May 10th, 2022: Cortes, King, Offense, Cole, Pitching, Prospects

The impromptu All-Star break is over and the Yankees are two days into this 23 games in 22 days stretch. So far, so good, even if the offense makes you want to pull your hair out. The Yankees are 7-1-1 in their nine series this year. Keep winning series and everything will work itself out. Here is today’s post as Mark Teixeira graduates from college.

1. Weekend thoughts. How small time is Rangers manager Chris Woodward? He said Gleyber Torres’ walk-off home run Sunday afternoon was only a home run because he “happened to hit it in a Little League ballpark to right field.“ Even if you believe that, why say it? There’s no upside. Best case scenario is you look like a cry baby, worst case is Giancarlo Stanton hits a bomb later in the day and Cameron Maybin dunks on you on the broadcast. The Rangers committed how many errors and booted how many balls that game? And Woodward’s calling the ballpark Little League? Whatever man. Wolves don’t concern themselves with the opinions of sheep. Here are a few thoughts on the last few games.

My Besty Nesty

I gotta say, Nestor Cortes – sorry, that’s Yankees Ace Nestor Cortes – flirting with a no-hitter, wearing his own novelty t-shirt after the game, and being my favorite Yankee is definitely not something I expected 12 months ago. This is what peak performance looks like:

Cortes was fantastic Monday! He lost the no-hitter with one out in the eighth inning, and only two – two! – of the 27 batters he faced hit the ball out of the infield. Eli White had the clean single to break up the no-hitter in the eighth, and Nick Solak had a harmless fly ball to center in the second. Cortes faced 20 batters between allowing balls out of the infield.

I wrote about Nasty Nestor a little bit last month and noted his velocity is up and his slider is that big sweeper now. Now his cutter is a real weapon too. He learned the pitch in winter ball in 2018 but didn’t really start to throw it until last year. Cortes threw 51 cutters Monday, by far the highest total in a single start in his career. Look at the locations:

He did leave a few out over the plate, which will happen during a 103-pitch start, but Cortes was mostly on the edges with the cutter, particularly in on righties. The Rangers had seven righties in their lineup and Nestor didn’t let them extend their arms at all. He ran the cutter right in on them. The result was a measly 84.2 mph average exit velocity allowed. No hard contact at all.

“I think it’s just how tight it stays on the fastball for a long time. You kinda get guys indecisive about whether they’re going to swing or take,” pitching coach Matt Blake said when asked what makes Nestor’s cutter so effective (video). “... Over time he’s grown in his role and understood what his strengths are and kinda amplified them a little bit.”

Aaron Boone said the plan was to stick with Cortes until the no-hitter was over unless he lost the plate completely, and I love it. I understand the third (and fourth) time through the order penalty and why pitchers are on pitch limits, but pitchers being pulled from no-hitters is lame, even if it’s for a good reason. Nestor chasing the no-hitter in the late innings was plain ol’ fun. He didn’t get it, but it was fun.

Six starts into the season Cortes owns a 1.41 ERA (2.29 FIP) with a 33.9% strikeout rate in 32 innings. He has a 2.68 ERA (3.60 FIP) in 97.2 innings since joining the rotation for good last July. I don’t want to call him a savior because the 2022 Yankees haven’t needed to be saved, but this definitely qualifies as a pleasant surprise. I bought into Nestor being legitimately improved and good, though I didn’t see a run like this coming at any point in the season.

As much as I love the guy, I would bet against Cortes finishing the season with a 1.41 ERA and a 2.29 FIP. He’s good but he’s not that good. Basically no one is. This is real though. Cortes is an above average starter with improved weapons, pitching smarts, and guts. The Yankees haven’t needed him to save them, but maybe Nestor is the one who ultimately puts them over the top in the competitive AL East.

