With Chris Capuano set to open the season on the 15-Day disabled list, a competition for the final slot in the Yankees rotation is underway in spring training. With a variety of contenders for the spot, one name stands out as the most logical option for Joe Girardi’s squad: prospect right-hander Bryan Mitchell.
Just under a year ago, Mitchell was named as the Double-A Trenton Thunder’s opening day starter, and spent media day telling us that his goal was to make it to New York by season’s end. He made it much sooner, earning a call-up later that month to serve as an emergency pitcher in the Yankees pen. He wound up getting a couple more cups of coffee throughout the season, eventually making two appearances for the team.
Now, the 23-year-old North Carolina native is square in the middle of a fight for the final spot in the big league rotation. Though he doesn’t carry the experience of fellow competitors Adam Warren, Esmil Rogers, and Chase Whitley, Mitchell has one major advantage: potential.
One scout I spoke to in Trenton last year compared Mitchell to a younger A.J. Burnett: he has the stuff to succeed, but often the numbers didn’t match up. The Burnett comparison may scare some Yankee fans, but those are the ones who forget that while inconsistent, Burnett took the mound every single time with the potential to be overpowering. In Mitchell’s case, multiple opposing hitters coming through Trenton early last year named Mitchell as one of the best pitchers they had seen in the minor leagues.
So why Mitchell, the inexperienced flamethrower who could easily return to Triple-A and anchor the Scranton rotation as he develops? The truth is, of the four realistic options, Mitchell is the only one who could potentially stick in the rotation, even after Capuano is set to return. Joe Girardi has already acknowledged that Mitchell is only viewed as a starter, while all of the other candidates have experience in the bullpen and may be more valuable there.
Mitchell is one who, when he’s on, is electric. He has some command issues, much like his MLB comp Burnett did. As a rookie, he certainly will have a few clunkers on the mound. But he’ll also have performances much like the one I witnessed from the Thunder press box in late August of 2013, when, with the season on the line, he turned in 7 1/3 innings of one run baseball, while striking out ten and surrendering just four hits.
Thunder manager Tony Franklin referred to Mitchell as “fantastic” that night, a word which we would hear frequently from the veteran manager’s mouth regarding Mitchell. He frequently classified Mitchell as having a live arm, and early in 2014, told me the right-hander “had the potential to be dominant.”
As your fifth starter, wouldn’t you rather take a chance on the guy who could establish himself as a solid option going forward, as opposed to run-of-the-mill options such as Esmil Rogers and Chase Whitley or the guy whose greatest value is pitching out of the bullpen, like Adam Warren? I certainly would.
Follow Dan on Twitter at @danpfeiffer74 for all your Yankees MiLB news and notes.
