Yankees MILB 5/3: Ben Rice Reaches Base 4 Times

News:

C Josh Breaux has been added to the Development List. Essentially, the Development List is…what you think it is. A place where organizations place players for help in their development. Breaux is no longer a young prospect, so you can wonder what they are trying to develop (could be as simple as first base reps outside of doing it during a game). Breaux can do everything he typically does and continues to get paid. However, he cannot play in games.

Players on the Development List do not count towards Scranton’s roster. They do count against the organization’s overall roster.  An organization is “only” allowed to have 180 players in their minor league systems (this does not include the Dominican Summer League (DSL)). Breaux still counts against that while not counting against Scranton’s roster limit.

There will be a quiz on this topic next week.

IF Enmanuel Tejeda, hitting .330 after back-to-back 4-hit nights, was placed on the 7-day injured list for Tampa. They replaced him on the roster with IF Hans Montero, a $1.7 million bonus baby signed in 2021. At ages 17-18. Montero struggled in the DSL. At 19, he had a good year in the FCL, hitting .257/.419/.404 (127 wRC+) in 234 plate appearances with 5 HR, 23 RBI, 41 runs, and 17 stolen bases.

Scranton (21-9) (Defeated Jacksonville, 7-2)

SS Caleb Durbin1-for-4, 2B (12), 2 RS, HBP
Durbin is on a 9-game hitting streak (12-for-37; .324) and is up to .287/.411/.461 in 142 PA (12 doubles, 1 triple, 2 HR, 22 RBI, 22 R, 22 BB (15.5%), 14 K (9.9%), 13-for-14 SB (92.9%).
DH Everson Pereira0-for-5, 4 K
.257/.331/.523 in 121 PA (6 doubles, 1 triple, 7 HR, 19 RBI, 20 R, 9 BB, 46 K (38.0%), 3-for-5 SB). He owned a 27.8% K rate for Scranton in 2023. A 10.2% increase is not what anyone wants to see, including trade partners.
1B T.J. Rumfield2-for-5, 2B (6), HR (2), RBI, RS, K
Rumfield is at .300/.338/.500 in 65 PA since his promotion (6 doubles, 2 HR, 12 RBI).
C Carlos Narvaez2-for-4, 2B (5), 3 RBI, BB, K
Narvaez got a taste of MLB life (and now has their health insurance plan).
3B Jose Rojas1-for-4, HR (4), RBI, RS
2B Josh VanMeter1-for-3, 2B (5), RS, BB, K
LF Greg Allen0-for-3, RS, SB (4), BB, 2 K
RF Luis Gonzalez1-for-3, RBI, RS, SB (3), BB
CF Brandon Lockridge1-for-4, RBI, RS, K

LHP Edgar Barclay (W, 3-1): 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K
Barclay allowed a pair of runs in the first inning but settled in from there. Season: 3.07 ERA (29.1 IP, 24 H, 13 R, 10 ER, 2 HR, 16 BB, 32 K)
LHP Clayton Andrews2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
LHP Anthony Misiewicz1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K


Somerset (11-14) (Defeated New Hampshire, 4-3)

CF Spencer Jones0-for-5, 4 K
Jones’ strikeout rate has ticked above 30% (31.4) thanks to ten strikeouts in his last 19 plate appearances. He will have swing-and-miss in his game – it’s just the nature of the beast. This also shows you to calm down a bit – there’s still development time needed. He is hitting .266/.329/.438 in 70 plate appearances.
1B Ben Rice: 2-for-3, RBI, RS, SB (3), 2 BB
Rice’s hitting streak reaches 7 (10-for-27; 2 doubles, 2 HR, 8 walks). He is hitting .286/.414/.549 and does not belong here. 
C Agustin Ramirez1-for-2, SB (5), 2 BB, K
Ramirez has five walks in his last two games and 19 walks in 23 games. He is hitting .233/.377/.558 in 106 PA.
SS Ben Cowles1-for-4, RBI
.337/.417/.596 in 103 PA (10 doubles, 2 triples, 3 HR, 17 RBI, 15 R, 12 BB, 17 K, 3-for-3 SB). He hasn’t run much this season but he was 23-for-27 in that category in 2023.
3B Jordan Groshans1-for-3, RS, BB
DH J.C. Escarra0-for-2, RS, 2 BB
LF Grant Richardson1-for-3, BB, K
Richardson is up to .296/.363/.453 in 80 PA (8 doubles, 2 HR, 14 RBI, 10 R, 6 BB, 18 K, 5-for-6 SB). He has ability – whether it becomes MLB viable is the question.
RF Elijah Dunham0-for-1, RBI, RS, SB (2), 2 BB, HBP
2B Alexander Vargas1-for-1, RBI
Vargas left the game due to injury after his RBI single (he was thrown out trying to go to second)
   2B Anthony Seigler1-for-3, K

