Yankees Scouting Report 2021: A position-by-position look at the Bronx Bombers

Thanks to one of baseball’s true aces, rotation depth and a brawny offense, the Yankees believe they can finally make an October breakthrough in 2021.

That’s no sure thing (see any of the past few seasons). But these probably are — the Yanks will add to their streak of 28 consecutive winnings seasons and, unless their rotation collapses, four straight postseason berths and 22 in 26 years.

They’ll pummel opponents while hoping for health from the likes of Jameson Taillon, Corey Kluber, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. Returns from Luis Severino and Zack Britton figure to be a summertime boost.

Here’s a look at the Yankees, position-by-position, with help from scouts and MLB executives.

CATCHER

Gary Sanchez

2020 Stats: 178 plate appearances, 10 home runs, 24 RBI, .147 average, .253 on-base, .365 slugging.

Analysis: This is a big season for Sanchez, who has massive power but has struggled defensively. He struck out in 36% of his at-bats last year, a career worst and nearly 13 points above MLB average. Still, there’s rebound hope, says a rival club executive: “The Yankees are in a good spot with Sanchez and (backup Kyle) Higashioka. There’s still so much more in front of them.”

FIRST BASE

Luke Voit

2020 Stats: 234 plate appearances, 22 home runs, 52 RBI, .277 average, .338 on-base, .610 slugging.

Jay Bruce

2020 Stats: 103 plate appearances, six home runs, 14 RBI, .198 average, .252 on-base, .469 slugging for Philadelphia

Analysis: Injury seems to hover over the Yankees of recent vintage and Voit, last year’s MLB home run leader, won’t play until at least May because of knee surgery. Enter Bruce, who at least makes the Yanks less right-handed. Bruce has only 54 career games at first, but is a reliable power bat who might fit snugly into Yankee Stadium and its short right-field porch — he has a career OPS of 1.164 when he pulls the ball and he’s hit 148 of his 318 lifetime homers to right field.

SECOND BASE

DJ LeMahieu

2020 Stats: 216 plate appearances, 10 home runs, 27 RBI, .364 average, .421 on-base, .590 slugging.

Analysis: The all-or-nothing Yanks would’ve been in trouble had they not re-signed their best — and most diverse — hitter. He led MLB in average and paced the AL in on-base and OPS (1.011). He whiffed just 9.7% of the time (23.4% was MLB average), so his contact ability plays on a squad known for slugging. LeMahieu is batting .271 with two strikes since 2019, according to Inside Edge, 82 points better than the MLB average.

THIRD BASE

Gio Urshela

2020 Stats: 174 plate appearances, 6 home runs, 30 RBI, .298 average, .368 on-base, .490 slugging.

Analysis: Urshela’s offense has improved so much over the past two seasons that he’s bumped promising hitter Miguel Andujar off third base. He’s a better defensive player than Andujar, anyway, versatile enough for the Yanks to look at him as a potential backup at short during camp. Had surgery to remove a bone spur from his right elbow over the winter, but seemed to prove himself fit in spring training.

SHORTSTOP

Gleyber Torres

2020 Stats: 160 plate appearances, 3 home runs, 16 RBI, .243 average, .356 on-base, .368 slugging.

Analysis: Was his forgettable 2020 season an outlier or a serious red flag? GM Brian Cashman criticized his fitness and he rarely looked like the guy who hit 38 homers in ’19. Still, he thrived in the postseason (.435 average, 1.262 OPS) and many in baseball predict a huge comeback, blaming his down year on the stop-start challenges of playing in a pandemic. “There was a lot of mental uncertainty about what’s about to happen next,” says an AL exec. Torres (nine errors) must improve defensively.

RIGHT FIELD

Aaron Judge

2020 Stats: 114 plate appearances, 9 homers, 22 RBI, .257 average, .336 on-base, .554 slugging.

Analysis: Judge is an enormous talent, but he can’t stay on the field. He’s played only 63% of the Yankees’ games since the start of the 2018 season. “You can’t put up numbers if you’re sitting home on the couch,” says a NL scout. But if he can avoid injuries, watch out — 2017 was his last totally healthy season and he bashed 52 homers, had a 1.049 OPS and probably should’ve been AL MVP. “If he’s healthy, he could hit 50 again,” the scout says.

CENTER FIELD

Aaron Hicks

2020 Stats: 211 plate appearances, 6 home runs, 21 RBI, .225 average, .379 on-base, .414 slugging.

Analysis: Expert at getting on base — his OBP last season was a career high — Hicks is a switch-hitting threat who has struggled with injuries, too. “That’s the big thing — will he be healthy?” says a scout. “He’s good enough in center field and has put up some good numbers. I think he’s improved and getting more comfortable. He is a good player.”

LEFT FIELD

Clint Frazier

2020 Stats: 160 plate appearances, 8 home runs, 26 RBI, .267 average, .394 on-base, .511 slugging.

Analysis: His defense soared and regular at-bats helped him produce a terrific 2020. Now he has to keep it up. The AL executive believes, comparing Frazier’s career arc to the likes of Justin Turner, Chris Taylor and Nelson Cruz as players who emerged even as the baseball world doubted them. “Frazier is a grinder, I know that,” the exec says. “It takes time for some guys.”

DESIGNATED HITTER

Giancarlo Stanton

2020 Stats: 94 plate appearances, 4 home runs, 11 RBI, .250 average, .387 on-base, .500 slugging.

Analysis: Stanton has light-tower power and his bonkers postseason is a nice snapshot of what he can do. But he also struggles to stay healthy, appearing in only 51.8% of regular-season games since coming to the Bronx. He’s a bit of a Bronx lightning rod, too, garnering boos when he flails at sliders, his Kryptonite. (He’s batting just .177 against sliders and has missed on 48% of his swings against the pitch as a Yankee, according to Inside Edge. But the hoopla shouldn’t be affecting him anymore, the NL scout says: “I don’t think that affects him. He’s been here a couple years now. It’s just getting over the hump of getting hurt.”

