Cale Coshow Archives - River Avenue Blues

The Scranton shuttle and other relief depth [2019 Season Preview]

March 15, 2019 by Derek Albin

It’s pretty easy to predict how the Yankees are going to staff their bullpen this season. There are six players guaranteed a roster spot, barring injury. The team is planning to carry a 13 man pitching staff this year, meaning that there are two open spots assuming a five man starting rotation. Tommy Kahnle probably snags one of the two jobs considering he’s out of options. The last opening probably will be interchangeable throughout the season, though having a long reliever could be the outcome.

There are no shortage of relievers who could ride the Scranton shuttle this season, rotating as the 13th pitcher as needed. Some of them are already on the 40-man, while others are non-roster invitees. It would be easy to write off any of the foregoing players as significant contributors, but let’s not forget that what Jonathan Holder did last year. He went from being the main back-and-forth guy to a major league bullpen staple.

40-man shuttlers

Stephen Tarpley

There usually isn’t too much to say about a September call-up who’s a reliever. Yet, Tarpley has become a pretty fascinating pitcher to follow. The Yankees probably envision him as Zack Britton-lite, and there’s good reason why. Prior to Britton joining the Yankees, Tarpley spent some time shadowing him prior to the 2017 season. Who knows if that story would have been uncovered had Britton not been traded to New York.

Tarpley saw his groundball rate jump dramatically in 2017, almost certainly due to Britton’s influence. Combine that with the high strikeout rates in the high minors and you have an interesting relief prospect. Tarpley was pretty good in his 10 inning cameo last September and even made the playoff roster. He’ll probably get the bulk of the major league time that anyone else on the Scranton shuttle gets this summer.

Ben Heller

Tommy John surgery cost Heller all of 2018 and will curtail part of his 2019 as well. After going under the knife last April, he’s six weeks away rehab game action. That doesn’t mean he’s close to the big leagues, though. In all likelihood, he’s probably not an option until mid-season.

The Yankees acquired Heller as part of the Andrew Miller trade a few years ago. He’s already seen small parts of two major league seasons with the Yankees, totaling 18 innings. Best known for his mid-to-high 90s fastball, it’ll be interesting to see how his velocity returns this summer. Even though he’s already had a good deal of success in Triple-A, he’s probably going to spend a lot of time there this year.

Joe Harvey

Harvey was a somewhat surprising 40-man roster addition a few months ago. One of the reasons I profiled him in February was because I didn’t know anything about him. He’s still a bit of a mystery, though the Yankees clearly like him enough to save him a seat on the 40-man.

A little bit has been made about the spin rate on his fastball. It’s very good, and spin rate has become all the rage in baseball these days. Just look at what the Astros have done with their pitchers. Anyway, Harvey doesn’t appear to have much else other than a good fastball. Yet, if he puts up numbers like he did in the minors last year (sub 2 ERA), he’ll get his shot this summer.

Non-roster possibilities with big league experience

Danny Farquhar

As Mike wrote last month, it’s pretty easy to pull for Farquhar to carve out a role with the big club. It’s a distinct possibility that he could return to the majors after his near-death experience in the White Sox dugout last summer. As a non-roster invitee who’s already been sent to minor league camp, he’s still on the outside looking in. It’s not hard to see why the Yankees like him: he strikes out plenty of hitters and has had good seasons with Seattle and Tampa Bay. Plus, the Yankees have had him in the organization before, back in 2012. There’s still a lot for Farquhar to overcome, but if he resembles something of his old self he could be in pinstripes this year.

Rex Brothers

Brothers is representative of the adage that lefties never run out of opportunities. The southpaw was pretty impressive for the Rockies early in his career with his high velocity fastball. Eventually, Colorado cut bait when his control evaded him. After not making the Cubs in 2016, he sat out the entire season. Beginning in 2017, he worked his way back to the big leagues with Atlanta. His walk problems never went away though, and he walked more than a batter per inning in the minors last year. Still, his velocity from the left side is tantalizing. He averaged over 96 MPH on his heater in limited time with Atlanta last season. He can’t be totally ignored as an option for the Yankees since he is in camp, but it would probably take a ton of injuries or an unlikely resurgence.

Daniel Coulombe

Stylistically, Coulombe is the opposite of Brothers. Instead of a high-octane fastball, Coulombe is a lefty who relies on his slider and curveball two-thirds of the time. He’s been in the majors every year since 2014, split between the Dodgers and A’s, with middling results. It’s hard to see him as much more than emergency depth even though he’s hung around the highest level for a while now. Maybe another team will want to give him a big league chance before the month is over, but if not, he’ll hang around in Scranton most of the year. Maybe he could be plucked for September call-ups if the Yankees want a matchup lefty.

Prospects invited to big league spring training

Trevor Stephan

Even though Stephan has been a starter in the minors, it sounds like 2017’s 3rd-rounder could be best deployed out of the bullpen. He works exclusively out of the stretch, doesn’t really have a third pitch just yet, and has a little bit of an odd delivery. Stephan’s a pretty big guy, standing at six-foot-four, but his fastball extension is even more impressive. He’s got a seven foot reach which certainly makes his fastball tougher to hit. He’ll be in the minors to start the year, but he should be knocking on the door by year end.

Brady Lail

25-year-olds aren’t always prospects, but Lail became mildly interesting after moving to the bullpen last summer. From getting drafted in 2012 through his climb to Triple-A, the righty was a starter. Last year, he became a full-time reliever and started picking up more strikeouts. He wasn’t a one-and-done type of guy though; he pitched multiple innings quite a bit out of the pen. His ERA was too high, sitting over 5, but as a multi-inning option he could become an alternative to someone like Luis Cessa this season. Lail’s already been assigned to minor league camp, but he could be around later this year.

Raynel Espinal and Phillip Diehl

I’m grouping these two together because Domenic called them out as guys who could help the Yankees this year. Espinal, 27, has been in the organization since 2013 and finally made Triple-A last year. He’s yet another hard-thrower with impressive strikeout rates. Diehl, 24, is a lefty without much of a platoon split thus far in his minor league career. He’s had a great spring (6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 10 K) and Aaron Boone has mentioned him by name when asked who’s impressed in camp. Both are probably heading to Scranton to start the year, but either could become part of the shuttle in a few months.

