Yankees MILB 5/7: Austin Wells Homers Again

News:

C/1B Ben Rice, a key cog in the Hudson Valley Renegades offense, has officially been placed on the injured list. He hasn’t played since April 29th.

Rice, a 24-year-old left-handed bat, is hitting .341/.559/.523 in 68 plate appearances with 18 walks and ten strikeouts. He has been a fixture at the top of my Monday leaderboards on Twitter, but will likely fall off this week as I doubt he will qualify. More importantly for him, he will probably reach the upper minors this year if he is healthy.

Scranton (14-19) (Knocked off Rochester, 8-6)

CF Estevan Florial: 2-for-4, 3B (2), RS, BB, 2 K
His BABIP is so extreme between 2022-2023. Is there an explanation? Not really – it is such an outlier that you expect the correction to come. He is hitting .269/.412/.487.
DH Kole Calhoun2-for-4, RBI, 2 RS, BB, K
The veteran is 9-for-19 with three doubles and a home run.
LF Elijah Dunham1-for-4, RBI, RS, BB
Hopefully, he is breaking out of his little slump.
3B Andres Chaparro2-for-3, 2B (4), 2 RBI, 2 RS, 2 BB, SB (2)
You know he is feeling good when he starts stealing bases. Chaparro is all the way up to .250/.326/.534 (4 doubles, 1 triple, 9 HR, 22 RBI, 25 R, 13 BB, 31 K). 
RF Franchy Cordero3-for-5, 2B (2), 4 RBI, K
C Ben Rortvedt0-for-3, BB
Rortvedt is 3-for-13 with a walk and two strikeouts since joining Scranton.
  C Jose Godoy0-for-1
2B Jamie Westbrook0-for-3, BB, 2 K
1B Billy McKinney3-for-4, 2B (4), RS, SB (3)
The veteran is 5-for-7 in his last two games.
SS Wilmer Difo1-for-4, RS, SB (3)

LHP Tanner Tully 4 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 4 K
3.70 ERA (24.1 IP, 28 H, 13 R, 10 ER, 1 HR, 8 BB, 27 K)
RHP Deivi Garcia1.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, 2 HR
I fully support throwing Garcia in the bullpen to see what happens. It just hasn’t worked very well in the first month.
LHP D.J. Snelten0.2 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
RHP Michael Gomez : 1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
RHP Greg Weissert (W, 1-0): 1.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
8.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 14 K. He is going to shuttle this season, it appears – at least until he is out of in-season options.

Somerset (17-9) (Bludgeoned Binghamton, 11-2)

SS Trey Sweeney: 2-for-3, 2B (6), 3 RS, 2 BB, K, CS (2)
.268/.384/.378 in 99 plate appearances (6 doubles, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 15 R, 15 BB (15.2%), 20 K (20.2%), 5-for-7 SB). He hit 23 home runs in 143 games entering this season and I expect to see his power numbers go up this year.
LF Jasson Dominguez1-for-5, 2B (3), 3 RBI
I love baseball! Dominguez was 0-for-4 entering the bottom of the 8th. He promptly saved his day with a 3-run double.
C Austin Wells1-for-5, HR (3), 2 RBI, 2 K
Wells has homered in three straight games. Move him up!
RF Everson Pereira1-for-3, RBI, BB
.240/.313/.400 in 83 plate appearances. As I keep saying, he is doing fine enough. Would I love to see him destroy this level to turn himself into a viable MLB option sooner than later? Of course.
1B T.J. Rumfield1-for-4, RS, 2 K
Rumfield has a 6-game hitting streak going – exactly one hit in each game (6-for-20, 3 HR)
3B Tyler Hardman2-for-4, HR (4), 2 RBI, 2 RS, K
Hardman, off to a tough start, has two doubles and a home run in his last two games. His line is now .206/.304/.426 in 79 plate appearances, so the power has been OK.
DH Anthony Seigler2-for-4, RS, K
Seigler’s power hasn’t developed (he has never slugged over .400 in his career) so you have to hope that he continues to show good plate discipline and hits for some average. The power could still come – you just can’t count on it.
2B Max Burt1-for-4, RS
CF Brandon Lockridge2-for-3, HR (1), 2 RBI, 2 RS, BB, CS (2)
Lockridge, who snuck through the Rule 5 draft after a tough 2022 season, is hitting .322/.373/.492 in 67 plate appearances. He is repeating the level and that is important to note. Will they move him up at some point? Probably.

