Apr 7, 2025; Detroit, Michigan, USA; New York Yankees baseball hats and gloves in the dugout out in the eighth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: David Reginek-Imagn Images David Reginek-Imagn Images

Former Cardinal Thriving in New York Yankees System

Originally posted on Stanford Cardinal on SI
By Jason Burke | Last updated Jul 13, 2025 9:00 AM ET

The Stanford Cardinal have had some pretty notable draft picks in their history, from Mark Appel going with the first overall selection in the 2013 MLB Draft, to Kris Bubic and Nico Hoerner both being taken in the first round in 2018. Stanford will have two former players in Atlanta for next week's All Star Game as well, in Bubic and Kyle Stowers.

But when it comes to the New York Yankees, they're getting production out of someone that was completely passed over in last year's draft, Owen Cobb. The 24-year-old was signed by the Yankees after last year's draft and played 18 games split between two levels of A Ball, hitting .238 with a .338 OBP, four doubles, 10 RBI, eight walks and 19 strikeouts.

Cobb has dealt with a pair of stints on the IL this season, missing most of April and the second half of June.

Owen Cobb's Stats with the Yankees

In his 31 games played this season in Lo-A, Cobb is batting .327 with a .382 OBP, three home runs, 22 RBI, and 11 stolen bases.

Yankees 2024 UDFA Owen Cobb in 16 games at Lo-A this year

.446/.484/.786 | 238 wRC+
7.9 BB% | 15.9 K% pic.twitter.com/qFEwwAgzbp
— . (@HalToHell) May 22, 2025

While he played all over the place at Stanford, Cobb has been mostly settled into second and third base defensively this season in Tampa, while also getting into a few games at shortstop. With the Cardinal he was used in left and right field on occassion, but used primarily at second and short.

The hope for Cobb is that he'll receive a promotion in the coming weeks, since he's producing, but at the same time he's missed a decent amount of time this year, and while the numbers are good, they're still across just over 30 games on the year.

The reason he could end up getting a promotion despite the small sample is because he was picked up out of college, which means that he's had more experience and is a bit older than the typical Lo-A prospect.

The Yankees will want to see if he's a piece that should keep around for next season, and testing him at the next level before season's end would certainly be the way to do that.

In his time at Stanford, he was named Pac-12 All Conference and Pac-12 All-Defensive Team in 2024, as well as being on the Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll each year from 2021 to 2024. His freshman year was in 2020, so he earned another year of eligibility, which he used in '24 as a graduate student.

This article first appeared on Stanford Cardinal on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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