Cale Coshow

At six-foot-five and 270 pounds, Coshow has a presence on the mound. He flip-flopped between starting and relieving from 2013 through 2016 until becoming a reliever full-time in 2017. You’ve heard this story before: he started to miss a lot more bats in the bullpen. He’s likely low on the promotion pecking order, but the fact that he was in big league camp means the Yankees like him to some degree.

March 12th: Spring Training Notes: Hicks, Sabathia, Paxton, Gregorius, Heller, Ellsbury, Roster Cuts

March 12, 2019 by Mike

The Yankees rallied in the eighth inning to beat the Orioles tonight. Miguel Andujar had three hits and made a nice defensive play going to his right. Brett Gardner, Aaron Judge, and Kyle Higashioka all hit home runs. Giancarlo Stanton, Luke Voit, Gary Sanchez, Greg Bird, and Troy Tulowitzki all had base hits as well. Trey Amburgey’s bases loaded walk and Clint Frazier’s sacrifice fly contributed to the three-run eighth inning rally.

Jonathan Loaisiga got the start and gosh, it did not go well. He really labored in the second inning and finished the night having allowed six runs (five earned) in two innings. It would behoove him to pitch well in his final two Grapefruit League appearances. Jonathan Holder allowed a solo homer in an otherwise uneventful night for the big league relievers. Zack Britton threw two innings. Holder, Chad Green, and Aroldis Chapman threw one each. Here are the box score and video highlights, and here are the day’s notes from Spring Training:

Aaron Hicks (back) received a cortisone shot yesterday. He admitted he still had limited mobility when he took swings Sunday. Aaron Boone said Hicks could return to game action this coming weekend. “Something like this lingering, we had to do something about it,” Hicks said, adding he can always go to minor league camp to get a bunch of at-bats before Opening Day, if necessary. [Bryan Hoch, James Wagner]
CC Sabathia faced hitters for the first time this spring in a short live batting practice session. Only three hitters. Here’s some video. Also, James Paxton threw a simulated game. He was away from the team this past weekend following a death in his family. [Kristie Ackert, Pete Caldera]
Didi Gregorius (Tommy John surgery) has progressed to take dry swings with a regular bat. He was swinging a fungo bat last week. Gregorius will begin hitting off a tee in a week or two. Until then, dry swings only. [Bryan Hoch]
Ben Heller (Tommy John surgery) is ten bullpen sessions into his throwing program and is about six weeks away from pitching in rehab games. He’s throwing fastballs and changeups only now. He’ll introduce sliders into his throwing program next week. [DJ Eberle]
Jacoby Ellsbury (hip) is expected to join the Yankees on Sunday. He’s still in rehab mode and only recently started running on flat ground. Ellsbury is still a ways away from baseball activity, let alone playing in games. [Brendan Kuty]
More roster cuts: Chance Adams, Trey Amburgey, Cale Coshow, Kellin Deglan, Thairo Estrada, Danny Farquhar, Mike Ford, and Joe Harvey have all been sent to minor league camp, the Yankees announced. I count 50 players in big league camp now.

If you’re interested and will be up early, tonight’s game will be replayed on MLB Network at 6am ET tomorrow. The Yankees have another night game tomorrow night. That’s a home game against the Phillies. Masahiro Tanaka is starting and the game will not be televised.

Two surprise Spring Training non-roster invitees and three notable omissions

February 5, 2019 by Mike

In eight days pitchers and catchers will report to Spring Training and begin the long journey that is the 2019 season. Position players will follow five days later, then, five days after that, the Yankees will play their first Grapefruit League game. We’re closing in on real live baseball. Thank goodness for that.

With Spring Training coming up, the Yankees announced their non-roster invitees late last week, and by and large the 21 names were as expected. There are veteran journeymen on minor league contracts, notable prospects like Estevan Florial and Mike King, and mid-range prospects like Kyle Holder. Same thing year after year after year.

There are, inevitably, a few surprise non-roster invitees each spring. Surprise invitees and surprise omissions. Some guys you don’t expect get invited to camp and some guys you expect don’t get invited to camp. Here are two surprise non-roster invitees and three notable omissions from big league camp.

Surprise Non-Roster Invitees

RHP Cale Coshow
The Yankees brought Coshow, now 26, to Spring Training as a non-roster player last year, so I suppose it is not that surprising he was invited again this year. Coshow struggled with Triple-A Scranton last year, however, throwing 56.1 innings with a 4.95 ERA (4.61 FIP) and a good strikeout rate (26.3%), but too many walks (11.2%) and too many homers (1.44 HR/9). Here is a snippet of 2080 Baseball’s most recent scouting report:

His plus to double-plus fastball was sitting comfortably at 93-to-96 mph (T97) and it’s a real weapon that he uses aggressively, but his command of the offering is below average … His slider is average, but inconsistent … It’s hard to see the stuff playing at the major league level if the fastball command and control profile don’t improve, and the best outcome is that of high-risk Role 30, AAAA emergency arm used in sixth-or-seventh innings, as there’s too much risk deploying him in the high-leverage, late-inning situations that the Yankees might have envisioned his raw stuff being suited for.

Hey, there’s value in being an up-and-down depth arm. It’s not glamorous but it gets you a big league paycheck every once in a while. If the Yankees believe Coshow can be a shuttle reliever — inviting him to camp suggests the team believes he can have some sort of MLB role — then it’s worth bringing him to Spring Training for a look. See what the big league coaching staff thinks and make an evaluation.

There are a few reasons I thought Coshow would not get an invite to camp. One, he had a tough year in Triple-A last season. Two, he looks to be no higher than 12th on the bullpen depth chart. And three, he’s now been passed over in the Rule 5 Draft three times, which is a pretty good indication the rest of the league doesn’t see much MLB value. Instead, Coshow will be back in big league camp this spring, and that means he’ll have a chance to show teams they were wrong to overlook him.

