Spring Training Notebook: Torrens Down and Out, Judge Homers, Severino Makes Debut
Down and Out: The Yankees announced on Tuesday afternoon that promising catching prospect, Luis Torrens, will miss the entire 2015 campaign due to a torn labrum in his right shoulder. The young 18-year old backstop, who was ranked eighth in our Rolling Thunder prospect rankings, was looking to complete his first full-season since the Bombers inked him out of Venezuela as a 16-year old international free agent to a $1.3 million deal in the summer of 2012.
Torrens began last year in Low-A Charleston of the South Atlantic League and the 17-year old appeared to be vastly overmatched for the level. After hitting just .159 in nine games for the Riverdogs, Torrens suffered a shoulder injury which put him on the DL and forced him out of action for nearly two months. Upon returning in late June, the Yankees assigned Torrens to the New York Penn League where he proceeded to go on a 21-game hitting-streak to earn a NYPL all-star nod in August. Torrens went on to hit .270 with two homers and 18 RBI in 48 games for Staten Island.
Though he will still only be 20-years old when he returns in the spring of 2016, Torrens will have lost significant time to his development at a catching position where the organization believes that he needs to make great improvements in order to be a viable option long-term. Torrens is scheduled to undergo surgery on Wednesday morning, performed by Dr. David Altchek at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.
Judge Goes Boom: Down to their final strike of the afternoon, trailing the Phillies 5-2 in the bottom of the ninth inning in their Grape Fruit League opener, top-position prospect Aaron Judge blasted a three-run homer to left field off of Mario Hollands to dramatically knot the contest up at five.
Aaron Judge had the biggest hit of the day for the Yankees in his spring debut. Photo by: Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports
Severino Spring Debut: Yankees top-prospect Luis Severino came on in relief of starter Adam Warren in the third inning and immediately showcased the electric stuff that has drawn acclaim with Manager Joe Girardi early on in camp. In his first inning on the hill, Severino fanned two batters, broke a bat and reached as high as 95 MPH on the radar gun. Severino ran into a hiccup inning in the fourth after allowing four hits while recording just one out.
Outfield Prospects Impress: A collection of the Yankees top-outfield prospects impressed with the bats on Tuesday afternoon. A healthy Slade Heathcott (2-for-2, 2B), Jake Cave (1-for-2, 1 RBI) and Mason Williams (1-for-2, 2B) combined to go 4-for-6 with two doubles and an RBI in their spring debuts.
Bird is Still the Word: Coming off of a strong second half for Trenton and an MVP campaign in the Arizona Fall League, Greg Bird continued his hot hitting by going 2-for-3 with a double in his spring debut.
Rolling Thunder 