King’s doubleheader

I didn’t understand what Boone did with Mike King during the doubleheader Sunday. King warmed up with intent in the sixth inning of Game 1 and was ready to enter the game. Then Gerrit Cole finished the inning, King sat down, and Jonathan Loaisiga warmed up (and eventually entered the game). King warmed up but did not pitch in Game 1.

Then in Game 2, King warmed up and got into the game, and had his worst outing of the season. Walked the first batter he faced, threw a very wild pitch to allow the tying run to score from third, gave up the game-losing homer. King was behind in the count on three of the first four batters he faced, and just didn’t look comfortable or sharp.

Bad games happen, even to great pitchers, but did warming up in the first game have an impact in the second game? King has been a starting pitcher just about his entire career. Warming up, shutting it down, then warming up again a few hours later isn’t a thing he’s used to doing. Sunday might have been the first time he’s ever done it in his life.

Also, why would you warm up King in Game 1 but not use him? He’s a trusted high leverage guy now and can throw whatever innings Loaisiga and Clay Holmes throw. Once King was warmed up, couldn’t he just pitch those innings in Game 1, leaving Loaisiga and Holmes for Game 2? That way King isn’t warming up, shutting it down, and warming up again?

Joe Girardi ran into this problem sometimes during the Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller (and Aroldis Chapman) years. He was like a kid on Christmas morning who he didn’t know what toy to play with. Girardi would warm one guy up, and if he wasn’t needed to finish the inning, he’d warm the other guy up because the next inning was “his” inning. Why not just let the other guy pitch since he was already hot? Never made sense to me.

Boone is much less rigid with his bullpen roles, so he hasn’t run into this problem much the last few years. I thought it was a pretty glaring mistake Sunday though. King was warm, so just use him. Instead he warmed up, sat around for a few hours, then warmed up again. Maybe it’s the reason he struggled, maybe not. I just hope Boone doesn’t do that again. This isn’t a video game. Every pitch these guys throw with intent takes a toll, even if it’s warming up in the bullpen.

Miscellany

Rough few games for the offense. The Yankees have scored six runs in their last four games, including only five runs in three games against a bad Rangers pitching staff. They still won two of three, so it ain’t all bad, but the offense has a .155/.265/.250 line the last four games. And it’s the entire lineup too. There’s not one single guy who is locked in right now. These stretches happen during the season and I’m still not 100% sold on this offense after last year, but they’re not truly this bad. With the Blue Jays coming to town next, the bats need to wake up. Can’t expect to hold Toronto down like the Rangers, even though the Yankees have had success against them this season … Boone was on a batter-to-batter tour de force this weekend, huh? He sent Cole back out for the seventh inning at 105 pitches Sunday afternoon, and it almost seemed like he did it specifically so Cole could give up the game-tying homer. It was so out of character. Then Boone pulled Jordan Montgomery after a leadoff double in the seventh inning of a one-run game. I know there are times Boone goes batter-to-batter and the pitcher throws a 1-2-3 inning, but geez, can a reliever get a clean inning in a close game once in a while? We don’t always have to up the difficulty … And finally, Sunday evening the Yankees faced Glenn Otto, who they sent to Texas in the Joey Gallo trade last year, and you could see why the Yankees traded him. He has pretty good breaking stuff – it’s the same sweeper all the Yankees throw – but he was mostly 91-93 mph. The pitchers the Yankees hang onto are 95-97 mph types. Add in Otto’s long arm injury history and yeah, it’s not a mystery why the Yankees used him as a trade chip, even if he is a viable big leaguer.

2. Locastro injured. For the umpteenth time in my 15 years blogging about the Yankees, I spent a few hours racking my brain trying to figure out the upcoming roster moves, only for the team to announce a previously unknown injury that clarifies everything. Here are Sunday’s moves:

• Tim Locastro placed on the 10-day injured list with a left lat strain.
• Ron Marinaccio recalled to replace Locastro (getting around the 10-day rule).
• Estevan Florial called up at 27th man for doubleheader (sent back down after the game).

