Yankees MILB 8/20: Austin Wells: 2 HR, 7 RBI

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Quick commentary: Anyone who follows the minors knows that Triple-A is an offensive haven. It used to be that the PCL was crazy while the International League played more fairly. Nowadays, both leagues are offense-first (the PCL (teams average 6.26 R/G) is still the king of offense, as the International League is at 5.57). This doesn’t mean you disqualify kids just because they hit well in an offensive league. Keep it in mind when you look at boxscores, but don’t dismiss what you are looking at based on that alone.

Scranton (57-60; 23-20 in the second half) (Destroyed Worcester, 13-1)

CF Estevan Florial: 2-for-5, 2 RS, BB, 2 K
.291/.385/.571 in 392 PA (16 doubles, 4 triples, 23 HR, 59 RBI, 65 R, 53 BB, 116 K (29.6%), 19-for-29 SB)
SS Oswald Peraza3-for-5, 3 RS, BB, K, SB (16)
Back-to-back 3-hit efforts (and three in the month of August) for Peraza, who is up to .268/.357/.479 in 299 PA. 
LF Everson Pereira0-for-2, 3 RS, 2 BB, HBP, K, 2 SB (4)
Obviously, we love the power – but it is nice to see Pereira reach base in other ways today and use his wheels. Pereira is not likely a big stolen base guy in the majors, but he should reach double digits with a chance to reach the 20 mark. He is at .312/.386/.551 in 158 PA at this level. 
DH Austin Wells: 2-for-4, 2 HR (4), 7 RBI, 3 RS, BB
Wells’ first career multi-HR game and he sets a new personal best for RBI in a game. Through Friday, he was hitting .244/.340/.372 at this level. Now, two days later, he is hitting .260/.351/.479 in 111 PA at this level. Overall, he has 16 homers and 70 runs batted in 88 games this season.
1B Andres Chaparro0-for-4, SF, RBI, K
Chaparro is up to 75 RBI, giving him the organization’s lead (Jared Serna has 74)
C Carlos Narvaez1-for-5, 2B (8), 2 RBI, K
3B Jamie Westbrook: 2-for-5, 2B (16), HR (18), 2 RBI, RS, 2 K
RF Brandon Lockridge: 3-for-5, 2B (7), SB (17)
Lockridge is up to 34 stolen bases in 38 attempts between here and Somerset. 
2B Wilmer Difo1-for-5, HR (5), RBI, RS, 2 K

RHP Will Warren: (W, 5-4) 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
At this level: 4.85 ERA (65 IP, 63 H, 45 R, 35 ER, 12 HR, 35 BB, 67 K). Warren is up to 94.1 innings this season, so he has plenty of bullets to fire (129 IP in 2022)
RHP Zach Greene1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 0 K
LHP Anthony Misiewicz0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
LHP Nick Ramirez1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K

Somerset (67-46; 25-19 in the second half) (Defeated Reading, 6-1)

DH Jasson Dominguez: 4-for-5, 3 2B (19), RBI, RS
Dominguez, who compiles his first career 3-double game, has two 4-hit games in his last three games played. He is up to .254/.367/.414 (.781 OPS) in 507 PA (19 doubles, 2 triples, 15 HR, 66 RBI, 82 R, 77 BB (15.2%), 130 K (25.6%), 37-for-44 SB (84.1%)). It is fun to do “what has he done lately?” stats – but his full season is now speaking for itself.  By the way, one way to develop your game is by playing it. Dominguez has 1,037 plate appearances over the last two seasons. Does he deserve to play in Scranton for a few weeks? I think so – maybe they will get him there before the end of August.
C Agustin Ramirez: 1-for-4, 2 RBI, RS, BB, K
Last 7 games: 8-for-30 (.267). That may not impress you, but he started 3-for-22 at this level.
CF Elijah Dunham2-for-5, RBI, 2 K
3B Caleb Durbin: 2-for-3, BB, CS (4)
Durbin is hitting .277 with a .765 OPS in 133 PA at this level. He has back-to-back 2-hit games. 
  1B Josh Breaux0-for-1, K
RF Aaron Palensky: 1-for-4, RBI, BB, 2 K, 2 SB (11)
Palensky is the first Yankees prospect to reach 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases this season. He is a double away from adding 20 doubles to that list (Jared Serna needs one home run to get himself in the 20/20/20 club)
LF Jeisson Rosario0-for-2, BB, K
SS Jesus Bastidas: 2-for-4, HR (3), RBI, RS
Bastidas, who hit 18 homers for Somerset in 2022, is up to 12 between Somerset/Scranton in 2023. 
1B-3B Mickey Gasper0-for-3, RS, BB, K
2B Max Burt0-for-3, RS, BB, K

RHP Blane Abeyta: (W, 8-6)  5.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, HR
5.43 ERA (106 IP, 105 H, 66 R, 64 ER, 14 HR, 43 BB, 108 K). The 24-year-old was one of the post-draft signings after the shortened 2020 COVID draft.
RHP Bailey Dees2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K
Since promotion: 10.2 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 0 HR, 6 BB, 9 K. Overall, Dees has a 68/21 K/BB ratio in 52 innings.
RHP Danny Watson1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K
Since promotion: 1.48 ERA (30.1 IP, 14 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 HR, 15 BB, 35 K). 

