News:
Not much to report. I wish I could tell you that the second coming of Barry Bonds was ready to come up and save the Yankees, but sorry – not happening.
Scranton (10-17) (Shut down by Worcester (featuring James Paxton), 5-0)
CF Estevan Florial: 0-for-4, K
.254/.413/.492 in 75 plate appearances.
DH Harrison Bader: 0-for-4, K
1B Andres Chaparro: 0-for-4, 3 K
I was intrigued to see what he would do against James Paxton, a left-hander who we know has MLB success on his resume. Chaparro didn’t do well, but it’s one game in a sea of several good ones lately.
LF Elijah Dunham: 2-for-3, 2B (8), BB, K
.247/.373/.376 in 102 plate appearances. His minor-league approach has allowed him to compile his share of doubles.
2B Jamie Westbrook: 0-for-4
SS Jesus Bastidas: 0-for-3, 2 K
RF Michael Hermosillo: 0-for-3, 2 K
C Mickey Gasper: 2-for-3
7-game hitting streak (9-for-26)
3B Wilmer Difo: 0-for-3, K
RHP Ryan Weber: (L, 2-3) 5.1 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
RHP Barrett Loseke: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
2.61 ERA (10.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 6 BB, 11 K). The Yankees bullpen is doing well so there isn’t much room for a guy like Loseke, but he can at least get himself on the radar.
RHP Michael Gomez: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
Somerset (12-8) (Game with Harrisburg was canceled due to rain. It will not be made up)
Some early season numbers:
OF Jasson Dominguez is hitting .140/.380/.340 (114 wRC+) in 71 plate appearances with a 28.2% BB rate and 25.4% K rate. His .161 BABIP will eventually normalize (and you expect the strikeout rate to start to drop somewhat)…OF Everson Pereira (on the 40-man roster) is hitting .246/.317/.421 (109 wRC+) in 51 plate appearances. The triple slash is OK but he will need to normalize the 36.5% K rate…OF Brandon Lockridge is trying to bounce back from a tough 2022. This season, he is hitting .289/.333/.444 (114 wRC+) with ten stolen bases and a nice 19.6% K rate. The defense and speed will play in MLB. It is all about the bat…SS Trey Sweeney is at .234/.342/.344 (101 wRC+) in 76 plate appearances. He is in a bit of a slump recently…C Carlos Narvaez has impressed, hitting .256/.373/.488 in 51 plate appearances. Narvaez didn’t hit for any average last year (.194) but still walked at a 15% clip. If he can even hit in the .230-.240 range with that discipline and some pop, he will make MLB…Veteran utility player Max Burt has a 235 wRC+.
RHP Will Warren owns a 4.15 ERA, thanks mostly to an insane .462 BABIP. His FIP is 1.01 with a 38.7% K and 9.3% BB. He has yet to allow a home run…RHP Richard Fitts is also pitching in some bad luck, as his 5.23 ERA is accompanied by a 3.24 FIP. He owns a 31% K and 6% BB…On the reverse side of the spectrum, RHP Clayton Beeter is the owner of a 1.74 ERA/3.58 FIP (which isn’t exactly bad). I think there are simply a lot of sample size issues going on with these pitchers…
Hudson Valley (14-7) (Destroyed Greenville, 15-2)
SS Alexander Vargas: 3-for-6, 2 HR (4), 2 RBI, 3 RS
First career multi-HR game. Prospects develop at different rates – that said, if Vargas suddenly has things click, it would be quite a nice surprise. While he did set a career-high with eight home runs in 2022, it came with a .203/.271/.311 triple slash. Let’s see how this season evolves.
LF Aaron Palensky: 2-for-4, 2B (3), HR (7), RBI, 2 RS, 2 BB
Palensky has homered in four straight games (five HR in those four games) and has six HR in his last six games. Yeah, he will be all over tomorrow’s leaderboard data dump on Twitter.
3B Caleb Durbin: 1-for-3, RS, BB, K
PH-3B Luis Santos: 1-for-2, HR (1), 3 RBI, RS, K
Santos has hit exactly 2 home runs per season between 2019-2022 (remember, 2020 didn’t exist in MILB)
CF Grant Richardson: 1-for-5, 2B (1), RBI, RS, BB, 3 K
C Antonio Gomez: 2-for-4, 2B (4), 2 RBI, RS, BB, 2 K
Gomez has hit safely in 13 of his 15 games this season. There isn’t much power sprinkled in (three doubles) + only three of the games are multi-hit efforts, but we’ll what we can get from a prospect who is trying to regain some shine.
1B Rafael Flores: 2-for-5, 2B (5), 2 RBI, RS
Flores is hitting .404 (19-for-47) with five doubles and ten runs batted in. He is 25-for-61 (.410) in his brief career.
DH Anthony Garcia: 0-for-5, 2 K
2B Ben Cowles: 2-for-5, 2 HR (4), 2 RBI, 2 RS, K
Cowles’ first career multi-HR game.
RF Aldenis Sanchez: 1-for-4, HR (1), RBI, 2 RS, BB, K
RHP Drew Thorpe: (W, 1-0) 6.2 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
2.86 ERA (22 IP, 20 H, 11 R, 7 ER, 9 BB, 29 K). First professional win.
RHP Danny Watson: 2.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, HR
11 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 6 BB, 20 K, 1 HR
Tampa (8-13) (Lost to Jupiter, 8-6)
2B Brenny Escanio: 2-for-4, 2 RS, BB, K, SB (7)
.250/.358/.309 in 82 plate appearances. Escanio, who was acquired from the Brewers as a part of the J.P. Feyereisen trade, doesn’t show up anywhere on prospect lists. However, the Yankees continue to lead him off which could be a sign of some faith that there is something to tap into.
C Austin Wells: 0-for-4, K
3-for-17 during his rehab stint (the numbers don’t even matter – it is all about getting his swings in)
C Agustin Ramirez: 1-for-1, RBI
CF Anthony Hall: 0-for-5, K
DH Nelson Medina: 1-for-4, 2B (5), RBI, RS, BB, 3 K, SB (2)
.296/.371/.537 in 16 gqmes. I have no information about what his signing bonus was back in 2017, so just assume it was small.
SS Dayro Perez: 1-for-3, RBI, BB, K
The average has jumped from .078 to .156 over the last three games – hey, you have to start somewhere.
LF Tayler Aguilar: 0-for-4, K
1B Jesus Rodriguez: 2-for-4, HR (1), RBI, RS
Rodriguez isn’t a big kid (5’9″) but he has shown off some versatility (including the ability to catch). Offensively, he is hitting .283/.371/.358 in 15 games. He has always hit for average in the short-season leagues.
3B Ronny Rojas: 1-for-3, HR (3), RBI, 2 RS, BB, 2 K
Rojas has homered in three straight games.
RF Felix Negueis: 0-for-4, 2 K
RHP Baron Stuart: (L, 0-1) 4.2 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 2 HR
Staurt’s professional debut. The Yankees signed him as an undrafted free agent (out if Pitt) last season. His college numbers don’t jump out at you (he did have a strikeout boost last year), which is something that fascinates me about scouting. They look beyond the raw numbers to see if there is something interesting about the kid – someone liked him, and here he is.
RHP Shane Gray: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, HR
LHP Geoffrey Gilbert: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
10.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 7 BB, 15 K. This is his debut season and he throws left-handed – which automatically puts him on the radar.
RHP Luis Velasquez: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
12.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 14 K. This is the 21-year-old’s first taste of full-season ball.