Yankees MILB 5/14: Spencer Jones Continues to Mash

News:

Oswald Peraza is officially on a rehab assignment down in Scranton. I tend to doubt they will activate him back on to the MLB roster when the assignment is over with, as long as everyone is healthy. We’ll see.

Scranton (17-22) (Lost to Omaha, 6-3)

CF Estevan Florial1-for-5, 3 K
SS Oswald Peraza1-for-4, HR (1), RBI, RS
Peraza homered in his first rehab at-bat. I know I sound like a broken record but people get nervous when top prospects are pulled: For as long as I can remember, the Yankees never have players play full games on their first day back from injury. Don’t worry about it unless they tell us otherwise.
  SS Wilmer Difo0-for-1, K
DH Ben Rortvedt0-for-5, K
3B Andres Chaparro1-for-4, BB, K
By trade, Chaparro is a masher. However, he does own an 11.5% BB rate this season. In the majors, that would be considered above league average. He is hitting .268/.353/.543 in 156 PA.
LF Elijah Dunham0-for-3, 2 BB, 3 K, SB (7)
.218/.359/.336 in 145 plate appearances. There is no doubt that it has been a struggle for Dunham (other than showing off some plate discipline). I still believe he will break out of it.
RF Franchy Cordero2-for-4, 2B (5), RS, 2 K
C Rodolfo Duran2-for-4, K, SB (1)
.295/.345/.551 in 84 plate appearances. This is his first stolen base since 8/27/18. He has never stolen two bases in a season.
1B Billy McKinney2-for-3, HR (4), RBI, RS, BB
2B Jesus Bastidas0-for-4, RBI, BB, K

RHP Mitch Spence5 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, HR
5.17 ERA (38.1 IP, 39 H, 27 R, 22 ER, 16 BB, 34 K, 9 HR). Last three starts: 18 IP, 15 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 15 K
LHP Matt Krook1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K
Krook’s first appearance since 4/26 is an impressive one. On the season, he owns a 1.42 ERA in 12.2 IP (4 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 9 BB, 26 K)
RHP Colten Brewer1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K
RHP Deivi Garcia1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
4.29 ERA (21 IP, 18 H, 11 R, 10 ER, 3 HR, 16 BB, 19 K)
LHP D.J. Snelten0.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 2 HR
RHP Barrett Loseke0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K

Somerset (20-12) (Lost to Portland, 3-1)

SS Trey Sweeney1-for-4, RBI
.268/.410/.392 in 122 plate appearances (6 doubles, 2 HR, 13 RBI, 18 R, 22 BB, 24 K, 6-for-8 SB)
LF Jasson Dominguez0-for-4, 2 K
vs. RHP: 13-for-74 (.176) with 23 walks and 23 strikeouts. All eight of his extra-base hits are off RHP.
vs. LHP: 4-for-16 (.250) with five walks and five strikeouts. 
DH Everson Pereira0-for-4, K
1B T.J. Rumfield2-for-3, BB, K
.210/.320/.407 in 97 PA. 
3B Tyler Hardman1-for-4, K
.230/.324/.471 in 102 PA. Both Rumfield and Hardman are corner infield college bats who can have some use either to the Yankees or in a trade scenario. But both need to hit because the defensive value is limited.
2B Caleb Durbin0-for-4
RF Jeisson Rosario1-for-3, BB, K
C Anthony Seigler0-for-3, BB, K
Seigler has nine walks in eight May games.
CF Brandon Lockridge1-for-2, 2B (4), RS, BB, SB (14)
.300/.366/.457 in 82 plate appearances. Lockridge is 14-for-16 in the stolen base department.