Hudson Valley (63-51; 24-24 in the second half) (Defeated Brooklyn, 7-1)

CF Spencer Jones: 3-for-4, HR (13), RBI, 2 RS, BB, SB (35)
Jones has four 3-hit games this month and 14 3+ hit games this season. Believe it or not, this was his first home run since July 19th. He is hitting .268/.339/.456 in 447 PA (28 doubles, 4 triples, 13 HR, 55 RBI, 61 R, 42 BB, 131 K (29.3%), 35-for-43 SB)
SS Alexander Vargas1-for-4, SF, RBI, RS, K
.213/.255/.359 in 388 PA (14 doubles, 6 triples, 9 HR, 50 RBI, 49 R, 21 BB, 100 K (25.8%), 13-for-19 SB). There is some improvement here over his time in Tampa in 2022 but he has yet to really put the entire package together.
1B Jesus Rodriguez: 2-for-4, 2B (2), RBI, RS, BB, K
Since promotion: .389 (14-for-36; 2 doubles, HR, 8 RBI, 6 R, 8 BB, 8 K). He continues to lead the organization in batting average (amongst qualifiers in the full-season leagues) at .307/.393/.437.
DH Christopher Familia1-for-4, 2 RBI, BB, K
The ultra-productive Familia has 56 RBI in 55 games between here and Tampa. 
3B Ben Cowles1-for-4, RS, BB, K, 3 SB (20)
Cowles is now 17-for-49 in August (4 doubles, 1 triple, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 11 R, 14 BB, 14 K, 7-for-9 SB)
C Rafael Flores1-for-5, K
RF Grant Richardson: 1-for-5, RBI, 3 K, 2 SB (14)
LF Jared Wegner1-for-4, HR (1), RBI, RS, K
Wegner’s first HR since his promotion. He is the first 2023 draftee to make it this high up for the Yankees, and it makes sense as he is 24 years old. 
2B Luis Santos0-for-3, RS, BB, K

RHP Brendan Beck4.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, HR
While unimportant, Beck was an out away from his first professional win. He is simply on a strict pitch count, coming off of injury. At this level: 1.74 ERA (31 IP, 24 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 HR, 7 BB, 35 K). Will they allow the 24-year-old to get his feet wet in Double-A?
LHP Clay Aguilar: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K
3.03 ERA (32.2 IP, 27 H, 13 R, 11 ER, 16 BB, 47 K)
RHP Luis Velasquez: (W, 3-1)  2.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
Since promotion: 2.05 ERA (30.2 IP, 18 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 1 HR, 18 BB, 34 K)
RHP Cole Ayers1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
Since promotion: 10.1 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 HR, 3 BB, 9 K

Tampa (55-59; 24-24 in the second half) (Lost to Daytona, 3-0)

2B Roc Riggio: 1-for-3, BB, K, CS (1)
At this level: 7-for-33 with 15 walks and 14 strikeouts. Watch Riggio closely as he has “fast rise” potential in 2024.
3B Kiko Romero0-for-4, 3 K
11-for-56 (.196) with 13 walks and 24 strikeouts.
DH Omar Martinez0-for-4, 2 K
.261/.373/.472 in 383 PA (15 doubles, 1 triple, 17 HR, 64 RBI, 58 R, 56 BB (14.6%), 100 K (26.1%), 8-for-9 SB)
SS Brenny Escanio0-for-4, K
CF Cole Gabrielson0-for-4, K
RF Garrett Martin0-for-3, BB, 2 K
8-for-42 (.190) with seven walks and 16 strikeouts. 
1B Beau Brewer1-for-2, BB
Brewer has a 5-game hitting streak and is 16-for-39 with 12 walks in August.
LF Daury Arias0-for-2, HBP, K
C Manuel Palencia0-for-2, BB

RHP Yorlin Calderon3.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K
3.29 ERA (68.1 IP, 63 H, 28 R, 25 ER, 5 HR, 23 BB, 86 K). He has likely done enough overall to earn a chance in Hudson Valley, but if the goal was to start stretching him out (this was his second straight start), doing so in Tampa is fine.
RHP Ocean Gabonia: 2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K
5.52 ERA (44 IP, 43 H, 33 R, 27 ER, 24 BB, 40 K). Gabonia is 22, but this is his first healthy season.
RHP Montana Semmel (L, 2-1): 1.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, HR
RHP Alex Bustamante0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K

FCL Yankees (32-21) (Playoff bound)

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DSL Yankees (32-18) 

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DSL Bombers (26-26)

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