Strong Starts For Some Top Pitching Prospects

Luis Severino (Low-A): 4 GS, 14.0 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 5 BB, 19 K

Rafael DePaula (High-A): 3 GS, 14.1 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 6 BB, 19 K

Manny Banuelos (High-A): 4 GS, 9.2 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 12 K

I haven't talked too much about prospects since the season began, but the Yankees getting good starts from arguably their top 3 pitching prospects definitely bears mentioning.  A lot of people soured quickly on DePaula when he struggled in Tampa last year and I didn't think that was fair.  He's looked much better so far in his return trip.  Severino got started off slow with light workloads, but he had the reins taken out him last night and he responded with 5.2 shutout innings, 8 K, and 0 BB.  ManBan actually tossed 3 scoreless appearances before giving up all 4 of his ER in his last outing.  More important than his results are how good his stuff and command has looked and they've both looked very good.

With 2nd-tier guys like Nik Turley, Jose Ramirez, Jose Campos, and Ty Hensley yet to start their seasons for a variety of health/injury-related reasons, it's good to see the Yanks getting something positive from the cream of their pitching prospect crop.  Once the weather warms up some more, I expect we'll see ManBan start to get moved back up towards Triple-A.