Midseason Review/New Top 30 Prospects
Notes:
OF Garrett Martin has been moved from the 60-day injured list to the Full Season injured list. I don’t believe there is any advantage in doing this move, but maybe there is. Organizations are only allowed to carry 165 players from Triple-A all the way down to the Complex League. The DSL is exempt from these limits. From what I have read, players on the 60-day and Full Season lists are not included in the count.
C Shea Langeliers was a long shot to be dealt to the Yankees. Downgrade that to no shot, as he is done for the season due to a knee injury. Langeliers has been one of the best offensive catchers in baseball over the last several seasons, hitting .254/.314/.494 with 83 home runs over 1,473 plate appearances from 2024 through 2026. Savant doesn’t love his pitch framing, but he is excellent at controlling the running game. Maybe the Yankees explore this after the lockout concludes.
With Cody Bellinger out and no timetable on Aaron Judge or Giancarlo Stanton, the rumors about outfielders have started. The names mentioned by Jon Heyman (Jo Adell, George Springer, Lane Thomas, Luis Robert Jr., Spencer Steer, and Jorge Soler) don’t inspire confidence. However, some names are still better than others. For example, targeting Soler would make no sense. Robert looks like a name he threw into the mix because the Yankees/Mets thing. Sure, the Yankees should replace their injury-plagued outfielders with an outfielder who is rarely healthy (and hasn’t hit since 2023). Springer is the big name on the list. He isn’t having a good season (and has been mediocre in two of his last three seasons), but this is the final year of his contract. Yes, he has the 2017 Houston Astros stench, but whatever. You might think Adell is a glove wizard based on highlight reel home run robberies, but he’s abysmal metrically, and his offense has never developed. Thomas has a fun (?) profile: Speed to burn, an outstanding arm, but zero range. Steer will give you some home runs, and his Savant page isn’t so bad offensively overall.
It comes down to asking yourself if adding these players is any better than going with what you have. I think over a large sample size, Spencer Jones will be better defensively than all of them other than a healthy (important) Robert. Offensively? Jones has work to do. “Jones can do better than that!” is not a legitimate argument as he may never be as good offensively as any of them.
Beggars can’t be choosers, and I am not sure if an “ideal” trade target exists.
Scranton (53-46; 16-9 in the second half) (Defeated Syracuse, 3-2)
SS George Lombard Jr.: 1-for-3, R, BB
Lombard Jr. has taken extending his hitting streak “down to the wire” the last few days. He has an 18-game hitting streak (16 with Scranton). During the Scranton portion of the streak, he is 24-for-60 (.400) with ten doubles. Opinions vary on when to call him up, but the results are shouting that if he isn’t ready, he is close. The service time manipulation stuff? Whatever – as I said yesterday, who knows what the next CBA will look like when it comes to service time? And I really don’t care if he loses Rookie of the Year eligibility, either. Bringing up a player who is ready vs. having a long shot chance at a bonus draft pick in 2028? Do you see how silly that is?
DH J.C. Escarra: 1-for-3, 2B (7), R, BB, K
2B Marco Luciano: 2-for-4, RBI, K
Between here and Somerset, Luciano is hitting .300. The injured Kaeden Kent is the only other qualified full-season player at or above .300 in the organization.
3B Oswaldo Cabrera: 0-for-3
1B Tyler Hardman: 0-for-3, K
LF Ernesto Martinez Jr.: 0-for-3, K
RF Kenedy Corona: 0-for-3, 2 K
CF Duke Ellis: 0-for-3
C Abrahan Gutierrez: 1-for-3, HR (2), RBI, R
The bottom half of the order was doing nothing until Gutierrez launched a home run in the 8th. He hasn’t played much at all this month (three games), due mostly to the presence of Escarra.
RHP Elmer Rodriguez: (W, 7-3) 5.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K
2.93 ERA (76.2 IP, 60 H, 30 R, 25 ER, 4 HR, 38 BB, 77 K). Due to the All-Star break and being called up to do nothing, Rodriguez was off his schedule for a few weeks. Today, he was on normal rest and pitched extremely well.
RHP Jake Bird: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K
LHP Will Brian: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
RHP Yovanny Cruz (S, 3): 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, HR
Cruz was humming yet again, topping out at 101.3 MPH. Christopher Morel launched a 411-foot home run at 105.8 MPH on a 100.9 MPH pitch.
Somerset (50-46; 13-13 in the second half) (Destroyed New Hampshire, 12-2)
2B Connor McGinnis: 1-for-6, R, K
I am happy that he avoided back-to-back 0-for-6 efforts.
RF Jace Avina: 0-for-4, SB (10), 2 BB, K
DH Coby Morales: 2-for-4, RBI, BB
Morales’ 68 RBI ties him with Tyler Hardman for the organizational lead. How good was Wilberson De Pena in the rookie leagues? He ended the season one RBI behind both.
CF DJ Gladney: 2-for-4, R, K
He left the game after hitting a single. No idea why.
