May 12th, 2026: Bullpen, Jones, Rodón, Schlittler, Weathers, Chisholm, Wells, Prospects
I really enjoy Joe Girardi in the booth but he said stolen bases should be included in slugging percentage Saturday night, and I couldn’t disagree more. Extra-base hits can advance runners in a way stolen bases can’t. Steals and SLG tell two different stories. Brett Gardner slugged .369 with 49 steals in 2011. Count the steals as total bases and it’s a .465 SLG. That just doesn’t accurately represent who Gardner was as a hitter that year. Also, do you subtract caught stealings from SLG? Or do they come out of OBP because the guy took himself off base? I like Girardi a lot. He’s had better ideas though. Here’s what I wrote immediately after the Brewers series and here now is today’s post.
1. Weekend thoughts. I neglected to mention this Friday: CC Sabathia was inducted into the Brewers’ Wall of Honor while the Yankees were in town over the weekend. The Guardians inducted him into their Hall of Fame in 2024 and he’ll go into Monument Park later this year. How many players do you think are in three teams’ Hall of Fame? How many are beloved by three fanbases? Can’t be many.
“It was a short two, two-and-a-half, three months,” Sabathia told Dave Kallman about his time with the Brewers. “But I don’t think I would have been able to go on and have the career I had in New York had I not been able to have this stop.”
Sabathia made 17 starts and threw 130.2 innings of 1.65 ERA (2.44 FIP) ball during his three months with the Brewers. He led both leagues in complete game shutouts that season (two in the AL, three in the NL). It was the pitching equivalent of David Justice’s post-deadline run with the Yankees in 2000, except CC dragged the Brewers to the postseason for the first time in a quarter-century. What a run that was.
Anyway, Aaron Judge’s homer Sunday was already his 16th of the season (video). 16 homers in 41 team games! He hit his 16th homer in Game 42 in 2022, Game 56 in 2023, Game 53 in 2024, and Game 47 in 2025. The only Yankees with more homers through 41 team games are Mickey Mantle (20 in 1956) and Babe Ruth (18 in 1928 and 17 in 1930). Not bad for a guy who hasn’t seemed fully locked in, eh?
Monday’s loss you could see coming a mile away. The Yankees stranded a bunch of runners and never added on, and were going to have to trust a small lead to the soft underbelly of a tired bullpen. What are the Yankees supposed to do with this bullpen between now and the trade deadline? Hope Camilo Doval is good, Brent Headrick gets a second wind, and some minor leaguers work out? That’s all they can do, really.
(The bullpen is second in ERA but 23rd in win probability added. It's been a negative.)
Ryan Yarbrough has pitched four times in the last 27 games. Either use him or get him off the roster. You can’t have a dead bullpen spot when your top relievers work this much. I’d replace Yarbrough with Yerry De Los Santos, not that I think De Los Santos is a great option. He’s just shown enough competence for me to say he deserves the first audition. Whatever man. Here are a few thoughts on the last few days.
Jones debuts
Welcome to the big leagues, Spencer Jones. He saw four pitches in his first at-bat: 103.6 mph, 102.3 mph, 103.6 mph, and 89.0 mph (curveball). You don’t see that in Triple-A. You don’t see that anywhere, really. Jacob Misiorowski averaged 101.1 mph with his fastball Friday and threw the seven fastest pitches by a starter in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008). That dude was amped up to face the Yankees.
“I’ve never seen pitches that hard in my life,” Jones told Adam McCalvy about facing Misiorowski. “To foul off a couple is pretty great. I’ll take that for now.”
It’s not just that Misiorowski averaged – again, averaged! – 101.1 mph with his fastball in a six-inning start. He’s 6-foot-7 and he leads baseball with 7.5 feet of extension. He throws harder than everyone else and he releases the ball closer to the plate than everyone else too. Freak of nature, that kid is. That was not a soft landing for Jones in his MLB debut. That was about as hard a landing as it gets.
