BRIDGEWATER — Brett DeGagne joined the Somerset Patriots’ coaching staff this season as pitching coach in his fourth year with the Yankees.
The 31-year-old previously served as the farm system’s pitching coach in the Dominican League in 2020 before the COVID-19 shutdown, at Low-A Tampa in 2021, and at the Rookie Ball level from 2022-23.
A Minnesota native, DeGagne was a Division I pitcher at the University of North Dakota from 2012-16.
Trentonian reporter Greg Johnson chatted this week with DeGagne about his background, philosophies, injury maintenance across the sport, and some of the Patriots’ best pitchers.
GJ: What’s your journey been like in the organization overall? How did you get involved with the Yankees?
BD: Sam Briend, our Director of Pitching, was my pitching coach in the Northwoods League in 2015. I knew him, he had been a mentor to me when I started coaching in 2017, and then I got the job at the end of 2019, so 2020 was my first season. I took the job and first year I was in the Dominican Republican during the COVID year. I was there for two-three months and then obviously everything shut down. But since then, 2021 I was in Tampa with the Tarpons and then last two years in the FCL and now here up in Double-A.
GJ: You were a former pitcher yourself in college. Did you think even back then that this was something you wanted to get into, or did you have aspirations at the time to go pro yourself?
BD: Yeah, I had some aspirations. I had some injuries and stuff that kind of dampened those aspirations. My dad has coached high school hockey for over 40 years, and he was my inspiration to want to start coaching.
I had played baseball at the Division I level and saw an avenue there to start pursuing that, and I obviously got an opportunity directly after college to be the grad assistant at St. Cloud State in Minnesota at the D2 there. I was there for two years and then I went to junior college in Iowa and spent 18 months there before this opportunity came along.
GJ: Obviously different pitching coaches will have different styles or perspectives. What’s your take on all of it?
BD: The goal is to obviously race to two strikes and get guys out. Obviously velocity is important, command is important. It all plays a role. I don’t know if I necessarily have something that I really lean on that I’m super partial to. But that’s been my goal as a pitching coach: to try to make myself as well-rounded as I can to be able to help everybody on the staff that needs the coaching, needs the guidance and the overall development to be a big leaguer.
GJ: Are you a very analytical kind of guy, or old school in some ways?
BD: There’s a decent blend of both, and I think the best coaches have that. Trying to blend the things that we do. We have an enormous amount of resources here with the Yankees and we’re super grateful for those. The support staff that we have, the analysts, the performance science people that we have are incredible.
Being able to leverage them to go along with ultimately playing the game on the field, it has its own challenges and its own things that are unquantifiable that we’re trying to tackle every day at the same time. Just trying to blend those two things and get these guys the best opportunity to go out and be successful every day.
GJ: Is there anything new this year with technology, or in the last couple years really that’s been really key for you guys?
BD: There’s Hawk-Eye in the stadiums now as opposed to TrackMan. Still reading pitch data and things like that. Every year there’s little things that are being added to the numbers that we’re getting, and I think we do a nice job in-house of being able to continue to evolve. But I wouldn’t say there’s one piece of equipment or anything like that specifically that’s leading us on a better path.
I think we just continue to get better within our development in being able to push the needle forward and not be satisfied with some of the successes that have come. We’re kind of insatiable about trying to make our guys better, and obviously it starts with us as coaches trying to be able to help them to get there.
GJ: This is a very broad question and I know you won’t have a very specific answer maybe, but just the rash of injuries to pitchers. All this talk about velocity and guys trying to throw harder, max out, the spin rates and all that stuff. What’s your take on all of that? What has to change?
BD: I think it’s so complicated. There’s a lot of things that we see things that are happening in Major League Baseball and those numbers being higher than they’ve been on average, and I totally see that. You’re also seeing things that are happening at the younger levels, too, right? Kids are playing baseball more year-round, there’s more showcases, there’s more select teams, and these kids are playing on four, five teams. I think both ends of things have their place in accountability within the issues. I think there’s a good argument for a lot of different things.
