The Pinstriped Baseball Lane

My Report Card- A Run Down On The Choices That The Yankees Came Away With

The Yankees had just three picks this year, losing two due to the $324 million signing of Gerrit Cole. So what are some of the chatter around the guys acquired during the draft selections? Well, lets get into it.

The number one selection out of Arizona is manning the catcher’s position and he joins the Yankees with a couple of other draft picks. Austin Wells was the number 1 pick for the Bronx Bombers and he can really hit, with high exit velocities and has a history of production at school and on the Cape. His approach is pull-oriented and he is capable of using the whole field. So, his bat would be an asset to an already dominant Murder’s Row.  

Scouts don’t necessarily have much concern about Wells’ production in the batter’s box, they do however have reasonable concerns about him behind the home plate at the catcher’s position. All I hope is that, he doesn’t turn out like the Gary Sanchez promotion to the bigs. Both Sanchez and Wells had the Yankees high on their dominate form in the batter’s box, but all I am saying, I personally will give Wells time before I become apart of the Wells hype. Honestly, that is what I fed into with Sanchez, and no doubt he is a great hitter, but his defense is only great at times. We can’t have two shaky catchers. I know I am just a fan, but the scout and I are on the same page here. Scouts don’t give him much chance to stay behind the plate; he’s below-average there already and likely to be too big for the position anyway. Quite frankly, I would Wells time in the minors and definitely keep Higashioka as the backup catcher.

Although the Yankees selected Wells to fill the backup catcher role, I am hearing that he isn’t staying at that position for long.

It would appear that Yankees director of amateur scouting Damon Oppenheimer is quickly trying to quiet those beliefs. He believes Wells could be a catcher despite worries. Oppenheimer said, “The coaching just hasn’t been the best coaching for him as a catching guy, Nothing against the guys that have coached him, but we’ve got guys that are much better at it.”

I guess we’ll just have to wait and see with Wells.

So as I mentioned before that the Yankees only got three selections in this year’s draft because of the Cole signing, but with the team forfeiting their second- and fifth-round picks to sign the best pitcher on the planet they had three picks and the second smallest bonus pool this year. They landed Wells with the No. 28 pick, so what about the other two? Let us digging in on those guys now.

Third rounder Trevor Hauver has a chance to carve out a career as a versatile super utility type. That being said, he is the Yankees second pick in the 2020 MLB Draft.

Like the Yankees’ first-round pick Austin Wells, Hauver’s bat is what the Bombers were buying. His defense is the question mark and they will worry about his position later. You know what, I have seen many guys go through the Yankees farm system and they couldn’t crack it at the major league level, but I also have seen guys come out of the system and just bring through the glass season. Even though these two guys raise my eyebrow in a little uncertainty, I am looking forward to seeing them prove that they are major league professional ball players.

Hauver played right and left field at Arizona State, and scouts say his arm rates more as a left fielder or infielder in the big leagues. Hauver was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 37th round of the 2017 draft as a high school shortstop. At Arizona State, he played in the outfield because the Sun Devils had a talented infield, which included No. 1 overall pick Spencer Torkelson and Rays first-round pick Alika Williams. Hopefully, he will get a shot at breaking in the shinning lights of New York.

After starting the 2020 MLB Draft with two lefty-swinging position players, the Yankees close out its class with a right-handed pitcher.

New York picked Beck Way out of Northwest Florida State Junior College with the No. 129 selection.

Twenty year old Way is ranked as the No. 95 prospect in MLB Pipeline’s top 200. Baseball America had him at No. 84 and called him the top junior college prospect. “Top junior college prospects”, I like the sound of that.

Listed at 6-foot-6, 200 pounds, the product of Mechanicsburg, Pa., is committed to transfer to LSU. The Yankees will hope to change that.

With the Cotuit Kettleers in the Cape Cod League this past summer, Way was dynamic out of the bullpen. In 11 games and 13 2/3 innings pitched, the righty had 18 strikeouts and a 3.29 ERA.

If you think those numbers were impressive, get this.

In a coronavirus-shortened campaign this spring, Way had a spotless 5-0 record with a 0.67 ERA across seven games. It’s a great day for Beck and his family,” Way’s head coach Doug Martin told the Northwest Florida Raiders’ website. “One of the things we do is try to help players develop to be able to continue their careers…” Continuing, the head coach said, “…For Beck, he gets to continue at the highest level possible. We’re happy to be a part of his journey to what we hope is the major leagues…”

With all three guys now in the Yankee system, I hope they will have an impact career with the team.