Yankees MILB 7/19: Spencer Jones, George Lombard Jr. Homer
Notes:
C/1B Rafael Flores has finally been promoted to Scranton. Given Jesus Rodriguez‘s ability to play third base, there will be plenty of playing time for both.
After playing in 162 games for High-A Hudson Valley, Flores played in 152 for Somerset. He hit .281/.351/.505 with 37 doubles, a triple, 30 home runs, 89 RBI, 88 runs, 12 stolen bases (12 attempts), 25.97% K, and 9.0% BB. After posting a 153 wRC+ in Double-A in 2024, he compiled a 147 wRC+ in 2025.
Other promotions today include RHP Bailey Dees going to Scranton, C Tomas Frick going to Somerset, and C/1B John Cristino going from the FCL to Hudson Valley. Cristino has little professional experience (32 games) but is 25 years old.
RHP Yerry De los Santos, who pitched fairly well for the Yankees earlier this season, has started a rehab stint in Somerset.
Scranton (54-37; 16-3 in second half) (Outslugged Worcester, 10-8. They’ve scored 21 runs in two games since the break)
RF Everson Pereira: 1-for-5, HR (17), RBI, 2 R, K
Pereira leads off the game with a 357-foot home run. He has homered in back-to-back games and has five in his last nine games. His triple slash sits at .260/.360/.519 in 275 plate appearances. I mentioned last night that he had 82 homers in 392 games. I should have added that he hit four home runs in his first 59 career games.
CF Spencer Jones: 4-for-5, 2B (4), HR (8), 3 RBI, R, BB
Not to be outdone, Jones followed up Pereira’s home run with a 433-foot, 107.4 MPH bomb to center. For Scranton, he is hitting .397/.459/.841 in 74 PA (4 doubles, 8 HR, 18 RBI, 19 R, 6-for-6 SB, 12.2% BB, 27.0% K). Overall, he is hitting .307/.408/.660 in 282 PA (12 doubles, 24 HR, 50 RBI, 61 R, 16-for-18 SB, 14.5% BB, 31.9% K). Amongst all minor leaguers who have played in full-season leagues all season, his 1.068 OPS is tied for first with Mike Sirota (LAD). Incredible.
C Rafael Flores: 1-for-6, 2 K
Flores finally makes his Triple-A debut.
1B T.J. Rumfield: 2-for-3, 2B (23), RBI, R, 3 BB, K
.306/.388/.498 in 353 PA with 11 homers and an organization-leading 64 RBI. Rumfield is on a 7-game hitting streak that features five multi-hit efforts and has seven multi-hit games over his last ten contests.
3B Jeimer Candelario: 1-for-6, R, K
2B Jose Rojas: 4-for-5, 3B (3), 3 HR (17), 5 RBI, 3 R
Prospect or not (he’s 32!), this is a tremendous game. It’s his second 3-HR game this season (May 1st). He has 63 RBI, one behind organizational leader T.J. Rumfield.
SS Nicky Lopez: 1-for-4, 2B (2), BB, 2 K
Lopez is 13-for-36 (.361) since joining the organization.
LF Duke Ellis: 1-for-3, 2B (3), 2 R, SB (13), BB, K
RHP Erick Leal: 5 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, HR
LHP Jayvien Sandridge: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
LHP Brent Headrick: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K
Headrick was activated off the injured list today.
RHP Clayton Beeter (W, 1-0): 1 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
Can we put quotation marks around that “win”?
RHP Kervin Castro (S, 2): 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K
1.80 ERA (25 IP, 11 H, 8 R, 5 ER, 1 HR, 12 BB, 32 K)
Somerset (48-41; 13-7 in second half) (Lost to Hartford, 6-5, in ten innings. The minors are about development. It’s going to be tough for Somerset to replace Spencer Jones and Rafael Flores, but others will need to pick up the slack.)
SS George Lombard Jr.: 2-for-5, 2B (10), HR (3), RBI, R
Coming out of the break, Lombard Jr. has a pair of doubles and a homer. He is hitting .208/.329/.325 in 255 plate appearances since his promotion.
2B Roc Riggio: 1-for-3, HR (9), RBI, R, SB (6), CS (3), HBP, BB, 2 K
Since promotion: .276/.359/.578 in 131 PA (8 doubles, 9 HR, 24 RBI, 23 R, 6-for-9 SB, 8.4% BB, 22.1% K). Overall, Riggio has 12 doubles and 16 home runs in 53 games. His stolen base percentage has taken a hit this year (8-for-15 after a 27-for-33 rate last year)
CF Jace Avina: 1-for-4, 2B (1), R, BB, K
3B Dylan Jasso: 1-for-5, 2B (13), RBI, 3 K
.263/.335/.457 in 340 PA (13 doubles, 5 triples, 12 HR, 46 RBI, 48 R, 0-for-2 SB (not everyone is a speedster!), 7.9% BB, 22.4% K). Jasso is on a 5-game hitting streak.
C Omar Martinez: 0-for-3, 2 BB, K
DH Brendan Jones: 0-for-4, SB (9), K
Jones is 32-for-37 (86.5%) stealing bases between here and Hudson Valley. In his career, he is an impressive 50-for-55 in 102 games.
1B Tyler Hardman: 0-for-3, R, BB, 3 K
LF Cam Eden: 2-for-4, 3B (1), R, SB (5), CS (2)
RF Jared Wegner: 0-for-3, SF, RBI, K
Wegner’s sacrifice fly tied the game at five in the 9th.
