The New York Yankees have started trimming their roster ahead of Opening Day in just a few weeks. The Bombers have already sent seven players to minor league camp to get specific guys more playing time, adding four more after Monday’s win against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Over the weekend, they sent Sean Boyle, Josh Breaux, Elijah Dunham, Anthony Seigler, D.J. Snelten, Mitch Spence, and Austin Wells to camp. They just recently optioned Yoendrys Gomez, Everson Pereira, Jesus Bastidas, and Andres Chaparro.
Optioned RHP Yoendrys Gómez and OF Everson Pereira to Double-A Somerset and reassigned them to minor league camp.Reassigned INF Jesús Bastidas and INF Andrés Chaparro to minor league camp.
Per the Yankees.
The Yankees saw some great performances from their prospects:
There is a strong argument to make that Pereira and Chaparro earned more opportunities, considering they are likely the closest to being Major League players.
Pereira enjoyed 12 at-bats, posting four hits, three runs, and a stolen base. The 21-year-old is one of the Yankees’ top outfield prospects, featuring for Double-A Somerset in 2022. He played 29 games at that level, so he should make his way to Triple-A Scranton at some point this upcoming season. He hit .283 with a .341 OBP with Somerset last year, hosting a 30.1% strikeout rate. He’s looking to reduce that number significantly, making better contact more frequently, which would suggest he’s ready to make the jump to the next level.
Chaparro, on the other hand, had a stand-out spring with the Yankees. Over 16 at-bats, he enjoyed four hits, three runs, two homers, and six RBIs. The 23-year-old slugger hit a Grand Slam in one of the games, expecting to feature with Scranton in Triple-A this upcoming season. Chaparro has the makeup of an MLB player but just needs a bit more experience to reduce his chase rate.
Ultimately, the Yankees have plenty of young guns who could feature at the MLB level in the future, but they still need a year or two at the Minor League league to iron out any deficiencies and compound on their strengths.
More must-reads: