Yankees System Stock Report

The season is young, but there have been notable performers these first 3 weeks that have seen their stock within the NYY org shift. In this Stock Report, we examine several of the names who have altered their standing, whether for better or worse. Who has raised their stock? Who has seen it fall? Who is close to seeing their stock increase? Who's stock should not be moved as of yet? Find out below:

STOCK UP

George Lombard Jr.

I know what you’re probably thinking, “Aaron, Lombard is already the top prospect in the organization. How can his stock be up?” While Lombard Jr. is undoubtedly the top prospect in the Yankees organization, I am focusing more on his standing in MiLB as a whole. While still ranked in the top 50 on prospect lists, he was passed by several prospects who performed well in 2025, while Lombard Jr. had average performance at AA (albeit at a very young age for the level). This saw Lombard fall from the 20’s in 2025 down to 43 in Baseball America’s first 2026 top 100. While his slight fall was totally reasonable, Lombard Jr. is proving he belongs back in the 20’s, if not higher.

While his defense at short is unquestionable, scouts had concerns about 3 key areas: Lombard’s ability to hit for contact, power, and lower the strikeouts. We’re seeing big improvement in all aspects. While he does have a great eye, Lombard would often take too many good pitches to hit. This led to bad counts and more strikeouts. In the early going of the season, Lombard has shown much more aggression in the zone while still spitting on tough pitches outside the zone. While he is still striking out at a ~20% clip, most of these have come in long battles, with several reaching full counts before strike 3. 

Being aggressive on strikes earlier in the count has helped see his zone contact rate increase. More importantly, his aggression has helped his power numbers tremendously. Lombard has been hitting the ball on the ground less and in the air more. This has seen him record 7 doubles and 4 home runs in just 16 games. By comparison, Lombard had 32 XBH in 108 games last year. There are still some holes in his game, fastballs up in the zone remain of concern, but overall, Lombard has shown the pedigree of a top 25 prospect and may even breach the MLB this summer. 

Jack Cebert

Perhaps the biggest riser in the Yankees system early on, Jack Cebert has caught the attention of many within the Yankees farm system. A senior sign from Texas Tech in the 15th round, the now 24 year old Cebert has shown off his consistent mechanics, strong control, and nasty pitch-mix at the High-A level. The right hander has overmatched hitters at the level, whether it be as a reliever at the end of the ‘25 season or a starter now in ‘26. 

What makes Cebert such a clear riser is how advanced he is as a pitcher. There are plenty of pitchers his age who don’t have it all together. It starts with Cebert’s mechanics. Pitching from a modified stretch, Cebert has really comfortable movement on the mound, able to find a consistent release point almost every time he throws the ball. This allows his pitch mix (four-seam, sinker, cutter, slider), to tunnel very well. Making it even tougher, he is able to throw all these pitches for strikes, walking 3% of batters faced. While the pure stuff may not be the best (it is still above average), the ability to hit the zone and keep hitters off balance with his tunneling makes his entire arsenal play up. In just 18 innings as a starter, there may be no prospect making a bigger jump within the organization than Cebert. 

STOCK DOWN

Henry Lalane

Pitching injuries are nothing new. We have many talented arms being struck down by arm injuries, only to return a shell of their former selves.  It may be the case that one of our own has succumbed to this unfortunate consequence of modern day pitching. Henry Lalane was one of the most exciting young pitchers in the Minor Leagues following his 2023 stint in the FCL. The 6’7” lefty displayed both elite stuff and good control for his age. However, in the years that have followed, Lalane has experienced multiple shoulder injuries. In both 2024 and 2025, he returned very briefly at the end of each season, only to provide underwhelming outings. The hope entering 2026 was that a completely healthy offseason would help bring the best out the 21 year old that we hadn’t seen in 3 years.

What we have seen in his 7 innings this season does not instill much hope for the future. His four-seam fastball was not even averaging 93mph. With the lackluster iVB, the pitch has a below average grade on stuff+ models. His main secondary weapon, his slider, also lacks velocity, sitting at 77mph. In all, his entire repertoire has below average grades outside of his changeup. To make matters worse, Lalane has been placed on the injured list once again. While this time it is believed to be because of a non-serious lower body injury, it is discouraging to see him injured once again. He is still 21 years old and stranger things have happened, but we cannot keep waiting for the Lalane from 2023 to show up again. The hope will be he can get past all these injuries and rebrand himself, but the top prospect he once was seems to have been taken by the injuries. 

Core Jackson

Despite the off-field issues, there was excitement about the potential baseball player Core Jackson could be. Top amongst his skillset was the ability to produce elite exit velocities. This is a tool that helped Dillon Lewis stand out early in 2024, despite having an OPS in the .500’s. While you could argue giving the same benefit of the doubt to Jackson as I did with Lewis, the process does not seem to be the same.

Jackson has shown early struggles with making consistent contact and pulling the ball in the air. While his above average eye has helped him draw a reasonable share of walks, there has been a lot of early swinging and missing. I don’t doubt Jackson can turn it around, but the early trends are concerning. Hitting the ball on the ground half the time makes it hard to be productive, and when he does get it in the air, he is popping it up at a higher rate than you would like. 

