The Yankees have a number of young and promising talents climbing their farm system, but several pitchers are on the brink of promotion.
Will Warren’s Spring Training Showcase
First and foremost, Will Warren presented solid upside in his first spring training performance, showing nasty break on his pitches with a pretty delivery. In his first action this spring, Warren pitched 2.2 innings, giving up four hits and one earned run, a batter he left on base that was eventually driven in after he left the game. However, he collected three strikeouts and finished with a 3.37 ERA.
Warren is clearly on the list of players who will make a contribution in 2024, but the Yankees are also hoping they can get some value out of Clayton Beeter, a player they acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers several years ago.
Clayton Beeter’s Development and Performance
Beeter spent his 2023 season between two minor league affiliates. He tossed 60.2 innings with Double-A Somerset, collecting an impressive 2.08 ERA and 11.27 strikeouts per nine. He struggled a bit when he transitioned to Triple-A Scranton, throwing 71 innings and posting a 4.94 ERA, yet maintaining his strike-out percentages but seeing a decreasing ground ball rate and left-on-base rate. He has had issues with walking batters over the past few seasons, allowing 4.69 in Double-A and 5.58 in Triple-A. Throwing more strikes and attacking the zone will be a priority for Beeter, who found himself in a few peculiar situations during Thursday night’s game against the Miami Marlins.
Despite running into some trouble, leaving several men stranded on base, Beeter managed to escape unscathed, giving up three hits, one walk, and striking out four batters over 3.0 innings.
How Beeter Can Work Into the Yankees’ Plans
Keeping the walks down is a good sign, and he produced some solid ground balls that got out of trouble against hitters like Luis Arraez, who has won multiple batting titles. He utilized a change-up, four-seam fastball, and slider. His fastball saw an increase in velocity of about 1 mph, suggesting he made some fundamental tweaks this off-season to improve his stuff.
Overall, Beeter has decent stuff and a pitch mix suited for a bullpen arm. Now 25 years old, the Yankees would like to get a bit of value out of him in 2024, but he will need to continue showing he can limit his walks per nine and attack batters with a plan. Working his way out of trouble is certainly a sign of resilience, but the Yankees need to see a lot more before he can be trusted as a prominent bullpen arm.
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