Checking In On Yankees 2025 Draft Class

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Round 1: Dax Kilby - 6’2 190 || LHB || SS || 19 || Newnan High School, GA

Dax has been injured and sidelined for the entirety of this year, following an unbelievable closing Low-A stint at the end of the year. Kilby’s performance at the end of the year was so good, it prompted all prospect writers/aggregators to send his name skyrocketing up the t100 lists around that 40-60 range, by consensus.

Dax’s toolkit is centered around his hit tool and his speed. He’s not the most flashy defender but he’s athletic enough to project to land somewhere up the middle of the field, OF or IF. Kilby ended last year’s Tampa campaign with a .398 wOBA in 81 PAs. The underlying metrics were as good as the results. The only thing you want to see more from him is some more power in the air. Regardless, the hit tool + the speed gives the Yankees a good enough floor — especially as an up the middle defender — with very promising upside.

Kilby is the type of player that every Yankee fan will love but in particular your 90s dynasty watching dad and uncle are going to like the most.

Round 3: Kaeden Kent - 6’2 200 || LHB || SS || 22 || Texas A&M

Kaeden Kent, son of HOF Jeff Kent, started off very slowly in High-A but has been nails ever since the first few weeks. Kaeden projects as a utility type of infielder that can play up the middle with reliable range/glove work at both positions. Kent is another high floor infielder with 15-20 HR pop in his bat. Kent makes a lot of contact and doesn’t strikeout, he’s a pest on the basepaths, and he makes decent swing decisions. Contrary to Kilby and most of the other Yankee prospects, he carries an aggressive approach; this is ultimately woven together by a good hit tool, but he does seem to chase a bit more than he should low in the zone. Additionally, fans should note Kaeden has had a good feel for the clutch throughout his collegiate career + short Yankee minor league career. Comes through often with RISP and has quite the collection of walk off moments.

Sits on the year slashing .298/.369/.423 with 12 SBs in 187 PAs. I think Kent needs to get the ball up in the air a little more and raise that Linedrive% but ultimately, he’s a high floor, good fielding infield prospect that the Yankees should look forward to using sometime next year.

Round 4: Pico Kohn - 6’4 200 || LHP || SP || 23 || Mississippi State

Pico Kohn brought with him quite a bit of hype entering this season’s debut. Tall left handed, low arm slot tosser that comes at you with a high rising 92-94 mph fastball paired with a sweeping breaking ball across the zone. Unfortunately, Kohn was dealt with a lower body injury that sidelined him on the 60-day IL only 1 start through the year. In that one start, he pitched 5.2 IP, gave up 3 H and 1 ER with 8 K’s - 2 BB’s in High-A. Kohn does a good job of filling up the zone, getting swing/miss at the top with his fastball, and putting away lefties with his breaking ball. He’ll need to work on his changeup during his rise through the Yankees system.

Round 5: Core Jackson - 6’0 190 || LHB || SS || 22 || University of Utah

Core Jackson fell in the draft from what could’ve been a 2nd-3rd round pick to the 5th round due to some really disgusting actions he did when he was in college. He’s got incredible arm talent, he’s a speedy runner, and a bat with some good pop and swing speed. Core has been on the injured list for a few weeks in High-A. He started his season very slowly but was able to get his overall numbers back to a somewhat respectable range before being sidelined. From April 20th on, he’s put up close to an .800 OPS with .380 OBP.

On the year, he’s got a .730 OPS with a .326 wOBA. It’s been underwhelming since his debut last season for Core relative to the amount of talent and upside he has. He pulls too many ground balls to 2B, doesn’t make a lot of contact in zone, and doesn’t make the best swing decisions. There are a lot of flaws in Core’s swing right now and to be better, there’s a lot of work that needs to be done.

Round 6: Rory Fox - 6’3 200 || RHP || SP || 21 || Notre Dame

Rory Fox is a player with two stories so far this year: the underlying metrics Rory Fox and the results Rory Fox. Fox has pitched in 6 starts for 36.2 IP in High-A with a 5.65 ERA. Pretty ugly stuff. He’s given up 5 HRs, 1 in each of the 5 games played after his first start.