ROTATION

RHP Gerrit Cole

2020 Stats: 7-3, 2.84 ERA, 73 innings, 94 SO, 17 BB, 0.959 WHIP, 11.6 K/9.

Analysis: A thinking man’s ace with nuclear stuff, Cole should be in the Cy Young conversation, as usual. “He is very confident in who he is,” says former hurler Al Leiter, the MLB Network analyst. “He can articulate it in detail, too, and some guys talk themselves into alphabet soup, but he translates it into domination.” Since 2019, hitters are batting .187 against his fastball, according to Inside Edge, best in MLB. With a full season, he’ll probably obliterate Ron Guidry’s 1978 club record for strikeouts (248).

RHP Corey Kluber

2020 Stats: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 inning, 1 SO, 1BB, 1.00 WHIP, 9 K/9.

Analysis: The two-time Cy Young Award winner is a workhorse when healthy, throwing 200-plus innings for five consecutive seasons at his peak. Trouble is, he’s coming off two injury-plagued years and must prove he can take the ball. If he’s whole, the Yanks could have a genuine No. 2 starter and a fearsome playoff twosome with Cole. If Kluber gets hurt, the Yankees better hope the rotation depth they’ve touted produces.

RHP Jameson Taillon

2020 Stats: Did not pitch (injured).

Analysis: The Yanks were giddy to get Taillon, once one of baseball’s most promising pitchers. But he must prove health, too, since he’s made all of seven starts since a breakout 2018. “Another electric arm,” says an MLB scout. “He’ll ride the mid-to-upper 90s. His power stuff plays for sure. He’s gone from Pittsburgh. New lease, new life. And being with Cole, his old buddy (they were roommates with the Pirates), is invaluable.”

LHP Jordan Montgomery

2020 Stats: 2-3, 5.11 ERA, 44 innings, 47 strikeouts, 9 walks, 1.295 WHIP, 9.6 K/9.

Analysis: The stats weren’t eye-popping in his return from Tommy John surgery, but if you want positives for this year, how about this: With the Yanks one loss from elimination last October, Montgomery started Game 4 of the ALDS against the Rays and put the Yanks in position to win, throwing four innings and allowing one run. He was solid this spring, while fielding texts from Andy Pettitte and CC Sabathia, who were keeping a fellow lefty confident.

RHP Deivi Garcia

2020 Stats: 3-2, 4.98 ERA, 34.1 innings, 33 SO, 6 BB, 1.194 WHIP, 8.7 K/9.

Analysis: He won’t be 22 until May, but there’s big talent here, mixed with confidence. “I think there’s a lot to like,” the MLB scout says. “I see him as a little Pedro Martinez thing. Plus fastball, good change and good curve. It gives different looks.” And Garcia can command them all, walking only 4.1% of the batters he faced in 2020.

RHP Domingo German

2020 Stats: Served a domestic violence suspension and did not pitch.

Analysis: Too many starters? Probably no such thing in a post-pandemic baseball world and no matter whether German or Garcia is thought of as the fifth starter, both will be vital. German amazed Aaron Boone during spring camp by not showing any rust after a long layoff. “He’s proven he can win the big leagues and he’s pitched this spring like it was mid-season,” says an MLB scout. “It’s like he knew himself, knew what he needed to do to be ready.”

BULLPEN

Aroldis Chapman

2020 Stats: 1-1, 3.09 ERA, 3 saves, 11.2 innings, 0.857 WHIP, 17.0 K/9.

Analysis: Yes, he’s given up devastating homers in games in which the Yanks were bounced from the playoffs. But he might have gotten better with the addition of a splitter. “Have you seen it?” says an MLB scout. “There’s no way he’s giving up a hit this year. He’s throwing 100 mph and then the split is at 90 and it just drops. That’s scary. It might be good enough for him to can his slider and just throw two pitches.” Another put-away pitch for a guy who has held hitters to a .100 average in his career in two-strike counts? Yikes.

Chad Green

2020 Stats: 3-3, 3.51 ERA, 1 save, 25.2 innings, 0.818 WHIP, 11.2 K/9.

Analysis: Zack Britton’s absence until the summer probably dumps the most pressure on Green as the primary setup man. His fastball should be up for the challenge. Last year, opponents batted just .111 against the mid-90s pitch. “I don’t think hitters pick up the ball very well against him,” says an NL scout. “There’s something in his delivery that gives him deception.”

Darren O’Day

2020 Stats: 4-0, 1.10 ERA, 0 saves, 16.1 innings, 0.796 WHIP, 12.1 K/9 with Atlanta.

Analysis: His submarine delivery is a changeup from the rest of the bullpen, which should make him a vital contributor. “I like that he’s a different guy,” says an NL scout. “It’s not a cookie-cutter bullpen. He changes the batter’s eye. Hitters today, some of them swing the same way. You get a different bird coming out of the bullpen, throwing a different way and it’ll be tough.”

Justin Wilson

2020 Stats: 2-1, 3.66 ERA, 0 saves, 19.2 innings, 1.373 WHIP, 10.5 K/9 with Mets.

Analysis: Versatile lefty has held righties to a .218 average in his career, 15 points lower than lefties, so he’s not just a specialist. But righties batted .306 against him in last year’s shortened season. Control can be an issue — his career BB/9 is 4.1. In his second stint in pinstripes, can he duplicate his solid 2015 (3.10 ERA in 74 games)?