The New York Yankees drafted right-handed pitcher Greg Weissert from the shadow of Yankee Stadium, Fordham University, in the 18th round of the 2016 draft. The Bay Shore, Long Island native skipped his senior season with the Rams and signed with the Yankees for $75,000.

Weissert was part of the 2016 draft class that includes Blake Rutherford, Nick Solak, and Nolan Martinez.

2016

Weissert signed with the Yankees on June 21 and was assigned to the Pulaski Yankees of the short-season Rookie-level Pulaski Yankees of the Appalachian League. Though Weissert was a starter with Fordham, the Yankees had him work out of the bullpen in his first season of professional baseball.

In five games with Pulaski, Weissert didn’t allow a run in six and one-third innings, earning two saves while striking out nine batters and allowing only four hits.

That impressive start earned him a promotion to the Charleston RiverDogs of the Low Class-A South Atlantic League on August 19. In 12 games, Weissert posted a 0-1 record with a 4.26 ERA in 12, and two-thirds innings pitched, striking out 16 batters and notching three saves. Weissert had trouble at times finding the strike zone and ended up walking ten batters. He allowed nine runs, but only six of those were earned.

2017

Weissert was assigned close to home with the Staten Island Yankees for 2017. He pitched exclusively out of the bullpen and in 19 games posted a 2-2 record with a 4.13 ERA. He threw 28 1/3and one-third innings allowing just 21 hits and striking out 34. He allowed only nine walks, calculating to a 1.059 WHIP.

Scouting Report

Weissert features a fastball that reaches the low 90s on the radar gun, a slider and a changeup. With his fastball, he needs to make sure he hits his spot, and he’s not going to throw it by too many hitters.

Weissert has a good slider and is still developing his changeup. He did an excellent job as a starter in college, but the Yankees had him coming out of the bullpen, often in the closer spot, for his first professional season. Weissert struggled with control when bumped up to Charleston. He would usually work himself into trouble by putting batters on with walks.

With that said, Weissert also made a lot of hitters miss with the movement on his slider. He needs to get better command of the slider and be able to throw it for strikes to be more efficient. The velocity is there, even though he’s not lighting up the radar gun.

2018 Outlook

The Yankees will most likely keep working him out of the bullpen, and it would seem likely that Weissert would start the season at Charleston in the low Class A South Atlantic League. Weissert is still just 22 years old and the Yankees are not going to rush him along.