1B Mike Ford
This will be Ford’s first big league camp with the Yankees. He was in camp with the Mariners as a Rule 5 Draft last spring, did not make the team, then was returned to the Yankees before Opening Day. In his first full Triple-A season the 26-year-old put up a decidedly meh .253/.327/.433 (114 wRC+) batting line with 15 homers and the lowest walk rate (9.0%) of his career in 410 plate appearances. For a bat-only first baseman, that’s not good.

Luke Voit and Greg Bird are set to compete for the big league first base job in Spring Training — Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone have indicated it is Voit’s job to lose — plus DJ LeMahieu figures to see time at the position as well. The Yankees are planning to use LeMahieu as something of a super utility guy and getting familiar with first base will be a necessity. Other non-roster guys like Ryan Lavarnway and Francisco Diaz have first base experience as well.

To me, Ford is at best fourth on the first base depth chart behind Voit, Bird, and LeMahieu, and my hunch is if Voit and Bird don’t work out, the Yankees would look outside the organization for help rather than play LeMahieu and his non-first base caliber bat at first base full-time. Ford figures to play in the late innings of Grapefruit League games, against minor leaguers, and I’m not sure there’s anything he can do in those spots to show the Yankees he’s a viable first base depth option. There’s no harm in bringing him to camp, of course. I just didn’t expect it to happen.

Notable Non-Roster Omissions

RHP J.P. Feyereisen
Feyereisen, like Coshow, is a hard-throwing righty with bad command who’s been passed over in numerous Rule 5 Drafts. The 26-year-old who had a 4.95 ERA (4.61 FIP) in Triple-A last year was invited to big league camp. The 25-year-old with a 3.45 ERA (3.75 FIP) in Triple-A last year was not invited to big league camp. There is of course much more to life than Triple-A ERA and FIP. A quick glance at the surface stats is enough to make you go “huh” though.

This will be Coshow’s second big league camp and it would’ve been Feyereisen’s third. Maybe the Yankees give these fringy bad command relievers two camps to strut their stuff and that’s it? The simplest possible explanation is the most likely explanation: The Yankees like Coshow better than Feyereisen. Feyereisen, the fourth piece in the Andrew Miller trade, may’ve had the better Triple-A numbers last year, but the analytics may like Coshow more. I expected Feyereisen to get a non-roster invitee before Coshow. Shows what I know.

RHP Nick Nelson
The Yankees have several interesting power arms slated to begin the 2019 season with Double-A Trenton and Nelson is chief among them. The 23-year-old had 3.55 ERA (3.12 FIP) with 27.5% strikeouts and a few too many walks (12.1%) in 121.1 innings at three levels last year, including Double-A. Here’s a piece of 2080 Baseball’s latest scouting report:

(He) generates plus velocity (touching 98 mph at best, sitting 94-to-96 mph) from core muscles and efficient mechanics. A high-70s curveball shows sharp bite and tight two-plane depth at best, though he struggles to keep the pitch for strikes right now. His 86-to-89 mph changeup is thrown too hard but shows promising armside dive at best … his three-pitch mix gives the best-case ceiling of a power back-rotation type. It’s easy to see Nelson in a bullpen role if he needs a long-term fallback.

Nelson was a two-way player in college who has been pitching full-time for only two and a half seasons, so while he reached Double-A last year, he’s not the experienced pitching prospect. He will be Rule 5 Draft eligible after the season though, and I thought the Yankees would want to get him in front of the big league coaching staff at least once before the 40-man roster decision. I guess not.

Even with limited full-time pitching experience and some control issues, the 23-year-old Nelson topped 100 innings each of the last two seasons, and his stuff is plenty good enough to face rusty big leaguers in exhibition games. Bringing Nelson to camp this year would’ve been akin to bringing Dillon Tate to camp last year. That big-armed righty coming up on Rule 5 Draft eligibility who, if you squint your eyes, you could see helping the Yankees in a relief role in the coming season.

RHP Trevor Stephan
Stephan is another one of those interesting arms slated to begin the season in Double-A. He spent way more time at Double-A last year than Nelson (83.1 innings to 8.2 innings), and his overall performance was very good. Stephen tossed 124.1 total innings with a 3.69 ERA (3.60 FIP) and strong strikeout (26.8 K%) and walk (7.3 BB%) rates. He’s a fastball/slider guy with a funky delivery who is hell on righties.

The Yankees selected Stephan with their third round pick in the 2017 draft, so he only has one full pro season under his belt, but that lack of experience hasn’t stopped them from bringing pitchers to big league camp before. Taylor Widener was a non-roster invitee with one pro season last year. Same with James Kaprielian and Chance Adams the year before. Lack of pro experience isn’t a dealbreaker.

Stephen not being invited to big league camp surprises me more than any other non-roster non-invite this year. He’s a quality prospect with bat-missing stuff and Double-A experience, and once you’re in Double-A, you’re an MLB option. Ask Jonathan Loaisiga. He jumped from Double-A to MLB last season. Skipped right over Triple-A. Stephan throws enough strikes that debuting in a bullpen role this year is not impossible. Likely? No. But I thought the Yankees would want to get a look at him in big league camp given his proximity to the show. Guess not.

* * *

Receiving a non-roster invite does not mean the player is destined for a big league role. Coshow could just be an inventory arm to pitch those late innings in the first few Grapefruit League games. Also, not receiving an invitation to big league camp is not the end of the world either. Stephen Tarpley did not get a non-roster invite last year and he wound up on the ALDS roster. Force the issue and the Yankees will give you a chance.

Given the first base depth chart, I was surprised to see Ford get a non-roster invite — how much has to go wrong for him to start at first base in the Bronx at some point this year? — and I definitely thought one of those Double-A arms like Nelson or Stephan would get a look in camp. The Yankees have a lot of pitching prospects at the moment. An awful lot. Other than King, none of them will be in camp. From a selfish “I want to see prospects in Spring Training!” perspective, it’s a bummer.