Good thing Locastro’s not a pitcher. Lat strains can be a season killer for the guys on the mound. Locastro hurt himself sliding into second base on a stolen base attempt last week – “I thought it was just a cramp, but obviously it wasn’t,” he told Randy Miller – and he seems to think he’ll be back when his 10 days are up. Aaron Boone said it might be a little longer than that.

“Hopefully it’s not more than a few weeks, but it’s probably impossible to tell at this point,” Boone told Miller. “He’s responded really well to it and has been kind of remarkably functional. But it’s also something just with the lat, we feel like if he plays and hurts it any more, it could turn into a surgical thing where we lose him for the season. So it’s something that we’re kind of trying to get out ahead of with him.”

The Yankees are two days into this 23 games in 22 days stretch and Locastro’s injury clears the way to go with 14 pitches and three bench players. At least through Thursday, when the Yankees will need a spot starter because of Sunday’s doubleheader. Marinaccio’s roster spot becomes a flex spot. He’ll go down for the spot starter, then someone else can come up the next day, etc.

Luis Gil is Triple-A Scranton’s Thursday starter but the Yankees have more than enough time to line up whoever they want. Clarke Schmidt would be on regular rest (he threw 46 pitches in 2.1 innings in his first Triple-A start) but he can’t be called up because of the 15-day rule. Unless he can? Is it still a 10-day rule*? No idea. MLB and the MLBPA are making the rules up as they go.

* It was supposed to become a 15-day rule when the rosters shrunk on May 2nd. But MLB and the MLBPA agreed to let teams carry 14 pitches until May 29th. Is it possible they agreed to stick with the 10-day rule until May 29th as well? Beats me.

Whoever gets the spot start, I assume this is a “send down Marinaccio, call up the spot starter, then send down the spot starter and call up a fresh arm the next day” situation. I could see the Yankees keeping Schmidt around if he gets that spot start. Depends how he does and what the bullpen looks like. JP Sears would be the obvious fresh arm candidate following the spot start.

Also, we have to start counting minor league options now. Players now get five options per year starting May 2nd. Schmidt was sent down that day, so that’s one. Call him up for the spot start Thursday and send him down Friday for a fresh arm, and that’s two. Florial used an option as the 27th man and Miguel Andujar used one on his May 2nd demotion.

Assuming it is still a 10-day rule, the Yankees could call up Schmidt for the spot start Thursday, send him down, then call him up 10 days later for another spot start to give everyone rest during this long stretch. He’d be eligible to return Sunday, May 22nd, Day 15 of the 23 games in 22 days. The Yankees would then burn another option sending him down. Schmidt using three of his five options before June 1st would be less than ideal (after the fifth option, the player has to go on waivers to be sent to the minors).

We know this much: the Yankees will use a spot starter Thursday. The doubleheader makes it necessary. The Cardinals, Marlins, Royals, and Yankees are the only teams to use only five starters so far this season. Every other team has used at least six starters, and half the teams in the league have used seven or more starters.

If it’s a 10-day rule, I’d bet on Schmidt getting Thursday's spot start. It’s a 15-day rule, Schmidt will be ineligible, in which case I’d bet on Gil. What the Yankees do with that roster spot come Friday will depend on what the spot starter does and what the bullpen looks like. Ideally Schmidt pitches well and hangs around for another few weeks. That would be best and easiest, I think.

3. Prospect thoughts. According to MLB.com the No. 1 (Royals 3B Bobby Witt Jr.), No. 3 (Mariners OF Julio Rodriguez), No. 4 (Tigers 1B Spencer Torkelson), and No. 9 (Padres IF C.J. Abrams) prospects in baseball made Opening Day rosters this year. They took a combined .178/.280/.313 batting line and +1.0 WAR into Monday’s games. Rodriguez has been the best of the bunch by a good margin (.235/.304/.324 with +0.7 WAR). Were they rushed? Is it the mush ball? Is it just baseball being really hard? I think it’s the last two things more than the first thing, but I dunno. Pretty wild that not even one of these dudes came out of the gate on fire. Anyway, a few thoughts on a few prospects.

