Getting to know more of the Yankees’ top-10 prospects

On Tuesday, we went over half of Baseball Prospectus’ top 10 prospect list for the New York Yankees. It consisted of Kevin Alcantara, Clarke Schmidt, Ezequiel Duran, Estevan Florial, and Anthony Volpe. With numbers 6-10 done, let’s cover the other half.

5) Luis Gil

In the spring of 2018, the Minnesota Twins traded the then 19-year-old flame-throwing right-hander Luis Gil to the Yankees in exchange for Jake Cave. At the time it was not viewed as a big trade or one that carried a lot of weight, but as we head into 2020, Gil is the fourth-best pitcher in the Yankees’ farm system.

Gil, now 21-years-old, is pitching in High-A, but played in Low-A for the majority of 2019. While he was there, he started 17 games and struck out 112 batters in 83 innings. His 12.14 K/9 is extremely impressive, plus, he surrendered just one home run the entire season. There’s no doubt that he can pitch.

With a fastball that has touched 101 mph, Gil is going to be a power pitcher who will strike out a lot of guys. He can also miss bats with his curveball and has begun to work on a changeup. It will be very exciting to see how he develops with the live arm he has.

4) Luis Medina

Medina signed with the Yankees as a non-drafted free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2015. The 20-year-old pitcher has some of the best stuff in the farm system. His fastball touches 100+ mph, and also has a curveball and changeup in his arsenal.

In 2018, Medina racked up his strikeouts with 47 in 36 innings. He also had control issues, though, and it was bad. He walked an astounding 11.5 batters per nine innings, which resulted in a 25% BB%. He was able to bring that number down to 15.7% in 2019, but it’s still something he needs to improve on.

Medina has time on his side. The fact that he is only 20 is such a positive for him. If it took him four years to master his pitches, he’d still reach the majors at age 24.

3) Albert Abreu

Abreu was acquired by the Yankees back in 2016 in a trade with the Houston Astros for Brian McCann. He fought through injuries and inconsistency in 2018, but he got back on track this past season.

The 24-year-old pitcher started 20 games in High-A, finishing the year with a 4.28 ERA, 91 Ks, and 53 walks in 96.2 innings. The main issue with Abreu is him gaining more control and command of his pitches. If he can, he could make his way to the majors quickly. If he can’t, he would most likely be pushed to the bullpen where he can blow his fastball right by hitters.

2) Jasson Dominguez

Dominguez signed a $5 million contract with the Yankees as an international free agent, which is the highest ever contract. By the way, he’s 16 and has yet to play in a professional game, yet he’s still managed to be named the second-best prospect in the organization. At such a young age, he has lofty expectations.

You may be wondering why the Yankees made him the highest-paid international free agent ever. Well to start, his nickname is “The Martian” because people don’t believe he’s from this world. MLB.com even called Dominguez “one of the best international prospects available in years” and also “a teenage Mike Trout.” Dominguez is an outfielder, and a switch-hitter at the plate. He has insane power and is fast on the basepaths. Yankees fans should be thrilled to see the kid develop as he can hopefully turn into the star many scouts believe he can become.

1) Deivi Garcia

He’s not big in stature at 5-foot-9, but that has not held him back at all. Garcia signed with the Yankees in 2015 out of the Dominican Republic. The 20-year-old pitcher has sped his way through the minor leagues, and may be on the brink of becoming a major leaguer sometime next season.

Through 2016 and 2017, Garcia pitched at the Rookie-Ball level, but by the time 2018 ended, he made his way to Double-A (for one game). He started 2019 in High-A, then started 11 games in Double-A, and finally made it up Triple-A for six starts. His numbers weren’t too impressive there, but it’s an extremely small sample size and he’s still so young.

Garcia started the Futures Game in July for the American League. He worked a 1-2-3 first inning on 14 pitches and recorded a strikeout. He has a live arm and there’s a reason why Brian Cashman chose not to deal him during the trade deadline.