RHP Blane Abeyta: (L, 2-1)  6 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 10 K
Abeyta’s first career 10+ strikeout effort.
RHP Alex Mauricio2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K

Hudson Valley (21-12) (Defeated Aberdeen, 8-3)

CF Spencer Jones: 3-for-5, 2 2B (11), 2 RBI, 2 RS, SB (9)
Jones has eight hits in three games after missing three games for reasons unknown. He has 20 extra-base hits in 120 plate appearances. He hasn’t drawn a ton of walks, but when you mash like this, why do you have to? I don’t think it is due to a lack of plate discipline.
SS Alexander Vargas1-for-5, HR (6), 2 RBI, RS, 3 K
Vargas is two away from matching his personal best for HR in a season (8 in 100 games last season)
C Antonio Gomez1-for-4, RBI, RS, HBP
1B Rafael Flores1-for-4, BB
Flores increases his hitting streak to five (8-for-21)
LF Aaron Palensky0-for-4, BB, 2 K
Palensky is in a little 2-for-19 slump.
DH Grant Richardson0-for-4, 3 K
2B Ben Cowles: 2-for-4, 2B (4), K
Cowles was hitting .188 after games of 4/28. He is 14-for-36 (.389) since and is now hitting .274.
RF Aldenis Sanchez1-for-4, 3B (3), RS, K
3B Marcos Cabrera3-for-4, RBI, 2 RS
Cabrera’s first 3-hit game since 8/24/19.

RHP Drew Thorpe: (W, 2-1) 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, HR
4.26 ERA (31.2 IP, 31 H, 19 R, 15 ER, 3 HR, 14 BB, 37 K). Strong comeback after a 3.2 IP, 6 R outing last time out.
RHP Carlos Gomez: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K
5.40 ERA (16.2 IP, 15 H, 10 R, 10 ER, 2 HR, 13 BB, 26 K)
RHP Harrison Cohen: 2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, HR

Tampa (11-21) (No-hit by Ft. Myers, 3-0. The Tarpons allowed a pair of unearned runs in addition to their offensive ineptitude. A game you just want to forget about)

DH Jared Serna0-for-4
A bit of a slump (3-for-22) has dropped his line to .327/.407/.519 in 118 plate appearances. Given that triple slash even after this recent slide, you can safely say that he was never going to be able to maintain his early pace. 
CF Anthony Hall0-for-3, 2 K
Hall’s 10-game hitting streak is snapped.
C Agustin Ramirez0-for-3
.222/.369/.370 in 103 plate appearances. In his first two years, he had a 27/67 BB/K ratio in 289 plate appearances. In his last two years, the ratio is 42/45 in 300 plate appearances.
LF Daury Arias0-for-3, 2 K
Arias broke up the perfect game in the 8th inning by reaching first base on a third strike wild pitch. 
SS Brenny Escanio0-for-3, 2 K
RF Nelson Medina0-for-3, K
Medina is 22 and this is his first taste of full-season ball. Ideally, you want to get him to start moving up. Yes, I recognize how the canceled 2020 season impacted the progression of many prospects.
While his triple slash is excellent (.291/.386/.488), you do want to see the 30.7% K rate come down somewhat before you move him along.

1B Jesus Rodriguez0-for-3, K
The 21-year-old has a solid batting average in his minor league career (.309 in 116 games) and is excellent in the BB/K ratio category (57 walks, 62 strikeouts). Power? He only has seven career home runs but does have 31 doubles.
2B Brett Barrera0-for-3, K
3B Ronny Rojas0-for-3

RHP Baron Stuart: (L, 0-2)  4 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 5 BB, 3 K
RHP Yorlin Calderon1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
2.40 ERA (15 IP, 13 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 HR, 5 BB, 20 K). I don’t know if his permanent role is that of a reliever, but he is doing a solid job this year.
LHP Geoffrey Gilbert1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
2.25 ERA (16 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 11 BB, 23 K). 
RHP Matt Keating1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
It is hard to imagine Keating being here for long. His ERA drops to 1.23 with a 23/8 K/BB ratio over 14.2 innings. The walks are high, but seven of them were compiled in April (he walked at least one batter in all six April appearances)