The 2018 Pulaski Yankees smile for the camera during media day earlier this week.
Marty Gordon
NRVsports@ourvalley.org
The New York Yankees short season team is ready for action in Pulaski. This will be the third year for the team in the much-improved Calfee Park.
The Appalachian League team gives area fans a glimpse of potential future Bronx Bombers and many other young players that will travel around the region over the next few months.
The opening day roster includes 14 pitchers, three catchers, seven infielders and six outfielders.
Right-handed pitcher Luis Medina highlights the 2018 squad, ranked as the New York Yankees’ number five prospect, according to MLB Pipeline.
Medina is one of nine players on the roster who played in Pulaski last season, joined by RHP Bryan Blanton, RHP Wellington Caceres, RHP Carlos Espinal, RHP Gilmael Troya, RHP Alexander Vizcaino, C Saul Torres, OF Evan Alexander and OF Jordan Scott.
The roster has six players selected in the MLB First-Year Player Draft, 22 players signed as non-drafted free agents and one player acquired through a trade.
Medina could be one of those players to watch with a fastball clocking 96-100 miles per hour. His curve ball has been measured at 79-84 MPH, and he boasts a changeup that has caught a lot of batters off guard during his first two years in the minors.
He signed as a free agent from the Dominican Republic at 16. At the time, he was considered one of the hardest throwing 15 year olds in the history of baseball.
One minor league report is high on the youngster.
“Medina is still young and extremely raw, so he’ll need time to reach his lofty ceiling as a frontline starter. He’s has yet to learn to tame his electric stuff, though New York believes he can develop at least average control and command because his delivery doesn’t feature much effort. The Yankees are loaded with quality pitching prospects, and he could be the most successful of them if he can add some polish.”
He did struggle in 10 games (nine starts) last year in Pulaski with a 5.35 ERA with 24 walks. But the scouts still rank him high on the potential scale.
But the Appalachian League will give fans a look at the future major league stars. Minor League Baseball shows potential up and down the Interstate.
Pitcher Shane Baz will start in Bristol with the Pirates. The 6’3 righthander was the number 12 pick in the 2017 draft, straight out of high school. He has a fastball, cutter and a slider that post high on several scouting reports.
Bluefield also boasts righthanded pitcher Eric Pardinho, another teenage prospect that signed as the Blue Jays number seven pick for $1.4 million .
The 17-year-old Brazilian has graced the international stage as a member of his country’s World Baseball Classic qualifier. He has an above average fastball and curve.
The Pulaski Yankees are the rookie level affiliate of the New York Yankees playing in the Appalachian League. Pulaski is celebrating its 53rd season in the league.
Calfee Park won league championships in 1948, 1969, 1986, 1991 and 2013. The park opened in 1935 and was renovated for the team’s first season as a Yankees affiliate in 2015.
Longtime league commissioner Lee Lander has said that this season is his last. The Appalachian League today announced plans for a Lee Landers bobblehead giveaway during the 2018 season.
Nine teams in the advanced-rookie league, including Pulaski, will participate in the promotion to honor Landers, who was named the 2017 king of baseball.
His bobblehead likeness will feature the crown and robe presented to him at the Baseball Winter Meetings in Orlando, Florida in December.
“I am humbled and honored that the League would think of doing this on my behalf,” Landers, who has served as Appalachian League President since 1996 as part of a career in professional baseball that began in 1959, said.
Bluefield, Bristol, Burlington, Danville, Elizabethton, Greeneville, Johnson City, Kingsport and Pulaski will all participate in the promotion, hosting the bobblehead giveaways on dates coinciding with Landers’ trips to each ballpark.
Pulaski will honor him Aug. 24 with the first 300 fans receiving a bobblehead.