Arizona Fall League Preview: New York Yankees
By Jordan Parker ·
All eight Yankees AFL representatives join the Salt River Rafters. The group skews young and developmental, with one top-50 prospect by 80Grade's Prospect Rank at its center, a pair of position players who need different things from the fall, and a pitching contingent that runs from Single-A arms getting extra innings to a reliever who dominated High-A before an injury cost him much of the summer.
Kilby Gets the Reps He Missed
Dax Kilby is the reason to pay attention to this group. The 19-year-old shortstop, the 39th pick in the 2025 draft, ranks first in the Yankees system and 42nd overall on 80Grade's Prospect Rank. A hamstring injury put him on the injured list at the start of the season, a setback followed, and he wasn't activated until July 24. He finished with just 36 games, and the AFL assignment is straightforward: get back the at-bats the injury took away.
What he did with those reps at Single-A Tampa was notable. In 32 games, he hit .261 with a .448 on-base percentage, drawing 39 walks against 31 strikeouts in 154 plate appearances. His 25.3% walk rate is backed by a 37.4% swing rate for the season, well into selective territory for a minor league hitter, and a 74.4% contact rate is solid given that selectivity. He added four home runs, two triples and 12 stolen bases in those 32 games.
The profile is bat-first. His left-handed stroke is compact and direct, and 80Grade grades the hit tool as his best. The arm and lingering effects of a high school shoulder growth-plate injury raise questions about long-term shortstop viability, and the projection leans toward second base. None of that changes what the fall is about: Kilby needs volume against live pitching. Watch whether his plate discipline holds up against more aggressive AFL arms, and whether his gap-to-gap approach starts producing more loft as his frame fills out.
Core Jackson and the Double-A Question
Core Jackson had a productive season across two levels, hitting .259/.369/.474 with 12 home runs, 17 doubles and 32 stolen bases in 78 games at High-A Hudson Valley before a promotion to Double-A Somerset in August. At Double-A he posted a .269/.330/.409 line over 23 games, still competent, but his walk rate dropped from 12.8% to 7.8% as pitchers tested his pitch recognition.
The combined line reads .262/.360/.459 with 14 home runs and 41 steals. The speed-defense combination carries the profile: 80Grade grades his arm as plus and his shortstop defense as above average, and the steal total shows he turns speed into run value. His 47.2% swing rate is roughly average, and a 74.1% contact rate kept the strikeouts manageable (an 18.9% strikeout rate).
The AFL stint comes with a health caveat: Jackson went on the injured list twice at Hudson Valley and once more in mid-August after his promotion. 80Grade projects him as a utility infielder or defense-first bench shortstop rather than an everyday player, ranks him 32nd in the system and grades his power as below average. The struggles against breaking balls and off-speed pitches flagged in his profile will face a stiffer test at Double-A and beyond. At 22, the AFL can either sharpen the approach or expose the hit tool's limits.
Chris Veach: The Strikeout Numbers Are Genuine
Among the pitchers, Chris Veach has the most eye-catching line. The 24-year-old righty struck out 42.4% of batters faced at High-A with a 0.59 ERA in 15.1 innings, then moved to Double-A Somerset in May. An injury cost him about 10 weeks after that promotion, and his Double-A numbers were more modest: 14 strikeouts in 13.2 innings with a 3.29 ERA and a 10.9% walk rate.
Across both levels he posted a 1.86 ERA and a 34.2% strikeout rate over 29 innings, with a 40.4% whiff rate that confirms genuine bat-missing ability. His 8.8% walk rate is worth monitoring; the High-A dominance came with a 6.8% walk rate that slipped at Double-A, likely in part because of rust from the layoff. The AFL gives him a chance to recover lost innings and carry that High-A command into a sustained upper-level sample.
J.T. Etheridge's Strikeout Stuff and the Control Problem
J.T. Etheridge threw 71.1 innings at Single-A Tampa this season as a 24-year-old, striking out 105 batters. A 32.1% strikeout rate and a 33.6% whiff rate confirm the swing-and-miss. The problem is the walks: 39 of them, an 11.9% walk rate, along with 18.5 pitches per inning. He finished with a 5.17 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP.
The stuff plays; the execution does not, at least not consistently. Watch whether he can tighten the walk rate in the AFL without giving up strikeouts, because that gap is the entire development question for him right now.
Kyle West and a Power-Contact Tradeoff
Kyle West hit 20 home runs and stole 20 bases in 124 games at High-A Hudson Valley, solid outputs from a 23-year-old first baseman. The rest of the line is harder to work with. West batted .226 with a .300 on-base percentage, a 29.8% strikeout rate and an 8.6% walk rate. His 50.7% swing rate is on the aggressive end, and a 67.1% contact rate produced the strikeout volume.
At first base, the offensive bar is higher than at up-the-middle spots, which makes the .226/.300 combination a genuine concern even with the power. The power and speed are the tools worth developing, but the contact rate and plate discipline need to move toward league average for the profile to hold up at Double-A.
The Remaining Arms: Mena, Gomez, and Estrada
Anthony Mena, 21, moved from the FCL to Single-A Tampa in August. His FCL numbers were uneven (5.94 ERA in 16.2 innings), but at Tampa he posted a 1.65 ERA across 16.1 innings with a 3.4% walk rate. His combined walk rate of 4.0% is far better than average for a pitcher at his stage. The strikeout rate (16.7% combined) is modest, but the command and an efficient 14.2 pitches per inning make him a developmental arm worth tracking against better hitters.
Antonio Gomez, 24, a former catcher now pitching, made six appearances at Single-A Tampa after coming off the 60-day injured list in August. He struck out 37.5% of batters faced with a 40% whiff rate, but posted a 7.94 ERA. The bat-missing is there, and refinement is the whole project.
Mack Estrada, 22, has an 80Grade scouting profile built around a fastball that sits around 93 mph and reaches 96, but his 2026 numbers are too thin to evaluate. After opening the year on the 60-day injured list, he threw just 4.1 innings across four FCL appearances, with an 8.31 ERA, a 16.7% walk rate and an 8.3% strikeout rate. 80Grade grades his command at 40, and those numbers reflect it. The AFL is early-development work for a pitcher who projects best as a reliever if the inconsistencies in his delivery can be addressed.
Bottom Line
Dax Kilby is the Yankee whose fall carries the most weight. He is the only player in the group inside 80Grade's top 100, he is 19, and a hamstring injury took most of his first full professional season. The plate discipline he showed at Tampa is advanced for his age, and the AFL is a chance to show it holds up against pitchers who challenge him more. Veach's strikeout arm and Etheridge's swing-and-miss are worth monitoring, but Kilby's Salt River at-bats shape the broader organizational picture.