Wells raking in High-A

Probably time to promote C Austin Wells to Double-A Somerset. Wells, my No. 8 prospect, hit .274/.376/.473 (130 wRC+) with seven homers in 38 games with High-A Hudson Valley last year. This year he’s at .307/.411/.533 (154 wRC+) with four homers in 21 games. Wells has cut his strikeout (32.4% to 23.9%) and swinging strike (15.1% to 11.1%) rates significantly as well.

Normally 59 games (262 plate appearances) at a level spread across two seasons wouldn’t be enough to say a guy deserves a promotion, but Wells was drafted as an advanced college hitter, and we’re talking about High-A. 15 of the other 18 college players taken in the 2020 first round have reached at least Double-A. The three exceptions:

• OF Heston Kjerstad, Orioles (No. 2): Still hasn’t made his pro debut due to injuries.
• C Patrick Bailey, Giants (No. 13): Still in High-A like Wells (but not performing as well).
• 1B Aaron Sabato, Twins (No. 27): Bat-only guy who hasn’t hit much as a pro.

So of the 19 college players taken in the 2020 first round, Wells is the only one who is healthy, performing, and not yet in Double-A (or higher). I expect that to change soon. I don’t think the Yankees are holding Wells back for defensive reasons, and it’s not like C Josh Breaux and his .235 OBP in Double-A is some big obstacle. Wells is raking and a promotion is in order. I would be surprised if it doesn’t happen by the end of the month.

Dominguez struggling in Low-A

Tough start to the season for OF Jasson Dominguez, my No. 2 prospect: .235/.286/.367 (90 wRC+) with two homers, 32.4% strikeouts, and 6.7% walks in 23 games with Low-A Tampa. I suppose the good news is, if you split Dominguez’s season into two halves, the second half is way better than the first:

• First 12 games: .204/.218/.278 (41 wRC+) with 36.4 K% and 1.8 BB%
• Last 11 games: .273/.360/.477 (140 wRC+) with 28.0 K% and 12.0 BB%

Keep in mind the average – average! – strikeout rate in the Florida State League is 28.0%. It is a different world down there. But still, Dominguez has been pretty bad overall, and two things stand out. First, Dominguez is chasing a lot. He’s swinging a lot in general, though his contact rate in the zone is good. The chases out of the zone are the problem. Here are his swing rates:

The brighter the red, the more Dominguez has swung at pitches in that zone. He takes plenty of passes on pitches in the zone. That’s good. Not every pitch in the zone is a good pitch to hit, but, generally speaking, you want to swing at strikes, and Dominguez is doing that.

Outside the zone, there’s an awful lot of red up high and down. Remember that Dominguez is a switch-hitter, so the red in the lower left corner is pitches down and in as a righty, and down and away as a lefty. Switch-hitting complicates things a bit, though the larger point is Dominguez is swinging at too many pitches out of the zone. Now here are his whiff rates:

In this case the brighter the red, the more Dominguez has missed with swings against pitches in that zone. The strike zone itself is nice and blue. He’s making contact there. Outside the zone though? Oof. The samples aren’t huge, but what we have isn’t great. Dominguez is chasing out of the zone a lot and missing when he chases. He’s not fouling pitches away to stay alive.

It’s too early to know whether this is a plate discipline issue (i.e. the willingness to wait for your pitch) or a pitch recognition issue (i.e. he can’t tell a fastball from a breaking ball, etc.). He’s also a 19-year-old kid facing the best pitching he’s ever faced, and these days that means 95+ mph with sliders that were almost literally designed in a lab. It’s hard out there for a hitter.

The second thing that stands out is the batted ball profile. Dominguez is pairing a 55.6% ground ball rate with an 18.2% infield fly rate (that’s percent of fly balls that are infield pop ups). That’s a lot of suboptimal contact. He’s not hitting the ball in the air enough, and when he does hit the ball in the air, too often it’s a popup. Dominguez has to settle into that line drive launch angle range.