But there’s been a lot to like so far in his profile. For starters, he’s the youngest pitching prospect drafted by the Yankees this year and was a two-way player convert; this is someone whose upside is going to take time for the Yankees to fully extract. Secondly, Rory’s stuff has been dazzling so far in High-A.

• 28.2 K% - 7.7 BB%

• 31% Whiff

• 32% Chase and only 32% z-swing (lots of swings out the zone, not many inside)

• 64% Strike rate (gets lots of strikes)

• 49% GB rate (decent amount of GB contact when guys do make contact)

He’s running a 21.7% HR/FB rate right now, an unusually high number that is usually indicative of positive regression. He’s looked great in his last three starts: 18.0 IP for 6 ER with 20 K’s - 4 BB’s.

Fox has a standard four pitch mix: 92-94 mph fourseamer (touched 96 in college), low-mid 80s slider and changeup, and a high 70s curveball.

Round 7: Richie Bonomolo Jr. - 5’11 190 || RHB || OF || 22 || University of Alabama

Richie Bonomolo Jr. hasn’t gotten much of a look yet as an official Yankee minor leaguer. After signing with the team in the draft, he played 18 games with the Yankees in Tampa with the Tarpons. Slashed .167/.296/.233 with a mostly unimpressive debut. He’s been hurt this entire season with an undisclosed injury; at the time of writing this, it is unknown when he will come back.

Through his short stint, he easily got the ball in the air, made great swing decisions, and made a lot of contact. He didn’t really hit the ball much but projects as a strong corner OF with a decent arm and good speed. I see Richie’s offensive profile being a high floor outfielder with sneaky pull side pop — similar to that of Brendan Jones.

Round 8: Mac Heuer - 6’5 265 || RHP || SP || 21 || Texas Tech

The Mac Truck. Mac Heuer is a power pitcher with a huge frame that throws a 95-96 mph fourseamer that tops out at 97-98, as of now. The early returns on Heuer’s pitch data are incredible, especially for a 21 year old in his first stint of professional experience. Heuer’s got four well above average offerings with a two plane curveball that lacks a good enough bite to be a consistent strike throwing pitch vs the platoon. His command has looked sloppy in his first few games with Tampa to start his career, with a 22.2 K% - 17.5 BB% and a 30.0% HR/FB through 13.1 IP so far. But Mac is a very raw arm with a LOAD of high upside talent. This is is a very special arm that I think the Yankees are going to excel at developing who I see being a fast riser whenever he figures his command out.

Round 9: Blake Gillespie - 6’2 205 || RHP || SP || 22 || UNC Charlotte

Blake is a slider specialist, he threw more sliders in D-1 baseball than any other pitcher did during his last year (61% slider usage); subsequently, he also recorded the most whiffs on sliders in D-1 baseball that year as well. Gillespie projects more as a RP in the big leagues.

He’s starting games right now in Low-A:

3 GS / 15.2 IP / 2.87 ERA / 4.01 FIP / 23.1 K% - 10.8 BB% / 68.2% Strike%

The early returns on the results have been great and Blake’s control over his arsenal has been awesome, as indicated by his 68% strike rate, very high. He’s also been able to get a lot of ground balls on contact, 57% GB rate which is very good. Lastly, he’s been able to get a ton of chase outside the zone as well as not much swings in zone, speaking to how deceptive his stuff has been in his professional stint so far.

However, he’s given up quite a few barrels and has lacked enough swing/miss with his fastball/changeup to live comfortably in the zone to pitch to contact. He’s been soft tosser so far in his career, pitching at 89-91 mph with his fourseam-slider combo. The slider has been as advertised and has gotten tons of whiffs and chase across Low-A but his entire arsenal has given up uncomfortable damage on contact, specifically his fastball.

Round 10: Connor McGinnis - 6’1 185 || LHB || 2B || 23 || University of Houston

Connor McGinnis was one of the few Yankee draftees from 2025 to get instantly placed into High-A ball and now is playing in AA despite doing nothing more eye-popping than some of his other Hudson Valley teammates. McGinnis is a contact specialist, someone who thrives on making tons of contact in zone, making smart swing decisions, playing good defense, and occasionally pulling damage in the air to right field.

