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The New York Yankees have a long and storied history of success in the Major League Baseball Draft. Who did they draft in 2021?
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The New York Yankees 2021 Draft Picks
The New York Yankees selected right-handed pitcher Cole Wilcox with the third overall pick in the 2021 Major League Baseball draft on Thursday. Wilcox, who is from Georgia, was the first pitcher taken in the draft. The Yankees also selected third baseman Jordan Butler from the University of Florida with the 30th overall pick.
1st Round
The New York Yankees selected pitcher Kumar Rocker with the No. 22 overall pick in the 2021 MLB draft on Thursday night.
Rocker, 19, is a 6-foot-4, 250-pound right-hander from Vanderbilt University. He was ranked as the No. 11 overall prospect in the draft by MLB Pipeline and was named the 2019 Cape Cod League Pitcher of the Year after going 1-1 with a 0.00 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 15 innings.
Rocker entered the 2021 season as a potential first-round pick, but he struggled with his control at times and finished the year with a 4-5 record and 4.50 ERA in 13 starts. He struck out 85 batters in 60 innings, but he also walked 38 batters and hit nine batters.
The Yankees have now drafted a pitcher in the first round in each of the last three drafts, following right-hander Clarke Schmidt (No. 16 overall) in 2017 and left-hander Anthony Seigler (No. 23 overall) in 2018.
2nd Round
The Yankees selected RHP Brennan Malone out of the University of Arizona with the 36th overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft. Malone is a big, physical pitcher who sits in the mid-90s with his fastball and has a plus slider. He projects as a potential back-end starter or high-leverage reliever.
3rd Round
The New York Yankees selected right-handed pitcher Christian Montes out of St. Thomas Aquinas High School in the 3rd round of the 2021 draft.
4th Round
Nick Swiney, LHP, North Carolina State
The Yankees added another top college arm in the fourth round when they selected Nick Swiney out of North Carolina State. Swiney was a two-way player for the Wolfpack, but he projects as a pitcher at the professional level. He features a low-90s fastball that tops out at 94 mph, a slider and a changeup.
How the Yankees’ Draft Picks Have fared So Far
The New York Yankees used their first-round pick in the 2021 MLB draft on University of Southern California pitcher Jaclyn Jones. They followed that up by taking Texas Tech University outfielder Nick Popescu in the second round. In the third round, they drafted University of Arkansas pitcher Braylen Wimmer.
1st Round
The New York Yankees’ first-round draft pick in 2021 was outfielder Dylan Carlson, who was taken with the 16th overall pick. The 19-year-old Carlson is a left-handed hitter who starred for the University of California, Los Angeles Bruins. In three years at UCLA, Carlson hit .351 with 22 home runs and 108 RBIs. He also stolen 19 bases in 21 attempts.
2nd Round
The Yankees have selected right-handed pitcher Josh Breaux with the 59th pick in the 2021 MLB draft.
Breaux, 21, was considered one of the top prospects in this year’s draft class but fell to the second round due to signability concerns. He is currently pitching for the independent Victoria Generals and is expected to command a bonus of around $1.5 million.
The 6’4″, 225-pound Breaux has a plus fastball that sits in the mid-90s and tops out at 98 mph. His secondary pitches include a slider and a changeup, both of which are considered average. He has posted a 2.84 ERA and 1.15 WHIP in 14 starts (68 innings) this season.
3rd Round
The New York Yankees drafted University of Florida left-handed pitcher Hunter Barco with the 87th pick in the 2021 MLB draft. Barco was ranked as the No. 102 prospect in the draft by Baseball America and the No. 104 prospect by MLB Pipeline.
The 6-foot-4, 205-pounder had a 3.86 ERA and 1.29 WHIP in 19 appearances (15 starts) as a junior this season. He struck out 111 batters and walked 36 in 92 innings pitched.
4th Round
In the fourth round of the 2021 MLB draft, the Yankees selected right-handed pitcher Will Fulton out of Vanderbilt University.
Fulton is 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds, and he was ranked as the No. 154 overall prospect in the draft by Baseball America. As a junior at Vanderbilt this season, he posted a 3.86 ERA and 1.22 WHIP with 46 strikeouts in 62 innings pitched.
Fulton entered the season as Vanderbilt’s No. 3 starter behind first-round picks Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter, but he emerged as the Commodores’ top pitcher during their run to the College World Series. In four starts in the NCAA tournament, Fulton posted a 2.20 ERA with 27 strikeouts in 24.2 innings pitched.
