It appears the New York Yankees are starting to accept reality. They're not going to make the playoffs. Currently on an eight-game losing streak, they may not even have enough time remaining to climb out of the American League East cellar. What they can do is provide some of their youngsters the last chunk of the season to audition for roles ahead of the 2024 campaign.
To wit, YES Network's Jack Curry reported on Monday that outfielder Everson Pereira and infielder Oswald Peraza are being recalled from Triple-A in time for Tuesday's game against the Nationals. They might not be the last youngsters to join the roster over the coming weeks. Manager Aaron Boone hinted that more promotions could be coming ahead of the Sept. 1 roster expansion period following a meeting with owner Hal Steinbrenner and top executive Brian Cashman.
"Anything's on the table right now," Boone told Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News.
The Yankees have had several notable young players debut this season, including shortstop Anthony Volpe and right-handers Randy Vásquez and Jhony Brito. Below, we've decided to highlight Pereira and two more Yankees prospects who could crack the big-league roster before the 2023 season comes to a close. Do note the players are presented in no particular order.
Everson Pereira, OF
.316/.379/.559 with 8 HR in 153 Triple-A plate appearances.
Of the three players highlighted in this piece, Pereira has the highest upside. He's also performed the best of the trio at the Triple-A level. Is it any wonder why he was the first of the bunch to get the call?
Pereira has an average exit velocity of 92.8 mph and launch angle of 11.3 degrees. Those marks would put him in the neighborhood of the likes of Gunnar Henderson, Fernando Tatis Jr., and Randy Arozarena at the big-league level. To (hopefully) state the obvious: there's a difference between putting up those numbers in the majors versus at the Triple-A level.
Before anyone gets too far over their skis about Pereira, we feel obligated to point out that he has serious crater potential. He's extremely prone to swinging and missing, to the extent that his 36% whiff rate would be the highest on the Yankees (min. 200 plate appearances) if it translated in whole. He's been particularly prone to swinging over and through secondary pitches:
| Pitch group | Whiff% | Chase% |
|---|---|---|
Fastballs | 27.3% | 27.3% |
Breaking | 42.7% | 20.7% |
Offspeed | 55.9% | 41.8% |
There's no denying that Pereira's feel for hard contact is intriguing, or that he's found a way to make his game work at every level to date. We're just not sure how, exactly, he'll fare against big-league arms and gameplans -- especially once pitchers get a chance to see him once or twice.
Austin Wells, C/DH
.250/.340/.413 with 2 HR in 106 Triple-A plate appearances
The Yankees drafted Wells out of Arizona with the 28th pick in 2020. The belief, even then, was that he would be a bat-first backstop. He's since validated those projections by throwing out just 17% of attempted thieves.
Wells' average exit velocity (88.7 mph) and launch angle (21.1 degrees) resembles what Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Isaac Paredes (86.9 mph, 21.5 degrees) has done this season. Given that Paredes has homered 24 times and has posted a 135 OPS+, that sounds like a pretty good outcome for a catcher.
Alas, Paredes has probably overperformed. (Statcast's "expected" metrics have him playing about points of wOBA over his head, for whatever that's worth.) Additionally, Wells has not performed great in Triple-A. His OPS ranks fifth-worst among the 17 players to receive triple-digit plate appearances at New York's affiliate so far this season.
Wells should still get a look at the big-league level sooner than later. He just might come up short of being a fulltime player on both sides of the ball.
Clayton Beeter, RHP
6.31 ERA, 2.21 SO/BB in 35 2/3 Triple-A innings
Acquired from the Dodgers last summer in exchange for Joey Gallo, Beeter has split the season between the upper minors. He's struggled with his location dating back to his collegiate days, making it unsurprising that he's walked more than a batter every other inning throughout this season and his career.
| Season | SO/9 | BB/9 |
|---|---|---|
2021 | 13.4 | 3.8 |
2022 | 15.1 | 5.4 |
2023 | 11 | 4.7 |
Beeter's command seems unlikely to take a big step forward at this point. His arm has to play catch up with his body to achieve his high three-quarters release. If it was possible for him to throw strikes at a higher rate, one figures the Dodgers or Yankees would have helped him crack the code by now. You can never say never anymore, but you can still say "that does not seem realistic."
Beeter has thrown either his four-seamer or his slider nearly 90% of the time in Triple-A. His heater clocks in at 93 mph and somewhat resembles Luis Severino's, at least in terms of induced vertical movement and release height. Beeter's slider, meanwhile, has been his bat-missing weapon; so far, he's elicited a whiff on more than 44% of the swings taken against it.
The expectations for starting pitchers have changed in recent times, both in terms of workload and profile. Even so, Beeter's combination of good stuff and bad command makes him better suited for a bullpen role. Of course, that doesn't mean the Yankees need to make that conversion immediately.