The Yankees, like many teams, entered the 2021 season with unknowns across their minor league system. After the lost 2020 season, the club had been just one of two in baseball to forgo the opportunity to host a traditional instructional league period in the fall of 2020. This lack of in-person training at the team’s facility led Baseball America to say that “the Yankees minor leaguers had it worse than most,“ when discussing the 2020 minor league shutdown in their yearly prospect handbook.
It was thus even more unexpected than usual to see the number of Yankees prospects take significant steps forward once play resumed on the field.