The Yankees have had RHP Yoendrys Gomez on their 40-man roster for a couple of years now, with the prospect making his big-league debut last September. He’s come up for a few outings this season, with mixed results due to declining stuff and command, and he’s been all but forgotten since his most recent demotion. Very quietly though, there’s been a notable uptick in velocity and movement on his fastball, as something has seemingly clicked for Gomez in the final weeks of the Triple-A season.
With the bullpen potentially having some open spots available, Yoendrys Gomez could be a factor in the Yankees bullpen in October or in 2025.
Yoendrys Gomez Making Serious Strides, Yankees Could Include Him in Bullpen Plans
There are a couple of unique quirks in the way that Yoendrys Gomez delivers the ball that would allow a fastball with somewhat underwhelming data to perform pretty well anyways. His 5.5 ft release height is lower than normal for a right-handed pitcher, which can further play up the effect of a four-seamer with some carry. Gomez also gets downhill really well, with 6.8 ft of extension on his fastball as he delivers the pitch, which gives his heater roughly another MPH in perceived velocity.
His roughly below-average fastball was an average pitch thanks to the unique nature of his mechanics, but he’s found a way to improve his four-seamer significantly. Not only is he averaging 1.2 more MPH on his fastball since the start of August, but Yoendrys Gomez is also seeing about a one-inch increase in IVB, making the pitch even more dominant at the top of the strike zone, all without changing his release height or sacrificing command.
The four-seamer being better has allowed him to throw it aggressively, and considering some of his command issues, it’s important for him to have a fastball that he can heavily rely on. What you’ll see is that he platoons his pitches heavily, being almost exclusively fastball-sweeper against righties but against lefties he’ll mix-in his fastball, changeup, curveball, and some gyro sliders (maybe they’re cutters).
He’s been a reverse-splits pitcher since August, but his wOBA against RHBs (.324) is still pretty good when you adjust for the park environment. The average RHB has a .329 wOBA at the Triple-A level this season, so he’s still effective relative to the rest of Triple-A in those matchups. In a reliever role, I think we could see an uptick in stuff and a more simple repetoire, which could help him get some easier outs and carve out a role on the Yankees.
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Yoendrys Gomez will be out of Minor League options next season, meaning the Yankees will need to make a decision on his future. They either need to DFA him or place him on their big-league roster, and I’m not particularly sure if the Yankees will give him any more reps down the stretch. Spring Training in 2025 could be one of the most important stretches of his career, but I think he’s flashing the upside to earn a job and stay on this team moving forward.
Clay Holmes, Tommy Kahnle, and Tim Hill will all be free agents after the 2024 campaign, opening up three important spots in the Yankees’ bullpen. Just as fellow Triple-A teammate Clayton Beeter has transitioned to a bullpen role, we could see Yoendrys Gomez move to the bullpen as well. He’s pitching less than five innings a start for the most part, making you wonder how much more his stuff would tick upward if he could pitch just one or two innings per outing.
We’ve seen him hold his own at the Major League level, but the lack of command has been an issue that has snake-bitten him in two categories. Obviously boasting a walk rate north of 11% is a problem, but his poor command has made his stuff a lot easier to make contact with as not executing a pitch, regardless of how good the pitch metrics are on it, leave it vulnerable to damage contact.
He’s not a perfect pitcher, but Yoendrys Gomez has improved dramatically in terms of his fastball shape and velocity, and if he continue this tear, we could see him on the Yankees in 2025.