Q&A with Yankees’ Eric Schmitt on Torres, Judge, Kaprielian
By Danny Wild / MiLB.com
The Yankees are — finally — overflowing with young talent eager to reach the Bronx after years of the organization remaining competitive through veteran hitters and pricey free-agent arms.
“I think the one thing that I’ve realized in camp is the depth of our young players is bigger than I realized,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said, according to CBS Sports.
New York isn’t drifting completely away from its usual tactics — they replaced 39-year-old Carlos Beltran with 37-year-old Matt Holliday this winter — but the wave of prospects is eroding the foundation of older players. Greg Bird is back, replacing the retired Mark Teixeira at first, and Gary Sanchez will look to build on his huge but brief rookie campaign of 2016 in the wake of Brian McCann’s trade.
“It’s a fine line we’re walking, but one I think we’re doing a good job of doing it,” general manager Brian Cashman told CBS.
Earlier this week we took a look at five Yankees prospects to watch in 2017, highlighting some of the bigger names in the organization that fans are excited to see. We sat down with Eric Schmitt, the Yankees’ director of Minor League operations, for his thoughts on a few of them:
MiLB.com: Gleyber Torres is now the Yankees’ top prospect and has looked great in Spring Training (.448 avg, 9 RBIs). How excited are you about his future, both this season and long-term with the organization? Where is he likely to play/finish up this year?
Eric Schmitt: Gleyber had an outstanding Arizona Fall League where he hit over .400 and was named AFL league MVP and has continued to perform this Spring. Typically we hold on announcing assignments, but we did inform Gleyber that he will beginning the season with [Double-A] Trenton.
As for where he ends the season, it will be determined by his performance and how he responds to [Double-A] pitching.
MiLB.com: Aaron Judge leads all Yankees outfielders with 21 hits in Spring Training so far, but the outfield is a little crowded with Gardner and Ellsbury and guys like Hicks and Refsnyder (and maybe Frazier?) looking for time. What type of role do you see him playing this year? Is there still concern about his strikeout rate?
Schmitt: Those decisions will be made by our Yankee coaching staff and front office leadership group in the coming days. Aaron has done all we could ask of him leading into camp this year and we are very excited about his future for years to come in the New York Yankee organization.
MiLB.com: James Kaprielian is now the team’s top pitching prospect but missed most of last year with an injury. How has he looked in Minor League camp this month? Will the organization take things slow easing him back into a rotation spot? Where do you see him starting?
Schmitt: Kap has come back this Spring pitching just like he did leading into the 2016 season with the Tampa Yankees. We know what he is capable of and the most important thing is for him is to pitch. His consistency to pitch at the level he is capable of is what will dictate where he pitches and how long he spends at any given level. We hold on speaking about assignments to affiliates until we inform our players closer to us breaking camp.
MiLB.com: How excited is the team with Clint Frazier’s raw power, arm strength from the outfield and overall talent? How does he fit into the outfield mix if Judge is producing? He seems genuinely very eager and excited to be a Yankee and reach the Majors.
Schmitt: Clint is an exciting player to watch at the plate and the in the outfield. He spent a large portion of time this Spring at Major League camp and I know he learned a lot from being around our Major League players and staff. We have many talented players in the outfield and until the Major League roster is set, it’s difficult to comment.
Danny Wild is an editor for MiLB.com. Follow his latest news.
