New York Yankees Promote Manny Banuelos to Triple-A: Are They Rushing Him?

Jack Curry of the YES Network reports that the Yankees have promoted 20-year-old lefty Manny Banuelos to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Scouts, "experts" and the rest all rank Banuelos as the best pitching prospect in the Yankees organization.

Banuelos, in 23 starts for Double-A Trenton (including three last season), has a record of 4-6 with a 3.58 ERA and 1.53 WHIP over 110.2 innings.

Not awful numbers, but not outstanding either.

Conversely, 23-year-old righty Dellin Betances, who has followed the same career path as Banuelos, remains with the Trenton Thunder.

In 103.2 Double-A innings, Betances is 4-5 with a 3.47 ERA and 1.26 WHIP.

In a sport that relies upon statistics as much if not more than any other professional sport, the argument could be made that Betances, not Banuelos, is more deserving of the promotion.

This is not to take anything away from Banuelos—he still has an incredibly bright future and remains one of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball.

But pitchers are a strange breed, and should he struggle in Triple-A, one has to wonder if his psyche would be adversely affected by the lack of success.

Brian Cashman has generally been very careful about how the team handles their elite prospects, only calling upon Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain and Ian Kennedy in 2007 when the team absolutely had no other options.

It could be said that the three were somewhat "rushed" to the majors.

Let's hope this is not a knee-jerk reaction to a quiet trade deadline and a case of "rushing" a prospect when he simply may not be ready.

From the onset of spring training, the Yankees insisted that both Banuelos and Betances would spend this season in the minor leagues continuing to progress and refine their games.

Now, one has to wonder if they have put Banuelos on the fast-track to the big leagues.

Highly touted and with undeniable talent, the Yankees need to remember something.

Manny Banuelos is only 20 years old.

Rushing him to the majors now could set back a promising future.

Let's hope that Manny's home remains west of the Hudson River until 2012.