RHP Blane Abeyta: (W, 2-0)   6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 1 K
It was a grind, but Abeyta kept runs off the board.
LHP Lisandro Santos: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
13.2 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 0 HR, 8 BB, 17 K
RHP Justin Maese1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K

Hudson Valley (18-9) (Fell to Wilmington, 16-4)

DH Spencer Jones0-for-4, 2 K
2B Caleb Durbin2-for-3, RS, BB
7-game hitting streak (12-for-26). He is also on a 15-game on-base streak and is hitting an impressive .333. What level of prospect is he? He plays the infield positions and has shown off some speed and contact ability. He is a bit on the smaller side but we’ll see what happens as he moves up.
LF Aaron Palensky: 2-for-4, HR (9), 2 RBI, 2 RS
Palensky ties Andres Chaparro and Jake Bauers for the organization’s HR lead. He is hitting .379 with a 1.317 OPS. 
CF Grant Richardson1-for-4
1B Rafael Flores0-for-4, 3 K
SS Ben Cowles: 2-for-4, 2B (3), RBI, K
5-game hitting streak (9-for-19; 1 double, 3 HR). Cowles has spent time at 2B/SS/3B this season.
RF Aldenis Sanchez1-for-4
3B Marcos Cabrera1-for-4, HR (2), RBI, RS
C Juan Crisp0-for-3, K

RHP Drew Thorpe(L, 1-1) 3.2 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
Everyone has a bad day. This spikes his ERA to 4.56 (25.2 IP, 26 H, 17 R, 13 ER, 2 HR, 12 BB, 34 K). 
RHP Nick Paciorek0.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, HR
RHP Carlos Gomez0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
RHP Danny Watson1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
2.63 ERA (13.2 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 HR, 8 BB, 26 K). Is he a “one level per season” guy (he pitched all year in Tampa last year) or will he be in line for a shot at Somerset? We shall see.
RHP Enrique Santana0.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, HR
LHP Ryan Anderson1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, HR
RHP Harold Cortijo1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, HR

Tampa (11-16) (Outslugged Bradenton, 10-7)

2B Brenny Escanio0-for-4, RS, BB, 2 K
3B Jared Serna2-for-5, 2B (6), 3B (1), 2 RBI, 2 RS, K
I wondered just how “real” his 2022 season was. So far, he is proving that it was very much real – he may even be proving that it was just the appetizer. He is hitting .377/.473/.588 in 91 plate appearances (6 doubles, 1 triple, 2 HR, 14 RBI, 10 R, 13 BB, 7 K). He has four straight multi-hit games and eight multi-hit efforts in 21 games. 
DH Agustin Ramirez: 1-for-2, SF, RBI, RS, BB, HBP
.246/.386/.369 in 83 plate appearances. He has started 14 games behind the plate.
CF Anthony Hall: 2-for-5, RBI, RS, K
6-game hitting streak (8-for-23). His triple slash has risen from .121/.237/.242 to .214/.313/.321 during this stretch.
SS Dayro Perez0-for-4, RS, 2 K
RF Nelson Medina1-for-3, RBI, BB, 2 K
LF Tayler Aguilar: 1-for-4, 2 RS, K
C Jesus Rodriguez2-for-2, 2B (2), RBI, RS, SB (5)
.293/.391/.379 in 70 plate appearances. He has started five games behind the plate amongst many other responsibilities (1B/3B/LF (one game)). He stole eight bases in both 2021 and 2022, so he has some athleticism.
1B Ronny Rojas0-for-2, SF, RBI, BB, K

RHP Baron Stuart3.2 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 2 BB, 0 K
RHP Yorlin Calderon0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K
RHP Ocean Gabonia2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K
6.1 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 2 ER, 0 HR, 4 BB, 9 K
LHP Geoffrey Gilbert (W, 2-1): 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K
2.63 ERA (13.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 9 BB, 18 K)
RHP Manny Ramirez (S, 1): 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K