Yankees Top Prospects Beginning to Look Like Stars with Impressive Starts

The New York Yankees have a star-studded roster that has led them to lead the AL East through the first 40 games of the year.

As good as the current team is, the future is starting to look promising as well.

Here is how the top of the Yankees farm system has performed so far through the first stretch of the minor league season, using the MLB pipeline rankings:

No. 1 SS/2B George Lombard Jr.

Lombard has had a great start to 2025, signaled by his jump from High-A to Double-A.

In his first 24 games, at the lower level, he posted a .329/.496/.488 slash line. He didn't hit for much power, but walked more than he struck out and swiped 11 bags. It was easily the best stretch of his career.

He has three hits in his first four games at Double-A, but they have all been singles.

The 20-year-old continues to look like a revelation and recently entered the Top 100 overall prospects ranking.

No. 2 OF Spencer Jones

It's hard for people to not compare Jones to lefty Aaron Judge given that he is a 6-foot-7 power hitter, and his start to 2025 made those comparisons look even better.

He hit nine home runs in his first 26 games, but is now dealing with an intercostal injury. He needs to make more contact and strike out less, but he does damage whenever the bat meets the ball.

A lot of people had started to feel a little less certain about the former first round pick, but he has shown why he is so exciting to start this year.

No. 3 RHP Ben Hess

It is the professional debut for Hess this season after being drafted in the first round from the Alabama Crimson Tide a year ago and the big righty has looked great.

He's posted a 3.24 ERA over 25 innings with a 0.960 WHIP and 14.0 K/9. Walking 12 batters over 15 innings isn't exactly ideal, but is the only real negative to his game right now.

No. 4 RHP Bryce Cunningham

Cunningham, the second round draft pick, has looked even better in his debut season for New York.

He has a 2.10 ERA over 30 innings with a 0.967 WHIP and 10.1 K/9. He's gotten it done a little different than Hess, as Cunningham has walked just six batters but is generating more contract.

Both pitchers look fantastic for where they are at in their careers.

No. 5 SS/2B Roderick Arias

Arias is the only one of this group that is really having a down year across the board.

He's posted a .155/.302/.254 slash line to start 2025. His defensive upside has always been more intriguing, but this is obviously not where even he wants to be at the plate. A silver lining is that he does have nine steals in 18 games.