Yankees second-round pick Drew Thorpe finally gets Double-A call-up after dominant stretch
BRIDGEWATER – Drew Thorpe is here – finally.
After weeks of speculation, the Yankees second-round pick in 2022 finally got bumped to Double-A Somerset earlier this week after dominating with High-A Hudson Valley.
Considered the Yankees No. 6 prospect by MLB Pipeline, the 22-year-old righty starter out of Cal Poly went 10-2 with a 2.81 ERA, one complete game shutout and 138 strikeouts over 109 innings for the Renegades, compared to just 33 walks.
Set to make his Double-A debut at TD Bank Ballpark Friday night, the Utah native was asked Thursday if he was getting frustrated waiting for the seemingly inevitable promotion.
“I mean yeah, a little bit,” he said. “But, just in my head, it was continuing to get better and to be where my feet are.”
If there is a criticism on Thorpe, it’s been his fastball velocity, but it’s been a pitch he’s been able to command extremely well at 92-94 mph to go along with a changeup and plus slider.
“We’ve worked mechanically to just kind of fine-tune everything,” Thorpe said about adding velocity. “Just continue to develop it over the year.”
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Thorpe is reunited at Somerset with Chase Hampton, who, like Thorpe, was a 2022 draft pick who skipped Low-A Tampa entirely, but was promoted to Somerset in mid-June, skyrocketing to a consensus Top 100 prospect. Along with fellow highly regarded arms Richard Fitts and Yoendrys Gomez, they form a formidable starting rotation as the Patriots start to close in on another postseason.
Just who will make up the remainder of the roster when Somerset starts its chase to repeat as Eastern League champion remains to be seen, as manager Raul Dominguez addressed a bevy of injuries to his club from the home dugout Thursday.
Dominguez confirmed that first baseman Eric Wagaman, hit by a pitch in Hartford on July 20, will miss the remainder of the season. As far as T.J. Rumfield, who was quietly having a breakout year, and Eastern League home run-leader Tyler Hardman, their status is less clear, with Dominguez saying, “I don’t know if they’re going to come back or not” and that he hasn’t heard anything.
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Shortstop Trey Sweeney, whose status also is uncertain, remains with the team, as does Hardman, in doing their rehab to get ready for a return, but more help could also be on the way.
Along with reinforcements for the infield that were sent to Somerset – namely Jesus Bastidas from Triple-A Scranton and Eduardo Torrealba from Hudson Valley – middle infielder Caleb Durbin, out since June 17 with an apparent lower-body injury, also is closing in on a return, according to Dominguez.
“He’s been asking (about coming back) every day,” Dominguez said of Durbin. “He’s with the team doing full workouts, so you’ll see him getting ground balls with the defense; he’s going to be hitting with the groups with the field, and his running progression has been really good. I think he’s going to be on the roster really soon. I don’t know the exact date, but it’s going to be soon.”
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Yankees prospects: Drew Thorpe finally gets Double-A call-up
