It was not difficult to divine a pattern among the draft picks made by the Yankees in the first two days of the MLB draft. They arrived in Texas to stockpile pitchers—hard-throwing college pitchers, no matter their ERAs or troubles with control. Their first pick, in fact, was Ben Hess of Alabama, who wrapped the 2024 season with a 5.80 ERA and a walk rate of 4.6 per 9 innings.
But it is their fifth-round pick that truly has the ability to turn heads, and quickly. That would be relief pitcher Greysen Carter of Vanderbilt, who made 18 appearances for the Commodores this season (four were starts) and posted a whopping ERA of 6.58. Control was a major problem, as he gave out 31 free passes in 39 innings, but the number that is attracting attention for Carter is this: 103.
That is how hard he has thrown on the radar gun. And in this draft, the Yankees clearly showed that they’re wiling to gamble on hard-throwers, betting they can teach young pitcher better control as they develop in the system.
Greysen Carter ‘Can Light Up a Radar Gun’
The predraft scouting reports on Carter all had the same pluses and minuses. He can throw as hard as anyone in baseball. But he can’t necessarily throw his fastball for a strike. Nor can he throw his offspeed counters for strikes, either.
From MLB.com:
“Few college pitchers can light up a radar gun like Carter, who operates at 96-99 mph and reaches 103 with a flat approach angle coming out of a high arm slot and explosive carry when he keeps his heater up in the zone. He has shown little feel for spinning a breaking ball or landing one close to the strike zone. … Carter has power stuff but often has to dial it back to try to find the strike zone. He has difficulty maintaining consistent mechanics and regressed this spring after making some encouraging progress with his control during the fall.”
Carter started four games in the first part of the season for Vanderbilt, and showed promise with an 8.1-ininng showing against Missouri, striking out 11 and allowing one walk and no earned runs. But he was wild and got knocked around in his next two starts, and was pulled from the rotation.
Still, coach Tim Corbin said of him, “One of the better stories of improvement that we have seen here…and it’s only beginning. He’s an animal. He has changed his body, delivery, command of the strike zone and mental attack, as much as anyone that we have had in our program. (Carter) learned how to compete with a controlled aggression.”
Yankees Took Nine Straight College Pitchers
Overall, control was not a big thing in this draft for the Yankees, as long as they were landing college pitchers. In addition to picking Hess in the first round, they took Bryce Cunningham, Carter’s teammate at Vanderbilt, in Round 2, and he had a 4.36 ERA this year. Third-round pick Thatcher Hurd of LSU had a 6.55 ERA.
In all, the Yankees took nine straight college pitchers to start the draft, all of whom pitched in the vaunted SEC except fourth-rounder George Ziehl (Miami) and eighth-rounder Wyatt Parliament (Virginia Tech).
Only two of the nine selections had ERAs below 4.00 last year.
But they all throw hard. None as quite hard as Carter, and Yankees pitching coaches throughout the farm system will be challenged with this influx of wild arms. Some will pan out, and the Yankees figure to benefit.
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