The Yankees have struggled with developing players who can consistently perform at average or better levels, mainly since the era of Bernie Williams. While they had a few standout talents like Robinson Cano, Brett Gardner, and Aaron Judge, they didn’t manage to produce many strong players simultaneously.
However, it seems like they are making improvements now. Not only are they sending more homegrown position players to the majors, but they’re also producing a noteworthy number of left-handed hitters. Additionally, they appear to be relying more on internal prospects than in previous years.
In the past decade, across ten full seasons (excluding the unique 2020 season), just three left-handers drafted by the Yankees qualified for batting titles: Gardner six times, Ben Gamel in 2017, and Josh Smith last year. Only Gardner did so while playing for the Yankees.
This past weekend, three left-handed hitters from the Yankees’ draft—Trays Weeney, Ben Rice, and Austin Wells—qualified for batting titles. Rice and Wells were active on the Yankees’ roster, while Smith, now with the Rangers, qualified with a .864 OPS average, a notable loss considering he was part of the trade involving Joey Gallo. These four players were all drafted by the Yankees between 2019 and 2021. There’s also Spencer Jones, who was the Yankees’ first-round pick in 2022 and is now exhibiting similar qualities to Gallo in Double A—showing power, athleticism, but also a tendency to strike out often.
