Yankees Making the Team Meter: Pitchers - Week One

Once again, Pinstripe Alley presents you with our very own Making the Team Meter that will help you keep track of who could make the team and who probably won’t. We do this every year, where hitters and pitchers are split between two separate articles. These updates will come in one-week installments, so you can expect to see four of these posts for each category.

If you’re new to this, or just don’t remember how we grade the players, here is a look at the key that we use to make our decisions.

This year the Yankees are looking to weed out two starting pitchers from the rest of the pack. Guys like Luis Severino, Luis Cessa, Chad Green, and Bryan Mitchell will be competing over the next month to decide who gets a spot and who will be sent back down to Triple-A. Chance Adams, Jordan Montgomery, and Dietrich Enns will also get a chance to show what they can do but all three will likely start the season in the minors.

The Yankees are trying to fill the bullpen with whoever performs best over the next few weeks. Anyone on the 40-man roster has a leg up in any competition, so Jonathan Holder and Ben Heller are in the best position to earn spots. You can expect names like J.R. Graham and Jason Gurka to end up in Triple-A, while J.P. Feyereisen could go gain a little interest with a strong spring.

If the season were to begin today, Luis Severino would probably be in the starting rotation. Despite allowing two runs on four hits and two walks in 4.1 innings, he has shown enough progress to be considered worth the risk. Severino is the prospect of the group, and he will get chances over others as long as he doesn’t look like a liability. The last spot in the rotation will then come down to Green, Cessa, and Mitchell, with Green being the most likely candidate at this moment.

When it comes to the team’s left-handed specialist, it looks like Tommy Layne is going to be the man to beat. The Yankees brought in lefties Daniel Camarena, Jason Gurka, Joe Mantiply, and Evan Rutckyj to make things interesting, but Layne is the favorite so far.

It’s a safe bet that Johnny Barbato doesn’t make the team, however, he has been impressive in the early goings by striking out five in four innings of work. The same goes for Chasen Shreve. One of them could make the team as an injury replacement, but even then you would assume someone is in front of them on the depth chart.

Prospects like Justus Sheffield and Yefrey Ramirez are simply here to get their work in and work with major league coaches. They will benefit off the field maybe more than they will benefit on the field. James Kaprielian may not even get a chance to pitch in spring because the Yankees want to be careful with his elbow. We’ll see what happens.

Who has impressed you so far? Who do you think has been bad? Who will steal a roster spot in the day to come?