Yankees MILB 5/1: Griffin Herring Ks 11

Notes:

The Yankees claimed OF Bryan De La Cruz off waivers from the Braves. In a corresponding move, Giancarlo Stanton was moved to the 60-day IL.

De La Cruz is a one-dimensional power hitter. In 2024, with the Marlins and Pirates, he hit .233/.271/.384 with 21 home runs in 622 plate appearances. This year, the power hasn’t shown up in a small sample size, as he didn’t homer in 50 PA for the Braves. De La Cruz is meh defensively, rating strongly with his arm but not with his range.  He has experience at all three outfield positions. Speed-wise, he rates out fine on Baseball Savant and is 15-for-19 (78.9%) stealing bases in his career.

My take:  The Yankees are looking for right-handed pop, so adding De La Cruz as a depth piece makes sense. It’s a zero-risk move. As a prospect guy, I hope Everson Pereira is above him on the depth chart, but nothing wrong with depth chart competition.

RHP Huey Morrill was promoted from Hudson Valley to Somerset. Morrill owned a 0.93 ERA in seven games for Hudson Valley with a 6/4 K/BB over 9.2 innings.

The FCL season starts on Saturday. I cover the FCL/DSL for those new to this report, but not as extensively as the other levels. For example, you won’t get daily lineups except on (maybe) Opening Day.

Infielder DJ LeMahieu is scheduled to resume his rehab stint on Friday.

Injury Log


Scranton (15-14) (Outslugged Syracuse, 19-8. The Railriders compiled 23 hits, with eight hitters accomplishing multi-hit efforts.)

CF Ismael Munguia: 3-for-5, RBI, 3 R, SB (7), BB
.255/.373/.382 in 128 PA
DH Everson Pereira: 2-for-5, 2 HR (5), 3 RBI, 3 R, BB, K
Pereira tends to go on home run binges from time to time.  This is his 10th career multi-home run game (including a 3-HR effort on September 5, 2021)
1B T.J. Rumfield4-for-5, RBI, 3 R, BB
.272/.387/.489. He has broken free of his 1-for-24 slump.
C Jesus Rodriguez3-for-6, 3 R
Rodriguez has five multi-hit games in 14 contests since his promotion, including three 3-hit games. For Scranton, he is hitting .388/.500/.490 and, during his 6-game hitting streak, he is 13-for-24.  Red hot.
RF Dominic Smith: 2-for-6, 2 RBI, 2 R, 2 K
3B Jose Rojas: 3-for-6, 3 HR (6), 8 RBI, 3 R
Rojas’s first career 3-HR game. He also set a new personal record for RBI in a game.
2B Jake Gatewood3-for-6, RBI, 2 K
Gatewood is 7-for-28 with a homer and 7 RBI since his promotion.
LF Grant Richardson: 2-for-4, 2 2B (4), RBI, R, 2 BB, K
SS Andrew Velazquez1-for-6, R, K

RHP Zach Messinger4.1 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, HR
6.48 ERA (25 IP, 30 H, 18 R, 18 ER, 3 HR, 15 BB, 23 K)
RHP Kervin Castro: (W, 3-0)  1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K
1.10 ERA (16.1 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 7 BB, 19 K)
RHP Colten Brewer2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
RHP Wilking Rodriguez1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K


Somerset (11-13) (Lost to Richmond, 5-1)

3B Dylan Jasso0-for-3, BB, K
DH Spencer Jones: 1-for-3, SB (6), BB, K
.235/.375/.553 in 104 PA. Overall, in Double-A, his triple slash is .256/.342/.461 in 163 games with 34 doubles, 6 triples, 28 HR, 102 RBI, 101 runs, and 39 stolen bases in 52 attempts.
C Rafael Flores1-for-4, 2 K
1B Tyler Hardman0-for-4, 3 K
LF Cole Gabrielson1-for-2, 2B (4), R, SB (9), 2 BB
2B Jose Colmenares0-for-3, BB, K
CF Garrett Martin1-for-3, 2B (4), BB
Martin has seven walks in his last three games and four extra-base hits (2 doubles, 2 HR) in his last five games. Before this run, his triple slash was .174/.333/.348. Now, it is .210/.388/.468.
RF Jared Wegner0-for-3, 2 K
SS Alexander Vargas1-for-3, RBI, K

