Last season we picked some breakout names for the Yankees’ farm system, and among them included Roc Riggio and Brendan Jones who saw their stock soar before being traded to the Rockies and Marlins respectively.
We’re hoping to have similar success in 2026 identifying potential breakout candidates for the team, but I’ve chosen to avoid picking any prospect ranked inside the top 10 because that feels a bit like cheating.
Thatcher Hurd would have made his second-straight appearance in this breakout sheet because he underwent TJS to repair a torn UCL, and that feels a bit unfair.
While there are ‘ranks’, none of them are tied to how confident I feel in their breakout odds in relation to others on this list, but these are (mostly) deep pulls and only one player from the most recent draft to keep it fresh.
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No. 3: Yankees’ Unknown Arm With Big Upside
Andrew Landry had a 4.34 ERA and 4.34 xFIP in his age-23 season between Single-A and High-A, but 2026 could be a platform year for the right-hander who displayed an intruiging pitch mix.
With 18.4 inches of ride on his four-seamer from a 5.45 foot release height, Landry has an outlier fastball shape that could be devastating at the top of the zone if he unlocks some more velocity.
Baseball Savant had him at 92.1 MPH in Single-A this past season, but Sam Briend noted in an interview with NJ Advance Media that he’s been up to 98 MPH.
He has a nasty slider with good lateral movement and tons of spin alongside a splitter that has under 1,000 RPMs with over 17 inches of vertical separation off of the fastball.
The curveball and sinker are other weapons he has in his mix, and if Andrew Landry can sit closer to his max velocity, we could be looking at one of the organization’s 10 best prospects by season’s end.
No. 2: Teenage Infielder Who Could Arrive Stateside in 2026
Richard Matic had the highest wRC+ for any under-18 hitter in the Dominican Summer League this past season, showing off some exciting power as 17-year-old.
He increased his Contact% from 55% to 69.6% last season while cutting down the groundball rate, and if the Yankees can continue seeing progress in his hit tool he could start rocketing up prospect boards.
There are some questions about the way he improved his hit tool since he became more passive in-zone, which isn’t a sustainable way to cut down on strikeouts against better competition.
Why do I still buy stock in the season he just had? The rapid adjustments and improvements from age-16 to age-17 are exciting and leaves me believing he could continue ascending with more reps.
I could see him beginning next season in the Florida Complex League, and if he can conquer that level swiftly, he’ll be a teenager playing full-season baseball potentially.
No. 1: Getting A Glimpse at the Kohn Zone
Pico Kohn has some unique release points that allow him to create uncomfortable looks for hitters including a flat vertical approach angle on his fastball.
He sits around 92-93 MPH on that heater and if he can add a little more zip to it (which his frame suggests he could) this could be a pitcher who misses a ton of bats at the top of the zone with his heater.
The already-existing slider in his mix gives him a two-pitch foundation that could set up an excellent repertoire once he gets through the Yankees’ pitching instructs and adds some more weapons.
One thing I’m particularly excited to see is if he ends up adding a changeup, which the Yankees have either given to or refined for multiple big-league southpaws in the last two years.
If Kohn’s pitch mix can include a fastball, slider, and changeup, he’s going to be a swing-and-miss machine who gets up to Double-A in 2026.