You may have noticed that the only 2013 1st round pick to start his pro career is Eric Jagielo. He's hit .248/.358/.336 in 134 plate appearances with SS Staten Island, this underwhelming production coming after he had the start of his season delayed by a hamstring injury. Lefty Ian Clarkin has been out with an ankle issue since signing, and last week it was reported that OF Aaron Judge, the last of the 3 to sign, will be put on the MiL DL with a quad injury.
3 1st round picks, 3 injuries, 3 delayed starts to the season, 2 of which could end up shutting guys down for the remainder of the year since we haven't heard anything about rehab schedules for Clarkin and Judge. Add in 3rd rounder Michael O'Neill's .299 wOBA and 33.0% K rate in 200 SS league PAs and the shine has already come off the 2013 draft class. Gosuke Katoh is hitting well in the GCL, but that level of competition is barely above what he was playing against in HS. As Austin Aune's 2013 has shown us, it's a bit of a stretch to get excited about 1 good GCL season.
It's far too early to declare this season's class a bust. There's no way to account for injuries that happen after a player is drafted, but with how little the Yankees have gotten from their top picks the last 2 years (Aune, Hensley, DBJ, Culver) it is disheartening to see another group of top picks get off to rough starts. They've taken a lot of heat for their 1st round picks recently, and the injuries to this year's crop don't help to turn down that heat.
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