MLB Draft 2023: Yankees select Brian Hendry 312th overall

The Yankees had one final pick to make on the day, and they chose to go back to the mound with Brian Hendry out of Oklahoma State with the 312th overall pick. Hendry bounced between starting and coming out of the bullpen while with the Cowboys in 2023, making 16 appearances with five of them being starts for a 6.63 ERA in 36.2 innings.

Hendry missed out on playing in 2022 due to injury, but prior to this season he pitched more locally for St. John’s and tallied a 6.18 ERA in 51 innings with the Red Storm. Andrew mentioned it earlier in the day that at this point in the draft teams start to try and get economical with their picks, and grabbing Hendry seems like a low-cost signing for them to save for a good pick on the final day.

That’s not to say that Hendry is without merit — he flashes a fastball in the low 90s that went as high as 96 mph back in 2021 with the Red Storm, and scouts liked the shape of his breaking ball diving deep out of the strike zone. MLB.com’s Jim Callis remarked on the draft broadcast that Hendry’s slider has hit 97 mph as well. It seems like the clear path for Hendry going forward is to commit to the bullpen and see if the Yankees’ pitching coaches can liven up his main offering.

It’s hard to say whether Hendry will find immediate success if he converts to a full-time reliever, but plenty of pitchers have been able to play up their fastball going into short-usage situations. For now, he’ll focus on settling in with his new organization, and perhaps reminiscing with his fellow Oklahoma State draftee Roc Riggio, who was taken by the Yankees earlier in the day.

That’s all for draft selections on the day, but be sure to check back in to give your grades on how the Yankees did in the back-half of the day in our community poll.