Jones is 1-for-11 through four games and, as we all expected, his first MLB hit was a little single served back up the middle (video). Otherwise he’s living up to the scouting report. He’s struck out a bunch (six in 12 plate appearances) and he’s swinging and missing a ton. Jones has taken 26 swings: 12 whiffs, nine fouls, and five balls in play. There’s been a lot of this:
One of my inside baseball pals (not with the Yankees) said Nick Kurtz and Munetaka Murakami have them rethinking extreme in-zone whiff rate hitters, and whether they’re missing something about why it works for them. Jones does not have the excellent chase/walk rates those two guys have, though there is something of a tide shift happening with these hitters. What does that mean for Jones? I’m not sure right now.
The Brewers were a bad matchup for the Yankees because that pitching staff is so deep and so nasty, and the Yankees have a lot of swing-and-miss in their lineup. Milwaukee’s staff leads baseball with a 26.0 K% and they’ve allowed the second lowest in-zone contact rate (83.6%). Meanwhile, on offense:
In-Zone Contact Rate (entering play Monday)30. Mariners: 81.5%29. White Sox: 82.4%28. Yankees: 83.3%27. Reds: 83.6%26. Cardinals: 83.6%
That’s how you get 39 strikeouts (35.8 K%) in a three-game series. It’s a vulnerability, for sure. The Yankees don’t have a better option with Giancarlo Stanton and Jasson Domínguez injured, but Jones only exacerbates the whiff problem. I mean, it’s not like Big G is a contact machine, but we know he can hit at this level, and he gives you needed right/left lineup balance. Another high whiff lefty like Jones is not what the Yankees need.
At some point Jones is gonna hit a ball 900 feet. I hope we get to see it before he’s a Padre. In all seriousness, the Yankees are third in runs per game even though only four healthy regulars are over a 90 wRC+. They kinda need Jones to contribute and not just tag along for the ride. Hopefully he settles in and gives the Yankees something around the strikeouts before Stanton returns.
Rodón returns
As expected, Carlos Rodón’s velocity jumped in his first MLB start of the year. His heater averaged 93.5 mph and topped out at 95.5 mph in his final rehab start. On Sunday, Rodón sat 95.5 mph and topped out at 97.5 mph. He threw his two fastest and four of his nine fastest pitches since last July 11th. So yeah, the adrenaline kicked in. Maybe even too much, because Carlos, my dude, what is this fastball command?
Rodón went 4.1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 5 BB, 4 K, 1 HB on 78 pitches. He walked the leadoff man in the first and second innings, then went four-pitch walk, four-pitch walk, second pitch hit batter in the fourth. Things got messy after that. Rodón left a two-strike slider up to Garrett Mitchell (career 34.4 K%) for a sac fly, then hung a changeup to Offseason Plan target Blake Perkins for a two-out, two-run single. Blah.
“Velo’s great, but when I’m not coming into the zone, it really doesn’t matter how hard I’m throwing,” Rodón told Drottar. “… Any time you give up free baserunners and walk the first guy of the inning, it’s never a good thing. Bases loaded situation, two outs, and they get the hit there. None of that happens if I get ahead and get guys out.”
Until they become an every start problem, I’m okay chalking the control issues up to rust/adrenaline. The end results were definitely bad. For the most part though, Rodón looked like Rodón. Velocity was there, threw four of his five pitches (no curveballs for some reason), and got multiple whiffs on everything even though the Brewers are one of the best bat-to-ball teams in the game. The stuff was plenty good.
There is no such thing as a “minor” elbow surgery for a pitcher, but loose bodies/bone spurs is about as minor as it gets. Take them out, shave them down, whatever. You’re not repairing ligaments or anything. It’s still a lengthy rehab, but pitchers almost always return looking like their pre-surgery selves, and I’d say that was true with Rodón. He just needs to lock in that fastball command. Welcome back, Carlos.