The aggressive promotion to AA tells me the Yankees really like what they’ve seen with this kid beyond the public eye and perhaps there’s some private data/information behind the scenes that give McGinnis more flowers than he’s been publicly given across Yankee socials; I choose to trust the actions of the organization and put my confidence in their decision making over anyone else’s judgement. With that being said, I think more eyes should be on Connor as he tries to find his footing in AA.

He was also playing well in the weeks leading up to his promotion: from 4/20 - 5/15: .244/.393/.378 + 23.2 K% - 12.5 BB% with really really smooth defense at 2B.

Round 11: Ben Grable - 6’4 215 || LHP || RP || 23 || Indiana University

Ben Grable is one of the Yankees best RP prospects in the farm right now and could possibly see some action with the big league club if he finds a way to smooth out his issues he’s run into in AA and return back to the High-A dominance we saw only a few weeks ago.

In High-A, Grable’s 6 games + 7.2 IP of dominance were off the charts good and it was glaringly obvious he was way too above High-A baseball.

17 K’s - 2 BB’s || 69% Strike || -0.16 FIP || 45% Whiff || 41% z-whiff || 56% GB

Now, Gable has ran into a bit of a brick wall at AA in his short time there so far, giving up 6 ER with 11 K’s - 3 BB’s in 9.0 IP. He does have a 3.10 FIP and still lives with a healthy 30.6 K% - 8.3 BB% (both of which are far stronger indications of future performance/pitching sustainability than ERA). He’s still running a 65 Strike% which is a healthy amount of strikes being thrown, paired with a 51% Zone rate. While he hasn’t gotten much swing/miss on his chase, batters are struggling to make contact in zone which is also a big plus.

However, upon contact, batters so far in AA are running only a 23% GB rate, which is far too low (most likely a result of it being a small sample) and an indication there is too much non-ideal damage being done on contact.

Grable’s best weapon is his mid-90’s fastball which was reported to have gotten 21”+ iVB in AA. He also carries with him a slider/splitter that also grade out fairly well, but less dominant than his ridiculous fastball. Grable will most likely become a Yankee leverage RP at some point in his near future.

Round 12: Camden Troyer - 6’0 205 || LHB || OF || 23 || Liberty University

Troyer is another low ceiling, high floor OF prospect with a strong knack of pulling flyballs in the air. He’s seen probably the most time out of this entire crop of 2025 draftees as he was instantly placed into High-A upon being drafted last year. Between last year and this year, there’s been quite a difference:

2025: 87 PAs || .253/.356/.320 || 1 SB || 13 K - 12 BB || 1 HR

2026: 145 PAs || .224/.262/.403 || 5 SB || 37 K - 8 BB | 5 HR

So it seems like this year he’s been trying to add more pop to his game but unfortunately hasn’t seen the best results for it..at least yet. There’s been a very strong hit tool to compliment his strive for power this year, running only a 23% Whiff rate and an 87% z-contact; both of which floor him with a strong hit tool through his prospect status. The only problem with Troyer is that he’s now chasing a lot more and makes very poor swing decisions which ultimately lead to more K’s and far less BB’s than he should be posting.

Ultimately, I think this will be key in getting the most out of his toolset. Defensively, he can play a decent CF. Has the speed and a decent arm but runs some poor routes at times to balls over hit into the gaps.

Round 13: Kyle West - 6’2 195 || LHB || 1B/OF || 23 || West Virginia University

One of the bigger disappointing 2025 draftee campaigns so far this year (and last year) in my opinion has been Kyle West. I was high on West because of his incredible power coming into the year. However, he’s had a lot of trouble getting the ball in the air and making contact. He’s carrying a 33% Whiff, 33% K - 4.5 BB%, a 38% Chase rate, and a 47% GB rate. There’s a lot of work to be done to fully tap into West’s power; he’s got enough power to leave the yard to all sides of the field, so he doesn’t necessarily need to be a pull-heavy guy.

On the year we’re seeing:

.212/.256/.365 with only 6 HRs in 180 PAs.

To be successful, West’s going to need to make better swing decisions and get that ball in the air more. There’s a lot of roll overs to his pull side.