LHP Brock Selvidge: (W, 2-1) 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
This game was a slog for Selvidge (including his error), but he used the power of the ground ball to fight through it. Season: 1.73 ERA (26 IP, 21 H, 10 R, 5 ER, 0 HR, 9 BB, 28 K).  Selvidge has allowed seven homers in 200 career innings. He should be a contender for the 2025 rotation, though we have seen Brian Cashman flip plenty of upper-level pitchers over the last few years.
RHP Carlos Gomez2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
0.73 ERA (12.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 HR, 8 BB, 9 K). Throughout his career, walks have been the problem.
RHP Luis Velasquez: (S, 1) 2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K


Hudson Valley (14-10) (Lost to Wilmington, 13-8. GameCast had issues with this game. I know that Juan Crisp came into this game to pitch in the 9th, for example – GameCast doesn’t yet show it. UPDATE: GameCast is fixed)

RF Jace Avina1-for-6, 2 RBI, RS, 2 K
SS Jared Serna2-for-4, 2B (5), 2 RBI, BB, 2 K
Serna has 12 hits in his last five games. He has turned around his season quickly and is up to .244 with a .835 OPS. 
C Omar Martinez1-for-4, BB, 2 K
3B Jesus Rodriguez1-for-3, 2 RS, SB (3), 2 BB
Rodriguez is hitting .310 with a .864 OPS. 
1B Josh Moylan: 1-for-4, 2B (2), RS, BB
DH Kiko Romero: 1-for-5, RS, 3 K
CF Nelson Medina: 3-for-5, 3 RBI, RS, SB (3), K
LF Cole Gabrielson1-for-3, RS, 2 BB, K
2B Beau Brewer: 2-for-4, RS, BB

LHP Kyle Carr: (L, 0-2)  4 IP, 9 H, 9 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
This is one of those starts you toss into the wastebasket.
RHP Luis Arejula1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
RHP Cole Ayers: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
1.80 ERA (15 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 HR, 6 BB, 20 K)
RHP Steven Fulgencio: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 K
RHP Juan Crisp0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
Crisp was activated today – he isn’t a pitcher, however. He is a catcher who was sitting on the Development List. He replaced C Ramon Flores on the roster, who was placed on the injured list today.


Tampa (7-18) (Lost to Dunedin, 5-2)

DH Coby Morales2-for-3, RBI, RS, SB (6), BB, K
Morales was the offense tonight and is now hitting .225/.355/.258 thanks to a solid start to May (5-for-12)
SS Roderick Arias0-for-4, 3 K
Arias is in a 0-for-14 slump that includes eight strikeouts. I have a feeling that this is going to be a streaky season, which is fine as long as he is showing progress.
1B Dylan Jasso0-for-4, 2 K
CF Willy Montero0-for-4, K
3B Hans Montero0-for-4, K
RF Daury Arias0-for-4, 2 K
C Edinson Duran0-for-2, HBP
LF Tayler Aguilar0-for-2, RS, BB, 2 K
2B Dayro Perez0-for-2, BB, K

LHP Allen Facundo5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, HR
He maxed out at 96.4 MPH (averaged 93.9) and threw mainly sliders (54%) and 4-seamers (34%) with some sinkers and change-ups mixed in. Season: 2.76 ERA (16.1 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 1 HR, 9 BB, 15 K). Before tonight, Facundo hadn’t allowed a home run in 90.1 career innings. In his debut season (2021), Facundo struck out 84 hitters in 48.2 IP (40.6% K rate) in the DSL. He missed all of 2022 before tossing 30.1 innings in 2023.
RHP Yoljeldriz Diaz1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K
RHP Kris Bow1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
3.97 ERA (11.1 IP, 6 H, 8 R, 5 ER, 0 HR, 8 BB, 12 K)
RHP Ocean Gabonia: (L, 0-1) 1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K


FCL (0-0)

The season starts on 5/4.


DSL (0-0)

It will be a while before their season starts!