The hype has done Dominguez no favors. Ultimately, he’s a 19-year-old kid who lost a season to a pandemic and had to jump straight from rookie ball to Low-A because the owners decided they no longer wanted to incur the costs of the short season leagues. Hopefully Dominguez’s rough first two weeks is just a rough two weeks, and he cuts down on the chases and makes more line drive contact moving forward. Those are two clear things to watch.

Hudson Valley’s stolen bases

High-A Hudson Valley is an incredible 69-for-83 (83%) stealing bases through 26 games. The Runnin’ Renegades have stolen the most bases of any team in the minors. High-A uses the step off rule (the pitcher must completely step off the rubber before making a pickoff throw), which promotes steals, but it’s not just that. Hudson Valley is averaging 3.19 steal attempts per game. The other 11 teams in the South Atlantic League are averaging 1.60 attempts per game.

I thought stolen bases were up throughout the system, but no, it’s just Hudson Valley. The other three affiliates are stealing bases at roughly the same rate as last year. Hudson Valley’s attempt rate has skyrocketed though. What gives? It starts with personnel, and the stolen bases are tied up in five players:

2B Cooper Bowman (16-for-16 stealing bases): A prospect to know and probably the fastest player in the organization. He went 20-for-24 (83%) stealing bases in 48 games at Louisville last spring and is running a .447 OBP in the early going, so he’s been on base a ton, and that equals steals.

OF Aldenis Sanchez (12-for-13): The Yankees got the 23-year-old Sanchez from the Rays as the player to be named in the Mike Ford trade. Eric Longenhagen described Sanchez as “speedy … with some contact skills” two years ago, so while he’s barely hitting (.227/.356/.307 and 92 wRC+), he is stealing.

3B James Nelson (9-for-9): Nelson came over in the Stephen Tarpley trade with the Marlins. He is 25-for-32 (78%) stealing bases in two years in the Yankees system after going 19-for-27 (70%) in four years in Miami’s system. He was described to me as an above average runner but a true burner.

C Austin Wells (8-for-8): This one I can’t explain. Wells is 25-for-25 stealing bases in his pro career after going 15-for-15 in college and summer ball, so he’s a perfect 40-for-40 since 2019. He runs well for a catcher but he’s not fast, yet he can’t be caught. Huh. Tyler Austin went 41-for-43 (95%) stealing bases in the low minors from 2011-12 and he’s no one’s idea of a stolen base threat. Maybe Wells really is a great base stealer. Or maybe he’s just another Austin, and an outlier in the low minors. Curious to see where this leads.

OF Everson Pereira (8-for-12): He went 9-for-12 (75%) stealing bases in 49 games last year. He’s ahead of that pace this year but not by a ton. Pretty much par for the course for Pereira.

Those five players account for 53 of Hudson Valley’s 69 stolen bases (and 58 of their 83 attempts, or 70%). Bowman and Sanchez, and to a lesser extent Pereira, are the guys you would expect to steal a bunch of bases. Nelson and Wells are less obvious, but hey, they’re doing it.

The personnel obviously plays a big role in Hudson Valley’s stolen base total. The Yankees have also placed an emphasis on improving their baserunning. Lindsey Adler (subs. req’d) spoke to Matt Talarico, the team’s director of speed and baserunning, about their efforts to build better runners and improve their baserunning approach in Spring Training. From Adler:

“People look at numbers, and I think maybe teams look at the probabilities and say, ‘Hey, we can’t make an out on the bases,’” Talarico said. “I agree that we don’t want to run into outs on the bases, but how can we teach people to be a little more successful?”

…

“We don’t want to make mistakes in a game, but we want to help guys make good decisions and learn what they can and can’t do. I think when you approach it like that, I think there are some areas we can capitalize on, regardless of who the runner is.”

