Connor McGinnis Is Showing Why He’s the Latest Yankees Prospect to Watch Out For

Facing Reading on July 10, Connor McGinnis came to the plate in the seventh inning with a chance at history. He had already smacked his second career triple in the second inning, homered in the third and singled to left in the fifth.

He just needed a double.

Instead, he pummeled a first pitch inner half fastball off Reading’s Aaron Combs 386 feet to right field for his second home run of the night and fourth with Somerset this season. Rather than claiming Somerset’s second cycle in the franchise’s affiliated history, McGinnis became the first Patriot to ever homer twice and record a triple in the same game. He finished the day with a career-best four hits and two homers in Somerset’s 9-4 win.

“It was just kind of an out-of-body experience,” McGinnis said. “Just didn't feel too real.”

After being called up from High-A Hudson Valley to Double-A on May 12, McGinnis has slashed .273/.343/.433 with four homers, 19 RBI, 15 XBH and nine multi-hit efforts in 44 games with Somerset. His .273 average in that span ranks second among active Patriots. But as the 23-year-old has gotten increasingly used to Double-A pitching in his second professional season, that production has not been split evenly.

In his first 20 games, he slashed .221/.312/.235 with no home runs, four RBI, one XBH and two multi-hit games. In his last 24 games, he’s bumped his slash line to .317/.371/.598 with four homers, 15 RBI, 14 XBH and seven multi-hit games. During that stretch, he's seen 4.2 pitches per plate appearance — up from 3.8 in his first 20 games. Over 89 plate appearances, those extra 0.4 pitches per plate appearance equals 35 more pitches seen overall.

The turning point came in the series opener at Portland on June 16 – the start of a 12-game road trip where McGinnis belted a grand slam 406 feet to center field for his first Double-A homer. He joined Spencer Jones as the second Patriot to ever hit their first career Double-A homer as a grand slam in Portland. Since, McGinnis’ 14 XBH are second-most in the Eastern League and tied for fifth in Double-A.

McGinnis said the mindset has been simply to hit the ball hard. It goes back to last offseason where McGinnis intentionally trained at home in Texas to improve his bat speed and add more power to his game.

“I was just trying to eat and workout and just work on my swing,” McGinnis said. “Just put some weight on to try to hit some home runs this year.”

The recent jump in production is something McGinnis has done before. After being drafted by the Yankees in the 10th round out of Houston in 2025, McGinnis made his pro debut on August 5 with Hudson Valley. He slashed .196/.297/.250 with no homers and two XBH in 17 games with the Renegades to end the 2025 season. But in 19 games with Hudson Valley prior to his call-up to Somerset in 2026, he improved to a .241/.380/.362 slash line with a home run and five XBH.

“The game doesn't really change a lot,” McGinnis said. “Your environment does.”

It’s something McGinnis said he heard a lot of in college. In 2022, McGinnis began his college career at Grayson College in Denison, Texas, where he didn’t see action. He then transferred to Blinn College in Brenham, Texas, where he led the Buccaneers in 2024 with a .399 AVG and .515 OBP in 63 games en route to winning the NJCAA National Championship.

Then he made the Division I jump to Houston in 2025, leading the Cougars with 14 doubles and a .343 AVG. But with 24 games missed due to injury, McGinnis was unsure if he’d be drafted.

“I grew up my whole life trying to chase that dream,” McGinnis said. “So it was kind of like a 50/50 on if it was really going to happen or not.”

McGinnis was at home watching the TV with his family when the Yankees called to say they were drafting him. A year later, McGinnis has turned from a 10th round pick into one of Somerset’s biggest offensive threats.

Even with the recent Double-A success, McGinnis’ focus for the rest of the season hasn’t changed.

“I don't want to push too hard for anything to happen,” McGinnis said. “I'm just going to go out and play every day and whatever happens, happens.”

Adam Beck | Somerset Patriots Broadcasting and Media Relations Assistant

Adam Beck is in his first season with the Somerset Patriots as the team’s Broadcasting and Media Relations Assistant. In addition to broadcasting play-by-play for home games, he assists with the team’s creative content, media relations and social media output. In March 2026, Adam graduated from Northwestern University, where he served as the Sports Director of WNUR Sports and Editor-in-chief of Inside NU.