After the Yankees selected college pitchers with the first seven picks in the MLB Amateur Draft, it seems reasonable to wonder whether the team is looking to bolster its major league roster and make up for some of the pitching depth lost in recent trades.
Damon Oppenheimer, the team’s longtime vice president and director of amateur scouting, argued that wasn’t the case.
But he acknowledged during a Zoom call Thursday that the Yankees view pitchers as having an easier time reaching the major league level.
“I think our strategy is to get the best players available,” Oppenheimer said. “Maybe even a couple of position players would have been fine. We’ve done a lot of research on players and pitchers that make it to the major leagues. You can develop pitchers and get there. You need a lot of pitchers to hold up long term. It’s so hard to hit these days. Why not attack some of the hard guys?”
He added that the Yankees’ draft success was largely due to the fact that they had 19 college players of their 20 draft picks.
“We could have had four high school kids in the top 10 and then it goes the other way,” Oppenheimer said.
Oppenheimer also said he is “confident” the Yankees will sign “the vast majority” of their players, including their top pick, right-hander Ben Hess, selected 26th overall out of the University of Alabama, by Aug. 1.
It was thought the Yankees might sign Hess under the slot because of his injury history, but Oppenheimer said Hess was “healthy” at the scouting combine.
As if the Yankees already had enough issues heading into the second half of the season coming off their worst few weeks of the season, manager Aaron Boone said before the break that Jose Trevino will be out for “some time.”
Trevino was placed on the 10-day disabled list after suffering a Grade 2 quadriceps injury against the Orioles, an injury that can sideline him for up to four to six weeks.
Carlos Narvaez was promoted from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre but did not play in last weekend’s games as Austin Wells played catcher for the final two games of the series.
Wells has received more playing time than Trevino thus far, but if Trevino is sidelined for an extended period of time, the Yankees could be forced to add another target before the July 30 trade deadline.
J.D. Davis can go on the disabled list after the break, but the Yankees are scheduled to face four straight right-handed pitchers in their second half opener against the Rays.
Davis’ replacement prospect, Jorvit Bivas, did not play after being recalled from SWB.
Like Narvaez, the left-handed prospect was apparently only in Baltimore as an emergency.
He returned to Triple-A.