Florial, King headline 2019 Spring Training non-roster invitees

February 1, 2019 by Mike

In the surest sign Spring Training is fast approaching, the Yankees announced their list of non-roster invitees earlier today. The farm system has thinned out — most of the prospect star power is in the lower minors — and, as a result, the non-roster list is largely devoid of big name youngsters. Lot of journeyman and minor league depth guys. So it goes.

As a reminder, all players on the 40-man roster will be in big league camp automatically. That includes notable prospects like Albert Abreu and Domingo Acevedo. Here are the 21 non-roster invitees:

PITCHERS (10)
LHP Rex Brothers
LHP Nestor Cortes
RHP Cale Coshow
LHP Danny Coulombe
RHP Raynel Espinal
RHP Danny Farquhar
RHP David Hale
RHP Drew Hutchison
RHP Mike King
RHP Brady Lail

CATCHERS (4)
Francisco Diaz
Kellin Deglan
Ryan Lavarnway
Jorge Saez

INFIELDERS (3)
1B Mike Ford
SS Kyle Holder
3B Gio Urshela

OUTFIELDERS (4)
Trey Amburgey
Billy Burns
Estevan Florial
Matt Lipka

The Farquhar, Hale, Lavarnway, Saez, and Urshela minor league contracts are now official. The Brothers, Coulombe, Hutchison, Burns, and Lipka deals had been previously announced. Also, Lail and Deglan are back on minor league contracts. Both became minor league free agents after last season and have rejoined the team.

Florial and King are the two headliners among the non-roster invitees. Florial is the top prospect in the organization (at least in my opinion) and King was last year’s breakout pitcher, climbing three levels to reach Triple-A and put himself on the cusp of a big league call-up. I don’t think King has much of a chance to make the Opening Day roster but he could put himself in position to be the first starter called up when a need arises.

Last week I predicted 22 non-roster invitees. I didn’t have Deglan, Hale, or Saez on my list because they were not in the organization at the time, and I had Coshow and Ford on the outside looking in. Righties Nick Nelson and Clarke Schmidt are the two notable prospects who I thought would get a non-roster invite but didn’t. Schmidt is understandable because he’s just back from Tommy John surgery. Nelson? Dunno. Guess the Yankees don’t think the big stuff/poor command righty is ready for big league camp.

The Yankees currently have two bullpen spots and one bench spot up for grabs. I think Tommy Kahnle and Luis Cessa are the front-runners for the two bullpen spots. Not sure about the bench spot. Could be Greg Bird, Clint Frazier, Tyler Wade, one of the non-roster guys, or a player yet to be acquired.

Sorting out the projected 2019 Triple-A Scranton roster

January 24, 2019 by Mike

In the current age of baseball a 25-man roster is not enough. Teams have an active 25-man roster each night, yes, but there are also a handful of players in Triple-A who shuttle back and forth as needed. New middle relievers are brought in almost daily and teams even swap out bench players for matchup purposes going into a series. There’s the 25-man roster and a Triple-A taxi squad.

Last season 49 different players appeared in a game for the Yankees, and that doesn’t include Ryan Bollinger and Domingo Acevedo, who were called up for a day (twice, in Bollinger’s case) but did not appear in a game. A total of 1,379 players appeared in an MLB game last season, or 46 per team on average. The Blue Jays led the way with 63 different players, three more than any other team. The Rockies and Astros used only 41 players apiece, somehow.

The Yankees no longer have a top notch farm system but they do have a good farm system. So much of their talent is in the lower minors though, and thus is not a realistic option to be called up this year. The Triple-A taxi squad will likely feature many players we’ve seen already, either guys who were up last year in a similar capacity, or filled a similar role with another team. Some young minor leaguers, some veteran journeymen.

Because the Triple-A roster is now an extension of the MLB roster, I think it’s important to look at the projected Triple-A roster to figure out who fits where, and who could be a call-up option. On paper, the big league roster is fairly set. The Yankees don’t have many open spots or undecided roles, which makes this exercise a little easier. There’s not as much guesswork as usual. Let’s start with position players. Here are the Triple-A roster candidates. An asterisk (*) denotes a player on the 40-man roster.

Catchers	Infielders	Outfielders	Utility
Francisco Diaz	Mandy Alvarez	Trey Amburgey	Devyn Bolasky
Kyle Higashioka*	Greg Bird*	Billy Burns	Billy Fleming
Ryan Lavarnway	Thairo Estrada*	Clint Frazier*	L.J. Mazzilli
	Mike Ford	Jeff Hendrix	Ryan McBroom
	Kyle Holder	Matt Lipka
	Gosuke Katoh	Zack Zehner
	Gio Urshela
	Luke Voit*
	Tyler Wade*

At the moment the Yankees have one bench spot unaccounted for at the big league level. That’s it. Assuming another three-man bench/eight-man bullpen, the other eleven position player spots have been accounted for already. Injuries could change things, of course, and they will, but right now all but one of the 12 position player spots are filled. That makes life easy here. Let’s go through the Triple-A position players.

Catcher: Always the easiest position. Gary Sanchez and Austin Romine are locked into big league roster spots, leaving Higashioka (the up-and-down third catcher) and Lavarnway (has MLB time) for Triple-A Scranton. Diaz figures to bounce between Double-A and Triple-A as needed, which he’s done the last few seasons. Higashioka and Lavarnway will be Scranton’s catchers.

Infielders: Earlier this month Brian Cashman said Voit will be the big league starting first baseman “unless Bird beats him out,” and right now my guess is Bird will not beat him out in Spring Training. Voit was the starter to finish last season and I’ll bet on him being the starter to begin this season. We can remove Voit from Triple-A consideration.

That said, I think the chances of Bird getting the final big league bench spot are annoyingly high. He seems immune to being sent down. Even last August, after Voit took the first base job, the Yankees kept Bird on the bench rather than send him down for at-bats. I don’t get it. If he loses the first base job, he should be sent down, but I just can’t shake the feeling he’s going to be the final bench guy.

