MLB Pipeline updated its prospect rankings again this week, and there were a few interesting developments in the Yankees’ top 30 beyond Jersey-born shortstop Anthony Volpe passing 18-year-old center fielder Jasson Dominguez for the top spot.
There also some big-time sliding for a few touted Yankees prospects who are trending the wrong way.
There was Deivi Garcia, the super-hyped righty who started a Yankees playoff game last October, falling to No. 11 after beginning the season third.
There was center fielder Estevan Florial, the Yankees’ No. 1 prospect in 2018, sliding 11 spots from 10th to 21st even though he’s looked good during his brief big-league call-ups.
And there was catcher Anthony Seigler, the Yankees’ first-round pick two years ago, dropping out of the top 30 after being ranked eighth in his draft year, 13th last year and No. 22 at the start of this season.
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What’s gone wrong?
NJ Advance Media checked in with a veteran MLB scout who has seen a lot of all three players this season for feedback. The scout was granted anonymity so that he could give honest assessments.
DEIVI GARVIA, RHP
Current team: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (AAA).
Age: 22 (23 on May 19, 2022).
Acquired: Signed as amateur free agent out of Dominican Republic for $200,000 on June 2, 2015.
2021 minor-league stats: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (AAA), 2-5, 7.08 ERA, 18 games, 17 starts, 68.2 IP, 74 hits, 56 runs, 54 ER, 18 HR, 51 BB, 75 K.
2021 MLB stats: Yankees, 0-2, 6.48 ERA, 2 starts, 8.1 IP, 8 hits, 7 runs, 6 ER, 1 HR, 4 BB, 7 K.
The skinny: Garcia has one quality start all season, his three-run, six-inning outing vs. Rochester on July 20. … Control has been a problem all season and his career-high 6.7 walks per nine innings is a big jump from 4.4 in 2019 and 2.4 in 2018. … His strikeouts are way down, falling from 13.3 per nine innings in 2019 to 9.8 this season. … He walked three and hit two batters while allowing three runs over 5 1/3 innings in his last outing, a no-decision against Lehigh Valley on Aug. 15.
MLB scout’s take: “I really worry about Garcia and what they’ve done with his delivery. His velocity is down. He’s not a physical guy to start with and they’ve taken away the natural athleticism that he had in his delivery and he’s become very max effort. It’s like he’s trying to throw harder, and the harder he tries, the less hard he’s throwing. I think the Yankees are so spin rate and velocity driven that Garcia’s natural athleticism and ability are being compromised. Deivi used to range 91-to-95, but all of his pitches were done very effortlessly. But we live in a world where everybody wants everybody to throw harder, so there’s a lot more effort and in my opinion that’s why there’s so many pitching injuries. With Garcia, his delivery is terrible. He spins off, lands on that stiff front leg and falls off to first base almost every pitch. I still give him a chance to be a good major league pitcher because of what I want saw before this season, but he might have to go back down a level where he can maybe have a little bit of success because his numbers are embarrassing right now.”
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ESTEVAN FLORIAL, CF
Current team: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (AAA).
Age: 23 (24 on Nov 25, 2021).
Acquired: Signed as amateur free agent out of Dominican Republic for $200,000 on March 19, 2015.
Yankees prospect ranking: No. 10, MLB Pipeline.
Bats: Left.
2021 MLB stats: Yankees, .300 average, 20 AB, 3 runs, 6 hits, 2 doubles, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 5 BB, 6 K, 1 SB, .990 OPS, 8 games.
2021 minor-league stats: Somerset (AA) & Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (AAA), .211 average, 251 AB, 45 runs, 53 hits, 14 doubles, 1 triple, 12 HR, 35 RBI, 33 BB, 86 K, 9 SB, 6 CS, .722 OPS, 62 games. Somerset (AA), .229 average, 4 HR, 6 RBI, 9 games. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (AAA), .208 average, 8 HR, 29 RBI, 53 games.
The skinny: Florial was 3-for-5 with a double and RBI single in Scranton’s 14-2 win at Worcester on Friday night, but is batting .167 in 10 Triple-A games this month. … His 34.3% strikeout rate is a slight drop from 35.8% in 2019, but still high. … His .211 batting average is a career low. … Was promoted from Triple-A four times this season, but his call-ups lasted a combined 11 days. … Has hit safely in six of eight career major league starts counting his one game in 2020.
MLB scout’s take: “Florial’s got tools, but nobody’s doing anything to make any adjustments for him as a player. It’s the same approach every day. It’s swing out of your ass and occasionally you’ll hit a home run. But he has to make some adjustments. Defensively, it’s not as good as I thought it would be. He’s probably a 55 defender in centerfield (on a 20-to-80 scale). I think that injuries and COVID have really affected his development and he needs to keep playing. Maybe a change of scenery to get away from the Yankees to get a fresh start and new voice would be beneficial because Florial still does flash you some tools. I know he’s done well with the Yankees in the few games that he’s played, but I think it’s the same reason Luis Gil is doing well in their rotation. There’s no familiarity. Once people watch guys and realize what they can and can’t do, then Florial hitting 300 and Gil having zero ERA are not going to last.”
ANTHONY SEIGLER, C
Current team: Hudson Valley Renegades (High-A).
Age: 22 (23 on June 20, 2022).
Acquired: 2018 draft, 1st round, 23rd overall out of Carterville (Ga.) High.
Bats: Both.
2021 stats: Hudson Valley (High-A), .219 average, 151 AB, 24 runs, 33 hits, 12 doubles, 1 triple, 4 HR, 24 RBI, 23 BB, 46 K, .715 OPS, 41 games.
The skinny: Placed on the injured list Aug. 9 with an undisclosed injury, but the stint began six days (and three games) after he exited a July 31 game after being struck in the head by a foul ball. … Also was on the IL from May 6 to June 1 with an undisclosed injury. … Batting .136 right-handed (6 for 44, 2 HR) and .252 as a lefty (27-for-107. 2 HR) … Had his best night as a pro going 2-for-4 with two homers and four RBI on July 27 against Wilmington … In his 23 games at catcher, opponents have 34 steals in 40 attempts. … Has three errors and five passed balls in 177 1/3 innings behind the plate.
MLB scout’s take: “Seigler is a really nice guy and he tries hard, but he’s just overmatched. I actually feel bad for him because he’s a high-profile kid as a first-round draft pick for the Yankees. There’s no impact on any of his contact, even in BP. Defensively, he has no arm strength at all and he doesn’t block anything. Again, Seigler tries hard and he brings a nice energy to the game. It seems like he’s a good teammate. He gets excited when everybody else gets a hit. But he doesn’t look like a prospect to me. From what I saw, he’ll have a hard time getting out of A-ball.”
Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com.
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