I was able to do a quick interview with Jeff Moore of Baseball Prospectus. He recently had seen the Tampa Yankees play so I asked him about some of the Yankee prospects he had recently seen.
You recently saw the Tampa Yankees play and again saw Miguel Andujar. I know you commented on him not being so pull happy. Do you think this was a change in his approach? Also what type of player do you think he can realistically be?
“Andujar has the potential to be an everyday player, but there are still a lot of obstacles to overcome. Using the whole field was a good sign. A lot of young power hitters tend to get pull happy, and while that’s ok if that’s where their power is, it limits their plate coverage and makes them susceptible to breaking balls on the outer half. To see him driving the ball the other way means he’s staying on the pitch and can hit a wider variety of pitches for power. That’s a good sign.“
I know you saw Abiatal Avelino when he was playing for the GCL. How would you say he has progressed since then?
“I actually didn’t see Avelino in the GCL, so this has been my first look at him this year. He’s interesting because of the speed and defense, but there’s not much there with the bat. He struggles with pitch recognition and offers no power whatsoever. He’ll have to really max out his hit tool in order to play.“
Have you heard any reports or been able to see Wilkerman Garcia so far this year?
“I don’t have much on Garcia. Unfortunately, the GCL doesn’t travel though out the state so the Yankees don’t make it down my way.“
You had some good things to write about Dustin Fowler. Do you think he has a role 5 ceiling or is that still too high of a projection at this point? What do you think he would need to do to get to that ceiling?
“Fowler was interesting. I really like the whole package but I’ve only seen him briefly. I definitely want to see more. He’s a plus athlete and split time with football in high school so he’s still gaining experience. I think there’s the potential for an everyday player in there, but he just needs to refine his baseball-specific skills. He’s got potential.“
Have you seen any arms at Tampa that intrigued you so far this season?
“Cale Coshow was interesting. He’s huge, which is both good and bad, and has no off-speed pitches to speak of, but anyone throwing 95-96 with that kind of control is worth watching.“
Thanks again to Jeff for taking some time to answer some questions for us.
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