Slade Heathcott's body hates him.
Grade: F
Statistics: 9 G, .182/.250/.242, .233 wOBA
2014 Level/Roster Status: Double-A/60-day DL/40-man roster
This was not Slade Heathcott's year. You could argue that last year wasn't so hot either. His 2013 season was ended a few weeks early so that he could undergo knee surgery. He was not ready to join Double-A Trenton on Opening Day, and didn't end up making his season debut until the middle of May. After playing in a grand total of nine games, Heathcott's season came to an end so that he could have the same surgically-repaired knee scoped yet again. He ended the season on the Yankees' 60-day DL.
Season-ending surgeries have been a common theme throughout Heathcott's stint in the minor leagues. He required off-season shoulder surgery during the end of 2010, and his 2011 season ended in June so that he could have another shoulder surgery. When healthy, he has shown the ability to hit the ball well. His best season was in 2012, when he hit .302/.380/.461 with five home runs and 19 stolen bases through 65 games. He wasn't able to duplicate that in 2013 when he played a personal best 103 games and hit just .261/.327/.411. Despite having had several seasons in a row now cut short due to injury, Heathcott still made it into Jim Callis of MLB.com's Top 20 Yankee Prospects list. That really speaks to the potential and talent that Heathcott has shown during those shortened seasons. He was the Yankees number one draft pick back in 2009, after all.
Unfortunately, the Yankees added Heathcott to the 40-man roster at the end of 2013. He didn't even make it into a spring training game, as he was still recovering from the first knee surgery then, nor was he able to join the team for September call-ups. Given his state of perpetual injury, he's just wasting a roster spot at this point. Only time will tell if the knee problems have taken anything away from his fielding abilities. By the time spring training rolls around, he will have had months upon months to rehab, so it's possible that 2015 will be the season that he finally gets healthy and plays a full season. If not, his future with the Yankees might be short.