Round 14: Brennen Stuprich - 5’10 210 || RHP || SP || 24 || Southeastern Louisiana University

Stuprich won Southland Conference Pitcher of The Year in his last year in college and has now carried over his same strikeout abilities over to the Tampa Tarpons. With Tampa, hes put up a 4.05 ERA with a 4.53 FIP and a 29.6 K% - 5.6 BB%. Impressive K-BB rates but sadly it’s paired with a lot of contact in the air which leads to damage. Stuprich has given up a 23% GB rate which is extraordinarily low. Though as I mentioned before, there’s been plenty of swing/miss + chase to pair with his professional experience so far:

• 33% Whiff + 35% Chase + 33% z-Whiff

Stuprich doesn’t carry with him an impressive arsenal of high graded pitch shapes, but he throws a lot of strikes with good command across a vast arsenal and sequences his mix pretty well. He doesn’t get much extension and he doesn’t get murch ride on his fastball given his taller release height. He’ll likely need to add a few ticks of velo and become more spin efficient to truly unluck his arsenal.

Round 15: Jack Cebert - 6’3 209 || RHP || SP || 23 || Texas Tech

Jack was one of my favorite picks in the draft both at the time and in retrospect. For the 15th round (and in the 16th round as you’ll see next), the Yankees have seemed to have gotten incredible value with their late round picks once again. Cebert started in relief in High-A last year throwing 6.1 IP of 11 K - 1 BB baseball. From that short stint, it was hard not to imagine how good Jack was going to be as a starter with a fully mature pitch mix coming into this year.

As expected, Jack dominated High-A with his sinker/fourseam/cutter/slider combo to a tune of a 0.98 ERA in 18.1 IP with 17 K’s - 2 BB’s. He’s been challenged so far in his first few starts in AA, results wise, but has looked more than promising beyond his ERA. Despite giving up a 4.12 ERA in his 4 GS in AA, Jack’s pitched to a 30.6 K% - 9.4 BB%, with a 66% Strike rate, and 35% Chase rate. The walks need to improve, the cutter is a work in progress (which is ultimately a pitch he’s struggling with getting weak contact vs LHBs right now), and there’s not enough contact being kept on the ground for a pitcher that’s a right-handed sinker specialist.

Ultimately though, the stuff is dam exciting. The sinker has sharp armside action that gets a lot of swing/miss compared to other sinkers (a pitch that doesn’t get much swing/miss) and his slider is a really effective PutAway pitch low and away to righties. Right now, he sits in the low-mid 90s on his fastballs and though I expect that to improve, I don’t think it’s necessary for him to be an effective pitcher as he thrives on his East/West profile. As long as his command improves and his cutter (or pitch to LHB in general) sharpens up, the groundballs are going to start coming because the stuff is very good.

Round 16: Jackson Lovich - 6’3 192 || RHB || SS || 22 || University of Missouri

Another one of my favorite picks in the draft both at the time and in retrospect, Jackson Lovich is an upside heavy SS with premium pop in his bat to all sides of the field, underrated athleticism on the base paths and in the middle infield, and some relatively decent swing decisions. The only problem? His hit tool is extremely lacking…though improving rapidly in his level!

I can go on and on about the 11 HRs in 159 PAs in Tampa, the .302/.384/.633 1.017 OPS and 11 SBs, the 14.1% Barrel rate, the .464 xwOBAcon, and the 113.6 mph MaxEV. But I think it’s more worth pointing out how much his hit tool has improved since the start of the year. Below is a rolling 50-swing in-zone Contact% chart, showing how much his contact rates have improved in zone as the season’s went on. Of course, he still lives on the extreme end here but vastly different from where he was to start the year which was completely unviable. Ultimately, Lovich is going to need to see contunious improvements in this area of his game to enter that next sphere of prospects…and if he does, man. Start to dream some great things for this kid.

Round 17: Ryan Osinski - 6’6 235 || RHP || SP || 22 || University of Virginia

Ryan hasn’t thrown a pitch yet for the Yankees in the organization, as he’s been transferred to the full season IL following an elbow surgery. Osinski throws a trio of fastballs with a slider. He’s got a long frame at 6’6 and throws with good velocity. It’ll be interesting to get a first look at Osinski when he’s on the mound for the first time for the organization whenever he’s back.

