MLB Draft 2023: Grading the Yankees’ Day 3 picks

While Gerrit Cole is prepping for his first All-Star Game start and making sure Billy Crystal is nowhere near T-Mobile Park, the Yankees’ front office was busy concluding their final day of bringing in the latest draftees. Through the first 10 rounds, the Yankees made eight selections (having forfeited their second- and fifth-round picks this year). Similar to last year the organization had a clear plan in place for their needs.

They started the draft by taking high school shortstop George Lombard Jr. from Miami in the first round, their lone pick of Day 1. Having skipped the second round, Day 2 started with taking lefty pitcher Kyle Carr out of Palomar College in the third round, and then the clear winner of best new draftee name: Roc Riggio, a second baseman out of Oklahoma State in the fourth.

They got a break in the fifth round and then were back at work in the sixth. That’s where they grabbed Mississippi State righty Cade Smith before going back to the infield well in the seventh to take Enrique “Kiko” Romero, a first baseman from Arizona. With the pattern of infielders and pitchers having been established, the Yankees went big in the eighth with Nicholas Judice, a righty from the University of Louisiana Monroe who stands a solid 6-foot-8 and 230 pounds.

Finally an exception to break the rule, the Yankees took an outfielder! Jared Wegner from Creighton University was their ninth-round selection, before taking right-handed pitcher Brian Hendry from Oklahoma State as their final pick of the day in the 10th round. With that being their first two days of picks, let’s recap what the Yankees did today.

Day 3

The Yankees used their first pick of the day to select Josh Grosz (342nd overall), a right-handed pitcher out of East Carolina University. Though MLB Pipeline had him ranked a little better than where he got drafted, both them and Baseball America think he’s destined for a bullpen role. The most interesting nugget here though, is that he once was ejected from a game for “feeding a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to a teammate who had just homered,” was was deemed a violation of the NCAA’s celebratory props rule by the umpire.

In the 12th round, the Yankees went to the Dallas Baptist well, where they’re frequent shoppers, to take Brady Rose (372nd overall). Rose was unranked by both MLB Pipeline and Baseball America, but had a good year out of the bullpen and is said to have a “difficult to square up” fastball.

This draft has mostly been about infielders and pitchers for the Yankees, so in the 13th round they got both in one. High schooler Josh Tiedemann (402nd overall) is a TCU commit so it’ll be a challenge to see if he signs. Although it does seem more likely for him to stick around on the infield as a power bat, but maybe the Yankees will see if they have the next Shohei Ohtani if they can convince the third baseman/pitcher to forgo his commitment. At the very least, it’ll be an interesting prospect to follow!

After a kind-of exciting pick in the 13th, the team just fell Flatt in the 14th. With the 432nd overall pick, the team took Danny Flatt Jr. from the P27 Performance Academy baseball program. He is also committed to Lipscomb University, which might be the better path for him if he wants to raise his stock.

Do the Yankees know how to make a Frickin’ pick or what? In the 15th round, the Yankees took Tomas Frick (462nd overall) who comes from the University of North Carolina where he’s been catching since 2021. He was also recently named to the ACC All-Tournament Team, which is an impressive Frickin’ accomplishment.

To start the second half of the final draft day, the Yankees took Andrew Landry (492nd overall) in the 16th round. Landry, a righty pitcher from Southeastern Louisiana University, had gone unranked (similarly to a majority of the picks in these later rounds), and doesn’t boast the most impressive numbers. Still maybe the Yankees see something that they can develop if they get him to sign. If he doesn’t, he’ll look to transfer to the University of Southern Mississippi.

While Day 2 was completely filled with college picks, the Yankees have shown quite an interest in the high school selections on this final day. With their seventh pick of the day, the Yankees took their fourth high schooler of the day (fifth overall) in outfielder Wilson Rodriguez (522nd overall) from Academia Presbiteriana High School in Puerto Rico.

Once again shopping in the college section, the Yankees took outfielder Coby Morales (552nd overall) out of Washington. Morales looks destined to be a corner outfielder due to his build and profile, and especially if the power plays out the way it had in his senior year, when he mashed 12 homers in 55 games.

The Yankees penultimate selection in the 2023 Draft was pitcher Cade Austin (582nd overall) from the University of South Carolina. Austin had an impressive 38 strikeouts against nine walks across 29.3 innings in 2023. A reliever in college, Austin seems likely to stay in the ‘pen if he signs with the organization, or else he’ll return to school.

And with their last pick of the draft, the Yankees took Bryce Warrecker (612th overall), a pitcher from California Polytechnic State University. They stayed true to their trend in taking another pitcher, but what’s interesting about Warrecker is that he worked both as a starter and reliever throughout college. It does seem unlikely they get him to sign, but maybe if they have some extra money leftover from other picks, they might just be able to incentivize him.

That does it for the 2023 MLB Draft! Click on the links posted throughout this story or go here for a full rundown on Pinstripe Alley’s 2023 draft coverage.

For now though, let’s welcome the newest crop of Baby Bombers to the Yankees! Use the poll below to let us know your thoughts on how the Yankees did on the last day of the draft. What was your favorite name from today’s selections?