Evil Empire Yankees Blog

In news that surprises no one, Yankees’ fans have been tough on newcomer Anthony Volpe and veteran Aaron Hicks. A quick gander at their baseball reference pages reveals the reason behind the disappointment. Quite simply, both players have underperformed in the early season. Anthony Volpe is hitting .143/.273/.214/.487 with one triple and three stolen bases, while striking out 11 times. Aaron Hicks is hitting .091/.167/.091/.258 with a single and four strikeouts in four games. Volpe has not committed an error yet but there have been several plays he should have made that he didn’t. Hicks has been exactly what you’d expect from him in the field. Is the criticism of the fans justified? In one case no, and in the other yes. A rookie shortstop nine games into his career, under the microscope of New York City, debuting at the age of 21 with just 21 games under his belt is beyond reproach at this stage. To be able to get to this point was an impressive feat. With all the challenges Volp

1. Spencer Jones – 6-foot-7, 240-pounds, CF, LHB, 21-years-old – Not yet a top 100 prospect, but will be if he has the season he is capable of in 2023. Jones has the speed to man CF, the power to be a perpetual 40 homerun threat, and a left-handed bat with tremendous exit velocity. He even has a powerful left-handed arm in centerfield. It still baffles me that he somehow made it to the Yankees in the 2022 draft. Personally, I think he’s the next top prospect in this organization, and possibly a star someday. 2. Will Warren – 6-foot-2, 175-pounds, RHP, 23-years-old – Word from camp is that Warren is up 1-2 mph from last season, which would put him at 94-97 mph. If this is true, Warren is incredibly dangerous with his spin rate and arsenal, and could be a major league option by the end of 2023. Warren has filthy secondary pitches, though scouts main gripe with him at this point is command (locating his pitches within the strike zone). Warren is another developmental success story for

Starting from Triple-A and moving down, here are the position player prospects who have made the most progress since 2019 when they last played in the minors. Many of these players are still sleepers, but they won’t be for much longer if this success continues. 1. Trey Amburgey – OF, 26-years-old – Amburgey did make big progress in 2019, where he finished with 22 homeruns and an .822 OPS. The start he is off to puts that line to shame though. In just 13 games, he has five homeruns and five doubles with a .404/.451/.830/1.281 line. This is obviously not a sustainable pace, however he is making a loud argument to get some playing time for the major league team. At this rate, it is only a matter of time before he plays in the majors somewhere, and his stock is rising rapidly. 2. Hoy Jun Park – SS/2B, 25-years-old – Up until now, Park’s career high in homeruns is seven in 110 games. So far this year, he already has six homeruns in just 25 games. He also has five doubles and five stolen bas

It is fun to imagine what would happen if the Yankees traded every player who was originally from another team and stuck only with homegrown talent.  It’s not always a pretty picture, but this year’s list isn’t as disappointing as year’s prior. The criteria for this list are as follows: 1. The player must have spent at least one full season in the Yankees minor leagues 2. The player must currently be in the Yankees system, including both the major and minor leagues. 3. Every player currently on the roster who does not meet the above criteria will be traded or released sometime over the next three seasons in this hypothetical scenario. Let’s dive in. C – Austin Wells – Wells is just beginning his minor league career in 2021, but he has fans within the organization who feel he could already hold his own in the majors. Wells has the bat to carry him all the way to the majors quickly. According to team officials his defense has rapidly improved as well. Expected statistics: .275/

 "Don't sleep on his power." This has been the mantra when I speak to scouts about Trevor Hauver since long before the 2021 season started. Here we are five games in and none of them would have predicted the thunderous explosion Hauver has had at the start of his career.  The 2021 draft came and went, and was a relatively quiet year compared to most. With abbreviated seasons and/or cancellations, there was a lot of mystery surrounding the draft and many of the picks. Trevor Hauver was not a mystery, but as a third round pick he wasn't the talk of the town either.  Hauver played outfield in college, mainly because he was buried behind some major talent in the Arizona State infield. To his credit, he took to it nicely and can now play outfield too. The Yankees believe Hauver is best suited at second base, which is why they have him there to start the season. He has a so-so arm so his options are limited to second, left field, or first base. He will likely play all three

Despite a surging Giancarlo Stanton and recent improvements from Gleyber Torres, DJ Lemahiue, and Clint Frazier, a large portion of the Yankees lineup is still struggling. The back half of the lineup is a collection of below the Mendoza line batting averages with little to no run production. Giancarlo Stanton can't continue to hit a homerun every game forever (or can he?), so it is important that some other people in the lineup start to step it up. Aaron Judge is beginning to slump a bit, and Gio Urshela is hurting, though he will likely avoid a DL stint. Mike Ford has not done a great job filling in at first base. Gary Sanchez has been the 2019-2020 version of himself, and Brett Gardner hasn't been great either. These guys all still have plenty of time to turn their seasons around, but the team could use a boost at this stage of the season. Enter Miguel Andujar and Luke Voit. Miguel Andujar started the season in Triple-A hot, so the Yankees called him up when they learned Ursh

The Bronx Baseball Daily website was up for renewal, and I decided not to go through with it. I knew I couldn't commit the time to publish content to justify including "daily" in the name of my website. As a result, I am back to my old stomping grounds with the Evil Empire Yankees Blog. There hasn't been much of a reason to publish content for me, as my passion is prospects and the pandemic shut down the minors completely in 2020. I wanted to start off with a bang, and publish my annual top 50 prospects before the season kicks off. I am beyond excited for the season to start after a full year of missing Minor League Baseball. Without further ado, here is my top 50 list. I will be posting the "just missed the list" group soon. Enjoy. 1. Jasson Dominguez – 5-foot-10, 190-pounds, CF, SH, 18-years-old – At this point the anticipation for Dominguez’s debut has reached a fever pitch. He hasn’t registered a minor league at bat yet, but the hype has been crazy. He h