It’s so complicated — anatomy, the things we’re chasing for performance. I think those can have an effect. Injuries at a younger age, like the greatest predictor of injury is a former injury, right? So as guys continue to play and we play a game that we’re doing something unnatural, those risks are always going to be involved. It’s really hard for me to answer the question of what is causing it because I think it’s so complex and it starts at such a young age that we’re digging to the bottom in trying to figure out what the cause of it is. I think it’s a really, really messy journey because it is so complicated. There’s so many things that play a role in it.
GJ: Are the philosophies changing much with workloads? Anything that you guys try to do differently now?
BD: I honestly think when I first started coaching and now, and again, I’ve not been doing this a terribly long period of time. I’ve been coaching for nine years now, so it’s not like I’ve been doing it for a crazy long time. But I feel like we’re in a better place than we’ve ever been for helping our players be healthy. We’re trying to take measures, and when I say we’re getting better as a staff and trying to utilize our departments and different departments and different avenues to be able to get there, I feel like we’re trying to do that.
Every year it is a huge point of emphasis for us is managing workload and keeping guys healthy and obviously wanting to keep them on the field. Nobody prefers the injuries even though there’s some inherent risks that go along with it. I think we’re in a better spot than we’ve ever been, we’re more diligent than we’ve ever been. But the freak accidents still happen, and you hate it when it happens as a coach, especially as a pitching coach it makes you sick to your stomach just because you know how much time and work these players put in towards this end goal and living out their dream, and you want to be able to be there for them. So when things like that happen, there’s nothing worse as a coach.
GJ: On this staff specifically there’s six guys that are at least 6-6 now, and no one with the Yankees is quite that tall. But is that a trend you’re noticing where in pro ball teams are identifying more guys in college that are really big and have a good makeup to throw well?
BD: Yeah, part of the equation is height and stature and being able to produce force and produce velocity and being durable. But the hardest thrower on our team is a 5-foot-10 guy (Luis Velasquez), so they come in all shapes and sizes. Obviously there’s been a trend in these couple draft classes that some of those guys are up with us right now, and our scouting department has done an incredible job of getting us really good pitchers. They happen to be decently tall in this group, but we’ve got some undersized guys, too, that have been super successful.
We’ll take them however they come, and that’s one thing you can’t teach is the size piece. You look at (Marcus) Stroman up in the big leagues. He’s not the biggest dude ever and he’s had a great career, too. But it’s a piece of it and it’s polarizing because when I go out to the mound now, a lot of times I’m looking up, and that doesn’t happen very often for me to try to catch their eyes. We’re super excited about this group, and it just so happens to be a bunch of big dudes.
GJ: Jack Neely (No. 25 Yankees prospect), it seems like he’s been just very consistent throughout his time in the organization. Two-pitch guy, pitching well again this year. What are you seeing at this point with his development in that fastball, slider and everything?
BD: I worked with in Jack in 2021 when he first got drafted. I was with the Tarpons. He came up to Low-A through the last month of the season. To see his maturation from a delivery standpoint to be able to lock himself into the zone a little bit more, which has been a huge thing for him, being able to be in the strike zone more and having the devastating slider that he does, man, it’s a special arm, special kid. Just seeing him grow up and mature and move through the system, have as much success as he has is super exciting for us as an organization and him personally.
GJ: Brock Selvidge (No. 10 Yankees prospect) has a pretty good cutter and four different pitches. What are you seeing with his development?
BD: I also worked with Brock his first year in the organization for his first full season. He was with us in the FCL. Always been a strike-thrower, always had really good feel for the zone, good feel for spin, and the cutter has been the money-maker for him. He’s had a ton of success, he’s had a ton of swing and miss and high strikeout rates.
He’s been awesome. His development, his maturation as a pitcher has happened quick. Obviously he’s up here as a 21-year-old and it’s super impressive. We’re super excited he’s here. He’s got four pitches that he can throw to either side of the plate and he really had a nice spring training and obviously earned this opportunity. We’re pumped to have him here.
GJ: Zach Messinger (No. 22 Yankees prospect) seems like he’s a very mature pitcher with a good plan in what he’s trying to do, another pretty tall guy. What have you seen with his development?
