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James Kaprielian embracing high expectations

Among the players at the Yankees’ Winter Warmup event at the Hard Rock Cafe in Manhattan on Tuesday was James Kaprielian.

Early this past year, the 22-year old right-hander impressed many scouts and fans by striking out 22 batters in 18 innings to start his season. A flexor tendon strain sidelined Kaprielian for the rest of the minor league season, however, which put a damper on any dreams of seeing him pitch in the Bronx in 2016.

Fortunately for James and the Yankees, Kap is back to 100-percent and ready to embrace the high expectations put on him in 2017.

“I want to be the guy. I want to be the ace,” Kaprielian said.

When asked for his thoughts on the Mets’ young rotation and if he sees himself hitting the ground running in the big leagues, James said “Absolutely. Not only myself, but I think… Like I said, there’s a group of us that look at each other, and we want to push each other. We all want to be at the top. We all want to be the best. We compete with each other. We’re going to continue to do that.”

As for his mindset entering spring training, Kaprielian is focusing on not overlooking the opportunity to prove himself and make the Opening Day roster. “I think my job is to compete every time I get the rock, and in-between times I don’t get the rock, to bust my butt and continue to work. That’s all I can really control. Would I love to break with the team? Absolutely. But, you know, I can’t really look too far into that. Regardless of where I end up I have to pitch.”

Kaprielian realizes he has a long road ahead before he makes the majors. With only 29.1 minor league innings under his belt over two seasons, he still has a lot to prove.

His confidence is exactly what you want in a front-end pitcher, though. Kaprielian could have easily shied away from saying he wants to be an ace, but his conviction and outlook on things should have Yankees fans excited for the possibility of him throwing big league innings this season.

 

Follow me on Twitter, @Andrew_Rotondi.