“I was definitely hyped up a little bit,” Rodón told Drottar. “It was fun being back out there, obviously. I would’ve liked to have performed better, but I thought the boys played well. It’s a good team, and they played us hard.”
Miscellany
The “what will the Yankees do with all these starters?” question almost answered itself Saturday when Cam Schlittler took a 108.5 mph chopper to the calf in the first inning. He was clearly in discomfort, but he stayed in and pitched very well: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K on 97 pitches (video). Remember when the Yankees had Schlittler on a pitch limit early on because he had the back issue in Spring Training? He’s zoomed up to seventh in baseball with 53.1 innings … You couldn’t tell Ryan Weathers was so sick that he needed an IV last week. He was brilliant Monday before the bullpen got involved: 6.1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 9 K on 101 pitches (video). He threw four pitches at least 22 times each, and got 15 whiffs on 42 swings (36%). And to think, I wanted the Yankees to sign Tatsuya Imai. It is very funny Weathers has outpitched Shane Baz every which way after the Yankees traded maybe half as much to get him as the O’s gave up to get Baz … Max Fried, the MLB leader with 58.2 innings, got soft contact bombed in that four-run second inning Friday …
… but two four-pitch walks (and an unchallenged would-be strike three call) set that rally up. Fried went 6 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 3 BB, 5 K on 94 pitches and all three walks were on four pitches. He has six four-pitch walks already this season. He had 11 all of last season. Even while pitching exclusively from the stretch, Fried’s control has been no bueno. At least he soaked up innings and spared the bullpen, I guess … Ben Rice went 0-for-13 with five strikeouts in Milwaukee, his first series back from the hand contusion, but he had several hard hit balls find gloves. If his hand was still bothering him, he wouldn’t have been able to drive the ball like that. Sure enough, Rice went 2-for-4 with a bomb (video) Monday. He’s fine. Just had a bad weekend. It happens … Jazz Chisholm Jr. is back to striking out and popping out a ton. He is by far the highest upside option at second base, but get him out of the No. 5 spot, please. Or better yet, sit him for a few days like Ryan McMahon did earlier this month. Jazz can work through things as the No. 7 or 8 hitter when he comes back (Axisa Jinx: activate) … Austin Wells is 3-for-26 with 10 strikeouts since the start of the last homestand. He’s down to .177/.310/.281 (71 wRC+) for the season. The Yankees don’t have another catcher to turn to, but Domínguez and Anthony Volpe went to Triple-A. If Wells doesn’t start hitting, the Yankees have to seriously consider getting a catcher (Ryan Jeffers?) and going 3-for-3 demoting their “[position] of the future” guys to Scranton this year. I know Wells' defense is great, but the leash can’t be endless … And finally, YES added ABS challenges to the scorebug this past weekend. There are two little tick marks next to the team logo:
Nice and simple. Doesn’t need to be any more complicated than that. Good job, YES.
Injury updates and roster notes
Gerrit Cole made his fifth rehab start Sunday: 5 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 8 K on 77 pitches (video) with Somerset. It was his first rehab start on normal rest. Aaron Boone said he expects Cole to make at least two more rehab starts, and possibly three … José Caballero jammed his right middle finger diving back into first base Sunday. It bothers him throwing more than hitting, but Boone admitted there is concern. Even then, he pinch-ran Monday (and got thrown out stealing to end the game). He’ll go to New York to see a specialist today. If Caballero misses time, I have to think Volpe will come up. If Caballero misses time and Volpe doesn’t come up, it wouldn’t seem like a great sign for Volpe’s standing in the organization … Giancarlo Stanton (calf) has started running. He had a follow up evaluation Monday to see whether he can begin to ramp things up further. Big G is getting closer … Luis Gil was placed on Scranton’s 7-day IL with shoulder inflammation over the weekend. Boone said it’s a new injury, not something he pitched through (which could’ve explained his poor performance). Gil is a no-throw for at least three weeks. Add in the build up period, and it’ll be a good 6-8 weeks until he’s an option for the Yankees again … Kervin Castro came up for a few days between Brendan Beck and Rodón, and gave up a run in two innings Friday. It will go down as an afterthought for us, but it was Castro’s first big league appearance since Aug. 25th, 2022. It was a long road back to the show after Tommy John surgery.
