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Spring training is rapidly approaching! (Okay, not really, but saying that makes me almost believe it—we are less than three weeks away from pitchers and catchers reporting though). The 2019 roster is more or less set, and aside from the big offseason transactions, the Yankees have also signed several players to minor league deals over the past few months. They won’t release their full list of non-roster invitees for another couple of weeks, but let’s take a look at the players who have already been invited to spring training.
Pitchers
Danny Coulombe
Age as of Opening Day: 29
2018 stats: (Triple-A): 28.1 IP, 8.89 K/9, 1.91 BB/9, 0.95 HR/9, 2.54 ERA, 4.20 FIP
(MLB): 23.2 IP, 9.89 K/9, 4.18 BB/9, 1.90 HR/9, 4.56 ERA, 5.10 FIP
Rex Brothers
Age as of Opening Day: 31
2018 stats: (Triple-A/Double-A): 40.2 IP, 12.4 K/9, 9.7 BB/9, 0.4 HR/9, 6.20 ERA, 4.84 FIP
(MLB): 0.0 IP, 0.0 K/9, 18.00 BB/9, 0.0 HR/9, 9.00 ERA, 9.16 FIP
Drew Hutchison
Age as of Opening Day: 28
2018 stats: (Triple-A): 42 IP, 8.57 K/9, 2.79 BB/9, 0.21 HR/9, 2.14 ERA, 3.29 FIP
(MLB): 42.2 IP, 6.54 K/9, 5.48 BB/9, 1.90 HR/9, 6.75 ERA, 6.42 FIP
You may be thinking that Brothers’ walk rate in the minors must be a typo, but I assure you it is not. 9.7 BB/9 through 40.2 innings is gnarly. And you thought Dellin Betances had command issues. During his only appearance for the Braves in 2018, he walked both of the batters that he faced. Yikes.
Maybe Coulombe or Brothers could join the bullpen as the new A.J. Cole. Probably not, though. Hutchison was so bad last year that expectations better be kept low for him, too.
Position Players
Billy Burns
Age as of Opening Day: 29
2018 stats: (Triple-A): 102 G, .255/.314/.316, 4 HR, 10 SB, 68 wRC+
Matt Lipka
Age as of Opening Day: 26
2018 stats: (Double-A): 123 G, .240/.329/.352, 4 HR, 21 SB, 91 wRC+
Both outfielders, Burns and Lipka could be competing to become the new Shane Robinson. The former failed to get called up with the Royals at any point in 2018, while Lipka has yet to make his major league debut. It certainly doesn’t hurt to keep one or both of these guys in Triple-A in case the Yankees face an outfield nightmare similar to last year’s.
They’ll probably hand out a few more minor league contracts between now and spring training, not to mention the prospects who will be invited, but for now it’s an interesting group of players. Do you think any of these guys will crack the roster? Let us know in the comments.