rticle 2015 Draft Report Card: Yankees October 19, 2015 by John Manuel 3 QUICK TAKE James Kaprielian had a claim to be the top healthy college pitcher in a topsy-turvy class, and the Yankees got him with the 16th pick. Strong debuts by the likes of Donny Sands and Isiah Gilliam buoy a position-player class longer on athleticism than polish. POSITION PLAYERS BEST PURE HITTER: The Yankees had strong belief in the hands and contact ability of 3B Donny Sands(8), and he rewarded them with a .309/.405/.364 debut in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League. » BEST POWER HITTER: OF Jhalan Jackson (7) set a Florida Southern record with 20 homers in the spring and hit five more in his debut, as did OF Trey Amburgey (13). Both have big power that is not limited to pull side. OF Isaiah Gilliam (20) is the increasingly-rare switch-hitter with power from both sides. » FASTEST RUNNER: OF Jeff Hendrix (4) consistently turns in 4.0-4.1 second times to first base from the left side, and his speed plays defensively in center field as well. » BEST DEFENSIVE PLAYER: SS Kyle Holder (1) was the best defensive player in the draft class. He has body control, short-area quickness, a plus arm and easy actions, making him a potentially 70 defender. Doesn't sound too bad
Jorge Mateo 20, SS (A+ level) is a kid by most accounts has great talent and the numbers are also there .278/.345 OBP, 82, SB. (little power but I think "we" can live with that). Read somewhere the Yanks were thinking about converting him to 2b. Could also be used a trade chip....? He is at low level minors and nothing is guaranteed.
Over reacting just a bit? I think....IMHO.....one thing which is pretty much a guarantee is the Yanks WILL TRY to improve and put a winning team on the field. They're spending money, they are using their farm system....did I miss anything? Of course, obviously, we can criticize their moves and of course those moves may not work out....but this isn't a team (ownership) IMHO which is only trying to put a "decent" team on the field and turn a profit on the cheap.
"Gary Sanchez, C, Yankees -- Sanchez's tools and overall profile have remained unchanged for a number of years; big power but approach issues that lead to an untenable strikeout ratio, and elite arm strength but a slow, clumsy body that struggles with movement and some basic aspects of catching, making it likely he ends up at first base or DH. In the Fall League, Sanchez looked a bit quicker, less apt to drop pitches and be slow to balls in the dirt. He also showed signs of fixing the glacial way he rises from his crouch when he throws down to second base by often just eliminating the middle man and throwing from his knees. He'll post pop times anywhere from plus-plus to fringe average but it's good enough often enough to act as a stolen base deterrent. In my eyes, he certainly has a better chance to catch for a while than he did the last time I saw him, though I still believe he'll succumb to his own physiology and have to DH at some point." http://espn.go.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/14203614/learned-players-raised-their-stock
Yeah, he's a big guy.......hopefully he can hold his own or improve - still very young- but he can throw out sb/att and does at least have a strong arm - has thrown out 35% in minors. Murphy threw out 29% sb/att in minors and thus far 30% in ML. No surprise there's room for improvement in Sanchez' overall catching skills and the Yanks are probably not expecting him to be a Johnny Bench clone behind the plate. At least there were a couple of positives in the article: "He also showed signs of fixing the glacial way he rises from his crouch when he throws down to second base by often just eliminating the middle man and throwing from his knees. He'll post pop times anywhere from plus-plus to fringe average but it's good enough often enough to act as a stolen base deterrent. He does strikeout - but his numbers at AA-AAA weren't outrageous, 185 K, 886 AB He's also had a good OBA and can "hit". It is what it is. Still just 22 yrs old and hasn't yet been exposed to ML life and coaching.. He should benefit being around Tony Pena. We'll see what happens- who knows?
