Fast rising New York Yankees pitching prospect Randy Vasquez has an amazing backstory.
The Dominican teenager, who still was refusing to let his baseball dream die, made a ball out of rags and black tape and whipped it against a concrete wall as hard as he could for two weeks straight.and developed into one of their best prospects, he had accepted the seemingly impossible challenge of quickly turning himself from a 19-year-old catcher with no shot of signing with a major league club into a pitcher that wows scouts.
Vasquez’s father put a roof over his family’s head and fed everyone by selling woman’s beauty products, but there was no extra money to spend on baseballs or gloves for the kids. So, Vasquez made his own ball and threw that off a wall, teaching himself how to be a pitcher. When he tested out the same delivery that he used for Vitilla, he noticed his homemade ball was curving, too, so he worked tirelessly to make sure his arms, legs and entire body movement was the same.
“Vasquez had arm strength, but that was really his only tool as a catcher,” Yankees international scouting directorsaid. “When we profile a prospect and we don’t think he’s going to have a chance as a position player and he’s got above average arm strength, we will convert guys like that quite often. We don’t sign all of them, but we sign the ones that take to it like Vazquez did.”
Vasquez has been exceeding his own expectations. His goal was to turn pro and make a little money to help his family. Scouts now project him as a middle-of-the-rotation starter in the big leagues in two or three years.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Cubs Prospect Caleb Kilian Lined Up for Possible Debut MondayCubs pitching prospect Caleb Kilian, acquired in the Kris Bryant trade in July, takes a 1.31 ERA into Wednesday’s start vs. Memphis.
Read more »
Rivals.com - Top-50 prospect Kavion Henderson details top contenders, summer visits
Read more »
SF Giants notebook: Evan Longoria’s latest bump; pinch-hitting for Joey Bart; top prospect earns promotionLongoria, who is hitting .194 since returning from finger surgery, was sidelined with another injury Tuesday. Plus, top prospect Kyle Harrison was promoted to Double-A Richmond.
Read more »
Andrus, Lowrie homer, A’s end 13-game skid against MarinersA’s beat their AL West rivals for the first time since last July.
Read more »
Analysis | The likeliest — but still unlikely — gun bill: A ‘red-flag law’It's perhaps the one proposal that seems to have real bipartisan prospects. But Republicans' uneasy handling of it shows how dim those prospects are.
Read more »
High school scoreboard: Wednesday’s NCS, CCS baseball, softball resultsBay Area high school baseball, softball playoff scoreboard, plus updated schedule.
Read more »