Perhaps the most disappointing is the fact that Kaeden Kent, who was drafted two rounds before Jackson in the 2025 draft and also struggled during the cup of coffee in Hudson Valley last summer, has seemingly slowed down the game and been productive. Jackson has the inherent talent that could see him bust out of the slump instantaneously and make me eat my words, which I will be happy to do. However, for the time being, the lack of growth between the two seasons and the holes he has displayed do have me concerned. 

BUY NOW

Ben Grable 

Relief pitchers are never going to be too highly rated in prospect circles. That doesn’t mean you can’t find guys who are clearly cut out to be impact relievers in the future. Ben Grable has made an immediate impact this season out of the Hudson Valley bullpen. The 24 year old (on May 3rd) from the University of Indiana, has had a spectacular first 7.2 innings to his professional career, posting a 1.17 ERA and 0.46 FIP with an ABSURD 58.6 K% and 6.9 BB%. His K% and K-BB% is the highest amongst all minor leaguers with at least 7 innings pitched in the young season.

What makes Grable so special? For starters, his 95-97mph fastball has been just about unhittable so far. Just about every hitter he has faced has swung and missed through his four-seamer. Making it even tougher is his superb control of the pitch. He is able to throw it to every quadrant of the zone for strikes, consistently working ahead in counts. While this has been his bread and butter, both his slider and splitter project as above average to plus secondary options. For lack of a better word, Grable has been unhittable, and is exhibiting early signs of potential MLB closer or set-up man. I would not be surprised if he were in play for a bullpen spot in 2027.

JoJo Jackson

Jackson appears to be a late blooming member of the 2024 draft class that keeps on giving. After missing just about all of the 2025 season, the 23 year old outfielder made his first opening day roster in Tampa and has looked quite good. The Yankees clearly value hitters with a good understanding of the strike zone and selective swinging, and Jackson fits that mold perfectly. Jackson does not expand the zone very often, with a 21.7% chase rate, but has shown the willingness to aggressively hack in the zone. While the zone contact rate isn’t elite, it exhibits perhaps the best mentality at the plate that you can find.

The issue with Jackson right now is his contact quality. Jackson has shown below average exit velocities in the early going. Furthermore, his bat path needs work, as he is hitting too many ground balls and not pulling enough balls in the air. What Jackson needs at the plate is somewhat reminiscent of Brendan Jones. While the former Yankee farmhand didn’t hit the ball the hardest, his ability to pull the ball in the air consistently let him get the most out of his power. If Jackson can make that adjustment at the plate, I think we are looking at a guy who could put himself into the top 20 of the organization's prospects by the end of the season.

HOLD

Enmanuel Tejeda

Enmanuel Tejeda got off to one of the strangest starts you may see from a minor league player. In his first 9 games (40 plate appearances), Tejeda had only 1 hit, but still managed 12 walks. He boasted a .037 batting average with a .333 OBP. It was one of the strangest phenomena I have seen. Since 4/14, things have normalized for the 21 year old infielder. In the 8 games since 4/14 (39 plate appearances), Tejeda has a slash line of .375/.487/.625. He is walking and striking out at the exact same 17.9% rate. 

While Tejeda had never been known to hit the ball too hard, he had shown average exit velocities which he has paired with excellent plate discipline and what I believed to be an above-average hit tool. What we saw those first two weeks was a hitter who was struggling to make any contact, and when he did, was hitting it hard and into the ground. 

Since then, Tejeda has looked much more like the prospect I was so high on, if not better. The contact rates are back to a much better place while managing to make much better quality of contact. Most impressive to me: Tejeda has finally started to pull the ball in the air at an above average clip. Tejeda has the tools to be a solid MLB player, and if you have that conviction like I do, the lopsided start shouldn’t be a deterrent. 

Franyer Herrera/Luis Serna/Xavier Rivas

I am being a bit unconventional here, but I am throwing these 3 arms in the same bucket as they all meet a very similar criteria. All 3 arms received aggressive promotions to an advanced level after very short stints in the previous level. Let us begin with Herrera and Serna. Herrera won’t turn 21 until May 3rd and only pitched 10 innings at Low-A Tampa last year. His inclusion at Hudson Valley as a starter was eye raising. Serna returned in 2025 from an arm injury suffered the previous season to throw 7 innings in Tampa. While he did pitch 69 innings in 2024, the 21 year old getting the call to Hudson Valley was somewhat surprising. Both have shown flashes, especially Serna with his 7 inning, 1 hit, 1 walk, 10 strikeout opener, but they have both also shown inconsistency on an inning to inning basis. For two young pitchers, these struggles are very much expected. Right now I am not nearly as focused on their ERA or FIP and more so seeing them build more consistent outings.

Rivas is somewhat similar, though he earned the promotion to AA Somerset after a fantastic 29 innings in Hudson Valley last summer. Fastball command and velocity were probably the two biggest questions for the 23 year old left hander. While the velocity has looked respectable, the control has been an issue, walking 21.6% of batters in 7 innings. The jump to AA is easily the toughest in all of minor league baseball, as alluded to with George Lombard Jr. last year. Seeing Rivas struggle is unsurprising. I just want to see him learn from his struggles and look like a different pitcher come memorial day.