The New York Yankees farm system has been breeding promising talents for a long while. Many in-house prospects, including Aaron Judge, Anthony Volpe, and Jasson Dominguez, have attained success in the major league. While Judge quickly became the superstar of the league, Volpe and Dominguez are headed in the same direction.
Even in the pitching department, the Yankees farm system is home to many future superstar prospects. This year, we saw Randy Vasquez making waves in the big leagues despite frequent scuffling. Having said that, the Yanks have two pitchers featured in the list of top five franchise prospects, and one of them is believed to be the next Gerrit Cole in the making.
Chase Hampton Draws Comparison With Ace Gerrit Cole Owing To Fiery Fastballs!
Gerrit Cole, the New York Yankees ace, is arguably the best-starting pitcher in MLB right now. With a 15-4 season, he is set to bag his maiden AL CY Young Award. There exists no one like Cole in the entire league, let alone the Yanks organization. However, the club’s minor league pitching coach, Sam Briend, believes otherwise. In a recent interview with the Athletic, Sam talked about the growth of prospect Chase Hampton, who is often referred to as ‘mini Gerrit.’ Hampton is a talented right-handed pitcher who has been making waves in the Yanks’ minor league system. In High-A this year, he went 2-1 with a 2.68 ERA across nine starts.
The prospect later moved to Double-A, wherein he finished the season with 2-2, 4.37 ERA across 11 starts. Sam Briend analyzed Chase Hampton’s potential and said that the latter’s fastballs are regarded as one of the best in the Yankee organization. At just rookie level, Hampton’s fastballs have averaged 93-95 mph on a consistent basis. Additionally, Chase is also versed with a slider, a curveball, and a cutter. Having said that, the prospects have a lot of room to grow. Sam feels that he needs polishing as he threw only 101 innings in college. Moreover, the setback in Double-A will help Hampton mature as a pitcher. “He needs some of those failures to be able to bounce back and find that success with it. I think he’s going to be good,” concluded Sam Briend.
Yankees Ace Favourite To Win Maiden CY Young Title
While the New York Yankees recorded its worst season in a long, long while, ace pitcher Gerrit Cole delivered yet another strong season. He took the mound 33 times this year and went 15-4, which included the losses suffered due to a bullpen blowout. Nonetheless, the pitcher finished the year with a 2.63 ERA and 222 strikeouts across 209 innings pitched. This brilliance is set to award Cole with his career-first CY Young title.
Gerrit Cole led the American League in every aspect of the pitching department. From most strikeouts to the most number of innings pitched, Cole topped every possible pitching chart. It’s only fair that AL awards the CY Young title to Cole this year. He barely missed out on one previously, as Justin Verlander got the upper hand. But this time around, Cole should cross the finish line.