Yankees MILB 5/17: Everson Pereira Heating Up

News:

Nothing to report.

Scranton (19-22) (Defeated Charlotte, 6-3)

CF Estevan Florial0-for-2, RS, 3 BB, SB (9), 2 CS (5)
Florial has 26 walks in 132 PA (19.7%). Yes, he also has that 32.6% K rate to look at. 
SS Oswald Peraza1-for-3, 2 K
Peraza is hitting .313 (15-for-48) and has an 8-game hitting streak at this level (obviously, he had a stint in New York during the streak)
  PH-SS Wilmer Difo0-for-0, RS, 2 BB, 2 SB (7)
Difo comes in for Peraza (likely planned) and causes some havoc.
C Ben Rortvedt: 3-for-4, HR (3), 3 RBI, RS, BB, K
Rortvedt is hitting .324 (12-for-37; 2 doubles, 3 HR, 9 RBI)
3B Andres Chaparro1-for-5, HR (11), RBI, RS, K
Before he hit that home run, he was in a 3-for-25 slump after his huge 5-for-5 game on 5/9. Hopefully, this is the start of a new hot streak,
RF Elijah Dunham: 1-for-2, 2 BB
Dunham’s 23 walks in 149 PA (15.4%) are helping to keep him afloat until the hits start coming.
LF Kole Calhoun0-for-4, K
DH Rodolfo Duran1-for-4, HR (7), RBI, RS
Duran has homered three times in his last two games. 
1B Billy McKinney1-for-4, RS, K
2B Jamie Westbrook0-for-3, BB, 2 K

RHP Randy Vasquez: (W, 1-5)  5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K
4.85 ERA (42.2 IP, 44 H, 27 R, 23 ER, 5 HR, 23 BB, 50 K). His ERA was 8.62 after games of 4/18. Since: 2.67 ERA (27 IP, 21 H, 9 R, 8 ER, 12 BB, 28 K)
RHP James Norwood1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, HR
RHP Matt Bowman1.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, HR
RHP Greg Weissert1 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K
RHP Aaron McGarity (S, 1): 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
When healthy, the 28-year-old has pitched very well in his minor league career. However, he has thrown only 143.1 innings in 82 games since being drafted back in 2017.

Somerset (21-13) (Lost to Reading, 9-1. The Patriots struck out 19 times today. The Phillies’ starter (Griff McGarry) is a solid prospect, but he only lasted 2.2 innings (5 strikeouts), so it isn’t all because of him!)

SS Trey Sweeney0-for-5, 3 K
Lefties have given Sweeney some trouble, as he is only 4-for-23 (that comes with a .375 OBP, however).
vs. RHP: .289/.406/.422.  
DH Jasson Dominguez1-for-4, 2 K
vs. LHP:  6-for-20, 1 HR, 5 BB, 5 K (.300/.440/.450)
vs. RHP: 15-for-80, 4 HR, 23 BB, 26 K (.188/.371/.400)
April: .140/.380/.340
May: .280/.390/.480

CF Everson Pereira2-for-4, HR (5), RBI, RS, 2 K
I don’t know if I am ready to say he is on fire, but his triple slash was .223/.291/.415 only five days ago. Now, it sits at .255/.317/.482. Pereira has four home runs in his last eight games.
In 2022, he played in 22 games for Somerset (the same number he has played thus far this year), hitting .283/.341/.504 with five home runs.
3B Tyler Hardman0-for-4, 3 K
LF Jeisson Rosario1-for-4, 2 K, SB (3)
Rosario is drawing a lot of walks but his average is not where it needs to be. That said, his BABIP of .171 should normalize.
RF Brandon Lockridge2-for-4, 2 K, SB (16)
.316/.396/.487 in 91 plate appearances. He is well on his way to destroying his personal best in the stolen base department (22 in 2019)
1B Eric Wagaman0-for-3, BB, K
2B Max Burt0-for-4, 3 K
C Mickey Gasper0-for-2, 2 BB, K

