Yankees MILB 6/19: George Lombard Jr. Hits First Pro HR

News:

There was a flurry of moves today, some of which were prompted by the promotion of Ben Rice to the Yankees from Scranton.

The Yankees promoted C/1B Agustin Ramirez from Somerset to replace Rice.

Ramirez’s ascent has been fun and fast. While he performed well as a 17-year-old in the DSL (18.9% K rate was telling), nothing in his triple slash suggested a monster was about to be born (.239/.300/.374 with 4 home runs). Like every minor leaguer, he missed a development year in 2020. In 2022, he spent the entire year in the FCL as a 20-year-old. Do you see where I am going with this? Prospects develop at different rates and you never know when one will explode.

With Ramirez leaving Somerset, the Patriots needed a catcher. Enter Hudson Valley’s Jesus Rodrigueza multi-positional player who carries a big stick. In his minor league career, he is hitting .319/.407/.483 in 1,077 plate appearances including a .339/.428/.515 line in 81 High-A games. He has seen time at catcher (101 games), first base (53; none in 2024), second base (3; all in 2024), third base (68), and left field (23).  Additionally, he played 16 games in right field during the 2023-2024 Venezuelan Winter League season. Despite the offense, Rodriguez hasn’t appeared on many Yankees prospect lists. I think that would change if he continues to rake in Somerset.

The train stopped there, as the Yankees didn’t promote anyone from Tampa to Hudson Valley. Rather, they activated Juan Crisp off of the development list. Crisp has been in the organization since 2019 but has only appeared in 60 games.

Unrelated to those moves, top relief prospect Jack Neely was promoted from Somerset to Scranton. In 33 Double-A games between 2023-2024, Neely pitched to a 2.59 ERA in 48.2 innings with an impressive 77/15 K/BB. I don’t see the 6’8″ Neely staying in Scranton for long – he is being fast-tracked to the Yankees, in my opinion. Unlike many Yankees relievers, Neely is not a groundball specialist (33.8%) but he does miss bats, which is needed.

Scranton (41-28) (Defeated Buffalo, 8-2)

2B Oswald Peraza1-for-4, RBI, RS, BB, 2 K
3B Jorbit Vivas1-for-4, 2B (1), 2 RBI, RS, BB, K
DH Agustin Ramirez1-for-5
Not the sexiest Triple-A debut, but he gets that first hit out of the way.
1B T.J. Rumfield1-for-4, HR (6), 2 RBI, RS, 2 K
Rumfield has four doubles and three homers in his last nine games.
C Carlos Narvaez2-for-3, RS, BB
LF Jose Rojas1-for-2, RS, 2 BB
RF Oscar Gonzalez0-for-4, RS, K
CF Taylor Trammell0-for-2, RS, 2 BB, K
SS Jeter Downs2-for-3, 2B (11), HR (9), SF, 2 RBI, RS
Downs has two doubles and three home runs in his last four games. He is hitting .276/.371/.546.

RHP Will Warren: (W, 5-4)  6 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 2 HR
6.65 ERA (66.1 IP,70 H, 51 R, 49 ER, 16 HR, 26 BB, 72 K). Warren allowed 15 HR in 99.2 IP at this level last season, so 31 HR allowed in 166 Triple-A innings. It’s a juiced-up environment, but that still stands out. If you want good news: Warren seems to be over his May blues. In 22 June innings, he has allowed seven runs on 19 hits with a 24/7 K/BB.
RHP Jesus Liranzo2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K
Liranzo dialed it up to 97.4 MPH. Despite what is a good arm, the 29-year-old has yet to make his MLB debut.
RHP Jack Neely1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
Neely hit 98.1 MPH with his fastball. He could come to MLB quickly.


Somerset (32-33) (Lost to Erie, 11-2)

CF Spencer Jones0-for-4, 3 K
3B Jesus Rodriguez0-for-2, RS, HBP, BB
Rodriguez reaches base a pair of times in his Double-A debut.
DH Tyler Hardman0-for-4, 3 K
SS Ben Cowles1-for-4, 2B (21)
Cowles, trying to break out of a slump, hits his 21st double in 61 games.
C J.C. Escarra1-for-3, RS, BB
LF Jared Wegner1-for-3, 2B (8), RBI, BB
Wegner has four doubles in his last four games.
RF Elijah Dunham0-for-3, BB, K
2B Jordan Groshans0-for-3
1B Max Burt1-for-3, 2 K

