLB ready guys get talked about, some of the other important names lose their time in the spotlight.
As a result, I figured it was appropriate to check-in on the top 10 in our pre-season top-30 alongside noting some guys that I’ve been intruiged by.
We’re writing up on 14 players in what is an even more joyous article given the New York Knicks 3-1 advantage in the NBA Finals after erasing the largest deficit in the history of the NBA Finals.
READ: The Yankees’ $22 million gamble is paying off
How Are the Yankees’ Top Names Performing?
*We’re going in order of our pre-season top 30, looking at the top 10 prospects in the system in this section*
George Lombard Jr.: The top-line results may not look great in Triple-A, but this is a situation where you have to monitor both the underlying numbers and the Yankees’ actions. Brian Cashman told the media entering the season that 2026 was not a realistic timeline for Lombard, but he’s clearly changed minds internally with his brilliant defense at shortstop, improving exit velocities, and stellar swing decisions. A young athletic infielder who has seen his stock rise exponentially, he’s looking like a 60 OFP guy and believe a summer call-up is looming.
Carlos Lagrange: A fireballer with command issues, the Yankees have elected to move him to the bullpen with the unspoken intent to call him up before the trade deadline. He’ll have to excel in this role first at the Triple-A level, and the early returns are pretty strong with a 1.35 ERA and 37% K%. I’m a bit worried that his fastballs won’t perform as well as the radar gun would suggest since they’ve been hit hard in Triple-A, but I think the Yankees could help turn his seemingly crappy slider-cutter hybrid into a true cutter, giving him the same overpowered tri-force that made Cam Schlittler an ace.
Dax Kilby: Has been hurt all year. Played one rehab game and disappeared without a trace. Wouldn’t consider that to be an ideal outcome.
Elmer Rodriguez: The command has taken a step back on the statsheet but I view Elmer Rodriguez as a pitcher who just needs more work to adapt to better competition. I think he falls in-love with being precise far too often and is afraid of allowing damage contact, with that fear being emphasized with runners on where a hanging slider can become a three-run mistake. He’s a modern-day feel-over-stuff guy because of the solid velocity, and if he can get to two strikes before he gets to two balls at a higher rate, he’ll be a really nice no. 3-4 starter in the big leagues.
Ben Hess: The Yankees revealed that Ben Hess’ injury was an arm one, which does concern me and lead me to wonder if the rapid decline in command is tied to that. His stuff is good and I like his sweeper-curveball to go with the four-seamer and changeup, but he’s throwing strikes at a rate that would make Carlos Lagrange look like Greg Maddux in comparison. He also has not faced more than 11 batters in an outing in two months…so I’m also looking at that a bit sideways. The arrow is down on him right now.
Bryce Cunningham: Another 2024 draft pick who has just been weirdly ineffective since returning from injury, Cunningham is trending towards falling out of the top-10. He hasn’t been able to locate the ball well since last summer and doesn’t miss enough bats or prevent enough damage contact to overcome it. I know the run environment in High-A is insane right now, but the rate at which he’s issuing walks and allowing home runs is something that deeply concerns me considering that his stuff has yet to have the expected uptick I had been waiting for. This is a right-hander who hit 97-98 multiple times in his organizational debut during the Spring Breakout game; that guy is not here right now.
Spencer Jones: On the surface, Jones was the exact same hitter in 2025 and 2026; the whiff rates were similar, he still offered at pitches out of zone frequently, and he still absolutely crushed the baseball. The outputs have improved though, and I think everyone in the Yankees’ organization wondered if Spencer Jones was just a guy who hits and the MiLB results reflected that he was an outlier in every sense of the word. The jury is still out on whether that is the case, but his MLB at-bats have been better than I expected and he looks like a player who should rank inside the top-five for this system again.
Chase Hampton: The stuff is solid, but Chase Hampton has still struggled with his command and the velocity is a tick below what we saw during his peak in 2023. I feel like I might always have that version of him in my head and as a result rank him a bit higher than he probably should be based solely on what we’ve seen post-injury, but sometimes it just takes time for these guys to come back. There will be a mention of this later, since it’s highly relevant to this organization specifically.
Thatcher Hurd: Outside of having probably the worst MiLB start I have ever seen (10 IP in 2.1 IP), he has been pretty good and the stuff is impressive coming off of Tommy John Surgery. Following the same logic path for Hampton, I’m going to give him some grace in 2026 and still bake-in what I saw at LSU when he was just lighting up stuff models and sitting in the mid-90s on his fastball. The 19 IVB on his fastball with a tight slider and a big curveball is what I expected (if not better) than what we saw in college, and with his over-the-top delivery and good extension should keep him in the top-10 in our next update.
Pico Kohn: The Yankees got a great debut start from Pico Kohn, it’s super unfortunate that he immediately got placed on the 60-day IL right after. He isn’t ruled out for the season, but we never get public information on the injury status of Yankees’ prospects so I cannot tell you that he’ll come back this year until he actually comes back. His release points are abnormal, the slider is nasty, and if the fastball velocity can sit closer to around 92-94 MPH, this could be a good backend starter at the Major League level, but he does have to stay healthy.
Risers in the Yankees’ System to Keep Eyes On
Tyler Hardman: Not ranked in our top-30 entering the season, Tyler Hardman is 27-years-old and there’s naturally some asterisks that you should slap on his production as a result. That being said, he’s running competitive zone contact rates that might allow him to be a short-side platoon bat with a solid glove at third base and first base as well, which would be a win considering how many injuries he’s had to overcome. His power is legit, and I’m curious if another team takes a flier on the opportunity to add a power hitting infielder at the deadline.
Henry Lalane: He’s so back. Sooooo back. He’s going to be in our top-10 this summer. I’m actually kind of sad that he might end up getting traded because if you’re a seller at the deadline you should be all over the chance to land a prospect who had top-100 buzz as a teenager before injuries derailed him and zapped some of the velocity. Now, Henry Lalane is averaging 94-95 MPH on his fastball again with a 70-grade changeup and an emerging breaking ball with good depth. If he can keep expanding his mix, maybe have more of a true sinker to go with the four-seamer, he could end up being mid-rotation starter at the Major League level.
Kyle Carr: I have consistently been the low man on Kyle Carr. He has lacked overpowering swing-and-miss stuff throughout his MiLB career, but he’s upped his whiff rates from years past. He steals strikes early in counts, keeps the ball on the ground, and seems to have figured out how to mix things up and make hitters uncomfortable. The Yankees may just ship him off at the trade deadline to a team with more runway to give someone who is a 40-45 OFP arm, but in any case, he actually looks like a future big leaguer.
Ben Grable: Some rocky outings have hurt his Double-A ERA, but Ben Grable is clearly the Yankees’ top reliever prospect (if we don’t count Carlos Lagrange). Eric Reyzelman had a hand in this race too but he’s on the IL with a back issue again which does complicate the long-term outlook a bit. Grable’s fastball has 20 inches of carry in the mid-90s which reminds me so much of Chad Green and it makes me think this is potentially a 2026-2027 reliever option. If I were the Yankees I’d just promote him again if he holds a 25% K-BB% in Double-A for another 4-6 weeks.
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