Maybe that is bleeding into Hudson Valley’s success? Whatever it is, they're going wild on the bases this season. Bowman and Sanchez are leading the way, and others are contributing as well. Would be something if this were the start of an organizational trend, and soon the Yankees are stealing more bases at every level (including the big leagues).

Miscellany

LHP Ken Waldichuk, my No. 17 prospect, struck out 12 in five no-hit innings this weekend (video) and he has a 1.14 ERA (2.43 FIP) with 44.9% strikeouts in 23.2 Double-A innings. The walks are still a little too high (10.1%), though they’re not unmanageable. Triple-A Scranton has seven starting pitchers at the moment (Manny Banuelos, Deivi Garcia, Luis Gil, Matt Krook, Clarke Schmidt, JP Sears, Hayden Wesneski) and they’re all pitching well. Still, Waldichuk is a priority prospect and you make room for him when you deem him ready for a promotion. I think he’ll be with the RailRiders in a few weeks … I didn’t realize OF Anthony Garcia’s batted ball profile with Low-A Tampa was so comical last year. My No. 24 prospect managed a 200.0% HR/FB rate in 16 games (six homers on three fly balls). You can thank the homers he hit on his 11 line drives for that weirdness. Anyway, Garcia’s hitting .224/.441/.522 (182 wRC+) with six homers, 33.3% walks, and 26.9% strikeouts in 22 games with Tampa this year. Not sure what the Yankees are planning to do with Garcia, who will be Rule 5 Draft eligible (again) this coming offseason. He’s in Single-A and he’s basically a DH, but the kid can hit … Since being promoted to Double-A last year, RHP Randy Vasquez has a solidly below average 20.4% strikeout rate and 11.0% swinging strike rate in 35 innings. Three weeks ago he faced 14 batters in a start and did not strike out a single batter. For a guy with stuff as lively as Vasquez’s, that’s a little eyebrow-raising. It’s only 35 innings spread across two years, so no need to panic yet, though strikeout rates usually carry over from level to level and year to year. A thing to monitor for my No. 13 prospect … Welcome back, LHP T.J. Sikkema. He made his season debut Sunday and retired all six batters he faced (three strikeouts). Here’s some video. It was Sikkema’s first game action since July 21st, 2019. There was no minor league season in 2020, he missed 2021 with a lat injury, and he started this season on the injured list with an elbow issue. Sikkema’s not a top 30 prospect anymore, but he’s talented, and if he manages to stay healthy, he can be a top 30 prospect again.

4. 2022 draft prospect: James Madison OF Chase DeLauter. The 2022 MLB Draft will take place during the All-Star break and the Yankees hold the No. 25 pick. Here are the draft prospects we’ve already profiled. Some will be players the Yankees are reported to have interest in, some are players who fit the team’s M.O., and some are players I happen to like.

DeLauter’s numbers are excellent. He’s a career .402/.520/.715 hitter with more walks (65) than strikeouts (42) in 66 college games, including .437/.576/.828 (216 wRC+) with eight homers, 28 walks, and 21 strikeouts in 24 games this spring. Against top competition in the wood bat Cape Cod League last summer, DeLauter hit .298/.397/.589 with nine homers in 34 games.

The downside is DeLauter, a left-handed hitter, faces just decent competition in the Colonial Athletic Conference, and he had a particularly ugly opening weekend against a strong Florida State pitch staff, going 1-for-14 with eight strikeouts in three games. Fair or not, that’s stuck with a lot of evaluators. Here are DeLauter’s current draft rankings:

• Baseball America (subs. req’d): No. 18
• FanGraphs: No. 4
• Keith Law (subs. req’d): No. 31
• MLB.com: No. 12

DeLauter’s season is likely over. He broke his foot sliding into second base last month, and if he does return, it won’t be until late in the season (James Madison’s season ends May 21st). In all likelihood scouts have seen all they’re going to see of DeLauter this spring. Here’s some video. MLB.com’s free scouting report is lacking, so here’s part of Baseball America’s (subs. req’d):

