Inside The Pinstripes

Yankees' Manny Bañuelos Continues to Turn Heads With Strong Spring

The non-roster invitee is pitching his way into the conversation for one of New York's final roster spots as we draw closer to Opening Day.

Max Goodman

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TAMPA — This isn't the first time Manny Bañuelos has turned heads during spring training in pinstripes.

In the spring of 2011, Bañuelos was New York's top-rated pitching prospect, flashing his potential in his first appearance at big-league camp. The left-hander pitched so well that he was recognized as the most outstanding rookie in spring training that year, winning the organization's James P. Dawson Award.

One year later, Bañuelos was the No. 13 prospect in all of baseball, poised to make the jump from Triple-A to the Bronx at just 21 years old.

That's when Bañuelos' career took a turn. The southpaw made just six appearances in 2012 before he underwent Tommy John surgery later that year and didn't pitch again until 2014. Eventually, he made his big-league debut (in 2015 with the Braves), but never lived up to his lofty expectations, continuing to fight the injury bug as he got older. 

Bañuelos' most recent stint at the big-league level was in September of 2019. Since then, he's toed the rubber professionally in China and in Mexico.

Now, travel back to the present day. Bañuelos was invited to Yankees camp as a non-roster invitee this month and the 31-year-old is producing better numbers than he did as a top prospect over a decade ago.

Bañuelos threw three scoreless innings against the Blue Jays under the lights at George M. Steinbrenner Field on Wednesday. He's up to six scoreless frames on the spring with seven strikeouts and only two hits allowed.

The southpaw is relishing his return to the Yankees organization, but he's also on a mission. He wants to show that he has what it takes to finally make his Yankees debut.

"I'm glad to be back. Honestly, it's very special. I'm enjoying every day I come here to the ballpark." Bañuelos told reporters in New York's clubhouse after his outing. "I'm very grateful to the Yankees for giving me the opportunity to come back."

Bañuelos averaged 92.9 mph on his sinker on Wednesday, throwing a total of 33 pitches. He mixed in all of his secondary offerings as well, delivering eight sliders, three changeups and one curveball. 

Manager Aaron Boone loved what he saw from the left-hander, agreeing that Bañuelos has shown his good stuff all spring long.

"Obviously getting the chance to start and go a few innings for us against a really good right-handed lineup, I thought he was in command. More of what we've been seeing," Boone said. "I thought tonight was even probably as good as it's been. Another encouraging outing for him."

With two extra roster spots for the first month of the season, as a result of MLB's abbreviated spring training, the Yankees are expected to bring along two additional pitchers when they head north for Opening Day.

Plenty of younger, highly-touted hurlers are in the conversation to earn those two spots. Starters like Deivi García, Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt could begin the season in the Yankees' bullpen to provide some length. Albert Abreu could return to the 'pen after pitching in 28 games with New York a year ago. The likes of Ron Marinaccio and JP Sears are also in contention as they are already on the 40-man roster. 

Boone said that he and the rest of the coaching staff will begin to discuss who will make the Opening Day roster in earnest now that the regular season is just one week away. Bañuelos isn't on the 40-man, but this wouldn't be the first time a non-roster invitee has pitched well enough to earn a spot to start the season.

"So far he looks good. He's doing what he needs to do. Plus, he can pitch multiple innings obviously as a starter so I think he's helping his chances. Expanded rosters, you never know," reliever Lucas Luetge told Inside The Pinstripes this week. "Everybody's seen how many innings our starters have gone so far, how much time we have left. Reality is they're not going to be going seven innings to start the year, so we need as many arms as possible."

As much as another trip back to the big leagues is within reach, Bañuelos said he's focused on staying healthy and taking this entire process day by day. Whether that's setting goals for each outing—on Wednesday, it was throwing strikes with all his pitches—or passing down advice to the next generation of young pitchers at camp, Bañuelos is living in the moment.

"The key is to stay healthy, work hard and work on my pitches," he said. "I just focus on whatever I can control. Just pitching every time they give me the opportunity."

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Max Goodman
MAX GOODMAN

Max Goodman covers the New York Yankees for Sports Illustrated and FanNation. Goodman has been on the Yankees beat for three seasons. He is also the publisher of Sports Illustrated and FanNation's Jets site, Jets Country. Before starting Inside The Pinstripes, Goodman attended Northwestern University and the Medill School of Journalism. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism and Master’s Degree in Sports Media, graduating in 2019. At school, Goodman was an anchor and reporter with NNN SportsNight and played on the club baseball team. While at Northwestern, Goodman interned with MLB.com as an associate reporter covering the Miami Marlins. He also interned with ESPN, working as an associate reporter on Mike Greenberg's Get Up. Goodman is from New York City. He grew up in Hell's Kitchen. Follow Goodman on Twitter @MaxTGoodman. You can connect with him via email by reaching out at maxgoodmansports@gmail.com.

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