Sunday, October 23, 2016

Arizona Fall League Weekly Check In: J.P Feyereisen


Same thing as before. Who is J.P Feyereisen and why is he representing the New York Yankees at the Arizona Fall League in 2016? Unlike Koerner from earlier on in the day Feyereisen had a full season in 2016 with the Akron (Cleveland Indians) and Trenton Thunder affiliates. As far as I can tell the Yankees simply want to evaluate more of what they got in return this season from the Andrew Miller trade and sent Feyereisen to the Scottsdale Scorpions to accomplish that.

Who is J.P. Feyereisen? Feyereisen is a relief pitcher that was drafted in the 16th round of the 2014 MLB First Year Players Draft by the Cleveland Indians before being traded to the Yankees in the Andrew Miller deal because the team got tired of putting his last name on their jerseys. Or something like that.

Four games pitched in with a 1-1 record and a 7.20 ERA. It's not what you want but it's a small sample size.

Yankees Rank Three in Baseball America’s Top 20 Short Season/Rookie Ball Prospects List


The final prospect list from Baseball America that we will cover is the Short Season and Rookie Ball affiliates in Minor League Baseball. The Yankees have four short season and rookie ball affiliates including the Pulaski Yankees, the Gulf Coast Yankees 1 and 2 and the Staten Island Yankees but somehow the team only managed to send three to the list. According to reports I’ve read there are many Yankees that “just missed the cut” which makes sense for them and a lot of teams. Short season and rookie ball are for recently drafted prospects and international free agents who signed at 16-years old who are working their way towards the Major Leagues with a long road ahead. There are generally more questions than answers at this point so don’t look too much into these rankings either way unfortunately.

Blake Rutherford was the Yankees first round pick from this year’s draft and he was ranked #2 in the Appalachian League after just a few months there. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was the only prospect in front of him in the Appalachian League after Baseball America was quoted as saying Rutherford “performed like a college hitter.” For a High School hitter that’s quite the compliment.

Right behind Rutherford on that list was outfielder Estevan Florial, an 18-year old prospect who just made his debut in the United Sates. Florial has nice power with good speed all while playing a natural outfield. Florial has a long way to go and is a raw prospect by all accounts but he is closer than most at this same level.


The final prospect to make the list for the Yankees is shortstop, yes another shortstop, Diego Castillo of the Gulf Coast League. Castillo was the only Yankees prospect ranked in the Gulf Coast League prospects after showing some promise at the plate and in the field this season. 

Arizona Fall League Weekly Check In: Brody Koerner


Who is Brody Koerner and why is he down in the Arizona Fall League for the New York Yankees? Koerner is a college reliever who the Yankees drafted that they transitioned into a starting pitcher like they have become known to do in recent years. Koerner was a 17th round pick in 2015 out of Clemson. That's the who, the why is because Koerner missed a lot of time in 2016 due to injury. All told Koerner only pitched in five games and in 34 innings total with the Charleston Riverdogs and the Tampa Yankees.

One of my good friends from prior to us both entering the blogger game Greg Corcoran of Bronx Baseball Daily has a nice write up about Koerner after picking him to be the breakout candidate for the Yankees system in 2016. You can read that here. 

Koerner has only been in two games thus far this winter posting a 24.30 ERA with nine runs allowed. Sample sizes and health are key, not the stats.

MLB Postseason Schedule for 10/23: Game 7?


Will there be a Game 7 in the National League Championship Series? Will the Cubs have already punched their ticket to the World Series or will the Dodgers live to fight another day? At the time of this writing that is still undetermined so just in case here is the Game 7 schedule for the NLCS.

Los Angeles Dodgers @ Chicago Cubs (Game 7 if necessary) @ 8:08 pm ET on Fox Sports One

This Day in New York Yankees History 10/23: Enter Bob Watson

Watch the entire Game 3 of the 1996 World Series right here for FREE. Click above. 

On this day in 1996 David Cone shut down the Atlanta Braves in Game 3 of the 1996 World Series with the Yankees down two games to none. This would be the first of 14 consecutive World Series games victories for the Yankees before the New York Mets ended the streak in the 2000 Subway World Series.


Also on this day in 1995 the Yankees hired a new GM, replacing Gene Michael, in former Astros GM Bob Watson. Watson would only last two years in the Bronx before the Brian Cashman regime started after being upset with the "chain of command" in the Yankees organization, I think that probably means George Steinbrenner. Watson would be the GM when the Yankees would win their first World Series in 1978 when they were crowned the 1996 champions.