The trade deadline has come and gone, and while there were significantly fewer prospects moved than any of us expected, the bright side of that is that the minor leagues will be considerably more interesting down the stretch of the season than it was after last season’s complete depletion.
This week on the farm, we saw a fiery Scranton offense, position player prospects excelling in new places, and some inconsistent pitching up and down a system that finds itself just a bit thinner than it was a week ago.
Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders
Record: 22-9 (59-46), 0.5 GA in the International League East after a 6-0 week against the Iowa Cubs (Cubs)
Run differential: +66 (+69)
Coming up: Home vs. Rochester Red Wings (Nationals)
What a week it was for the RailRiders, who followed the lead of the big league club’s series win at Wrigley with a dominant sweep of the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate. When you increase your run differential by a staggering 32 runs in one week, you’re doing something right.
They did it on the backs of some incredible offensive performances. Oswaldo Cabrera (13-for-27, 2 HR, 5 RBI), Marco Luciano (11-for-26, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 4 BB), and JC Escarra (9-for-27, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 4 XBH) were phenomenal this week, while the team also welcomed a new catcher to the organization in the form of Christian Bethancourt, an MLB journeyman who made a good first impression. On the prospect front, George Lombard Jr. continued to hit, going 8-for-27 with a home run, four RBIs, four walks, and three extra-base hits. He finishes his minor league debut on a 31-game on-base streak, as he will make his major league debut tonight.
In the rotation, four of the six starts were made by the likes of Dom Hamel, Alexander Cornielle, and Adam Kloffenstein, so this will be our weekly check-in on Brendan Beck and Elmer Rodríguez. On Wednesday, Beck tossed 4.2 one-run innings with six strikeouts, struggling to keep his pitch count under control. Two nights later, Rodríguez had an eerily similar start, failing to complete five innings while continuing his recent stretch of great run prevention. He continues to be next man up after surviving the deadline.
The Scranton bullpen was one of the most affected units at the deadline, losing both Jake Bird and Yovanny Cruz in the Luis García Jr. trade. With them out, there’s further importance on the likes of Bradley Hanner (who was just placed on the 40-man roster) and Eric Reyzelman, who’s been throwing the ball a lot better of late.
Players of Note:
George Lombard Jr.: .268/.405/.440, 6 HR, 21 RBI, 23 XBH, 8 SB, 126 wRC+
Marco Luciano: .303/.395/.508, 9 HR, 30 RBI, 21 XBH, 135 wRC+
Oswaldo Cabrera: .299/.350/.450, 12 HR, 46 RBI, 26 XBH, 108 wRC+
Brendan Beck: 8-2, 2.85 ERA, 3.54 FIP, 1.04 WHIP, 17.9 K-BB% (104.1 IP)
Elmer Rodríguez: 7-3, 2.77 ERA, 4.00 FIP, 1.29 WHIP, 12.1 K-BB% (81.1 IP)
Double-A Somerset Patriots
Record: 16-17 (53-49), 4 GB in the Eastern League Northeast after a 3-3 week against the Richmond Flying Squirrels (Giants)
Run differential: +9 (+45)
Coming up: Away @ Akron RubberDucks (Guardians)
Somerset had to navigate some rain and some trade rumors to get through a split with the visiting Flying Squirrels. The week started on the right foot with three wins in the first four games, but a disastrous first inning on Saturday and a sleepy offensive game on Sunday doomed them to a split.
This is an offense that will welcome some reinforcements, with Omar Alfonzo acquired from Pittsburgh to help a beleaguered catching room that has given them little production. I was in attendance on Friday and got to see some big games by Josh Moylan, who’s hit more than most expected in Double-A, Coby Morales, and depth bat Kevin Verde. What’s interesting about Verde, whose bat has predictably been well behind the pitcher quality, is that he has three home runs and two doubles in his last four games.
Jack Cebert was traded, but the fact that he went down with an injury two weeks ago doesn’t change much for the current rotation. Cade Smith allowed three runs in four innings on Wednesday, continuing an inconsistent season, while Chase Hampton (0.2 IP, 8 R) had an utter disaster of a start on Saturday. Ben Hess looked good for five innings before falling apart at the end of his rope, while Xavier Rivas continued to look the part of one of the best pitching prospects in the org with another six strong innings. I was there for Rory Fox’s Double-A debut on Friday, where he struggled with pitch count in four choppy frames.
