As much as we’d like it to be for our favorite prospects, climbing the minor league ladder is no easy feat. There is no step-by-step guide of “do this and be a major leaguer” out there either. Each stop on the rung is a time for adjustments. How quickly a player adapts is never the same from one prospect to the next. While the jump to Double-A is generally recognized as the hardest in a prospect’s development, the jump from rookie ball to full-season ball isn’t far behind. Watching players early into their professional careers take the first steps in actual affiliated professional baseball is fascinating, and the Yankees have a few names ready to graduate into the low ranks that you’ll want to keep an eye on.

P Carlos Lagrange

Of all the names on this list, Lagrange has had the most success thus far. Signed for a bargain-bin price of just $10,000 in the the 2022 IFA period, the Dominican-born Lagrange entered the Yankees’ system with a raw yet intriguing profile. Lagrange started his career in the Dominican Summer League in 2022. He pitched to an exact 3.00 ERA in 11 games (10 starts) in just 33 innings. He racked up 43 strikeouts compared to just 19 walks, and opponents batted just .094 against him. He was sent to the Florida Complex League for 2023 and while his 4.97 ERA in 12 games (11 starts) wasn’t pretty, he did lead the league in strikeouts with 63.

Standing at a hulking 6-foot-7, Lagrange generates impressive velocity, but doesn’t always know where it’s going. Lagrange’s arsenal is full of power pitches that need plenty of work. His fastball averages around 97 mph and touches triple digits regularly. He switches between two-seam and four-seam grips, but has seen more success with the two-seamer early in his career. He has slight feel for a mid-80s slider that has more sweeper-ish tendencies when he has feel for it. Lagrange rounds out his repertoire with a low-80s changeup but hardly uses it.

Lagrange’s size allows him to pack some extra oomph in his pitches, but has also been a bit of a curse so far. He has a lot of movement in his motions and has had trouble consistently repeating them. His spotty command hasn’t come back to haunt him just yet, but he will need to work on it considerably as he progresses. He might start the year back in the FCL but is on pace to move to Low-A Tampa by the end of the year. Prospect evaluators have taken notice of Lagrange’s potential, as MLB Pipeline ranked him 17th on their preseason Yankees Top 30 Prospects list.

P Trystan Vrieling

The Yankees have had an affinity for drafting and developing polished college pitchers in recent years, a trend that continued with the selection of Vrieling, a third-rounder out of Gonzaga back in 2022. After 15 starts for the Bulldogs, New York gave Vrieling the summer off after drafting him, rather having him focus on building muscle in preparation for a 2023 debut. That never came to pass, as Vrieling missed the entire season with a stress fracture in his pitching elbow, although he did return to pitch 10.2 innings in the Arizona Fall League.

Vrieling enters his first full campaign a year behind in his development, and the Yankees are expected to act cautiously with his starts. However, there is a lot to like within his arsenal. Vrieling packs a nasty curveball and devastating cutter that both grade well when he’s on and passable when he’s not. He also has a mid-90s fastball that grades decently at it’s best but is properly used as a decoy for his top-notch breaking pitches. Vrieling can get a bit too comfortable with his breaking pitches, and can lose feel with his fastball when he does, leading to loud contact.

The biggest question for Vrieling heading into 2024 is durability, and whether or not he can tough it out as a starter. He has the potential to be an excellent middle reliever if he can’t quite cut it as a starter, but he will be given opportunities to do so. Vrieling is projected to start 2024 in the Tarpons rotation. He also has some momentum underneath his name after his AFL run, and enters 2024 ranked 19th on MLB Pipeline’s aforementioned list.

IF Enmanuel Tejeda

Tejeda is a newer face to the organization, signing for $40,000 during the 2022 IFA period. He is a return to old-school philosophies, a jack-of-all-trades type infielder who does a lot of things well but nothing exceptional. Or at least, he was supposed to be. Since joining the franchise, Tejeda has done nothing but rake.

Getting into 46 DSL games in 2022, Tejeda slashed .289/.463/.493. Power is not a plus tool for Tejeda, as he only hit three homers, but he did add another six doubles. He showed off the wheels with seven triples and going 11-for-17 in stolen base attempts. He displayed an exceptional eye as well, as he drew 41 walks to just 25 strikeouts. A deserved promotion to the FCL led to even better results in 2023, as Tejeda slashed .307/.465/.458 with five homers and 30 RBIs across 50 games. The strikeouts did climb from 25 to 44, but he also drew 44 walks. He improved his basestealing to 24 bags in 30 tries and played excellent defense all across the dirt before being named an FCL Postseason All-Star.

Tejeda is due for some regression, as he posted a BABIP of .390 in his FCL stint, but there’s still a lot to like with his profile. The scrappy 5-foot-11 infielder plays with a ton of heart and hustle. He is a versatile defender, and is comfortable at second base, third base and shortstop. He has great natural game speed and made considerable improvements on using it. His approach was more refined than originally expected, and now profiles as a gap-to-gap slap hitter who can stretch singles into doubles and steal third while he’s at it. Still just 19 years old, Tejeda has begun to find himself on the back end of some preseason top prospect lists, including 28th on Baseball America’s rundown of the top Yankees prospects.

IF Dylan Jasso

You might not know Jasso’s name now, but his is definitely one to keep in the back of your head. Born in Mexico, Jasso headed stateside to continue his amateur career, landing with New Mexico Junior College for 2023. Following a monster freshman campaign in which he batted .453 with 25 homers, 21 doubles, 65 RBIs and 47 walks in 59 games for the Thunderbirds, Jasso signed with the Yankees as an undrafted free agent. Following an impressive 17 game stint in the FCL, Jasso is primed for a big jump in 2024.

In his 17 game introduction to pro ball, Jasso went ballistic. He slashed a herculean .377/.487/.574 (good for a 1.060 OPS) with seven doubles (although just one homer), 20 RBIs and 11 walks. He was rewarded with an end-of-season promotion to Low-A Tampa where he collected just one hit in four games, although it should be noted he only struck out once in 16 plate appearances, so it’s not like he was totally overmatched.

Jasso’s track record is hard to gauge, as junior college numbers should always be taken with a grain of salt because of the level of competition, but it’s hard to ignore Jasso’s mammoth numbers. NMJC is a noted junior college powerhouse in baseball as well, and has a long history of professional players, including current Red Sox pitcher Nick Pivetta, so it’s not as if Jasso was playing against far lesser competition.

Jasso is a bat-first corner infielder. He is best suited at first base but New York gave him five games at third base in his introductory season, indicating a longer look at the hot corner could be in the cards. Jasso brings passable defense and rounds out with a true slugger’s profile; he makes an impact with the bat, but plays well enough to not be a full-time DH.

Don’t let the lack of home runs in pro ball fool you, Jasso has exceptional raw power. His overall swing pattern needs refinement to consistently drive the ball in pro ball, but early returns have been promising. His late season promotion to the Tarpons also provides an avenue for a full season of affiliated ball as well. You would have to look deep to find Jasso on Yankees prospects lists, but he has the opportunity to hit his way onto the back end of some by early 2025.

As these prospects prepare for an important stage in their professional careers, it’s important to note that these four players aren’t the only ones who fit in this category. Low-A teams across the country are filled with similar stories, including a bunch more in Tampa, making them a great, consistent source of fun games to check in on as the year progresses. We are still years away from these prospects making an impact in the big leagues, if they even make it at all, so it’s important to not go buck wild on what these players could become. But, for all of the intrigue players like Spencer Jones (rightfully) generate, there are plenty of similar stories lurking deep in the farm system.