Yankees MILB 6/21: Brendan Beck’s High-A Debut

News:

RHP Brendan Beck will start his journey in Hudson Valley. He made only one rehab appearance for the FCL before this assignment.

Drafted by the Yankees in the second round of the 2021 draft, Beck underwent Tommy John surgery soon thereafter. Before the injury, he was considered a “quick rise” type of prospect. Just like Chase Hampton and Drew Thorpe (both from the 2022 draft class), he will skip Low-A, which makes sense.

At the very least, the Yankees are once again building up impressive pitching depth after trading a lot of pitching away over the last few years.

Scranton (33-37) (Defeated Buffalo, 4-1)

CF Estevan Florial1-for-4, 2 K
Florial’s OPS is now at 1.000 (a little 1-for-13 slump)
LF-2B Oswaldo Cabrera0-for-3, BB
1B Andres Chaparro1-for-4, HR (14), RBI, RS
Chaparro has three home runs in his last two games to raise his triple slash from .238/.314/.430 to .242/.316/.464. His season is a season of streaks, so let’s see if this one lasts.
RF Elijah Dunham0-for-3, BB
Dunham increases his on-base streak to 13.
DH Carlos Narvaez0-for-3, RS, BB, K
.272/.433/.444 in 104 PA since his promotion (.258/.402/.447 overall)
C Rodolfo Duran: 2-for-4, 2B (12), RS, 2 K
.263/.325/.480 in 166 PA. It is just interesting to follow Narvaez/Duran since the #3 catching job is up for grabs.
3B Jamie Westbrook: 2-for-3, RBI
SS Jesus Bastidas0-for-3, K
2B Wilmer Difo1-for-1, 2B (4), RS
  LF Brandon Lockridge0-for-2, K

RHP Colten Brewer3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K
1.37 ERA (19.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 HR, 5 BB, 18 K). Brewer pitched in three games earlier this season for the Yankees (in case you forget) before being DFA (he passed through waivers – obviously)
LHP Josh Maciejewski: (W, 1-0) 2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, HR
RHP Blas Castano: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
Castano’s Triple-A debut. It looks like his big weapon is a 93-95 MPH sinker that topped out at 96.1 MPH tonight. For Somerset, he pitched to a 4.79 ERA in 35.2 IP with a 33/18 K/BB ratio. It should be noted that it is very possible that this is a one-off since they had to use Brewer to start this game.
RHP Michael Feliz1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K
6.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 HR, 4 BB, 7 K. The Yankees are just trying to catch some lightning in a bottle with Feliz – zero risk.
RHP Greg Weissert (S, 6): 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K

Somerset (39-25) (Lost to New Hampshire, 2-1)

SS Trey Sweeney0-for-3, BB, K
CF Jasson Dominguez0-for-4, 3 K
Dominguez is back down to .203 and has 76 strikeouts in 270 PA (28.1%). He is only 14-for-70 (.200) in June with 12 walks and 28 strikeouts. He has his share of moments this season – in my opinion, his streaks just aren’t lasting long enough. He is very young so I am not giving up – I just want to see progress as the second half of the season gets started.
C Austin Wells1-for-4, K
3B Tyler Hardman0-for-2, BB, K, HBP
1B T.J. Rumfield0-for-4, K
Since his massive home run binge: 1-for-16.  Baseball! Baseball! BASEBALL!
LF Aaron Palensky0-for-2, BB, K
RF Jeisson Rosario0-for-3, K
2B Delvin Perez0-for-3, 2 K
The former Top 100 prospect (2017, Cardinals) plays in his first game since 4/20. He has 460 minor league games and has yet to reach MLB. You just never know with prospects…
DH Mickey Gasper1-for-3, HR (3), RBI, RS, K
Gasper’s playing time has been limited this season but he is 11-for-37 at this level (.297). He went 13-for-68 with a home run for Scranton.

RHP Yoendrys Gomez3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K
1.32 ERA (13.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 10 BB, 13 K). He has been able to cut down on the walk rate as his career has moved on. I wouldn’t worry about it much right now.
LHP Edgar Barclay: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K
11.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 6 BB, 15 K. He allowed 7 HR in 77.1 IP in 2021. He didn’t allow any HR in 2019 (26 IP), 2021 (67.1 IP) or this season (11.1 IP)
RHP Ian Hamilton: (L, 1-1)  0.1 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
Hamilton’s second rehab appearance. I don’t worry much about results during rehab stints – just that the player is healthy and that their velocity is OK, etc.
RHP Alex Mauricio: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
3.60 ERA (20 IP, 16 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 2 HR, 9 BB, 18 K). Mauricio allowed five runs in his first 6.2 IP this season and three runs in 13.1 IP since.
RHP Danny Watson1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
Since promotion: 8 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K

