News:
Two debuts today down in the FCL today. You will see what they did below (one hit a home run in his first game – always fun to see).
Scranton (46-52; 12-12 in the second half) (Lost to Buffalo, 14-7. They lost 12-2 last night. Time for a colon cleanse)
CF Estevan Florial: 0-for-5, 3 K
Florial’s 8-game hitting streak is snapped.
SS Oswaldo Cabrera: 2-for-5, 2B (1), HR (1), 3 RBI, 2 RS, K
Nice night for Cabrera….
RF Everson Pereira: 2-for-5, 2B (5), HR (5), 3 RBI, RS, 2 K
Since promotion: .347/.390/.625 in 77 PA (5 doubles, 5 HR, 20 RBI, 14 R, 3 BB, 22 K). Overall: .308/.370/.570 in 262 PA (15 doubles, 1 triple, 15 HR, 51 RBI, 38 R, 22 BB, 76 K, 7-for-9 SB). Where should Pereira be right now? It is easy to say to give the kid a chance in the big leagues. I don’t think the Yankees are doing that after 77 PA – but he is displaying a lot of pop in his first taste of Triple-A after showing more than enough pop in Double-A. One part of your brain is screaming at you to be patient while the other one screams “I WANT TO SEE THIS KID, DARNIT!”
C Austin Wells: 1-for-5, 3 K
Wells is hitting .267 (8-for-30) since his promotion. The issue is the 13 K in 35 PA (37.1%). It’s a small early sample size, of course.
3B Andres Chaparro: 0-for-3, BB
.249/.343/.476 in 405 PA.
LF Franchy Cordero: 0-for-2, HBP
LF Brandon Lockridge: 1-for-1, RS
Lockridge is at .295/.362/.400 in 105 PA at this level. He has a 6-game hitting streak.
DH Carlos Narvaez: 0-for-3, BB, K
1B Jake Lamb: 1-for-4, RBI, K
2B Jamie Westbrook: 2-for-3, 2 RS, 2 BB
RHP Clayton Beeter: (L, 1-2) 3.2 IP, 8 H, 11 R, 11 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 3 HR
Beeter entered tonight with a 3.26 ERA since his promotion. It is now 7.04 (23 IP, 23 H, 19 R, 18 ER, 6 HR, 13 BB, 25 K). What can you do? Sometimes, it simply isn’t your night. It is always important to note that, in an MLB setting, Beeter isn’t giving up 11 runs tonight. They would have pulled him at some point. In MILB, they want him to get his pitches in and evaluate. It doesn’t excuse the poor outing – it is just a different mindset sometimes when it comes to player development.
RHP Aaron McGarity: 2.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
RHP Deivi Garcia: 2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 2 HR
5.36 ERA (43.2 IP, 47 H, 28 R, 26 ER, 9 HR, 29 BB, 43 K). The baseball gods gave the Yankees a free extra year to evaluate him and it hasn’t gone well. He’s earned some extra service time at least – and will get a fresh start in 2024.
Somerset (57-36; 15-10 in the second half) (Defeated Bowie, 10-3)
SS Trey Sweeney: 0-for-5, 2 K
Sweeney’s 11-game hitting streak is snapped.
CF Jasson Dominguez: 3-for-5, 2 2B (10), 2 RBI, RS
Dominguez is 30-for-94 (.319) in July. You can pick any prospect you wish in this system – Dominguez remains the one you want to see explode a bit. Even if he isn’t a Juan Soto-level unicorn, he can still become a top-of-the-order force for years to come. Nobody in the system has the combination of upside + closeness to MLB that he does.
3B Tyler Hardman: 1-for-3, RBI, RS, BB, HBP, K
C Ben Rice: 1-for-5, HR (4), 2 RBI, RS, K
Since promotion: .379 (11-for-29; 1 double, 4 HR, 12 RBI, 7 R, 3 BB, 3 K). Rice has 8 HR and 32 RBI in 32 games overall in 2023 and still has more walks (26) than strikeouts (23)
LF Elijah Dunham: 2-for-4, HR (5), RBI, 2 RS, 2 K, SB (11)
Dunham has certainly not pouted since his demotion, given he has five home runs and 11 stolen bases in 17 games.
1B Mickey Gasper: 1-for-2, RS, BB, HBP, K, 2 SB (4)
2B Max Burt: 0-for-3, RS, BB,3 K
RF Aaron Palensky: 0-for-2, SF, RBI, RS, HBP, K
DH Jeisson Rosario: 1-for-2, 2B (12), 3 RBI, 2 RS, 2 BB
Rosario has eight doubles in his last 11 games.
