The Yankees will have plenty of battles for spots on the 2020 roster this spring, but which pitchers should we be keeping an eye on?
Spring Training is just around the corner. Pitchers and catchers for the Yankees report on Tuesday and the first game is February 22nd. Spring Training for casual fans is not that interesting, but for the passionate fans, it gives them a chance to see the younger players play against major league competition. Here are three pitchers to look out for during Spring Training.
Clarke Schmidt
Clarke Schmidt is currently ranked ahead of Deivi Garcia in MLB Pipeline’s prospect top 100 lists. Schmidt is not known by many casual fans, but can be considered their best pitching prospect. The Yankees used their first-round pick in 2017 on Schmidt even though he had Tommy John surgery one month before. Clarke pitched well across two minor league levels in 2019. He pitched to a 3.84 ERA(63.1IP/27ER) in high-A Tampa and a 2.37 ERA (19IP/5ER) in AA Trenton. Clarke has quickly climbed up the Yankee’s prospect ladder and is someone you should keep a close eye on in Spring Training as you could see him in the majors at some point in 2020.
Deivi Garcia
The Yankees number two pitching prospect will be the center of attention in Spring Training. With James Paxton going down, this opens up a spot for the 5th starter. Through all of 2019, Deivi was considered the Yankee’s best prospect and was held out of all trades. Deivi quickly rose through the Minor league levels last year and started the futures game.
Deivi was doing well in High A and AA, but once he was brought up to Triple-A he struggled and pitched to a 5.63 ERA. This Spring Training will be the perfect test for Garcia to see if he is ready to take that next step and be a major league pitcher.
Mike King
Mike King is one of the most underrated Yankee Prospects. King didn’t pitch that much in 2019 as a result of an elbow injury, but all you need to know about him is what he did across three minor league levels in 2018. In 2018, King pitched to a 1.79 ERA across High A, Double-A, and Triple-A. Mike King had an incredible K to Walk ratio of 152:29.
He is a high strikeout and low walk pitcher. King will also be looked at very closely during Spring Training as he could come out of it with a spot on the major league team.