BD: Zach has spent the last two offseasons, I believe, living in Tampa. Our whole pitching department lives in Tampa, and we’re around him all year long. We’re super fortunate to have a guy like that in our organization. Like you said, he’s a brilliant kid, really knows who he is, what he’s trying to do, how to get hitters out, and he knows his delivery really well.
He’s done a nice job of continually tinkering and making small adjustments as he’s gone here, even as he’s had success, still really craving more and wanting to get better. His development continues to show that. He changed his pitch package the last week of spring training, so he’s never satisfied. He’s a really fun guy to work with, great kid, and just an awesome guy to have on the staff and anchor our rotation.
GJ: Trystan Vrieling (No. 23 Yankees prospect), another good starter you’ve got, he came off of missing all of last season, tough blow to his development. But just the way he’s bounced back this year and gotten himself healthy, what have you seen in that process for him?
BD: Being around him at the complex when he rehabbing all year last year, another kid that’s extremely intelligent, high feel with his delivery and what he’s trying to do. He knows himself extremely well. Being around him and getting to kind of pick his brain and what he’s trying to accomplish. He’s changed pitches, he’s changed his delivery, he’s done a lot of different things that have really helped put him in a better position.
A lot of it just comes back to his routine to keep him healthy, to keep him where he needs to be from a delivery standpoint. He’s extremely dialed into his routine and he makes sure that every day he’s gonna get what he needs. No matter the circumstances, it doesn’t matter if it it’s pouring rain or it’s a beautiful sunny day. He’s a worker and he’s done a great job and he’s earned being here. As much as he’s not thrown affiliated baseball, he deserves to be here and he’s obviously shown that early on here.
GJ: Danny Watson (No. 28 Yankees prospect on 7-Day IL) has some kind of back issue right now. Are you guys hoping he won’t be out for too long?
BD: It’s not looking like it’s much. I know he’s seeing the doctor. I think he actually saw him (Tuesday). I haven’t gotten a chance to touch base with our training staff. But it doesn’t seem like anything major. He’ll be hopefully back here within the next week or so, and he’ll get back to it. Another big, tall dude that’s had a ton of success, and we’re excited to get him back in our bullpen obviously. He’s a big part of what we’re doing here and obviously the future of our organization.
GJ: Who are a couple other guys who are a little bit under the radar that you’ve noticed so far that you think are guys that people should pay attention to the rest of the season?
BD: The two guys that kind of pop out are Luis Velasquez, he’s a 5-10 guy, he’s been up to 100 miles per an hour last year in Hudson Valley. Short statured dude, extremely, extremely efficient delivery. Obviously throws hard for being as little as he is and can spin a breaking ball. He’s got a plus changeup. He’s got good stuff. The moment doesn’t faze him — leverage spots don’t faze him. He’s great to have in our bullpen and we’re really excited about him.
The other guy is Bailey Dees. Bailey Dees was a reliever the last few years. Came out of spring training this year as a starter and he’s in our rotation and had a really nice start in New Hampshire. He’s throwing harder than he ever has. He’s got two plus off-speed pitches and has done a nice job of being in the strike zone and getting ahead. Another big statured dude that’s hopefully gonna be a part of this rotation.
GJ: At this point is that the plan to just keep Dees in the rotation for a while?
BD: He was a starter in college, and so actually we had the conversation with him in spring training and asked him if it was something that he’d be interested doing because of the fact that he came back in such great shape. He lost some weight, but he also put on some muscle and he looked good. He was throwing harder, fastball was better.
Just kind of posed a question to him one day, myself and Sam, and basically put it in his court, like ‘hey, if this is something you’re interested in doing, we’re excited about it.’ That’s gonna be the plan moving forward is he’s in our rotation. He’s a starter. He’s gonna be probably throwing 90-95 pitches this week, and we’re rolling with that. He’s a big part of our rotation. He’s turned a corner. Even last year after being really successful especially in Hudson Valley, to see him come out and be in better shape and be in a position to compete for a rotation spot was really cool to see.