Because of that I’m going to assume Bird is in the big leagues, meaning Wade and Estrada are definitely in Triple-A, as is Ford. Urshela has big league time and was the RailRiders’ best hitter late last season, so he’ll of course be in Triple-A as well. That’s the starting infield right there. Urshela, Estrada, Wade, and Ford around the horn. Holder’s going to play everyday in Double-A, not sit on the Triple-A bench. That leaves Alvarez and Katoh for possible bench roles. We’ll get to them in a bit.

Outfielders: Bird getting the final MLB bench spot means Frazier goes to Triple-A, which is fine with me. He missed the end of last season with post-concussion symptoms and getting him regular at-bats in the minors wouldn’t be the worst thing. I expect Frazier to be at least platooning with Brett Gardner in left field by the end of the season, if not playing the position on an everyday basis. For now, he’s Scranton bound.

Burns has big league time and is ticketed for Triple-A. Lipka getting an invite to Spring Training leads me to believe the Yankees are not planning to send him down to Double-A, where he played most of last year. If Lipka is ticketed for Triple-A, it leaves Amburgey, Hendrix, and Zehner for the fourth outfielder’s spot. Zehner has spent the last year and a half in Triple-A and Hendrix has spent the last year and a half in Double-A. Hmmm.

Amburgey had a good but not great year in Double-A last season and, if Lipka is going to Triple-A, I think Amburgey goes back to Double-A to play every day. If the Yankees are willing to send Lipka to Double-A, then Amburgey would go to Triple-A. My hunch is Lipka to Triple-A, Zehner as Scranton’s fourth outfielder, and Amburgey and Hendrix to Double-A. Once the inevitable injury or call-up strikes, Amburgey or Hendrix gets moved up.

Utility: We have two catchers (Higashioka, Lavarnway), four infielders (Estrada, Ford, Urshela, Wade), and four outfielders (Burns, Frazier, Lipka, Zehner). That leaves two open position player spots and, honestly, these are easy calls. It should be Mazzilli and McBroom. They have the most Triple-A time among the remaining players and they’d allow Alvarez and Katoh to play everyday in Double-A. Bolasky and Fleming are organizational utility guys who’ve been bouncing from level-to-level the last few years. No reason to think they won’t do it again.

The Triple-A position player side of things was pretty easy this year because the Yankees have all but one of their big league position player spots filled. Last year we were trying to figure out what to do with Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres. That’s not the case now. Anyway, for the heck of it, here’s a potential RailRiders’ lineup based on everything we just talked out:

1. 2B/SS/3B Tyler Wade
2. 2B/SS/3B Thairo Estrada
3. OF Clint Frazier
4. 1B/DH Mike Ford
5. 1B/DH Ryan McBroom
6. 3B/SS Gio Urshela
7. C Kyle Higashioka
8. OF Billy Burns
9. OF Matt Lipka

Bench: C Lavarnway, IF Mazzilli, OF Zehner

The RailRiders had some absurdly strong lineups last year before injuries and the trade deadline thinned out the roster. The projected 2019 lineup I have above is quite strong for Triple-A. Devoid of prospects (Estrada is the only actual prospect in that lineup now that Wade and Frazier have graduated to MLB) but still strong. The RailRiders will score some runs this coming season. Now let’s get to the pitching staff.

Starters	Righty Relievers	Lefty Relievers
Domingo Acevedo*	Cale Coshow	Rex Brothers
Chance Adams*	Raynel Espinal	Danny Coulombe
Luis Cessa*	J.P. Feyereisen	Phil Diehl
Nestor Cortes	Joe Harvey*	Stephen Tarpley*
Domingo German*	Ben Heller*
Drew Hutchison	Tommy Kahnle*
Brian Keller	Brady Lail
Mike King
Jonathan Loaisiga*

The Sonny Gray trade means the Yankees now have two open big league bullpen spots. By no means do I think this is set in stone, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Cessa and Kahnle have a leg up on those two bullpen spots because they are out of minor league options and can’t be sent to Triple-A without passing through waivers. I don’t think either would clear. If A.J. Cole got claimed earlier this month, Cessa and Kahnle would get claimed.

Because of that, I’m going to assume Cessa and Kahnle are getting the final two big league bullpen spots for the purposes of this exercise. I’m also assuming Heller won’t be ready to pitch Opening Day. He had his Tommy John surgery on April 7th last year and is likely looking at a May or June return. We can remove him from consideration for the RailRiders’ pitching staff. There are 20 names in the table. Removing Cessa, Kahnle, and Heller leaves up 17 candidates for the 13-man Triple-A pitching staff.

Starters: Is it me or does this seem completely obvious? Adams, German, Hutchison, King, and Loaisiga should be the Triple-A Scranton starters to begin the season. Keller is a fringe prospect who was just okay with Double-A Trenton last year. Sending him back there is no big deal. Cortes has done the Triple-A swingman thing plenty already and I think he’s headed for that role again.

That leaves Acevedo, who has a strong case to begin the season in Triple-A after throwing 144 very good (2.63 ERA and 3.06 FIP) innings with Double-A Trenton the last two years. There is a numbers crunch here though. Adams, German, King, and Loaisiga are legitimate prospects (German’s exhausted his rookie eligibility but you know what I mean) who need to work on things in Triple-A and also stay ready for a possible call-up. Hutchison didn’t sign with the Yankees to be a Triple-A long man.

Because of that, I think Acevedo is ticketed for a return to Double-A to begin the season, which is not the end of the world. Someone will get hurt or traded or called up before April ends, at which point Acevedo can come up and assume the rotation spot. Besides, after missing so much time last year, I kinda want to see Acevedo miss bats in Double-A again (20.2% strikeouts last year) before moving him up. Adams, German, Hutchison, King, Loaisiga is the tentative Triple-A rotation in whatever order, and I feel pretty good about that.

Relievers: Cortes is likely to again serve as the heavily used swingman — part of me wonders whether the Yankees would use a six-man rotation in Scranton to begin the season (probably not) — and the rest of the bullpen falls into place behind him. Espinal and Harvey were a dynamite setup man/closer combination for the RailRiders last year and they’ll do it again this year. Tarpley will join them as a late-inning option.