Up next
The rest of the Orioles series, then an off-day, then a weekend road series against the Mets that is really a home series in terms of not having to travel and do the hotel thing. Here’s what’s coming up this week:
Tuesday at Orioles: RHP Will Warren vs. TBA (6:30pm ET on YES)
Wednesday at Orioles: LHP Max Fried vs. RHP Kyle Bradish (6:30pm ET on Amazon)
Thursday: off-day
After this series, the Yankees won’t see the Orioles again until mid-August, and I can’t help but wonder what the O’s will look like then. They’re bad (last night withstanding) and they have several rentals who they could move at the deadline. Ryan Helsley, Andrew Kittredge, Trevor Rogers, Taylor Ward, even Chris Bassitt. Some team will take his innings. I’d be so mad if I were an O’s fan. I sat through that rebuild for this?
2. Prospect thoughts. As has been the case every time he’s moved up to a new level, SS George Lombard Jr. has had a tough go of it in his first 10 Triple-A games: 6-for-34 (.176), albeit with more walks (12) than strikeouts (7). Lombard’s making good contact (91.4 mph exit velocity and 48.1% hard-hit rate) and isn’t whiffing excessively (9.6% swinging strikes), so he hasn’t been overmatched. He’s just not getting results right now. We’ll see where Lombard is in a few weeks.
Since SS Anthony Volpe’s demotion became official, Lombard has played two games at second base and three games at third. None at shortstop. It has been all Volpe at short. This is fine for now, but I’d rather not shift Lombard away from short forever in deference to Volpe. At some point the Yankees will have to put Volpe at second. Increasing his versatility can only help. Help him help the Yankees, help his career, help his value on the trade market, etc. (Volpe is 4-for-24 since his official demotion, by the way.)
IF Marco Luciano, who slashed .327/.410/.713 (178 wRC+) with 10 homers in 28 games in Double-A, was moved up to Scranton last week. The RailRiders are overstuffed on the infield with Lombard, Luciano, Volpe, UTIL Oswaldo Cabrera, and IF Jonathan Ornelas. Ornelas has begun playing left field just to make all the pieces fit. Anyway, here are a few thoughts on a few prospects.
Lagrange working on a sinker
RHP Carlos Lagrange continues to be a mixed bag in Scranton. He went 4.1 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 3 BB, 8 K, 3 HR on 90 pitches last time out and has a 4.76 ERA (5.61 FIP) with 29.7 K% and 13.3 BB% in 28.1 innings. It is electric, top 1% kinda stuff, but Lagrange is not all that close to being a finished product. He might be able to out-stuff big league hitters right now, though that’s not the same thing as big league ready.
The Yankees have Lagrange working on a sinker with the RailRiders. He didn’t throw it at all in Spring Training. This is something that has been introduced during the Triple-A season. The pitch movement plot shows the sinker bridges Lagrange’s four-seamer and changeup:
“I think that’s a nice complement,” Scranton pitching coach Peter Larson told Gary Phillips about Lagrange’s sinker. “It’s something he did throw previously, but in an effort to kind of condense the focus on strike-throwing, he worked on those other pitches the last couple years, and then brought it back this season.”
The early returns on the sinker are okay. It’s getting grounders (72.7%) and whiffs (19.0%) better than the Triple-A average for sinkers (57.8% and 16.1%), though he’s thrown it in the zone only 44.7% of the time. The Triple-A average 53.2%. You want to zone sinkers too. You usually don’t use them as chase pitches like changeups and breaking balls. The sinker is just another pitch Lagrange has to locate better.
