Buying or Selling Yankees' Biggest Breakout Players in 2023 Season
The New York Yankees have dealt with a wide variety of injuries over the first month of the 2023 MLB season. While several high-profile pitchers are missing from the staff, a lack of consistent offensive production has been an even bigger concern.
In the midst of their less-than-stellar start to the year, a few players have emerged as surprise contributors. Shortstop Anthony Volpe played his way into the starting job with a strong spring training, and after a slow start, he has settled in nicely in the big leagues. Meanwhile, relievers Jimmy Cordero and Ian Hamilton have both filled key roles in the bullpen.
But are they for real?
Ahead, we have given our take on whether to buy or sell those early performances based on track records and advanced metrics.
RP Jimmy Cordero
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The Yankees signed Jimmy Cordero to a minor league deal prior to the 2022 season, and he pitched his way onto the Opening Day roster this year with a 3.72 ERA and a 10-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 9.2 innings during spring training.
Prior to this season, he had not appeared at the MLB level since 2020, when he struggled to a 6.08 ERA over 30 appearances with the Chicago White Sox. He had a 2.09 ERA and 11.6 strikeouts per nine innings in 32 games for Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre in 2022.
The 31-year-old has a 2.61 ERA, 0.68 WHIP and 11.3 K/9 in 10 games this year, emerging as a reliable middle-relief option for a bullpen that began the year without several key relievers.
He is still the same sinker-slider pitcher he was with the White Sox, but he is generating a significantly higher spin rate on both pitches. That, coupled with a solid 2.69 FIP, makes his early success look sustainable.
Verdict: Buy
RP Ian Hamilton
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Ian Hamilton made only one appearance in the majors during the 2021 and 2022 seasons, but he showed plenty of swing-and-miss potential at the Triple-A level during that time.
Hamilton racked up 146 strikeouts in 106.1 innings while pitching for the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Guardians' Triple-A affiliates. The Yankees took a chance on that translating to the majors when they signed him to a minor league deal this past offseason.
While he didn't start the year on the Opening Day roster, he was called up only a few days later, and he has pitched to a 1.72 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 10.9 K/9 in nine appearances.
He is employing a more slider-heavy approach than he has in the past, throwing the pitch 53.5 percent of the time and holding opposing hitters to a .139 average and .167 slugging percentage with it while generating a whiff rate near 40 percent. That pitch will be the key to his continued success.
Verdict: Buy
SS Anthony Volpe
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It looked like Anthony Volpe might be headed for an early demotion back to Triple-A when he started the year 4-for-31 with 12 strikeouts in his first 10 games.
Since then, he is hitting .275/.375/.449 with three doubles, three home runs, nine RBI, 10 runs scored and seven steals in his last 21 games, solidifying his present and future spot on the Yankees infield.
That recent run of success is still accompanied by a 26.3 percent strikeout rate, and he had three straight games with an error toward the end of April. But all things considered, Volpe has looked the part of an everyday shortstop with impact potential.
Expect more ups and downs from the 22-year-old as the season unfolds, but he is currently on-pace to be a 4.2-WAR player. That would be the highest mark by a Yankees shortstop since Didi Gregorius (4.9) in 2018.
Verdict: Buy
All stats courtesy of Baseball Reference and accurate through Tuesday's games.
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