Yankees Predicted to ‘Break Trend’ by Adding 18-Year-Old Star RHP

Getty Yankees GM Brian Cashman will lead the team's draft efforts this weekend.

Before the Yankees and all of MLB turns its attention to the impending trade deadline, there is the small matter of the draft to work out. It’ll be three days culling young players into the organization, and given the team’s recent success in finding top talent—Aaron Judge, Clarke Schmidt, Anthony Volpe and Austin Wells were all first-round picks, as was No. 2 prospect Spencer Jones—this is an especially consequential time for the team.

In fact, it could be a good opportunity for the Yankees to restock the farm system with live arms. Coming into the season, according to The Athletic, only one of the Yankees’ Top 8 prospects was a pitcher, Chase Hampton. That’s partly by design, because the Yankees much prefer to use top picks on positional players.

But this is a deep draft that should afford the Yankees the chance to take some risks, even early in the draft. With that in mind, in the current edition of the CBS Sports MLB mock draft, the Yankees are taking a high school pitcher, hard-throwing righty starter Braylon Doughty out of California.

Yankees Not Known for Drafting Pitchers Early

Doughty is a 6-foot-1, 196 pound pitcher for Chapparal High School in Temecula, California. He has a 96-mph fastball, according to the prospect site PerfectGame.com, to go with a “hammer” curveball he throws in the mid-80s. Just 18 years old, he is a late-bloomer who committed to pitch for Oklahoma State next year.

He has mostly been overlooked by scouts until just recently, and should have relatively little wear and tear on his arm. As CBS’s Mike Axisa, who sees Doughty landing with the Yankees at No. 26, wrote:

“New York hasn’t taken a pitcher in the first round since Clarke Schmidt in 2017, but this would be a good year to break the trend given who’s available in our mock draft. The toolsy exit velocity guys they typically target are mostly off the board and Doughty offers some of the best data in the draft class (spin rates, etc.). Analysts love the data, scouts love the frame and athleticism.”

Braylon Doughty Still Largely Unproven

Still, Doughty is not a sureshot first-rounder and the Yankees could revert to their comfort zone and use their first-rounder on one of the many solid college position players in this draft. Doughty is ranked No. 36 overall in MLB.com’s rankings of draft prospects, and No. 34 at Baseball America.

ProspectsLive.com rates Doughty as a fringe first-rounder, tabbing him at No. 30 overall. But the site did raise a flag for Doughty earlier this year, pronouncing him a prospect ready to “pop up” this season.

“Doughty was a late riser on the (2023) summer circuit, jumping onto the scene with a robust outing at the Area Code Games in August,” the site noted. “He’s got a physical frame with a strong lower half and easy mechanics on the bump, as well as being able to mess with timing. The fastball features heavy armside movement in the low-90s, though he’s run it up to 96 MPH with high spin rates and he pounds the zone with strikes.

“The real star of the arsenal is his breaking ball, which was in the mid-80s at Area Code with diabolical spin rates and swing-and-miss traits. He hovers around the 3,000 RPM threshold and can vary the shape of it, showcasing as a hammer slider with late bite and tilt.”

The Yankees could use an infusion of youth among the pitchers in the farm system. Doughty would be a start.