This is pitching now though. Everyone has two fastballs and sometimes three, and if Lagrange can get comfortable with the sinker, it will only make him better. I don’t think he’s anywhere near ready to come up and help the Yankees as a starter. As a one-inning air-it-out reliever? Maybe. Probably. But Lagrange is still working to get to average strike-throwing, plus now he’s working on this sinker too.
Hampton and Hurd return
RHP Thatcher Hurd and RHP Chase Hampton, my No. 8 and 9 prospects, returned from Tommy John surgery last week. For Hurd, it was his pro debut. Both guys blew out last spring and had surgery in late February, so they’re about 14 months out. They’re right on schedule, that means. (The Yankees added Hampton to the 40-man roster in November, which indicated his rehab was going well.)
Hurd, 23, debuted last Monday. He's gone 7.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 7 K in two Florida Complex League starts. Forget Statcast, we don’t even get reliable pitch count info from the FCL. I can’t tell you what Hurd’s stuff looked like or even how many pitches he threw, but four innings in his first start and 3.2 in his second is a pretty good workload. Maybe 50-60 pitches?
As for Hampton, he went 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K on 38 pitches (video) with Low-A Tampa on Friday. It was his first game action since Aug. 10th, 2024. Statcast says his fastball sat 92.4 mph and topped out at 93.7 mph, which is way down from the velocity he showed during his prospect peak. Despite the lack of velocity, the Stuff+ models liked what they saw from those 38 pitches (take this with a grain of salt given the 38-pitch sample, obviously):
Hopefully Hampton gains some oomph as he builds up and gets further away from surgery. MLB starters average 94.5 mph with their four-seamers this year, so 92-94 mph is a below-average heater. Getting into the 95-97 mph range again is kinda important. More important is just staying on the field. Hampton threw 18.2 innings from 2024-25. He just needs innings. Good news that he (and Hurd) is back right on schedule.
Cruz’s control (and fastball)
Minor league contract guy RHP Yovanny Cruz is skidding back to high walk ways. Five walks in his last five appearances (6.2 innings) after two walks in his first eight appearances (9.1 innings). The overall numbers remain strong (2.25 ERA, 4.30 FIP, 31.9 K%, 10.1 BB%, 51.4 GB%), but the guy who had a 15.2 BB% the last two years in Double-A is starting to walk guys again in Triple-A. Bears monitoring.
Always a hard-thrower, Cruz’s fastball has averaged 99.4 mph and topped out at 101.3 mph this year. The movement on his fastball is poor. It has what they call “dead zone” shape, meaning the horizontal movement and vertical movement are very similar, which apparently makes it easier for hitters to track visually. Dead zone shape almost always explains why a fastball plays down. Here is Cruz’s pitch movement plot:
Dead zone fastballs are not a fatal flaw. Jesús Luzardo has one. Andrés Muñoz too. Those guys make it work with velocity, which Cruz has, and expanded arsenals, which Cruz lacks. His four-seamer has an excellent 33.8% whiff rate, but a below-average 35.0% barrel rate. (The Triple-A averages are 23.0% and 20.4%.) That’s a dead zone fastball for you. Whiffs are there (against minor leaguers), but when hitters connect, it gets hit hard.
As a two-pitch reliever (that splitter is a work in progress), there is less margin of error. I think Cruz is a middle reliever/righty specialist more than someone the Yankees will be able to trust in high leverage, but also, the bullpen kinda stinks and it certainly lacks velocity. It might be worth giving him a look at some point the next few weeks. Cruz figures to be useful, though maybe not impactful.
Miscellaneous notes
I won’t call it a breakout yet, but 1B Coby Morales is having a nice year with Somerset: .293/.381/.560 (144 wRC+) with eight homers and solid strikeout (24.6%) and walk rates (12.7%). He’s a left-handed hitter and has some outfield experience. This isn’t a Ben Rice situation where a late rounder (18th round in 2023) is emerging because Morales’ contact quality/quantity numbers aren’t nearly as good as Rice’s when he had his breakout year, but still, a nice year for Morales. Here are a few quick hit prospect notes.
