Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across Major League Baseball. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Yankees fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
Baseball is nearly in full swing as spring training has played out for a few weeks now, and players are getting their legs underneath them. The Yankees have lots of players looking to catch the attention of coaches throughout camp, as this is the biggest spotlight
they’ll get before the minor league season begins and top prospects get to work on a path to the majors. There’s a number of promising arms that the Yankees have in the pipeline, and they’ve taken centerstage as the B teams hit the road for a number of these exhibitions. So naturally, we wanted to know which ones have caught your eye.
Overwhelmingly, the star of the staff thus far by your vote has been Carlos Lagrange. The soon-to-be 23-year-old has been flashing consistent 100-mph heaters, even topping out at 103 mph on the radar during his two spring training games, and that’s building a lot of confidence from some of the leaders of the clubhouse that this kid could be something special in the near future. Both Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole have commented on how impressed they are with Lagrange’s stuff and the potential he has to be a top of the rotation type of arm, and after a season in which Lagrange jumped up to Double-A and posted a 3.22 ERA with 104 strikeouts in just 78.1 innings at that level there’s a lot to be excited about with him.
Elmer Rodriguez came in a distant second here, but there’s plenty of enthusiasm for his potential as well. Ranked in the back-half of the top 100 prospect lists for major outlets like Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, and Baseball Prospectus (and slightly higher ranked than Lagrange is on average between the three), Rodriguez was acquired from Boston for catcher Carlos Narvaez last year and shot through the system. He pitched to a sub-3 ERA at both High-A and Double-A across 145 innings, even getting a taste of Triple-A Scranton to end his year.
Ben Hess comes in third here, and that’s reasonable given how much farther down the line Hess is compared to the other two in terms of development — Hess has just one professional season under his belt — but there’s a good amount of results already showing to generate some excitement. Hess debuted in High-A, and already made it up to Double-A in the middle of the year while continuing to put up zeroes. The organization has a heaping of pitching talent working their way up the farm system now, and soon enough fans will be able to see some of them break through instead of just envisioning how they might fit.
We also had a secondary topic on hand, with the news that the Yankees were retiring CC Sabathia’s No. 52 jersey and putting it up in Monument Park for the rest of time. The majority of you found this a fitting honor for the now-Hall of Famer who went into Cooperstown with a Yankee cap on, as Sabathia arrived in New York and immediately anchored the pitching staff as the ace of a World Series championship team. CC wound up achieving incredible milestones at the end of his career, including his 3,000th strikeout and 250th career win in his final season, and that combined with his dominant first four seasons as a Yankee combined with his ability to retool himself in his latter years on top of just being the central figure of the clubhouse throughout his tenure in the Bronx gave him more than enough of a resume to earn his Monument Park plaque. Sabathia knows and appreciates the weight of the enshrinement well, calling the Yankees’ decision “one of the greatest honors of my life.”
Touching on some MLB-wide topics, the ABS system was introduced at the MLB level for the first time back in last year’s All-Star Game and now it’s gotten a wider look at it makes its spring debut, and it’s drawn rave reviews. Applicable only by the catcher, pitcher, or batter, the challenge calls are quick enough to not interrupt the flow of the game too much and lessen the severity of an umpire having an off-night — so long as you still have your challenges.
Teams have been gung-ho about utilizing the feature thus far, challenging early and often, which often leads to them running out of challenges if they reach for questionable ones. Austin Wells went on a spree of challenging calls that didn’t wind up overturned early in spring, but the Yankees at large have been pretty successful at nailing their spots otherwise. Whether it’ll assist offenses more than pitching remains to be seen, but the weight of keeping a rally alive by a batter successfully challenging a call might feel more significant than a pitcher getting themselves out of one via similar means and thus create the feeling that it aids batters more. It does detract from a catcher’s ability to frame the ball and “steal” strikes as often, especially if teams retain their challenges for later innings when an important at-bat hinges on the correct call, which is purely a benefit for hitters. We’ve all seen the umpire who manages to miss a strike straight down the middle here and there though, so pitchers will undoubtedly be pushing the button for themselves as well.
These survey results are sponsored by FanDuel.
