The minor league seasons are over, except for a few playoff games, so it's time to take a look at what some of the Yankees' draftees have accomplished so far.
Zachary Slade Heathcott
1st Round, OF: Heathcott signed at the deadline and didn't get much of a chance to start his career. He got into three games with the GCL Yankees and went 1-for-10 with a walk and two strikeouts. Next season, he will either start in extended spring training or with the Charleston RiverDogs.
J.R. Murphy
2nd Round, C: Murphy also signed at the deadline, but made it down to the GCL before Heathcott and got a little more experience. He played in nine games, went 11-for-33 with two doubles, one home run, three walks and eight strikeouts. This resulted in a line of .333/.405/.485. But with just 37 plate appearances, the sample size is too small to draw any conclusions.
Adam Warren
4th round, RHP (right): Adam Warren signed very quickly after the draft and it paid off for him. His prospect status has shot up as he dominated the New York-Penn League. After pitching 98 innings during his senior year at UNC, Warren has pitched 56.2 innings for the Staten Island Yankees. In that time, he has struck out 50 batters while walking only 10. He has a FIP of 2.19 and an even more impressive ERA of 1.43 in his 12 starts.
Caleb Cotham
5th round, RHP: Cotham is another Yankee draft pick who didn't sign until the deadline. Of all of the pitchers the Yankees landed in the draft, I think Cotham is the most likely to excel.
He started three games this season after signing, two for Staten Island and one for the GCL Yankees. In his career debut for in the GCL, Cotham pitched two innings, struck out five and allowed two hits. For Staten Island, he pitched six innings, allowed five hits, three runs, one home run and three walks while striking out eight. He hasn't appeared since after re-aggravating a previous knee injury.
Sean Black
7th round, RHP: In 2008, the Nationals drafted Black in the second round but failed to sign him. His numbers at Seton Hall this season were down, but not by much, and the Yankees snagged him in the 7th round. This seemed like a good value, since Black's strikeout rate was only down slightly this season.
He has pitched well in Staten Island, but his strikeout rate remains a concern: 34 strikeouts and nine walks in 50 innings, giving him a very good 2.96 FIP. That 6.12 strikeouts-per-nine-innings won't cut it as me moves up the ladder, though.
Neil Medchill
11th Round, OF: Medchill has received a ton of hype as he has burst onto the scene in the New York-Penn League. He led the league in home runs with 14 and put together a .278/.350/.551 line in 244 plate appearances. His ISO was .273, which ranked second in the NYPL. For a 22-year-old hitter in A ball, I would like to see some more strike zone discipline (struck out in 30.6 percent of his at-bats), but you can't argue with the power Medchill has displayed so far.
Players to watch for next season, who haven't debuted yet:
Graham Stoneburner, Joseph Talerico, Bryan Mitchell, Evan DeLuca
Picture from Danny Wild/MLB.com. You can follow me on Twitter @GregFertel and read other work of mine at Pending Pinstripes.
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