Midseason Review/New Top 30 Prospects
Notes:
What is an advantage of being a first-round pick that people don’t talk about often? The number of opportunities you will get as organizations hope that something clicks or that they can unlock you.
That’s Jarred Kelenic, an outfielder that the Yankees signed to a minor league contract today.
Kelenic, drafted 6th overall by the Mets in 2018, has been the polar opposite of Pete Crow-Armstrong. Traded to the Mariners as part of the package for Edwin Diaz, he hit .204/.283/.373 in 252 games for Seattle before being to the Braves before the 2024 season. The Braves gave him a 131-game leash that year, and he performed badly, hitting .231/.286/.393 with a career-high 15 home runs in 449 plate appearances. He made appearances for the White Sox and Rangers this season, but didn’t perform well. In 443 career games, he owns a paltry 0.8 fWAR, and even that seems generous.
An adage is that there is no such thing as a bad minor league contract, and there is no harm in taking a look at him for a month to see if he is worth a spring training invite in 2027 (whenever spring training happens).
Clarke Schmidt and Ryan McMahon began their rehab assignments in Somerset. McMahon is expected to be activated on September 1st. It will be a while longer before we see Schmidt, who will be used in a bullpen role for the Yankees. He has experience in that role, posting a 3.18 ERA in 51 career innings. That said, other than 0.2 innings in 2023, he hasn’t been used as a reliever since 2022.
Scranton (68-59; 31-22 in the second half) (Defeated Worcester, 9-1)
CF Jarred Kelenic: 3-for-5, RBI, 2 R, SB (8)
The Yankees have already unlocked him. Bring him up!
3B Anthony Volpe: 1-for-4, R, SB (5), BB, 2 K
That’s not a typo! Volpe makes his 4th career start at third base (he played there three times in 2021).
DH Jasson Dominguez: 2-for-5, 2 RBI, R, 2 K
2B Marco Luciano: 3-for-5, HR (13), 3 RBI, 2 R
Luciano ties his personal best for home runs in a season (23, set last year). He is in the thick of the organizational home run race.
C J.C. Escarra: 1-for-4, HR (9), 2 RBI, R, BB, K
Escarra is a .195/.268/.302 career hitter in 72 games, so I won’t sit here and attempt to convince you he is an MLB savior. However, I have no idea what the heck Ali Sanchez adds to a franchise. What does he do well, beyond allowing us to take an ice cream break every time he comes to the plate? Not that Austin Wells is much better, beyond a brief stretch where I was supposed to believe he was suddenly cured of suckitude. What a mess.
RF Max Schuemann: 1-for-5, R, K
SS Oswaldo Cabrera: 1-for-5, RBI, K
1B Tyler Hardman: 0-for-4, BB, K
LF Kenedy Corona: 2-for-4, 2B (11), R, K
RHP Hayden Merda: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
With Brendan Beck in the Bronx as the 27th man, Scranton again had to go with a bullpen game (Merda had the same role on Thursday night). By the way, Alexander Cornielle‘s 8-inning performance last night certainly made this easier. Back to Merda: He’s allowed eight runs in 8.1 innings since his promotion, but has struck out 14. Between here and Somerset, he has 81 strikeouts in only 50 innings.
RHP Eric Reyzelman (W, 2-3): 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
His Triple-A journey has been a struggle, but he is still throwing hard (reached 97.8 MPH today).
RHP Chris Kean: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K
RHP Danny Watson: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
RHP Eli Morgan: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
RHP Zach Messinger: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
Somerset (67-58; 30-26 in the second half) (Lost to Akron, 6-5, in ten innings)
CF Jace Avina: 3-for-5, K
Avina has three multi-hit efforts in his last five games. While he may be breaking out of his month-long slump, the power still isn’t there. He hasn’t homered since July 29th.
3B Ryan McMahon: 0-for-3, 2 K
Nothing says “Ready!” for McMahon more than a night like this.
1B Josh Moylan: 0-for-2
DH Core Jackson: 0-for-5, 2 K
SS Roderick Arias: 0-for-3, BB, 2 K
RF DJ Gladney: 0-for-4, 2 K
1B Coby Morales: 0-for-4, 2 K
C Manuel Palencia: 3-for-4, 2 HR (7), 2 RBI, 2 R
All seven of his home runs have come in 18 August games. Once again, for the newcomers: His seven home runs this month increase his career total to … 8.
2B Connor McGinnis: 1-for-4, HR (10), RBI, R
McGinnis hit 15 home runs in 63 games for Blinn College (NJCAA) in 2024.
LF Cole Gabrielson: 2-for-4, HR (5), RBI, 2 R, K
RHP Clarke Schmidt: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, HR
Schmidt owns a 27.0 K/9.
RHP Rory Fox: 5.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
Typically, you don’t want the “piggyback” guy to come in mid-inning (usually, they will have someone up in the bullpen to bridge the gap). They decided not to do that tonight. Anyway, Fox owns a 5.03 ERA in 34 innings at this level. He has tossed 116.1 innings overall this season, which is his debut campaign.
RHP Harrison Cohen: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K
RHP Michael Arias: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K
RHP Matt Keating: (L, 3-2) 1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
Hudson Valley (64-59; 34-25 in second half) (Defeated Brooklyn, 7-3)
C Eric Genther: 1-for-4, 2 K
Genther has a 6-game hitting streak (8-for-24)
SS Jackson Lovich: 2-for-4, HR (4), RBI, 2 R, K
Lovich’s 22nd home run between here and Tampa. He has 84 RBI (trailing DJ Gladney by one) and 82 runs scored (trailing Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek by one). He leads the organization with 121 hits.
DH Kyle West: 2-for-4, 2B (17), RBI, R, K
CF Maika Niu: 0-for-4, 2 K
1B David McCann: 2-for-2, HR (7), 2 RBI, 2 R, 2 HBP
McCann is hitting .277/.365/.615 in 74 plate appearances at this level. He has 16 home runs in 62 games overall. This is his debut campaign.
LF Dean Toigo: 1-for-4, 2B (4), RBI, R, K
3B Hans Montero: 2-for-4, RBI, K
Montero’s hot start at this level continues (13-for-38 (.342/.479/.447)). He has three straight multi-hit efforts (four in his last five games).
2B Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek: 1-for-4, CS (2)
RF Camden Troyer: 0-for-4, R, 4 K
RHP Sean Paul Linan: (W, 3-8) 5 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, HR
RHP Brandon Decker: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K
2.88 ERA (50 IP, 40 H, 21 R, 16 ER, 4 HR, 23 BB, 56 K)
RHP Wilmy Sanchez: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
3.18 ERA (34 IP, 23 H, 15 R, 12 ER, 2 HR, 19 BB, 55 K)
Tampa (72-49; 37-18 in the second half)
Their game against Jupiter was cancelled due to rain and won’t be made up.
“Couldn’t they have tried to play two tomorrow?” Sure. They decided not to.
FCL Yankees (29-29)
Their season is over.
DSL Yankees (33-21 regular season; 0-2 in pool play)
Their season is over.
DSL Bombers (25-29-1)
Their season is over.