Any time anything happens in regard to the New York Yankees, it’s big news, and it’s not different with their prospects. If there’s a big Yankees prospect, he’s usually pretty well-known. I’m not criticizing that, however, as I think any publicity for baseball is a good thing, and the Yankees are excellent for baseball. The flip side of that, however, is that some prospects get overhyped, and people get too excited and have too high of expectations for the young man. Manny Banuelos is part of this latter group.
Banuelos had something of a breakout year last season. He pitched very well as a 17-year old in the Gulf Coast League, and he improved the next season while pitching in Low-A. As a 19-year old in High-A, people wanted to see if the young lefty could continue his rise. An appendectomy put that on hold for a few months, but when he returned in June, Banuelos ripped apart the Florida League, striking out 12.6 per 9 and walking just 2.8 per 9.
While Banuelos had mainly been a control guy in his first two seasons, his stuff saw a significant uptick in 2010. Pitching mostly 89-90 previously, Banuelos started hitting 91-94, and his change-up and curveball saw significant improvements. The improvement in stuff translated to him striking out a lot more hitters at a higher level in the minors, which is excellent. Banuelos already had an extremely simple and clean delivery to help him have above-average command for his age, and Banuelos just added great stuff to his fantastic control.
All of this led to high expectations for Banuelos. He was praised as one of the best prospects in baseball, and he was headed to AA at age 20, just a small jump to the majors where the Yankees looked to have starting pitching depth issues. But this overlooked a few flaws. One, Banuelos had only topped 100 innings once. Two, he had really only pitched against A-ball hitters. This isn’t to say Banuelos didn’t deserve to be praised for his work, but his 2011 season is another reason to remember how young he is and how unpredictable prospects are.
Banuelos hasn’t had a poor season, by any stretch, and it’s enough to keep him high in the rankings. His stuff remains good (9.1 K/9), but his command/control has taken a step backward (4.9 BB/9). AA hitters are a bit better than the lower-level hitters. They’re more willing to be patient and work a pitcher, and Banuelos will need to make adjustments. The most important thing, however, is that Banuelos is healthy, and adding that he’s pitched reasonably well, he won’t take too huge of a hit to his stock.
The Yankees have moved Banuelos up to AAA, and that has created a bit more hype for Banuelos. But it would be a mistake if he came up to pitch out of the rotation for New York. His command and control need further development to pitch out of the rotation, and they’ll want to be careful with his innings as he crosses 100 for the second time in his career. If the Yankees want him to pitch out of the bullpen, it wouldn’t be a terrible move, though it likely wouldn’t be a difference-making move. Manny Banuelos is the best pitching prospect the Yankees have, and he’s (without thinking too much) probably one of the best 5 left-handed pitching prospects in baseball. But he has more work to do, and he needs time to do it. He’s 20 years old, and he could really use another whole season in AAA next year.