(His) exceptional contact rate and swing decisions at James Madison have scouts drooling about his upside … DeLauter has plenty of strength in a 6-foot-4, 235-pound frame that gives him plus raw power and while his swing isn’t described as fluid, he gets himself into good hitting position consistently. He’s uniquely athletic for his size and has posted double-plus run times in the 60-yard dash. That surprising speed has led some evaluators to think he can stick in center field, at least initially. He has a plus throwing arm and should have enough power to profile in right or even at first base in the future depending on how his athleticism and body develop as he ages.

So DeLauter is a physically large player with “plus raw power” who “gets himself into good hitting position consistently,” is “uniquely athletic for his size,” has a “plus throwing arm,” and enters the draft with questions because some are focusing too much on what he can’t do (hit Florida State pitching, apparently)? Sounds like the lefty version of someone we know (GIF via Lucas Apostoleris):

I’m half-joking because Aaron Judge is an excellent pure hitter. I think he’d hit .300 consistently if he were a few inches shorter and had shorter levers. Judge has hit on what, the 98th percentile outcome on his skill set? This is pretty much the best case scenario. DeLauter is similar as a big dude with power and athleticism and discipline, but Judge is an unfair comp for anyone.

The Yankees like college hitters with big exit velocity (like DeLauter) who walk more than they strike out (like DeLauter), and show well on the Cape (like DeLauter). He checks a lot of their boxes, and the Yankees are not afraid of players coming out of non-major conferences (Trey Sweeney played in the Ohio Valley Conference). The dots are easy to connect.

DeLauter was a consensus top 5-10 draft prospect coming into the spring, before the ugly weekend against Florida State and before he broke his foot. Greg Bird showed us that foot/ankle injuries can really hamper a hitter, though I don’t think the injury is enough to scare teams away. It was a fluke thing and it’s not a chronic problem, like an achy shoulder or wrist. Just bad luck.

My guess is DeLauter will come off the board before the Yankees pick at No. 25. So many teams lean on analytical models on draft day (like the Yankees), and DeLauter is a model darling. The Twins (No. 8), Guardians (No. 16), and Athletics (No. 19) stand out as candidates to take him. If DeLauter’s on the board when the No. 25 pick comes around, I think the Yankees would pounce.

5. Remembering a random Yankee: Adonis Rosa. This week’s random Yankee is a request and a member of the “one day in the big leagues” club. Here’s the random Yankee archive. You can find links back to everyone we've covered there.

Originally signed as an 18-year-old international free agent out of the Dominican Republic in Nov. 2013, Rosa did not make his full league season debut until July 2016, when he joined Low-A Charleston. After that season Eric Longenhagen had Rosa as an honorable mention on his top Yankees prospects list. It was the only time he appeared on a prospect list anywhere. Here is Longehagen’s write-up:

A frail-looking 22-year-old Dominican righty, Rosa began the year in extended but pitched well at Staten Island in June and was promoted to Charleston. He sits 90-92 with an average, low-80s curveball and above-average command. The body concerns scouts and it’s realistically fifth- or sixth-starter stuff.

From 2017-18, Rosa was the epitome of an organizational arm, bouncing between levels as a starter and reliever, filling in the gaps wherever an arm was needed. He threw 223.1 innings with a 3.53 ERA those two seasons. Here’s how his workload was distributed:

• Low-A Charleston: 83 IP (8 starts and 15 relief appearances)
• High-A Tampa: 96 IP (18 starts and 5 relief appearances)
• Double-A Trenton: 11.2 IP (2 starts)
• Triple-A Scranton: 32.2 IP (6 starts)

An errant Jakob Junis pitch broke Aaron Judge’s wrist in July 2018, and by time he was ready to return to action in mid September, the minor league season was over. There was nowhere to play rehab games. The Yankees had Judge take live at-bats at Yankee Stadium and they brought in two minor leaguers to face him: Rosa and Phil Diehl (who was later traded for Mike Tauchman).