RHP Blas Castano (L, 3-1): 5 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 K
2.84 ERA (25.1 IP, 16 H, 12 R, 8 ER, 2 HR, 10 BB, 25 K). Just shake this one off.
RHP Alex Mauricio1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
An injury has stalled his season (only 6.2 innings). There is some buzz surrounding him, so I hope he can get into a groove soon.
RHP Indigo Diaz1 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K
Now THAT is a fun stat line! Perhaps not for the defense behind him…
RHP Steven Jennings2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K
2.60 ERA (17.1 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 0 HR, 8 BB, 23 K). This is the 24-year-old’s second season here (4.19 ERA in 46 games last season with a 67/14 K/BB over 66.2 innings)

Hudson Valley (22-13) (Lost to Brooklyn, 7-2)

CF Spencer Jones1-for-4, BB, 2 K, CS (2)
Jones’ hitting streak is up to five (11-for-23). I am asked often about Jones going to Somerset. I think the one thing the Yankees want to see is a reduction in the strikeout rate (32.1%). That said, I think he will be up sometime in June. That is a guess – not inside information.
LF Aaron Palensky1-for-5, 2B (4), 2 K
He has slowed down a tad (impossible to keep up his early pace) but is still hitting .323/.406/.710 in 106 PA (4 doubles, 1 triple, 10 HR, 26 RBI, 19 R, 11 BB, 25 K, 7-for-7 SB)
C Antonio Gomez0-for-5, 4 K
.208/.277/.277 in 114 forgettable plate appearances. He is 5-for-42 with one walk and 18 strikeouts in May. Yikes.
1B Rafael Flores1-for-4, K
7-game hitting streak (10-for-28). Before the streak, he was in a 1-for-20 slump. Baseball!
DH Spencer Henson0-for-2, RS, BB, HBP, K, CS (1)
2B Eduardo Torrealba0-for-3, BB, K, SB (2)
RF Aldenis Sanchez0-for-2, RS, 2 BB, 2 SB (8)
SS Ben Cowles1-for-1, 3 BB, SB (3)
Cowles is up to .281/.354/.506 in 99 PA. In May, he is hitting .389/.450/.556. He can play 2B/SS/3B, so a potential promotion to Somerset wouldn’t interfere with the prospects who are already there.
3B Marcos Cabrera0-for-4, 3 K

RHP Tyrone Yulie (L, 1-2): 5.1 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 8 K
6.11 ERA (28 IP, 23 H, 21 R, 19 ER, 4 HR, 17 BB, 34 K). 
RHP Nick Paciorek1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K
3.09 ERA (11.2 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 HR, 5 BB, 15 K)
RHP Carlos Gomez2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K

Tampa (12-22) (Lost to Dunedin, 9-4)

2B Jared Serna0-for-4, 2 K
The recent bump in strikeouts (7 in his last five games) isn’t all that concerning – likely just a bump in the road after barely striking out at all for the first several weeks of the season.
DH Daury Arias0-for-2, RS, 2 BB
C Agustin Ramirez0-for-4, 3 K
SS Brenny Escanio1-for-4, RS, 2 K
CF Nelson Medina1-for-3, 2B (7), RBI, RS, BB, 2 K, SB (5)
Medina’s last eight games: 11-for-26 (.423; 2 doubles, HR, 7 RBI, 5 BB)
1B Omar Martinez0-for-3, BB
RF Tayler Aguilar: 2-for-3, 2B (5), 2 RBI, RS, BB, K
Aguilar, drafted in the 15th round last year out of Grand Canyon, is off to a tough start this season. Maybe this will get him going.
3B Beau Brewer1-for-4, RBI
LF Felix Negueis0-for-1, HBP, BB, K

RHP Kris Bow: (L, 0-1)  1 IP, 5 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, HR
Bow’s 2023 debut. He was drafted in the 14th round in last year’s draft out of Southern Nevada. Bow made four relief appearances in his debut year.
RHP Yorlin Calderon2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, HR
RHP Luis Velasquez: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K
1.40 ERA (19.1 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 12 BB, 21 K)
RHP Alex Bustamante: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K
2.65 ERA (17 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 12 BB, 20 K).
LHP Geoffrey Gilbert1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K
2.12 ERA (17 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 0 HR, 11 BB, 23 K). Yes, I have noticed a trend with some of the Yankees relief prospects having low hit totals but less-than-ideal BB rates. I have no explanation – just an observation.