Brothers and Coulombe have big league time and are on minor league contracts, so they’re going to Triple-A, not Double-A. Coshow and Feyereisen spent most of last year in Triple-A as well and it’s safe to expect them to return to Scranton to begin the season. That’s eight relievers right there. Here’s our final product pitching staff:

Starters: Adams, German, Hutchison, King, Loaisiga
Relievers: Brothers, Cortes, Coshow, Coulombe, Espinal, Feyereisen, Harvey, Tarpley

That assumes Kahnle and Cessa are in the big leagues and Heller will still be rehabbing come Opening Day. Acevedo, Keller, and Diehl go to Double-A. Diehl threw only 26.2 innings at Double-A last year, so going back there to begin this season is no big deal. Lail draws the short straw and is the odd man out, but he bounced back and forth between Double-A and Triple-A last year, and doing it again wouldn’t surprise me. He’s been passed by several others in the organization, like Harvey and Tarpley.

I should note it is not uncommon for a Triple-A team to carry nine relievers and two bench players at various points throughout the season, especially in April, when young starters are still getting stretched all the way out. Lail’s the obvious candidate to be the ninth reliever and I imagine McBroom would get dropped from the position player group to open a spot. Zehner has more Triple-A time and Mazzilli can play anywhere. McBroom rode the Double-A/Triple-A shuttle last year and he’d do it again this year.

Update: I completely forgot about the recently signed Danny Farquhar. He’s obviously going to Triple-A. I think that would mean Coshow gets pushed down to Double-A since he struggled with the RailRiders last year. My bad.

Wade (infield), Frazier (outfield), and Higashioka (catcher) are poised to be the regular up-and-down position players this season. Estrada lost essentially an entire season to injury last year and figures to stay in Triple-A to make up for that lost time. Pitching staff call-ups are a little more up in the air because they depend as much on who’s available (so and so started yesterday, etc.) as they do who the Yankees want to call up. Because the MLB roster is fairly set right now, piecing together the Triple-A team is fairly straightforward. At least until injuries and call-ups throw a wrench into things.

Previewing the Yankees’ potential non-roster Spring Training invitees for 2019

January 22, 2019 by Mike

Three weeks from tomorrow pitchers and catchers will report to Tampa to begin Spring Training 2019. And, at some point between now and then, the Yankees will announce their non-roster invitees. Those are non-40-man roster players they are bringing to Major League Spring Training. All other non-40-man players go to minor league camp at the Himes Complex across the street.

Non-roster invitees come in all shapes and sizes. Some are top prospects and some are mid-range prospects. Others are veteran journeymen trying to hang on. Teams usually bring 20-25 non-roster players to camp each last year. Last spring the Yankees had 20 non-roster players in camp. Two years ago it was 23. Expect a similar amount this spring. The 40-man roster plus 20-25 non-roster invitees equals 60-65 total players in Spring Training.

So, with the non-roster invitee list due to be announced in the near future, I figured this is as good a time as any to look at the minor leaguers who could find themselves in big league camp this year. Some are obvious. Many aren’t. Let’s break this down position-by-position.

Catchers

(40-Man Roster Players: Kyle Higashioka, Austin Romine, Gary Sanchez)

Every year every team invites a bunch of non-roster catchers to Spring Training. Why? Because who else is supposed to catch all those bullpen sessions and simulated games? The workload has to be spread around. And remember, Sanchez is coming back from offseason shoulder surgery. It was his non-throwing shoulder, but still. The Yankees will take it easy on him in February and March because they don’t want to put him at risk of missing time between April and November. Expect to see plenty of non-roster catchers against this spring.

Do not, however, expect to see Anthony Seigler or Josh Breaux, the Yankees’ top two picks in last year’s draft. It is not the appropriate place for them at this point of their careers. Only once in the last 13 years have the Yankees brought their first round pick in the previous year’s draft to Spring Training as a non-roster player. That was James Kaprielian in 2016. Ian Kennedy and Joba Chamberlain didn’t even get non-roster invites in 2007. Seigler and Breaux won’t be in big league camp. It’s not their time.

My Prediction: Francisco Diaz, Ryan Lavarnway, Ryan Lidge, Donny Sands. Add in the three 40-man roster guys and that’s seven catchers total. Plenty for bullpens. Lavarnway signed a minor league deal and has big league time, so it’s safe to assume he’ll be a non-roster guy. Diaz has been a non-roster invitee each of the last three years. The Yankees re-signed him as a minor league free agent a few weeks ago and I’m sure he’ll again be in camp as a non-roster guy.

Lidge was the Yankees’ 20th round pick in 2017 and he played most of his games last year with Double-A Trenton. A catcher with Double-A time is prime “someone to catch spring bullpens” fodder. I’m on the fence about Sands. He has no Double-A time and only 42 High-A games under his belt. I’m just not sure who else it would be with Chace Numata and Jorge Saez, non-roster catchers last year, no longer in the organization. Maybe the Yankees have a low profile catcher signing coming? I could see it. I feel good about Diaz, Lavarnway, and Lidge. The seventh spot is a little more wide open.

Infielders

(40-Man Roster Players: Miguel Andujar, Greg Bird, Thairo Estrada, Didi Gregorius, DJ LeMahieu, Gleyber Torres, Troy Tulowitzki, Luke Voit, Tyler Wade)

The Yankees currently have nine infielders on the 40-man roster. Nine! That’s a ton. One of them is Gregorius, who won’t actually play in Spring Training because he’s rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, but eight 40-man infielders is still a lot. Torres and Andujar are locked into positions now — that wasn’t the case last spring — but there’s the Tulowitzki comeback attempt and LeMahieu learning how to be a utility guy, so there will be some infield intrigue in Spring Training.

Almost every notable infield prospect in the organization is already on the 40-man roster. Kyle Holder is the exception. He was in camp as a non-roster player last spring. He also played only 48 games last season due to injury and family matters, and he was passed over in the Rule 5 Draft. I still think the Yankees like him enough to bring him to camp as a non-roster guy. Holder’s a relatively recent high draft pick and gosh can the kid play defense. If you stuck around to watch the late innings of Grapefruit League games last year, you saw him play a beautiful shortstop.