“Today looked like pitching practice, not batting practice,” Reggie Jackson told Billy Witz about the rusty Judge following the simulated at-bats. The Yankees specifically chose Rosa (a righty) and Diehl (a lefty) to face Judge because they trusted their control, and that they wouldn’t hit Judge with a pitch. Up to that point Rosa owned a career 4.9% minor league walk rate.

Rosa spent 2019 bouncing between Double-A and Triple-A, working as a starter and reliever. He had four stints with Scranton and three with Trenton, throwing 103.1 innings with a 4.18 ERA in 13 starts and 12 relief appearances between the two levels. Rosa never made more than five consecutive appearances at one level before being promoted to demoted.

The 2019 Yankees dealt with injuries all season and at one point in August they cycled through new arms on a near daily basis. Brady Lail was called up on Aug. 11th, threw 2.2 innings in a blowout win the next day, then was sent down the day after that. Rosa was called up to replace him. “(We) needed the length,” Aaron Boone told Bradford William Davis about the move.

“The (Triple-A) manager was calling and calling, I was sleeping,” Rosa, then 24, told Davis about being called up (the RailRiders were in Charlotte at the time). “Eventually, he went over and knocked on my door and told me ‘Hey, you’re going to the big leagues.’”

The Yankees went 17-2 against the Orioles in 2019 and they jumped all over John Means on Aug. 13th. They led 7-1 after four innings and 8-2 after seven innings. That allowed Boone to stay away from his top relievers and paved the way for Rosa to make his MLB debut. He entered in the eighth inning and retired six of the seven batters he faced to finish the game. His night:

• Rio Ruiz strikeout.
• Jonathan Villar groundout.
• Trey Mancini flyout to end the eighth.
• Anthony Santander groundout.
• Renato Nunez home run.
• Jace Peterson flyout.
• Hanser Alberto strikeout to end the game.

Six outs on 32 pitches. The solo home run is unfortunate, but the Yankees called up Rosa to eat some innings, and he did that (video). “Fearless. Gave us what we needed,” Boone told Davis about Rosa’s night. Rosa admitted he was nervous at first, then he said he told himself: “This is the game I played all my life. I know how to do this.”

As a reward, Rosa was sent back to Triple-A the next day to make room for waiver claim (and fellow random Yankee) Ryan Dull. He finished the season with Scranton and was not given a September call up. Instead, the Yankees designated Rosa for assignment on Sept. 10th. The move cleared a 40-man roster for Ben Heller, who came off the 60-day injured list.

Rosa cleared waivers and remained with the Yankees as a non-40-man roster player. He was a non-roster invitee to Spring Training 2020, and the Yankees liked Rosa enough to send him to the alternate site during the shortened pandemic season. Teams only had 30 roster spots at the alternate site, remember. The Yankees deemed Rosa worthy of one.

The Yankees released Rosa in Sept. 2020 and that one day, Aug. 13th, 2019, is his only day in the big leagues. Even just one day of service time comes with benefits:

• A day of big league pay. The minimum salary was $555,000 in 2019, so one day equaled $2,983.87. The Triple-A minimum salary was $502 per week back then.
• A day of licensing money through the MLBPA. That’s the money from baseball cards, video games, merchandise, etc.
• A higher minor league salary going forward, even if you’re not on the 40-man roster.
• Access to MLB’s health care program for life.

Rosa, now 27, allowed 10 runs in six innings with Olmecas de Tabasco in the Mexican League in 2021, and he’s currently under contract with the Washington Wild Things of the independent Frontier League. They begin their season this weekend. Former Brave and Mariner Rob Whalen is probably the most recognizable name on their roster.

(Send your requests for Tuesday's random Yankee series and questions for Friday's mailbag to RABmailbag at gmail dot com.)