Midseason Review/New Top 30 Prospects
Notes:
The Yankees have released a pair of FCL right-handed pitchers: Brian Arias and Stanly Alcantara. The likely reason is that they were at the 165-prospect limit and needed room for Omar Alfonzo and Luis Cruz.
Neither pitcher showed much progress. Additionally, they weren’t bonus babies. Over his career, Alcantara is 5-10 with a 10.10 ERA in 95.1 innings. He has walked a whopping 112 batters. Meanwhile, Arias is 4-6 with a 7.34 ERA in 68.2 innings. He has walked 60 hitters.
Following the trade yesterday, MLB Pipeline placed Alfonzo as the Yankees’ 27th-best prospect. That will change after today’s trade. The scouting report is what I wrote about yesterday: Hits the ball hard, strikes out a lot, has 20+ home run potential. As for the defense, they don’t like him. The same was true of Austin Wells. The Yankees feel they can turn him into an adequate catcher. I don’t think they make this trade if they thought he had no shot to stick behind the plate.
Scranton (59-46; 22-9 in the second half) (Mauled Iowa, 13-3. The Railriders had a 20-hit effort. How many 20-hit efforts do we see in MLB nowadays?)
SS George Lombard Jr.: 4-for-5, 2B (16), 3B (1), SF, 3 RBI, R, K
If you don’t remember, Lombard Jr. started his 2026 campaign with a 5-hit effort for Somerset. He owns a .268/.405/.440 triple slash at this level, and the temptation must be rising.
DH J.C. Escarra: 3-for-5, 2B (9), HR (6), 3 RBI, 3 R, BB
Last four games: 8-for-19 with a double and a pair of home runs.
2B Marco Luciano: 2-for-5, HR (9), 2 RBI, 2 R, BB, 2 K
Last seven games: 13-for-30 (1 double, 1 triple, 2 HR). He is hitting .303/.395/.508 at this level and .311/.400/.578 overall.
3B Oswaldo Cabrera: 4-for-6, HR (12), 2 RBI, 2 R, K
Cabrera has a 6-game hitting streak (13-for-27). He has homered in back-to-back games.
RF Yanquiel Fernandez: 2-for-4, SF, RBI, SB (2), BB, K
C Christian Bethancourt: 1-for-4, HR (14), 2 RBI, R, BB, 2 K
Bethancourt has three home runs in two games since joining the organization.
1B Ernesto Martinez Jr.: 2-for-5, R, 3 K
LF Kenedy Corona: 0-for-4, R, BB, K
CF Duke Ellis: 2-for-5, 2B (8), 2 R, K
RHP Dom Hamel: 3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 2 K
RHP Chris Kean: (W, 1-0) 1.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, HR
RHP Rafael Montero: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
LHP Will Brian: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
RHP Danny Watson: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
4.01 ERA (42.2 IP, 32 H, 25 R, 19 ER, 4 HR, 17 BB, 50 K). Watson hasn’t allowed a run in 12 straight appearances (he allowed five runs in one inning in the game before the streak began – baseball!)
RHP Jake Bird: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, HR
Knowing he was about to be traded, Bird gives the middle finger to the Yankees by serving up a meatball.
RHP Carson Coleman: 0.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K
Somerset (53-49; 16-16 in the second half) (Lost to Richmond, 5-1)
DH Omar Alfonzo: 0-for-4, 2 K
This is what they got for Camilo Doval???
CF Jace Avina: 1-for-1, SB (12), 3 BB
Avina also walked three times on July 31st. He owns a 25.7% K rate and 12.3% BB rate to go along with his impressive power.
3B Coby Morales: 1-for-4
LF Jackson Castillo: 0-for-3, BB
C Miguel Palma: 0-for-4
2B Connor McGinnis: 1-for-4, R, K
1B Josh Moylan: 1-for-4, K
SS Kevin Verde: 1-for-4, RBI, K
Verde has a 6-game hitting streak (9-for-19; 2 doubles, 3 HR, 10 RBI)
RF Luis Durango: 0-for-2, HBP
RHP Ben Hess: (L, 3-3) 6.1 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
3.81 ERA (52 IP, 45 H, 31 R, 22 ER, 7 HR, 25 BB, 59 K). Hess cruised through six shutout innings but ran into trouble in the 7th. That’s fine, as they only recently started stretching him out again.
RHP Luis Velasquez: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
Hess’ numbers would have looked better if not for an error + Velasquez allowing a pair of inherited runners to score.
RHP Tony Rossi: 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K
With Ben Grable and Yovanny Cruz gone, Rossi is in the conversation for the organization’s top relief prospect. A resurgent Eric Reyzelman is also in the mix. I am sure there are others I am forgetting.
RHP Kevin Stevens: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
Hudson Valley (47-53; 17-19 in the second half) (Lost to Jersey Shore, 10-4)
SS Roderick Arias: 2-for-4, 2B (18), R, HBP, K
Arias has followed up a brief, but brutal, stretch with a 7-for-15 run over his last four games. Is there a team out there that values him as a post-hype play?
DH Jackson Lovich: 1-for-2, R, 3 BB
His first three walks since his promotion. With Tampa, he owned a 9.9% rate. Lovich has hit safely in all six games since his promotion.
C Eric Genther: 0-for-4, BB, 2 K
1B Kyle West: 0-for-2, RBI, HBP, 2 BB, K
2B Enmanuel Tejeda: 1-for-4, R, HBP, 2 K
Hudson Valley has been a challenge for Tejeda, as he owns a .205/.318/.317 triple slash since his promotion. He owns a 19.8% K rate and his BABIP is only .240.
CF Willy Montero: 1-for-4, 2B (1), RBI, R
Montero is 3-for-20 since his promotion.
LF Robbie Burnett: 2-for-4, 2B (4), K
RF Gabriel Lara: 0-for-2, SF, RBI, HBP, K
3B Santiago Gomez: 0-for-4, 2 K
LHP Allen Facundo: (L, 3-3) 4.2 IP, 8 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 4 BB, 7 K, HR
5.13 ERA (72 IP, 51 H, 43 R, 41 ER, 5 HR, 53 BB, 93 K). The struggles are starting to add up, and it leaves me wondering when they may consider a bullpen transition. Probably too late to do that in 2026.
RHP Bryce Warrecker: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
RHP Brandon Decker: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
RHP Brady Kirtner: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
Tampa (59-42; 24-11 in the second half. They entered today with a 3.5-game lead over Clearwater for the second-half title, but that’s meaningless because Clearwater won the first-half title. The important number is the 6.5-game lead over Dunedin.)
Their game against Lakeland was canceled due to rain. It will not be made up.
FCL Yankees (29-29)
Their season is over.
DSL Yankees (24-18)
Day off.
DSL Bombers (20-23)
Day off.