Lower level infield prospects like Diego Castillo, Dermis Garcia, and Hoy Jun Park are not non-roster caliber players. Not right now and, given their development in recent years, maybe not ever. In most other years I’d be tempted to say Brandon Wagner is a non-roster candidate. He reached Double-A last season and finished one off the farm system home run lead. That said, there will be so many 40-man roster infielders in camp this year that I think Wagner gets squeezed out. There are only so many at-bats to go around.

My Prediction: Holder and Gio Urshela. Urshela, like Lavarnway, signed a minor league deal earlier this offseason and has big league time. He’ll be in Spring Training as a non-roster dude. Holder, Urshela, and the 40-man roster guys give the Yankees ten infielders for camp, not including Gregorius. Voit and Bird are the only true first basemen among those ten, but LeMahieu is apparently going to play some first, and both Lavarnway and Diaz have played the position as well. Maybe we’ll even see Andujar at first base. Either way, the Yankees are covered.

Outfielders

(40-Man Roster Players: Jacoby Ellsbury, Clint Frazier, Brett Gardner, Aaron Hicks, Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton)

Frazier was recently cleared to play in Spring Training and that’s great news. I’m looking forward to seeing what he does with good health this season. Ellsbury, on the other hand, is coming back from hip surgery and a few weeks ago Brian Cashman admitted Ellsbury is questionable for Opening Day. If he’s questionable for Opening Day, then he’s questionable for Spring Training. So that’s really five healthy 40-man roster outfielders.

The Yankees have several near elite center field prospects but only one, Estevan Florial, will get a Spring Training invite. He was in camp as a non-roster player last spring and will be back this year as the team’s top prospect. Others like Everson Pereira and Antonio Cabello will be in minor league camp. Pereira is 17 and Cabello is 18. They are babies. Big league camp is not the right place for them. (Also, Cabello is coming back from offseason shoulder surgery, which is another reason to send him to minor league camp.)

With only five healthy 40-man roster outfielders — and one of those five was only recently cleared for full-fledged baseball activities — it seems to me the Yankees will bring at least one upper level depth outfielder to camp as a non-roster player. The likely candidates: Trey Amburgey, Jeff Hendrix, and Zack Zehner. Hendrix saw quite a bit of time as a minor league call-up in road games last spring. Amburgey is the best prospect of the bunch though, and prospect status tends to break ties.

My Prediction: Amburgey, Florial, Billy Burns, Matt Lipka. Burns and Lipka signed minor league deals earlier this month and the Yankees officially announced both contracts include an invitation to Spring Training, so there you go. There’s no mystery here. They’ll be there. Amburgey, Burns, Florial, and Lipka plus the five healthy 40-man roster guys would give the Yankees nine outfielders in Spring Training. Wade can play the outfield too, so that’s ten. That’s plenty. Part of me wonders if we’ll see LeMahieu out there at some point.

Right-handers

(40-Man Roster Players: Albert Abreu, Domingo Acevedo, Chance Adams, Dellin Betances, Luis Cessa, Domingo German, Chad Green, Joe Harvey, Ben Heller, Jonathan Holder, Tommy Kahnle, Jonathan Loaisiga, Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka, and eventually Adam Ottavino)

Heller is rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, so he’s a Spring Training non-factor. I’m looking forward to seeing Abreu and Acevedo in Grapefruit League action, personally. Abreu missed camp last year after having his appendix removed and Acevedo was held back because he spent part of the offseason recovering from a shoulder issue and his velocity was down. I also want to see Harvey because I’ve never seen him before, and Kahnle because I’m curious about his velocity. Hopefully it returns.

Anyway, the Yankees are loaded with pitching prospects. Too bad so many of them are in the low minors. You’re not going to see Luis Medina or Roansy Contreras or even Deivi Garcia in big league camp. Garcia is at best a maybe. I’m not saying that because I don’t like him as a prospect. I do. I’m saying that because history suggests the Yankees will not bring a 19-year-old pitching prospect to big league camp. It’s just not something they do. It’s not something many teams do, in fact.

The second tier pitching prospects though, the 20-somethings with Double-A (and in some cases Triple-A) time? We’ll see a few in camp. Always do. Mike King is an obvious yes. Do what he did last year while reaching Triple-A and you’ve earned yourself a non-roster invite. There’s a pretty good chance King will be called up at some point in 2019 and the Yankees will want him to get to know his teammates and coaches before that, and vice versa. Spring Training is the time to do it. King’s as easy a yes as it gets.

Nick Nelson, Trevor Stephan, and Garrett Whitlock are all potential non-roster candidates as well. So is Clarke Schmidt, the Yankees’ first round pick two years ago, in my opinion. He completed his Tommy John surgery rehab last season and pitched well in his limited game action. The Yankees are set to turn him loose this year and my hunch is that includes a Spring Training invite. He’ll probably be among the first cuts, but I think he’ll be there.

My Prediction: King, Nelson, Schmidt, Raynel Espinal, Danny Farquhar, Drew Hutchison, Brady Lail, one TBD spot. The Yankees reportedly want a swingman/sixth starter type to replace Sonny Gray, hence that TBD spot. Maybe they wind up getting a lefty instead. I’ll play the odds and predict a righty. Anyway, Farquhar and Hutchison signed minor league deals and have big league time, so they’ll be in camp. In fact, the Yankees announced Hutchison’s deal includes a spring invite, so there you go.

Lail’s been a non-roster guy each of the last three years — the Yankees seem to like him despite never calling him up or protecting him from the Rule 5 Draft — and I see no reason to think this spring will be any different. Espinal was a non-roster guy last year and he had a strong Triple-A season, so I think he’s back as well. He’s a potential inventory arm, someone who comes up in an emergency, and candidates for an emergency call-up usually get a Spring Training invite.

