After throwing just 6 games in 2012, Yankees top prospect Manny Banuelos will be shut down for the rest of the season.

The 21-year-old left-hander has been out of action since mid-May with a bone bruise in his left elbow.

Banuelos, the No. 1 prospect in the New York organization according to MLB.com’s 2012 Prospect Watch, was signed on March 30, 2008, and has struck out 9.2 batters per nine innings throughout his Minor League career.

According to the ESPN New York report, the team hopes that Banuelos’ shutdown will have him ready to play winter ball and during Spring Training, and that the hurler will not need surgery.

Banuelos was 0-2 with a 4.50 ERA in 6 starts over 24 innings this season for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Most Yankee insiders believed that Banuelos was going to be in the mix for the Yanks’ 5th starter spot next spring but it looks as though he’ll now start out the 2013 campaign in Triple-A — assuming he’s healthy).

New York’s other top pitching prospect entering the season, Dellin Betances, has not been hurt but has struggled with his command, forcing the Yankees to demote him to Double-A earlier in the campaign. The 6-foot-8 Betances is 5-6 with a 5.87 ERA overall and has struck out 71 with 59 walks in 114 1/3 innings.

At some point you have to start to realize there’s just a pattern here with Yankees’ pitchers. The Yanks have not been able to develop their young players. They’ve pretty much ruined Chamberlain with all the changes and some of the rules to protect him. Now, out of nowhere, the kids are struggling this year in the minors. It could be very possible that the Yankees have over-hyped their prospects.

Remember what I’ve said about trading away prospects? What does prospect mean? Well, to me – it means “‘ain’t done sh#t yet.” I would have traded away the “Killer B’s (Betances and Banuelos) for Felix Hernandez two years ago. Climbing the minor league ladder is very difficult to do and you never know exactly what kind of player you have until they actually make it to the Major Leagues. I don’t get too excited about a guy blowing away hitters in the minor leagues.

We’ll just have to see how this all plays out but to me, Banuelos is already damaged goods.

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Brian Sinkoff is a licensed Real Estate agent with Coldwell Banker Prime Properties. He’s been in media for nearly 20 years. Sinkoff is frequent contributor for Time Warner Cable Sports television and also was host of “Sound-off with Sinkoff” – which was on the ESPN Radio affiliate in Albany, NY from 2008-11.

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Brian Sinkoff is a licensed Real Estate agent with Coldwell Banker Prime Properties. He’s been in media for nearly 20 years. Sinkoff is frequent contributor for Time Warner Cable Sports television and also was host of “Sound-off with Sinkoff” – which was on the ESPN Radio affiliate in Albany, NY from 2008-11.