Round 18: Justin West- 6’3 195 || LHP || SP || 22 || Louisville

Justin is a soft-tossing lefty that got put right into Tampa this year as a starter. Through 8 GS he’s given up a 6.81 ERA and a .303 AVG against despite only a 3.63 FIP with a 28.7 K% - 9.1 BB%. Justin fills the zone up with strikes, pitching to a 54% zone rate and a 65.5% Strike rate. His HR/FB%, at 19.2%, will come down as time goes on which will help his results.

While West’s K-BB% is impressive and his control has been good, West hasn’t excelled at either being a soft contact specialist or strikeout artist and is rather squarely sitting in between being average at both so far. When you watch West, it’s easy to see the vision for why the Yankees would take a flier on him in the late rounds: soft, deceptive left-handed delivery with a deep arsenal. But given that his primary pitch as a lefty is a sinker with poor shape/velo and little spin that hasn’t generated much weak contact with an ineffective offspeed pitch (so far) at both getting whiffs/weak contact from the right side, I think it’s fair to say there’s a lot of work to be done for West before he steps up to High-A.

Round 19: Hayden Morris - 6’8 265 || RHP || SP || 20 || Blinn College

Didn’t sign and chose to go back to school

Round 20: Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek - 6’1 185 || RHB || SS || 22 || USC

BMG was one of the early arrivals from last year’s draft at Tampa, posting a .247/.294/.416 slash with 6 SBs and 18.8 K% - 7.1 BB% in 85 PAs last year. This year, not much has changed in his underlying profile and results: .262/.373/.383 with 15 SBs and a 23.1 K% - 13.0 BB% in 169 PAs. A lot more walks and still a lot of speed on the basepaths, but really not much power at all. BMG is running a 3.0% Barrel rate, 41% Hardhit rate, and .295 xwOBA in single-A this year. He lifts the ball at an average rate and uses all sides of the field, but neither his hit tool nor his plate discipline stand out as elite enough tools to think BMG is someone who will thrive in a level above Low-A yet.

Undrafted Free Agents

Eric Genther - 6’1 200 || LHB || C/OF || 23 || University of Rhode ISland

Eric Genther was my favorites out of the UDFA class and presumably one of the Yankees’ most liked players from this entire class, as they instantly converted him from OF to catcher and threw him in High-A towards the top of the order this year after 58 PAs of .867 OPS baseball last season. The first thing that stood out to me about Genther’s profile upon being signed to the Yankees was his hit tool. Genther is running an 18.6% Whiff rate and a 19.5 K% - 12.2 BB% in Hudson Valley this year. He brings a patient approach with not much chase and very little swing in zone; he has some untapped power in his bat as well, as he’s capable of driving the ball out towards all parts of the field. Here’s a video of him hitting a grand slam towards the deepest part of the pitcher friendly Brooklyn Cyclones’ Park.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQ9Xqfy1DMg

Genther’s BABIP ran high towards the beginning of the season despite his high GB%, ultimately contributing to some inevitable regression he’s experienced the last few weeks. He’s running a 54.5% GB rate on the year (most being pulled) with a .244/.394/.344 slash. I think there’s quite a bit to like about Genther as a high floor, UDFA catching prospect with good contact rates and some sneaky pop; I also think the Yankees find fascination with him in switching him to playing catcher + throwing him towards the top of the order in High-A. He’s someone I think is worth paying attention to through the farm system.

Logan Maxwell - 5’10 195 || LHB || OF || 23 || TCU

Maxwell was the other UDFA that caught my attention after the draft. Similar to Genther, Maxwell ran good contact rates in college + Tampa with a pretty good eye at the plate. 18.8% Whiff rate + 85.9% z-contact and a 13.8 K% - 12.1 BB% in 58 low-A PAs before getting sidelined to injury. Maxwell is a pretty good OF with a good arm in the corner. He slashed .245/.345/.388 before getting hurt with 2 HRs on the season. Maxwell, similar to that of many of the position prospects in this draft, is of the high floor variant.

David McCann- 5’10 195 || LHB || C || 22 || Virginia Tech

David has recorded 12 PAs in the CPX with a .933 OPS and a HR in those 12 PAs. I haven’t watched any of the FCL guys in action, so I cannot comment much on his progress or his player profile.