I’m going with Nelson over Stephan and Whitlock because, well, I’m kinda guessing here. I think at least one of those three gets a non-roster invite, and Nelson is both the oldest and has been in the system the longest, so I think it’ll be him. If the Yankees bring any other righties to big league camp, I think it’s more likely it’ll be a random Triple-A reliever like Cale Coshow or J.P. Feyereisen than Stephan or Whitlock. Between Hutchison, King, Nelson, and Schmidt, that is plenty of extra multi-inning pitchers.

Left-handers

(40-Man Roster Players: Zach Britton, Aroldis Chapman, J.A. Happ, Jordan Montgomery, James Paxton, CC Sabathia, Stephen Tarpley)

Montgomery is still rehabbing from Tommy John surgery and we won’t see him in Grapefruit League games. We might not even see him throw bullpens in Spring Training. Montgomery had his elbow rebuild in June and pitchers usually don’t get back up on a mound until 8-10 months into the rehab process. He’ll just be getting to that point as Spring Training begins, which means little to no action. A bummer, but not a surprise.

The Yankees do not have any notable left-handed pitching prospects now that Justus Sheffield (and Josh Rogers) has been traded. Their best lefty pitching prospect is, uh, Nestor Cortes? Phil Diehl? Not great. Diehl had a statistically excellent 2018 season (2.51 ERA and 2.24 FIP with 36.2% strikeouts and 7.7% walks) and the Yankees had him throw simulated at-bats to Judge late in the season, when Judge was coming back from his wrist injury, which tells us the Yankees trust Diehl’s control. Otherwise they wouldn’t have let him pitch to the most valuable player in the organization and risk his wrist getting hit again. Maybe they’ll bring him to camp? Dunno.

My Prediction: Cortes, Diehl, Rex Brothers, Danny Coulombe. Brothers and Coulombe are on minor league contracts and both have quite a bit of big league time, so we know they’ll be in camp. Cortes was in big league camp with the Orioles as a Rule 5 Draft pick last spring — he even made their Opening Day roster — and he had yet another statistically excellent season last year. I think that’s enough to get him to Spring Training this year. Diehl is the token extra lefty reliever.

* * *

Alright, so putting that all together, we come away with 22 potential non-roster invitees to Spring Training. Those 22 players:

Catchers (4): Diaz, Lavarnway, Lidge, Sands or a TBD catcher
Infielders (2): Holder, Urshela
Outfielders (4): Amburgey, Burns, Florial, Lipka
Righties (8): Espinal, Farquhar, Hutchison, King, Lail, Nelson, Schmidt, TBD
Lefties (4): Brothers, Cortes, Coulombe, Diehl

On one hand, the Yankees had 20 non-roster players in camp last year, 23 the year before that, and 26 in each of the two years before that. Twenty-two this year would be a typical number of non-roster players. On the other hand, the Yankees have at least three (Ellsbury, Heller, Montgomery) and possibly four (Sanchez) 40-man roster players who will be either restricted or completely off-limits in Spring Training. The Yankees might carry more non-roster players than usual to cover for the rehabbing 40-man roster guys.

The farm system isn’t as strong or as deep as it was a few years ago, mostly because the Yankees have graduated so many of their top prospects to the big leagues. Remember when we all couldn’t wait to see Torres or Judge or Severino in camp as non-roster guys? Now they’re no doubt big leaguers. Florial and King will be the obvious “must see” prospects on this year’s non-roster list and, if they get invited, Nelson and Schmidt will be worth watching as well. Also, bet on there being some surprise non-roster invitees this spring. There are always a few.

Open Thread: March 8th Camp Notes

March 8, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

The Yankees actually lost a game this afternoon. Rude. The Phillies beat them 7-6. Aaron Hicks had a single and two walks, Brandon Drury had a single and a double, Gary Sanchez and Giancarlo Stanton had singles — Stanton’s was a rocket off the wall, one of those “he hit it so hard he held himself to a single” singles — and Sir Didi Gregorius socked a two-run dinger. Austin Romine had a single off the bench. He is now 9-for-13 (.692) this spring. Gotta love it.

On the mound, Luis Severino made his spring debut and looked fantastic, striking out three and allowing an unearned run in 3.1 innings before hitting his pitch limit. Severino was throwing free and easy. Great to see. Justus Sheffield (three runs in 1.2 innings) and Wade LeBlanc (three runs in two innings) conspired to blow a 6-1 lead. Rats. Here are the box score and video highlights, and here’s the latest from Tampa:

Clint Frazier (concussion) rode the stationary bike for 20 minutes, threw, and did rotational exercises to simulate swinging today. “It’s frustrating, but I’m trying not to mess around with this,” he said. Jacoby Ellsbury (oblique) could resume running on Saturday, and it’s possible he will be ready in time for Opening Day. We’ll see. [Erik Boland, Bryan Hoch]
The Yankees announced their first round of roster cuts following today’s game. Cale Coshow, Raynel Espinal, Trevor Lane, Chace Numata, Justus Sheffield, and Dillon Tate were all sent out. “I told him I came in here with high expectations about him, knowing how much our organization values him. He surpassed those,” said Boone about Sheffield. The Yankees still have 56 players in big league camp by my unofficial count. [Coley Harvey]
In case you missed it earlier, Aaron Judge said he probably won’t participate in the Home Run Derby going forward. Sanchez was asked about the Home Run Derby as well, and he said it’s “too early” to know what he’ll do. Stanton said the same thing. “Depends how the season’s going, how the body’s feeling, if I’m an All-Star. All that,” he said. [Boland, Pete Caldera]
Turns out Luis Cessa was scratched from yesterday’s start with a stiff neck. He’s fine now and will start Saturday afternoon. The Yankees will be on the road to take on the Braves tomorrow night. The game will not be televised. Sonny Gray is the scheduled starter. [Boland]

Here is the nightly open thread. If you’re interested, this afternoon’s game will be replayed on YES (10pm ET) and MLB Network (6am ET). MLB Network has the Giants and Mariners live tonight (8:30pm ET), all the local hockey and basketball teams are playing except the Knicks, and there is a ton of college hoops on as well. Talk about those games or anything else here, as long as it’s not religion or politics.