The New York Yankees seem to have a plentiful amount of young pitching prospects climbing the ranks as of late, with Deivi Garcia leading the pack and potentially becoming a relief option this season. Aside from Garcia, who has until August 31 to find his way to the majors, 21-year-old Miguel Yajure has been extremely impressive in High-A ball.
The New York Yankees have another good one rising through the ranks:
His recent stretch of dominance has been eye-opening, and it certainly has caught the attention of scouts in the Yankees minor-league network.
“And the best pitcher in the organization right now might be Miguel Yajure in Tampa,†the scout said, according to NJ.com.
Yajure has been extremely impressive with Tampa this season, reaching 97 mph on his fastball and earning a 2.15 ERA with an 8-6 record over 17 starters. His array of pitches and speed has produced plenty of weak contact hits and strikeouts. He has 119 strikeouts over about 121 innings, averaging 8.8 SO9.
“It’s been impressive,†High-A manager Aaron Holbert said in a phone interview of Yajure.
MLB Pipeline ranks him as the Yankees’ 27th ranked prospect, an interestingly low number considering his performance this season. We have to imagine that ranking will improve in 2020.
Holbert also stated:
“He gets out there and commands the strike zone and is unafraid to pitch to either side of the plate. A huge plus is that his velo has spiked up. He touched 97 his last time out. And he’s able to mix in a plus curve, a plus changeup as well as a nice little cutter to keep guys from leaning out over the plate.”
With MLB-quality speed on his fastball and his ability to work the plate, Yajure could be a reliable option moving forward, if not in the bullpen this season than indeed next year after the retirement of CC Sabathia. The Venezuelan pitcher will be Rule 5 Draft eligible this upcoming offseason, which means the Yanks must put him on the 40-man roster.