The bullpen lost its most intriguing arm in the García trade, as Ben Grable and his alien fastball went out the door. It wasn’t a great week for guys like Hayden Merda and Harrison Cohen, but we saw strong outings out of Tony Rossi, the recently returned Hueston Morrill (who looked nasty on Friday), and Geoffrey Gilbert. These guys will have increased opportunity with Grable gone.
Players of Note:
Jace Avina: .259/.361/.518, 19 HR, 53 RBI, 44 XBH, 25.7 K%, 134 wRC+
DJ Gladney: .269/.326/.503, 18 HR, 64 RBI, 16 SB, 118 wRC+ (injured)
Coby Morales: .272/.354/.493, 18 HR, 72 RBI, 16 SB, 126 wRC+
Xavier Rivas: 6-4, 3.70 ERA, 4.45 FIP, 1.13 WHIP, 22.7 K-BB% (75.1 IP)
Ben Hess: 3-3, 3.81 ERA, 4,71 FIP, 1.35 WHIP, 14.8 K-BB% (52 IP)
High-A Hudson Valley Renegades
Record: 17-19 (47-53), 4.5 GB in the South Atlantic League North after a 1-5 week against the Jersey Shore BlueClaws (Phillies)
Run differential: +14 (+23)
Coming up: Away @ Greenville Drive (Red Sox)
For a Renegades team that was still in the playoff race entering this week, this was one of those things they could not possibly afford. Back-to-back postponements threw off the entire series, as they were swept in both doubleheaders on Thursday and Saturday.
The new-look hitting core didn’t have much juice this week, but it’s hard to judge them much for that after injuries to Core Jackson and a potentially season-ending one to Wilson Rodriguez turned the Single-A call-ups into gap-fillers instead of bolstering a unit. Kaeden Kent is off to San Francisco, but he was also on the shelf. It was a good week for one of the call-ups, though, as Jackson Lovich went 8-for-21 with three walks in his first week at the level, albeit with nine strikeouts.
In a week where you go 1-5, however, it’s probably not going to be a good week for the pitching. It wasn’t all bad, as Bryce Cunningham tossed a seven-inning complete game in a losing effort and Sean Paul Liñan pitched a quality start in his best start since May, but they got some rough starts out of Luis Serna (0.2 IP, 8 R) and Allen Facundo (4.2 IP, 7 R). One of the better starts of the week was by Henry Lalane, but he was also sent to the Giants as part of the Heliot Ramos trade. Will they use this opportunity to promote an arm from Tampa like Tyler Boudreau? We’ll see.
Players of Note:
Eric Genther: .268/.398/.419, 10 HR, 51 RBI, 26 XBH, 120 wRC+
Core Jackson: .252/.358/.464, 12 HR, 47 RBI, 29 SB, 113 wRC+ (injured)
Roderick Arias: .271/.357/.441, 12 HR, 61 RBI, 29 SB, 108 wRC+
Luis Serna: 4-5, 4.69 ERA, 3.85 FIP, 1.25 WHIP, 19.1 K-BB% (88.1 IP)
Bryce Cunningham: 2-7, 4.41 ERA, 4.82 FIP, 1.33 WHIP, 9.1 K-BB% (63.1 IP)
Single-A Tampa Tarpons
Record: 24-11 (56-39), 4.5 GA in the Florida State League West after a 3-2 week against the Lakeland Flying Tigers (Tigers)
Run differential: +54 (+77)
Coming up: Away @ Clearwater Threshers (Phillies)
In a week where the Northeast saw a lot of rain disrupt the week, Tampa was a reliable watch until a Sunday cancellation. They continued to be the gold standard in the Florida State League with yet another series win, last losing a series six weeks ago.
It was the big debut week for Yostin Peña and Wilberson De Pena, both showing out in their first weeks in full-season ball, but it was a full team effort all week offensively. Brando Mayea tapped into the power that he’s struggled to get to with multiple home runs this week, while Hans Montero, David McCann, and a finally healthy Dax Kilby (.875 OPS in seven games) had strong weeks. It was theorized that Kilby could be on the move if the Yankees made a blockbuster, but now the 19-year-old has the runway to continue the steep ascent he had before injuries cost him much of this season.
