The minor-league season has officially begun, and there’s no better paradise for true baseball sickos. As far as the Yankees are concerned, their most impactful prospects remain at Double-A Somerset (Spencer Jones) and the lower levels (George Lombard Jr.), while the Triple-A team mainly remains a veteran feeder for the big club.

While Scranton probably features a lower ceiling than most minor-league rosters, the floor is also required to be far higher, too. After all, these are the fellows who are called upon in case of emergency. They have to be expected to fill in competently, or at least soak up innings while the regulars rehab.

At first blush, this group doesn’t appear to have a legacy talent or a diamond-in-the-rough like last year (a la Caleb Durbin). What they lack in standout traits, though, they make up for in potential big-league viability. Everson Pereira will likely step up this summer, especially after he gets comfortable in the outfield following Tommy John surgery. Wild cards like Ismael Munguia and Brennen Davis (or Dom Smith?!) might just surprise everyone.

And, on the mound, the Yankees will likely be forced to cycle through a number of these semi-familiar names, known mostly for holding down innings six through nine of most 2025 spring training games. That’s why it’s best when hurlers like Brandon Leibrandt step up and excel, making future uncomfortable conversations potentially a little bit easier.

Leibrandt, a college teammate of Luke Weaver (which led to a bit of idle speculation on our part about his role this spring) mixed pitches and whiffed many in his first affiliated start of the year. We know bullpen hopeful Geoff Hartleib made some powerful friends at spring training. Might Leibrandt be able to join him, potentially leaping past the injured Allan Winans on the team’s depth chart?

Brandon Leibrandt could emerge as Yankees fill-in pitching wild card at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre

There isn’t much data on the lefty Leibrandt, who posted a 9.95 ERA in limited big-league reps last season, and sports a 5.28 mark career in seven games split between 2020 and 2024 (extensive!).

At the minor-league level, though, he’s fresh off 17 solid starts at Triple-A Louisville in the Reds’ system last season, striking out 80 in 83 2/3 innings with a 4.41 ERA. No one is arguing that Leibrandt will be the next spectacular stone the Yankees overturn, but they likely had hope for the way he keeps Triple-A hitters off balance when they brought him in, and his first start further proved that he might be riding the shuttle later this season.