RHP Ben Grable: With all due respect to Cruz, Grable is the best bullpen prospect in the system. He’s continued to throw his top of the line four-seamer by hitters with Somerset after a quick promotion and is at 12.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 23 K on the season. That’s 52.3 K% and 4.5 BB%. Over 1,700 pitchers have thrown at least 10 innings in the minors this year. Here’s the strikeout rate leaderboard:
1. RHP Brock Moore, Mariners: 60.9%2. RHP Ben Grable, Yankees: 52.3%3. RHP Trevor Richards, Phillies: 52.0% (now with White Sox)4. RHP Seth Clausen, Rockies: 49.1%5. LHP Braeden Sloan, Orioles: 48.9%
Moore is an about-to-be 26-year-old in High-A. Richards has nine years in the big leagues. Grable is the only real prospect in the minors running a 50 K% even in the tiny sample of 10 innings. I won’t say Grable is ready to help the MLB bullpen, but I will say I don’t see much sense in holding this guy back. He’s a 24-year-old 11th round pick. If he’s still overwhelming hitters like this come the end of the month, might as well get him to Scranton and see what happens there.
IF Kaeden Kent: Jeff’s son and last year’s third round pick is on a rampage with High-A Hudson Valley: .333/.406/.488 (134 wRC+) with healthy strikeout (15.2%) and walk (10.9%) rates. Kent was overmatched during a 25-game cameo with the Renegades last summer, bad enough that he and the Yankees had to spend time fixing his swing in the fall, and it looks like the fixes took. He’ll be in Somerset within the next few weeks, I imagine.
IF Leni Done and IF Richard Matic: Matic, my No. 21 prospect, is 8-for-27 (.296) in six FCL games. He’s also played half his games at first base rather than third in deference to Done, a deep sleeper who signed late as an international free agent and didn’t make his pro debut until age 18. He’s 10-for-23 (.435) through six FCL games. Position assignments can tell you how the organization feels about a player, and bumping Matic to first base even half the time to clear a spot for Done tells you the Yankees really like Done.
RHP Eric Reyzelman: Poor performance and another back surgery (his fourth) sabotaged Reyzelman’s 2025 season in Scranton. The Yankees started him back in Somerset this year and he looks more like the guy who wowed in 2024: 47.2 K% in 13.2 innings. I wish we had Statcast in Double-A so we could get an idea what Reyzelman’s stuff looks like (it was pretty generic in Triple-A last year), but I don’t think you can fluke your way into a 47.2 K%, even in 13.2 innings. Gotta get him to Triple-A soon to see how he fares against more advanced hitters. Not sure this Double-A stint tells us much.
RHP Chris Veach: Veach, an undrafted free agent signing out of South Carolina in August 2024, has gone 12.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 21 K for Hudson Valley. He’s a one-inning reliever with a 92-93 mph fastball and an incredible upper-70s changeup that seemingly stops in midair. Veach hasn’t picked up any velocity since signing, but if he can get to 94-95 mph, then you’ve got a Fernando Cruz starter kit, just with a changeup rather than a splitter.
Injury updates and signings
Still no sign of SS Dax Kilby, who remains out with the hamstring injury he suffered in Spring Training. “They’re just being cautious with him. They’re making sure that he doesn’t have a setback once he starts playing,” Phillips heard from a source. The only answer I get on Kilby is “soon.” It’s been weeks and weeks of “soon” … RHP Ben Hess is on the 7-day IL with “a little bit of fatigue,” Somerset pitching coach Demetre Kokoris told Greg Johnson. “We just decided to do some workload management stuff and be intelligent about it and go from there,” Kokoris said. When we’ll see him again, who knows … OF Francisco Vilorio, my No. 15 prospect, started the season on the FCL 7-day injured list. Not sure what the injury is. He had a nagging shoulder thing back in 2024. Maybe that again, maybe something else entirely … RHP Sabier Marte, who fell out of my Top 30 Prospects this year after missing 2025 with elbow surgery, returned earlier this month. It hasn’t gone well (4 IP, 5 H, 7 R, 5 BB, 4 K, 1 HB in the FCL), but at least he’s healthy and pitching again … And finally, the Yankees have signed German RHP Finn Niemeyer as an international amateur free agent, per his representatives. No word on his signing bonus. Jeff Duda says Niemeyer has been up to 92 mph, which is all I have to offer scouting report-wise. This is the third player the Yankees have signed out of Europe this signing period, joining Dutch LHP Tijn Fredrikze and Hungarian C Marko Morua. They're trying to establish in Europe, if nothing else.
