Why Yankees won’t have top pick Anthony Seigler switch-pitch

The Yankees drafted 18-year-old switch-pitching, switch-hitting catcher Anthony Seigler in the first round of the MLB Draft on Monday.

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Yankees top draft pick Anthony Seigler‘s incredible ability to pitch with either arm won’t be used in the pros.

Not yet, anyway.

That’s according to Yankees Vice President and Director of Amateur Scouting Damon Oppenheimer, the man responsible for team’s draft operations, who spoke with reporters on a conference call on Thursday.

“Not at this point,” Oppenheimer said. “At this point, we’re seeing him as a switch-hitting catcher. The versatility he has and he’s shown throughout his high school career is something that’s attractive to us but the development as a catcher is the key here and that’s what we’re working on.”

What we learned about Seigler

Seigler, 18, pitched from both sides of the mound for his Cartersville, Ga., high school team, wearing a six-finger glove.

He can touch the low-90s right-handed and the mid-80s lefty. His father taught him to throw with both hands as a child.

Here’s video of Seigler switch-pitching. He starts the video lefty but about halfway through he goes righty.

The Yankees picked Seigler 23rd overall in the first round.

The Yankees also picked a catcher in the second round.

With the 61st overall selection, the Yankees chose Josh Breaux, 20, out of McLennan Community College. 

Nabbing catchers in the first two rounds wasn’t the Yankees’ plan, Oppenheimer said. It just worked out that way.

The Yankees had an organizational need for catching depth.

Their system has produced various high-level catchers over recent years, including current starter Gary Sanchez and his backup, Austin Romine. Triple-A catcher Kyle Higashioka has seen big-league time, Francisco Cervelli has been a dependable starter for the Pirates since leaving New York and John Ryan Murphy hashas hit eight home runs in 37 games for the Diamondbacks.

But it’s thin at the moment behind the plate. MLB.com’s list of the top 30 Yankees prospects doesn’t have a single catcher on it.

“Not in terms of an actual target but what we were hoping to be able to get position players early in the draft to help with where we’ve had to deal some of the guys in trades from the last few years,” Oppenheimer said. “It was nice that it fell that way to us. Pretty pleased with it.”

Brendan Kuty may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @BrendanKutyNJ. Find NJ.com Yankees on Facebook.