News:
I have nothing interesting to report.
Scranton (70-72; 36-32 in the second half) (Defeated Buffalo, 7-6, in 12 innings. They still have one week left in the season)
C Carlos Narvaez: 0-for-4, 2 BB
RF Franchy Cordero: 1-for-4, RBI, 2 BB, K, SB (8)
3B Andres Chaparro: 0-for-5, SF, RBI, RS, 2 K
Chaparro is up to 85 RBI. 15 RBI in six games is a tall task if he wants to reach 100, but his season will go down as a productive one.
1B Josh Breaux: 2-for-5, RS
DH Jake Lamb: 1-for-4, RS, BB, 3 K
SS Jesus Bastidas: 3-for-5, 2 2B (13), RBI, RS, 2 K
I like utility types that show some pop, which is why I have bullish tendencies with Bastidas. He won’t be a star – he may be nothing more than an up-and-down guy. But I do think he makes MLB.
LF Aaron Palensky: 1-for-3, HR (1), 3 RBI, RS, 2 BB
Palensky’s HR in the top of the 9th tied the score at 4. He has 21 home runs between here, Somerset, and Hudson Valley.
2B Wilmer Difo: 0-for-5, K
CF Nelson Medina: 0-for-4, 2 RS, BB, K, CS (1)
RHP Frankie Montas: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
Montas featured all four of his pitches, maxing out at 96.1 MPH. While he is intriguing and you can never have enough pitching, I think they move on from Montas this winter. They have young arms who are ready to contribute + they will seemingly be heavily involved in negotiations for Japanese RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
RHP Will Warren: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 10 K
Sometimes, I worry when a starter follows up a rehabbing player – but it certainly didn’t impact Warren today. This is his first career double-digit strikeout performance. In September, the 24-year-old is dominating, pitching to a 0.38 ERA in 23.2 IP (10 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 9 BB, 29 K). Overall, for Scranton, he owns a 3.71 ERA in 94.2 IP (78 H, 49 R, 39 ER, 45 BB, 103 K). Unless they bring him up to the big leagues now, he is in line for one more start this season.
RHP Michael Gomez: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
RHP Matt Bowman: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
RHP Zach Greene : 1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, HR
RHP Aaron McGarity: 1.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
LHP Clay Aguilar (W, 1-1): 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K
Aguilar appears to be a slider/change-up heavy reliever.
Somerset (84-53; 42-27 in the second half) (Closed out their regular season with a 7-1 win over New Hampshire. Their playoff journey starts on Tuesday against Binghamton)
SS Trey Sweeney: 2-for-5, 2B (20), 2 RS, K
.252/.367/.411 in 472 PA (20 doubles, 2 triples, 13 HR, 49 RBI, 67 R, 65 BB, 90 K, 20-for-27 SB). The injury sucked but 472 plate appearances is more than enough for evaluation.
DH Ben Rice: 2-for-4, HR (16), 3 RBI, RS, BB
Between all levels, Rice finishes (assuming he doesn’t go to Scranton) his regular season with 20 homers, 68 RBI, and 62 runs scored in only 73 games.
CF Spencer Jones: 3-for-5, HR (3), 2 RBI, RS, K
Jones compiles three straight multi-hit games to close out his regular season. In his last ten games, he went 15-for-42 (.357) to help him finish his Somerset campaign at .261 with a .739 OPS.
C Agustin Ramirez: 1-for-5, 2B (7), K
Why don’t I worry much about Ramirez’s slump after coming to this level? He struck out 19.4% of the time after his promotion. Overall, he struck out 17.3% of the time this season. Yes, it spiked a bit for Somerset but it is not outrageous – he seemingly was not overwhelmed here.
1B T.J. Rumfield: 1-for-4, 2B (14), 2 K
1B Mickey Gasper: 0-for-1, K
2B Caleb Durbin: 2-for-5, RS
Durbin hit .304/.395/.427 with 36 stolen bases in 69 games between here and Hudson Valley.
RF Elijah Dunham: 1-for-4, 2B (13), RBI, RS, K, SB (23)
Dunham has 25 doubles and 35 stolen bases between here and Scranton. It has to be at least somewhat frustrating that he wasn’t able to get off to a strong start in 2023, as the Yankees could have deployed him in their much-depleted OF at some point.
3B Max Burt: 0-for-4, K
LF Jeisson Rosario: 1-for-2, RS, 2 BB, K
RHP Matt Sauer: (W, 6-4) 6.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, HR
For Somerset: 3.42 ERA in 68.1 IP (49 H, 27 R, 26 ER, 11 HR, 29 BB, 83 K). He had a strong finish and I don’t know if he will slip through the Rule 5 again.
RHP Jack Neely: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
For Somerset: 2.55 ERA in 17.2 IP (12 H, 9 R, 5 ER, 4 HR, 3 BB, 26 K). Overall, Neely put together a 100/20 in 66.1 IP between here and Hudson Valley.
LHP Ryan Anderson: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
RHP Harrison Cohen: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
Hudson Valley (70-62; 31-35 in the second half) (Lost to Greenville, 2-0, in Game 1. They will once again need to sweep two games. The difference this time is that they are going on the road instead of heading home. In Game 1, a bout of wildness by a pair of relievers cost them – Greenville scored two runs without the benefit of a hit in the 6th)
3B Ben Cowles: 0-for-3, HBP, K
2B Jared Serna: 1-for-4
DH Christopher Familia: 1-for-4, K
LF Jesus Rodriguez: 0-for-4
1B Spencer Henson: 0-for-3, 3 K
C Rafael Flores: 0-for-2, BB
RF Anthony Hall: 0-for-3, K
SS Alexander Vargas: 0-for-3, 2 K
CF Cole Gabrielson: 0-for-1, 2 BB, K
As you can see, offense was a big issue today…
RHP Jackson Fristoe: 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K
A nice High-A debut for Fristoe. Yes, the minor league playoffs are built differently (LOL) – a youngster making his level debut in Game 1 of the championship series is likely not all that uncommon. Anyway, Fristoe’s calling card is his ability to throw the baseball fast. We don’t have Savant data for today, but one has to be impressed with the stat line.
RHP Baron Stuart: (L, 0-1) 1 IP, 0 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
RHP Sebastian Keane: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K
RHP Osiel Rodriguez: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K
Rodriguez is throwing well as the season comes to a close…
RHP Luis Arejula: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
Arejula’s High-A debut.
Tampa (61-69; 30-34 in the second half)
Their season is over.
FCL Yankees (35-22; 1-2 in the playoffs)
They lost to the Braves in the championship series. Their season is over.
DSL Yankees (33-19)
Their season is over, as they missed the playoffs by a half-game.
DSL Bombers (27-26)
Their season is over.