PR-CF Jackson Castillo: 0-for-1, R
LF Cole Gabrielson: 1-for-3, 3 R, SB (4), 2 BB, K
1B Josh Moylan: 4-for-5, 2 RBI, 2 R, SB (2), CS (1)
Moylan’s first career 4-hit effort.
C Miguel Palma: 3-for-4, 2 HR (8), 4 RBI, 3 R, HBP, K
Palma’s second career multi-HR game (April 25, 2023).
3B Kevin Verde: 1-for-4, HR (2, grand slam), 5 RBI, R, BB, K
A career day for the organizational utility player (he has two 4-RBI games in his career)
SS Owen Cobb: 2-for-5, CS (1), K
RHP Ben Hess: (W, 3-2) 5.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
3.94 ERA (45.2 IP, 39 H, 27 R, 20 ER, 7 HR, 24 BB, 55 K). They are starting to stretch him out again after weeks of going with a “kid’s gloves” approach. Today, he threw 82 pitches.
RHP Ben Grable: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K
A nice, clean outing for Grable – it is odd to see him with zero strikeouts!
RHP Harrison Cohen: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 0 K
RHP Matt Keating: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
Hudson Valley (46-48; 16-14 in the second half) (Lost to Wilmington, 6-4, in ten innings. Frederick is in first place in the second half standings, but that is irrelevant because they won the first half. Greensboro and Wilmington are in the mix with Hudson Valley, but there are several weeks to go.)
SS Roderick Arias: 0-for-5, 2 K
2B Enmanuel Tejeda: 0-for-4, K
C Eric Genther: 0-for-3, R, BB, K
1B Kyle West: 2-for-3, HR (17), RBI, 2 R, BB
West loves to launch home runs. He is hitting .229/.286/.406 and has struck out 120 times.
LF Robbie Burnett: 0-for-3, BB
RF Camden Troyer: 1-for-3, SF, 2 RBI, R
CF Luis Durango: 2-for-4, SB (18), CS (3)
Between here and Tampa, Durango is 36-for-45 stealing bases in 59 games. When the Yankees plucked him from Cleveland in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft a few years ago, this was essentially his profile. Speed and defense.
DH Diomedes Hernandez: 0-for-2, RBI, BB
3B Santiago Gomez: 1-for-3, K
LHP Allen Facundo: 4.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 6 K, HR
Since promotion: 4.41 ERA (67.1 IP, 43 H, 35 R, 33 ER, 4 HR, 49 BB, 86 K). Overall, he owns a 31.0% K and 15.6% BB over 82.1 innings. While I think you keep pitchers in the rotation until you are sure they are relievers (and it makes sense during trade deadline season), I wonder if moving Facundo to the bullpen is on the immediate horizon.
RHP Andrew Landry: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
RHP Thomas Balboni Jr.: 1 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
RHP Brandon Decker: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
3.62 ERA (37.1 IP, 31 H, 18 R, 15 ER, 4 HR, 13 BB, 46 K)
RHP Jack Sokol (L, 1-4): 0.1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, HR
Tampa (56-40; 21-9 in the second half) (Lost to Palm Beach, 5-3. For now, Tampa is in good shape in the second-half race. The second-place squad (Clearwater) won the first-half title. As with Hudson Valley, a long way to go)
DH Dax Kilby: 1-for-4, 2 RBI
Kilby’s usage pattern aligns perfectly with how the Yankees treat rehabbing players.
SS Jackson Lovich: 1-for-4, 2 K
.275/.350/.509 in 363 PA. He still leads the FSL in home runs (18) and is 4th in SLG (.509). The strikeout percentage is 27.8%. I think there is something to work with, but he will need to find more contact.
3B Hans Montero: 0-for-2, HBP, BB, K
LF Willy Montero: 0-for-0, R, BB
Montero drew a walk, went to second on a hit by pitch, third on a walk, and scored on another walk. He was pulled from the game in the next half inning. Assuming no trade is happening, what the heck did he do?
1B Engelth Urena: 0-for-3
C David McCann: 0-for-2, R, HBP
C Ediel Rivera: 1-for-1
2B Luis Escudero: 0-for-4, 2 K
CF Isael Arias: 1-for-3, R, BB, K
1B-LF Christofer Reyes: 0-for-4, 3 K
RF Gabriel Lara: 0-for-3, RBI, BB
RHP Sabier Marte: 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, HR
Solid effort by Marte. He wasn’t generating whiffs, but he induced a lot of ground balls. He used his sinker 48% of the time. Marte once had some buzz, with Fangraphs feeling particularly bullish. Injuries have held him back.
RHP Greysen Carter: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1 K
Carter maxed out at 99.4 MPH.
RHP Jordarlin Mendoza: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K
Carter and Mendoza in back-to-back innings has to be stressful for the pitching coach.
LHP Jose Ledesma (L, 0-3): 1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
FCL Yankees (29-29)
Their season is over.
DSL Yankees (22-16)
Day off.
DSL Bombers (17-22)
Day off.