Robbie Burnett - 5’8 191 || RHB || OF || 23 || University of Georgia

Burnett only took 1 PA in High-A this year before being sidelined with an injury on the 7-day IL. Last season, he recroded 42 PAs at the end of the year and struggled with a slashline of: .176/.310/.265 and only 1 XBH + 1 SB. There was a lot of swing/miss, a lot of strikeouts, and not much pop to be enthusiastic about. We now await for him to return from the 7-day IL to see what he’s got in store for this year.

Greg Bozzo - 5’11 210 || RHB || C || 24 || Northeastern University

Bozzo has only worked through 12 PAs in Tampa so far this year with an .833 OPS in those 12 PAs (1 HR and 4 RBIs). Bozzo isn’t someone with much pop in his bat and he’s struggled with making contact against both RHPs and non-fastballs in college. There’s not much in his offensive profile that stands out in college, so we will wait and see what Greg has to show us this year.

Tyler Boudreau - 6’1 169 || RHP || SP || 23 || Texas Tech

Tyler Boudreau is was a sleeper pick coming into this year as a prospect riser in the farm. Credit to Thomas Nestico for putting his name more mainstream into the prospect-sphere on X. Boudreau has been very impressive so far in his 8 starts of 33.2 IP baseball, putting up a 2.94 ERA in Tampa with a 2.54 FIP, a 31.1 K% - 8.9 BB%, and a 66.7% Strike rate.

Tyler has been a superb strikeoutout artist through his time with the Yankees so far. 35% Whiff | 35% Chase | 24.3% z-Whiff%…Boudreau’s stuff has been dominant at missing bats so far in his time with the Tampa Tarpons. He’s effectively limited hard contact and kept barrels down to an average rate, but still suffers from keeping too many balls in the air and not enough on the ground.

Boudreau gets excellent ride on his fastball for his low 5.8 ft release height, at 19.4 iVB. This allows his low 90’s fastball to grade out very well and get high-zone chase for weak contact and swing/miss. The rest of his arsenal doesn’t seem to grade out as well but has still dominated in the whiff and xwOBAcon (basically damage on contact) department. His breaking stuff doesn’t get much spin to it and his offspeed offering isn’t very standout-ish at the moment, but he’s been able to command it well to LHBs at the lower edge of the plate. I think Boudreau is going to be one of the more exciting pitching names in the farm as rhe Yankees continue to tweak his profile, add velocity, and get him more spin efficient with his breaking pitches.

Austin Breedlove - 6’2 200 || RHP || RP || 22 || University of Tennessee

Austin Breedlove has been pitching in the FCL for the Yankees at the complex as a RP, throwing 8.0 IP of 3.38 ERA baseball with 12 K’s - 4 BB’s. I don’t know much about Breedlove nor have watched much of him, so it would be hard for me to comment on his progress so far.

Tommy O’Rourke - 6’2 211 || RHP || SP || 24 || Vanderbilt

Tommy O’Rourke was placed on the full season IL to begin the season and has yet to throw a professional league pitch for the Yankees. He was formerly projected to be an early round pick in 2023 but got hurt twice with season-long Lat injuries at Stanford University. He’s fought a long way to where he’s at now and he’d be one of the better stories around baseball if he could make it to the league.

Matthew Tippie - 6’4 210 || RHP || RP || 23 || Texas State

Lastly, Matthew Tippie who has pitched 13 games out of relief for the Tarpons. He’s pitched to an underwhelming 6.50 ERA in 18.0 IP with a 5.27 FIP and a 25.9 K% - 13.6 BB%. Tippie hasn’t gotten much swing/miss, he’s given up a lot of hard contact, he’s given up a lot of contact in the air, and hasn’t been able to stay much in the zone. Right now, there’s a lot of issues with Tippie’s arsenal across the board.

He’s hung his curveball too often for damage in the zone, his fourseamer has low 90’s spin with not much ride relative to his release mechanics and misses the zone often without swing/miss, and his sinker looks too similar to his fourseamer with not much armside bite to RHBs. He’s got a sneaky good offspeed offering but doesn’t use it much.

Note: All percentile chart visuals are from @TJStats on X, his website TJStats.ca, and his substack TJStats . Check out his content and follow him on his socials if you haven’t!

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