RHP Richard Fitts: (W, 7-5) 6 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 10 K, 2 HR
Fitts’ third 10-K game this season. He owns a 3.80 ERA in 106.2 IP (96 H, 46 R, 45 ER, 17 HR, 26 BB, 118 K). You have to love his ability to pound the strike zone though it can get him in trouble when he catches too much of the plate. He has a good upside as a bulldog starting pitcher – which sometimes feels like a lost art in the modern game.
LHP Josh Maciejewski: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
RHP Alex Mauricio: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
3.97 ERA (34 IP, 35 H, 16 R, 15 ER, 12 BB, 35 K)
Hudson Valley (53-42; 14-14 in the second half) (Lost to Hickory, 8-6, in a 5-inning game. They battled back from a 6-0 deficit but the rain got in the way)
DH Spencer Jones: 1-for-4, 2 RBI, K, SB (25)
.270/.340/.474 in 371 PA (24 doubles, 4 triples, 12 HR, 49 RBI, 50 R, 34 BB, 110 K, 25-for-33 SB)
2B Ben Cowles: 1-for-4, 2B (13), RBI, K
.251/.340/.399 in 315 PA with a 12-for-13 SB rate.
1B Rafael Flores: 0-for-1, 2 BB
.290/.370/.386 in 312 PA.
LF Christopher Familia: 0-for-1, 2 BB, K
Since promotion: .259/.302/.481 in 86 PA. After the games of July 20th, he was hitting .190/.217/.276 at this level. I would say an adjustment was made, eh? Overall, Familia is hitting .329/.392/.707 in 181 PA with 16 HR and 45 RBI. So, where does he fit in the prospect puzzle? I would be surprised if the midseason MLB Pipeline list doesn’t have him somewhere on the Yankees’ midseason list. He has shown enough bat to get attention.
SS Alexander Vargas: 0-for-3, 2 K
RF Anthony Garcia: 1-for-2, HR (7), RBI, 2 RS, BB, K, SB (3)
Garcia has homered in three straight games. He is hitting .197/.317/.364 in 205 PA with 31 walks (15.1%) and 75 strikeouts (36.6%). He is known as a three outcomes prospect – but he has been unable to get the K% down to any kind of reasonable rate (plus, you need at least a bit of a hit tool in the lower minors even if one projects it won’t be there in the majors)
C Antonio Gomez: 1-for-2, RS, BB, K
CF Grant Richardson: 1-for-3, RS, 2 K, SB (12)
3B Eduardo Torrealba: 1-for-1, 2 RBI, 2 RS, 2 BB, SB (7)
Torrealba has a little 5-game hitting streak going and is hitting .280/.376/.344 at this level.
RHP Drew Thorpe: (L, 10-2) 4 IP, 9 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 3 HR
This was bound to happen at some point, right? He was on the kind of roll that hardly anyone can sustain forever. Anyway, this jumps his ERA from 2.08 to 2.70 (103.1 IP, 78 H, 35 R, 31 ER, 9 HR, 32 BB, 128 K). He allowed eight total runs in his last nine starts entering tonight (four runs in his last eight starts). One start doesn’t kill a prospect’s value if indeed Thorpe is being discussed in trades. It is simply bad timing.
RHP Carlos Gomez: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K
Tampa (45-50; 14-15 in the second half) (Swept in a doubleheader by Dunedin)
Game 1 (Lost, 13-1. We shall just put this one in the shredder, eh?)
SS Jared Serna: 0-for-3, 2 K
C Jesus Rodriguez: 0-for-2, BB, K
.295/.368/.431 in 319 PA. He doesn’t have the “prospect pedigree” of others so it is hard to find a good, detailed scouting report. If he continues to hit, we’ll start seeing those scouting reports. The best I can find is from Fangraphs back in 2021 when he was on their list of “other guys we like” with a mention of liking his defense behind the plate. For Tampa, as I have mentioned, he has played C/1B/3B/LF.
1B Omar Martinez: 0-for-3, K
CF Daury Arias: 0-for-3, 2 K
DH Tayler Aguilar: 0-for-3, 3 K
2B Brett Barrera: 0-for-2, BB
LF Jake Palmer: 0-for-3
3B Ronny Rojas: 1-for-2, HR (8), RBI, RS, K
Tampa’s only hit goes over the fence. Rojas has four home runs in July (.244/.273/.537)
RF Felix Negueis: 0-for-1, BB, K
RHP Leonardo Pestana: (L, 0-5) 0.2 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 0 K
As I said last week, the Yankees are not likely to give up on a kid throwing in the mid-to-upper 90s. Today just wasn’t his day.
