Back in 2022, the Yankees used their fifth-round pick on right-handed reliever Eric Reyzelman out of LSU, hoping that his power fastball could lead the charge to a quick ascent through the Minor Leagues. Injuries have prevented Reyzelman from getting much pro action, but in 2024 he dominated his way to Double-A, and now he finds himself with the Yankees as a non-roster invite.
While it would certainly be aggressive to have him make the Major League bullpen without pitching in Triple-A, his high-octane repertoire and competitive nature might force the Yankees’ hand during the season. By eviscerating three-straight batters in the Yankees’ Spring Training tie to the Phillies yesterday, Eric Reyzelman could force his way onto the roster in 2025.
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Eric Reyzelman’s fastball was hard to get ahold of for the Phillies yesterday, but that’s not something that should surprise anyone who’s followed the right-hander throughout the 2024 season. With blistering velocity, good vertical life, and a slightly lower release angle than most pitchers, Reyzelman can blow heaters by hitters with ease. It led to his impressive 2024 season, posting a 1.16 ERA with 63 strikeouts in 38.2 innings pitched last season across three MiLB levels.
His fastball sat 97 MPH yesterday, overpowering Philadelphia in his perfect inning of work. The most impressive part of this outing for Eric Reyzelman was how he just attacked the middle of the plate and still overpowered hitters.
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Pitchers with excellent arsenals can miss in-zone and still get outs, and while I hope Reyzelman is able to locate his hetaer a bit higher, his fastball requires your best swing to hit. There’s a reason why he threw this pitch over 80% of the time in his collegiate days at LSU, but the Yankees have helped him flesh out his arsenal.
This isn’t an era where throwing on pitch exclusively can work unless you literally throw the best pitch in the world, and Reyzelman has developed a sweeper and changeup to keep hitters honest. His slider has tons of lateral movement with good vertical drop, and that pitch can just rip through right-handed hitters whenever needed. The Yankees have always been good with sweepers, and Reyzelman’s armslot works for it.
His two sweepers against the Phillies had 19″ of sweep with -3″ IVB, that’ll play. The pitch I’m the most intrigued by is his changeup; it has so much depth that played off of his fastball, it should be the perfect weapon for situations against left-handed batters. This is a pitcher who is capable of punching out ~30% of MLB hitters in a bullpen role, and there aren’t many relievers who do that and don’t have success in the big leagues.