RHP Cam Schlittler: (L, 2-2) 5 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
2.33 ERA (27 IP, 22 H, 12 R, 7 ER, 1 HR, 6 BB, 29 K).  He hadn’t allowed more than one earned run in a start this season (allowed 6 runs, but only one earned, on 4/17)
RHP Cole Ayers1.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
RHP Huey Morrill1.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
Morrill’s Double-A debut.


Hudson Valley (16-8) (Lost to Jersey Shore, 9-2)

RF Brendan Jones0-for-3, SF, RBI, BB
SS George Lombard Jr.1-for-4, BB, K
There goes the .500 OBP! Bust!  Lombard has reached base safely in 21 of 22 games and has drawn a walk in five straight contests.
CF Jackson Castillo0-for-4, R, BB, 2 K
LF Jace Avina0-for-3, HBP, 2 K
His insane 8-game hitting streak, where he averaged two hits per game, is over.
3B Parks Harber1-for-4, K
Harber is 5-for-12 since his promotion 
1B Coby Morales0-for-3, RBI, BB, K
C Omar Martinez2-for-3, R, BB
.228/.319/.291 in 91 PA. The lack of power (2 doubles, 1 HR) is the most surprising thing in his profile (15 doubles, 13 HR, .404 SLG in 104 games here last year)
DH Josh Moylan0-for-3, BB, K
2B Brenny Escanio0-for-2, 2 BB

RHP Josh Grosz (L, 1-1): 4.2 IP, 11 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, HR
6.06 ERA (16.1 IP, 18 H, 12 R, 11 ER, 2 HR, 9 BB, 22 K)
LHP Geoffrey Gilbert1.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, HR
RHP Hayden Merda1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
RHP Matt Keating1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
4.05 ERA (6.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 HR, 6 BB, 6 K). Keating has 184 strikeouts in 142.1 career innings. However, he has walked 76.
RHP Ocean Gabonia1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K


Tampa (9-15) (Lost to Bradenton, 1-0)

C Edgleen Perez1-for-4
.183/.367/.200 in 79 PA (21.5% BB, 25.3% K)
DH Engelth Urena0-for-2, HBP, BB
.173/.337/.320 in 95 PA (15.8% BB, 21.1% K)
LF Dillon Lewis0-for-4, 2 K
Lewis’s rough start continues (.159/.233/.241 in 90 PA).
2B Austin Green0-for-3, BB, 2 K
RF Tyler Wilson: 0-for-3, BB, K
SS Juan Matheus0-for-3, SB (5), CS (3), BB, 2 K
CF Marshall Toole0-for-3, BB, K
1B Hans Montero1-for-3, HBP
Montero’s first career game at first base. 
3B Owen Cobb0-for-3, 2 K

LHP Griffin Herring: (L, 3-1)  6.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 11 K, HR
Tough luck loss. Season: 0.60 ERA (30 IP, 17 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 HR, 10 BB, 39 K). Herring generated 26 whiffs with his slider (8 whiffs)/sinker (7)/changeup (8)/4-seamer (3) combination. What do I make of the 21-year-old’s start?  What is there to say? This is domination for last year’s 6th-round pick out of LSU, and he could/should find himself in Hudson Valley relatively soon.
RHP Cade Austin0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
RHP Chris Veach1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K
2.61 ERA (10.1 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 HR, 5 BB, 18 K). 


FCL (0-0)

Their season starts on May 3rd.


DSL (0-0)

Their season starts in June.

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