LHP Brock Selvidge: (L, 6-5) 4.2 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
He pitched well through four innings but was roughed up in the fifth. Season: 3.95 ERA (68.1 IP, 57 H, 38 R, 30 ER, 4 HR, 34 BB, 70 K)
RHP McKinley Moore2.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Moore was moved up here today.
RHP Carlos Gomez2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 2 HR


Hudson Valley (33-31) (Lost to Greensboro, 8-2)

2B Roc Riggio1-for-2, 2B (9), 2 BB
.210/.358/.364 in 218 PA. He has reached base safely in 10 straight games (10-for-40, 2 doubles, 2 HR, 7 BB)
SS Jared Serna0-for-3, BB, 2 K
.272/.373/.490 in 284 PA. Whether he is a long-term shortstop or not, they are getting a long look at him there (53 starts in 2024, 52 starts in 2023). Letting him play shortstop is also a showcase for opposing scouts.
RF Jace Avina1-for-4
.272/.352/.446 in 233 PA. It’s been a slow June for Avina, but a correction was likely after his incredible start. 
C Rafael Flores0-for-3, BB, K
Flores is hitting .297/.412/.497 in 211 PA. Given all his High-A experience (157 games, 645 PA), he likely was also in consideration for the Somerset promotion.  He likely will get there this year regardless.
DH Omar Martinez1-for-4, RS, K
The Yankees have never moved Martinez up a level during a season. That doesn’t mean he is stuck here for 2024, but trends sometimes have meaning. This is not necessarily a bad thing.
LF Christopher Familia0-for-3, RS, HBP, K
1B Josh Moylan0-for-4, 2 K
CF Cole Gabrielson1-for-4, 2B (10), 2 RBI, K
Gabrielson’s 2-run double broke up the shutout in the 9th, preventing back-to-back shutouts.
3B Kiko Romero1-for-4, 2 K

RHP Baron Stuart: (L, 4-2)  4.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 10 K, HR
Stuart sets a new personal best with the 10-strikeout performance. 
RHP Eric Reyzelman1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
Reyzelman hasn’t allowed a run in 10.2 IP between here and the FCL (3 H, 3 BB, 17 K)
RHP Matt Keating: 2 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, HR
Keating struck out the side in order in his first inning of work. Season: 3.63 ERA (39.2 IP, 27 H, 18 R, 16 ER, 4 HR, 17 BB, 48 K). The 23-year-old struck out 93 batters in 65.1 innings for Low-A Tampa in 2023.


Tampa (24-41) (Defeated Palm Beach, 3-2)

DH Enmanuel Tejeda: 2-for-3, 2B (6), RS, SB (17), BB
Back-to-back multi-hit efforts (15th on the season)
2B George Lombard Jr.: 1-for-4, HR (1), 2 RBI, RS, SB (17)
Lombard Jr. launches his first professional home run. He is on a 5-game hitting streak.
SS Roderick Arias0-for-4, 2 K
1B Dylan Jasso1-for-4, K
C Antonio Gomez0-for-1, BB
Gomez’s rehab assignment moved up to Tampa today.
  C Tomas Frick0-for-2, K
CF Jackson Castillo: 3-for-4, RS
.253/.383/.420 in 201 PA. Castillo has three 3-hit efforts (two this month)
3B Hans Montero1-for-4
LF Willy Montero2-for-3, RBI, BB
Montero walks it off with an RBI single in the bottom of the 9th.
RF Coby Morales0-for-3, K

RHP JT Brubaker3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
Brubaker needs only 22 pitches in his first rehab appearance to get through three innings.
RHP Scott Effross1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
Effross maxed out at 90.2 MPH with his sinker (remember that he isn’t a velocity guy!). Hopefully, he can get to New York soon enough.
RHP Gabriel Barbosa: (W, 2-7)  5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
A nice piggyback night for Barbosa. Season: 5.63 ERA (62.1 IP, 68 H, 40 R, 39 ER, 7 HR, 18 BB, 63 K). 


FCL (20-13)

Scheduled day off.


DSL Yankees (4-8)

Scheduled day off.


DSL Bombers (6-5) (Lost to the DSL Pirates, 7-6)

SS Christofer Reyes: 1-for-4, RBI, RS, SB (5), K
DH Browm Martinez
2-for-4, RBI, RS, SB (9)
Martinez runs wild. He has 8 hits, 2 walks, 1 HBP, and 9 stolen bases.
RF Richard Meran: 1-for-3

LHP Franyer Herrera3.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
RHP Mauricio Vargas1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K
The 17-year-old’s second career appearance.