RHP Trent Sellers: 4.2 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, HR
3.71 ERA (70.1 IP, 55 H, 32 R, 29 ER, 7 HR, 36 BB, 85 K). Sellers has shown the ability to miss bats (185 strikeouts in 154 career innings) and, despite what happened tonight, limits hits (98). The walks are high (76).
RHP Mason Vinyard: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K
RHP Yerry De los Santos: 1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, HR
De los Santos makes his first rehab appearance. He has a 1.89 ERA (3.58 FIP) in 20 innings for the Yankees this season.
RHP Cole Ayers: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
RHP Indigo Diaz: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
RHP Danny Watson: (L, 1-3) 1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 0 K
Hudson Valley (52-35; 14-9 second half) (Lost to Jersey Shore, 4-1)
CF Jackson Castillo: 0-for-3, BB
.245/.343/.339 in 347 PA.
LF Coby Morales: 1-for-4, 2 K
SS Alexander Vargas: 0-for-4
3B Jose Colmenares: 0-for-3, 2 K
DH Josh Moylan: 2-for-2, 3B (3), R, BB
C Manuel Palencia: 0-for-3, RBI
1B Kiko Romero: 0-for-3, 2 K
2B Brenny Escanio: 2-for-3, CS (6)
RF Anthony Hall: 0-for-3, 2 K
RHP Ben Hess: 4 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
3.95 ERA (57 IP, 38 H, 29 R, 25 ER, 2 HR, 32 BB, 83 K). Hess threw 62 pitches (42 strikes) tonight.
RHP Tony Rossi: (L, 0-1) 1.1 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
RHP Bryce Warrecker: 1.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
A rare misstep for Warrecker. His ERA is up to 1.38.
RHP Jordany Ventura: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
Tampa (45-42; 9-13 in second half) (Lost to Dunedin, 12-4)
DH Edgleen Perez: 0-for-4, 2 K
I jinxed Perez before the break, and I will never forgive myself.
SS Roderick Arias: 0-for-4, 2 K
C Engelth Urena: 1-for-4, 2 K
CF Willy Montero: 0-for-4, 2 K
3B Juan Matheus: 1-for-4, 2B (20), R
LF Wilson Rodriguez: 1-for-4, 2B (2), R, K
Rodriguez is 10-for-40 since his promotion.
RF Tyler Wilson: 1-for-3, HR (5), RBI, R, K
RF Marshall Toole: 1-for-1
Talk about clutch – Toole gets one shot to extend his hitting streak and does it! His streak is up to 11, which has increased his triple slash from .287/.388/.443 to .317/.421/.505.
1B Hans Montero: 2-for-4, HR (9), 2 RBI, R, K
Montero has sneakily hit nine balls over the fence in 64 games. It’s a new personal best.
2B Owen Cobb: 1-for-3, 2B (8)
LHP Xavier Rivas: (L, 2-2) 3 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, HR
Since promotion: 5.61 ERA (33.2 IP, 30 H, 23 R, 21 ER, 5 HR, 21 BB, 41 K).
RHP Cole Zaffiro: 2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, HR
RHP Jack Sokol: 2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, HR
RHP Jackson Fristoe: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, HR
FCL (26-29) (Won a thriller against the FCL Tigers, 7-6, in ten innings. They scored three runs in the bottom of the 9th to tie it, only for the Tigers to score a pair in the top of the 10th. The Yankees countered with three runs in the bottom half of the inning. Interestingly, they scored seven runs on seven hits without the aid of an extra-base hit. They walked “only” five times. Good things happen when you go 4-for-6 with a sacrifice fly with RISP.)
SS Dexters Peralta: 1-for-5, R, SB (8), K
After a disastrous 6-for-62 start, Peralta is 14-for-66 (.212). That includes going 11-for-38 (.282) in July. At least he will go into the offseason on a good note.
2B Enmanuel Tejeda: 1-for-3, RBI, R, 2 SB (2), CS (1), K
Tejeda is 7-for-23 with three doubles during his rehab stint. In 43 games for Tampa last season, he hit .310/.353/.369 with 24 stolen bases in 28 attempts. He did that as a 19-year-old.
2B Luis Escudero: 1-for-1, RBI, R
DH Ediel Rivera: 0-for-3, R, SB (10), BB, K
CF Isael Arias: 0-for-3, RBI, R, SB (23), 2 BB, K
C John Cristino: 1-for-3, RBI, BB, K
Cristino was moved to Hudson Valley after this game.
LF Gabriel Lara: 1-for-3, SF, RBI
1B-P Santiago Gomez: 1-for-4, RBI
Gomez is their Shohei Ohtani.
3B Kevin Verde: 0-for-4, R, 2 K
RF Luis Puello: 0-for-3, R, BB
RHP Edinzo Marquez: 4.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K
2.19 ERA (53.1 IP, 42 H, 18 R, 13 ER, 4 HR, 20 BB, 41 K). The 20-year-old continues his impressive campaign.
RHP Josh Tiedemann: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
LHP Pedro Rodriguez: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
RHP Chance Nolan: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
The converted quarterback owns a 1.08 ERA in 16.2 IP (12 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 0 HR, 11 BB, 11 K)
RHP Santiago Gomez (W, 3-0): 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
Gomez is their good luck charm!
DSL Yankees (14-20)
Day off.
DSL Bombers (17-17)
Day off.