RHP Alex Bustamante: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
RHP Kris Bow: 2.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
Bow is struggling, but you have to keep throwing him out there. You just never know when things will click.
RHP Cole Ayers: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
Game 2 (Lost, 6-3. They loaded up the bases in the 9th but could only muster one run)
DH Jared Serna: 0-for-3, BB, K
.278/.348/.478 in 411 PA. His average hasn’t been this low since he was hitting .267 after games of April 25th. Whenever something like this happens with Serna, he seems to bounce right back. I do worry a little about a “full season wall” – he compiled 204 PA in 2022.
SS Brenny Escanio: 0-for-4, K
C Omar Martinez: 2-for-3, 2B (11), 2 RS, BB
.251/.366/.434 (.800 OPS) in 298 PA. He is 24-for-80 (.300/.380/.588) in July with 5 doubles, 6 HR, and 21 RBI. Nice.
CF Anthony Hall: 0-for-1, 2 BB
.267/.385/.446 in 244 PA. Injuries suck – but I still hope he gets to Hudson Valley soon enough.
CF Daury Arias: 0-for-0, BB
Hall is still essentially rehabbing – no need to read into Arias entering the game.
3B Ronny Rojas: 1-for-3, RBI, BB
LF Jake Palmer: 0-for-2, 2 BB
1B Beau Brewer: 0-for-2, RBI, 2 BB, K
2B Jose Colmenares: 1-for-4, HR (3), RBI, RS, K
RF Felix Negueis: 0-for-2, BB, 2 K
RHP Hayden Merda: (L, 1-5) 4 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
RHP Matt Keating: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K
3.68 ERA (44 IP, 43 H, 24 R, 18 ER, 3 HR, 23 BB, 63 K). Keating threw five different pitches tonight but focused mainly on his slider and 4-seam fastball. He maxed out at 94.3.
FCL Yankees (22-14) (Beat up on the Tigers, 11-4. I say “beat up,” but it was close for a while. The Yankees scored four runs in the 8th and 9th)
SS Keiner Delgado: 2-for-3, RS, BB, K, SB (22), CS (5)
Delgado was pulled early – not sure why. He is on a 10-game hitting streak (14-for-38; .368). His 22 stolen bases are at the top of the league, four ahead of Jhonson Pena (PIT).
PH-SS Hans Montero: 1-for-2, 2B (6), K
While it isn’t likely, it is possible that they wanted to split this game between Delgado and Montero. I would be able to wager that Montero was scheduled to get a full day and something (hopefully minor) happened with Delgado.
3B Enmanuel Tejeda: 0-for-4, RS, BB, 2 K
CF Willy Montero: 1-for-5, 2 K
1B Kiko Romero: 2-for-4, 2B (1), 2 RBI, 2 RS, BB, 2 K
The professional debut for the 22-year-old left-handed bat. He was the Yankees’ 7th-round pick in this year’s draft out of Arizona. While it appears he played a little outfield for Central Arizona College, Arizona anchored him at first base. The offensive bar is already raised.
RF John Cruz: 2-for-4, HR (8), 2 RBI, 2 RS, BB, K
At 17 years old, Cruz already has eight home runs in 33 FCL games. That is serious power production at that level.
LF Jared Wegner: 1-for-5, HR (1), RBI, RS
Wegner, the Yankees’ 9th-round pick out of Arkansas, homers in his professional debut. The good news is that Wegner hit 15 home runs in 43 games for Arkansas this year. The bad news is that he is already 24 years old.
2B Dayro Perez: 1-for-4, RS, BB, K
C Edinson Duran: 2-for-4, RS, BB
DH Juan Sanchez: 2-for-5, 3B (1), HR (2), 5 RBI, 2 RS
This is what you call production from the #9 hole. The 20-year-old left-handed bat is listed as a catcher. He has appeared in only four games this season.
RHP Cam Schlittler: 2.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
2.95 ERA in 21.1 IP (17 H, 10 R, 7 ER, 1 HR, 13 BB, 24 K). The 22-year-old, part of last year’s draft class, is a 6’6″ kid out of Northeastern.
LHP Edwar Polimir: 2.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
RHP Yoljeldriz Diaz (W, 1-0): 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K
DSL Yankees (22-14)
Day off.
DSL Bombers (18-19)
Day off.