Chase Hampton’s Injury Deepens Yankees’ Minor League Pitching Void
Image credit: Chase Hampton (Brian Westerholt/Four Seam Images)
Two years ago, Yankees righthander Chase Hampton was atop the team’s pitching hierarchy. In his first test as a pro, the Texas Tech alum and 2022 sixth-round choice struck out 145 hitters and walked just 37 in a season split between High-A Hudson Valley and Double-A Somerset.
The performance seemed to put him on the precipice of a big league debut. Since then, he has been derailed by health. Injuries to his elbow and hamstring limited Hampton to just 18.2 innings in 2024, and now he will miss all of 2025 after having Tommy John surgery.
In a sport where success is defined by pitching depth, Hampton’s absence exacerbates a wound. The arms on the Yankees’ farm—especially at the upper levels—are thin, leaving few reinforcements should injuries strike one of the team’s scheduled starting five.
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Beyond Hampton, the 2024 season also saw injuries to top pitching prospects Henry Lalane, Carlos Lagrange, Brian Hendry and others. The team attempted to restock its arms in the draft, taking advanced college arms with their first seven picks. One of those pitchers—third-rounder Thatcher Hurd—has already suffered an injury that required Tommy John surgery.
None of this is to say that the Yankees haven’t been producing MLB-caliber pitchers. Rather, they’ve been trading them by the bushel to buttress the big league roster.
The deal for Juan Soto ahead of the 2024 season cost New York Michael King, Drew Thorpe, Jhony Brito and Randy Vasquez. King has blossomed into an arm capable of headlining a rotation, while Vasquez and Brito could be No. 5 starters in a pinch.
Thorpe—New York’s second-rounder in 2022—was traded from the Padres to the White Sox in the Dylan Cease deal and has spent this offseason recovering from elbow surgery of his own.
Before he was a Cub and then an Astro, Hayden Wesneski was a Yankee. He was shipped to Chicago in the deal that netted New York reliever Scott Effross. Athletics righties JP Sears, Luis Medina, Ken Waldichuk and Mitch Spence were all Yankees once. The first three arms were the cost to acquire Frankie Montas and Lou Trivino, while Spence was selected in the Rule 5 Draft after the 2023 season.
The most obvious prospect candidate for a rotation spot is Will Warren, who has found limited success during his big league forays. Beyond him, there’s Yoendrys Gomez, who has 13.1 big league innings over two seasons, reclamation project Carlos Carrasco and little else.
Righty Clayton Beeter has moved to the bullpen, and lefty Brock Selvidge showed promise before his season was cut short in July with soreness in his biceps. Among prospects, righty Cam Schlittler could be a wild card. He won the organization’s pitcher of the year award in 2024 and saw his stuff trend upward as the season moved along. With a strong regular year, he could be in line for his MLB debut toward the end of the summer.
The Yankees’ rotation in the big leagues is plenty formidable. It includes future Hall of Fame Gerrit Cole ahead of lefties Max Fried and Carlos Rodon, reigning AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil and righty Clarke Schmidt. Marcus Stroman is also waiting in the wings and champing at the bit for a spot in the starting five.
If injuries should crop among that group, however, Yankees GM Brian Cashman might have to burn up a few cell towers looking elsewhere for help.