3. 2026 draft prospect: Rutgers OF Peyton Bonds. The 2026 MLB Draft will take place the weekend before the All-Star break and the Yankees hold the No. 35 pick. As I do every year, I’ll preview prospects the Yankees are said to have interest in, players who fit the team’s M.O., and players I like for whatever reason. Here are the draft prospects I’ve already covered.
Bonds, 20, is part of that Bonds family. He is Bobby Jr.’s son, so Bobby Sr. is his grandfather and Barry is his uncle. Bobby Jr. didn’t have his father’s or his brother’s career, though he played seven years in the minors with the Padres and Giants, and reached Triple-A. He also played five years in independent ball. Peyton played a year at Campbell before transferring to Rutgers. Here are the latest draft rankings:
Baseball America (subs. req’d): No. 147
ESPN: Not ranked in top 85
FanGraphs: Not ranked in top 40
Keith Law (subs. req’d): Not ranked in top 50
MLB Pipeline: No. 76
This spring Bonds is hitting .358/.433/.547 (130 wRC+) with six home runs, 13 steals in 15 attempts, and 12.7 K% and 8.2 BB% in 33 games for the Scarlet Knights. He hurt his hamstring running down a ball in the outfield on April 10th and hasn’t played since, though he is expected to return before the end of the season. Here’s a chunk of MLB Pipeline’s free scouting report:
At 6-foot-5, 230 pounds, Bonds looks like he was sent down from central casting, even if his current offensive profile doesn't quite fit the body type. He has a really good feel to hit, with excellent in-zone bat-to-ball skills. There's plenty of bat speed and high exit velocities, but it hasn't translated to power just yet, with some thinking there could be more unlocked with some bat path adjustments at the next level.
While Bonds has average speed, maybe a tick better, he might not be a pure base stealer. But he can really play center field, with outstanding instincts to stay up the middle for a long time. He gets high marks for his plus makeup and passion for the game
Bonds hit a ball 121 mph a few weeks ago. It’s one of the hardest hit balls on record at any level. Baseball America (subs. req’d) dug into this year’s group of college hitters last month and found Bonds is one of only two players in their top 300 draft prospects with an overall contact rate over 80% and a 90th percentile exit velocity over 108 mph. The other, Texas A&M 2B Chris Hacopian, figures to be a top 10 pick.
The contact skills and hard-hit ability are terrific, as is the center field defense. The downside is the plate discipline, or lack thereof. Bonds chased at close to a 40% clip before his injury. That’s what’s keeping him out of the first round. The Yankees love their exit velocity dudes and great athletes. Bonds could be a target for their second (No. 63), third (No. 99), or maybe even fourth (No. 127) round picks. The injury could make him a great buy low target.
4. Rapid fire thoughts. The Giants traded catcher Patrick Bailey to the Guardians for their Competitive Balance draft pick (No. 29 overall) and lefty pitching prospect Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson over the weekend. I mention this only because it’s a data point about how teams value framing in an ABS world. Bailey can’t hit (career 72 wRC+) but he’s a terrific defender and the best framer in the game. The Guardians are a smart team and they surrendered a pretty good package for an all glove catcher. You can only challenge so many pitches a game. Framing still matters.
(Send your questions for Friday's mailbag to RABmailbag at gmail dot com. The random Yankee series is on hiatus, but feel free to send in requests for if/when it returns.)