Hudson Valley (39-26) (Defeated Brooklyn, 8-3)

CF Spencer Jones1-for-3, 3B (4), 2 BB, K
Last 9 games: 14-for-35 (.400; 2 doubles, 1 triple, 3 HR, 6 BB, 10 K)
SS Alexander Vargas0-for-4, RBI, RS, BB, 2 K
C Rafael Flores1-for-5, 3B (1), RBI, RS, 2 K
Flores compiles his first career triple.
RF Anthony Garcia1-for-3, RBI, 2 RS, 2 BB
DH Antonio Gomez1-for-4, 2 RS, BB, K
15-for-42 (.357) in June. The defensive reputation is already there – developing some offense is the key.
2B Ben Cowles0-for-4, RS, HBP, K
1B Spencer Henson0-for-3, RS, BB, HBP
LF Aldenis Sanchez: 2-for-3, 3B (4), 3 RBI, BB, HBP, K, CS (3)
It hasn’t been a fun season for Sanchez (.199) so it is nice to see him have a good night. 
3B Marcos Cabrera0-for-4, RBI, BB, K

RHP Brendan Beck2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K
Don’t expect Beck to throw a ton of innings this season. I am sure they want to build him all the way back up heading into 2024, but the main focus is to get him through his first professional season while bouncing back from surgery.
RHP Indigo Diaz2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K
RHP Mason Vinyard2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Since his promotion: 6.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 6 BB, 3 K. He was signed as an undrafted free agent in August, 2022.
RHP Jack Neely: (W, 3-1) 1.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
Neely has struck out at least one batter in 17 of his 19 appearances. Tonight’s results aren’t what he wanted and he now sports a 2.51 ERA in 28.2 IP (16 H, 10 R, 8 ER, 2 HR, 14 BB, 41 K)
RHP Nick Paciorek (S, 3): 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
2.53 ERA (21.1 IP, 13 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 1 HR, 11 BB, 25 K)

Tampa (31-33) 

The game against Ft. Myers was postponed. They posted the lineup – so it is below with some notes.

2B Jared Serna0-for-0
.309/.372/.527 in 269 PA (12 doubles, 1 triple, 13 HR, 44 RBI, 44 R, 8.6% BB, 16.7% K, 16-for-20 SB). Serna has not had a stretch of three straight hitless games this season.  FSL ranks: HR: 1st; RBI: 1st; Runs: 2nd; Hits: 1st; BA: 5th; SLG: 2nd. 
CF Anthony Hall0-for-0
.273/.395/.416 in 195 PA (7 doubles, 2 triples, 4 HR, 21 RBI, 31 R, 16.4% BB, 20% K). He hit .121/.237/.242 in April but has hit very well since. A definite candidate to move to Hudson Valley.
C Agustin Ramirez0-for-0
.255/.404/.406 in 213 PA. He owns a 20.2% BB and 17.8% K. Walks are up compared to his time in the FCL, while his power is down. He is a catcher who is constantly hitting at the top of this lineup – pay attention.
DH Daury Arias0-for-0
Arias (21) is one of those “toolsy” types that you hope can put a package together. He is hitting .227/.306/.340 in 216 PA with a 10.2% BB and 20.4% K.
SS Brenny Escanio0-for-0
Escanio was acquired from the Brewers before he ever stepped foot on a professional diamond (signed by the Brewers on 7/2/19; traded to the Yankees on 9/1/19 for J.P. Feyereisen). He is hitting .214/.308/.265 in 251 plate appearances with a 12% BB and 28.3% K. Additionally, he has 14 stolen bases. A lottery ticket middle infielder.
3B Jesus Rodriguez0-for-0
.310/.395/.458 in 196 PA with a 11.7% BB and 14.8% K. I have said it a few times: He’s not a big prospect but he has hit well since the day he signed his contract.
1B Omar Martinez0-for-0
.240/.364/.383 in 184 PA with a 15.2% BB and 29.9% K.
RF Tayler Aguilar0-for-0
LF Jake Palmer0-for-0

RHP Leonardo Pestana0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K

FCL Yankees (8-4) (Lost to the Blue Jays, 13-8. The game was called with one out in the 9th)

Day off.

DSL Bombers (8-4) (Defeated Arizona Black, 7-4)

Day off.

DSL Yankees (10-1)

Day off.