This depleted rotation has had to take its lumps. After getting an opener from the rehabbing Travis MacGregor, they got 4.1 sharp innings from FCL call-up Edinzo Marquez with eight strikeouts. Boudreau allowed an early grand slam and had to eat it in 5.2 rough innings, while JT Etheridge struggled the following night. The highlight of the week was a solid start by Justin West and Wyatt Parliament’s best start of the season on Saturday, when he threw five shutout innings.
Players of Note:
David McCann: .288/.377/.514, 5 HR, 26 RBI, 13 XBH, 131 wRC+
Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek: .275/.385/.425, 9 HR, 47 RBI, 34 SB, 117 wRC+
Hans Montero: .243/.371/.436, 11 HR, 49 RBI, 34 XBH, 31 SB, 115 wRC+
Tyler Boudreau: 6-2, 3.38 ERA, 3.81 FIP, 1.08 WHIP, 18.3 K-BB% (85.1 IP)
Justin West: 7-3, 4.96 ERA, 4.26 FIP, 1.42 WHIP, 17.0 K-BB% (85.1 IP)
FCL Yankees
Record: 29-29, 7.5 GB in the FCL North
Run differential: +2
Season over.
Players of Note:
Wilberson De Pena: .358/.411/.677, 16 HR, 65 RBI, 37 XBH, 22 SB, 152 wRC+
Jose Castro: .328/.488/.552, 7 HR, 26 RBI, 29 SB, 158 wRC+
Richard Matic: .283/.394/.439, 22 XBH, 28 RBI, 14 SB, 108 wRC+
Dexters Peralta: .229/.352/.505, 12 HR, 42 RBI, 20 XBH, 100 wRC+
Edinzo Marquez: 28.2 IP, 2.20 ERA, 4.79 FIP, 1.22 WHIP, 16.1 K-BB%
DSL Yankees & Bombers
DSL Yankees:
Record: 25-18, 2 GB in DSL East after a 2-2 week
Run differential: +92
DSL Bombers:
Record: 20-24, 9.5 GB in DSL Southeast after a 3-2 week
Run differential: +8
After being the best team in rookie ball for several weeks, the DSL Yankees have struggled over the last few weeks as their pitching staff has faltered. Isaias Castillo is climbing the all-time home run ranks and has a shot to finish in the top five by the end of the season, while Juan Torres looks like the best pure hitter at the level.
We had some great individual performances in a usually decrepit pitching staff. Fredy Penuelas and Hector Moreno both had eight strikeouts on Monday; Jose Sanchez struck out eight in three innings on Saturday, and Cesar Acosta struck out 10 in 4.2 innings on Thursday.
Players of Note:
Isaias Castillo: .304/.408/.628, 11 HR, 32 RBI, 24 XBH, 17 SB, 132 wRC+
Juan Torres: .372/.448/.622, 5 HR, 41 RBI, 25 XBH, 20 SB, 147 wRC+
Stiven Marinez: .301/.435/.503, 5 HR, 32 RBI, 28 SB, 125 wRC+
Fredy Penuelas: 34.2 IP, 1.56 ERA, 3.80 FIP, 1.12 WHIP, 19.0 K-BB%
Yunior Jerez: 33 IP, 3.27 ERA, 4.65 FIP, 1.00 WHIP, 15.5 K-BB%
Prospect of the Week: Yostin Pena
Weekly Stats: 5-for-18, 2 RBI, 3B, 2 K, SB
Season Stats (DSL/Single-A): .364/.440/.617, 8 HR, 59 RBI, 23 XBH, 28 SB, 143 wRC+
Pena did not have a week nearly as good as some of the guys in Triple-A, but I want to use this spot as a chance to talk about his meteoric rise to being one of the hottest prospects in the organization.
He originally signed in January 2025 with the St. Louis Cardinals, but the deal was reportedly nixed due to age-related concerns. Ten months later, he resurfaced in the Yankees’ organization, signing for $300,000 and debuting as an 18-year-old this June.
He had an unbelievable two months in the DSL, where he drove in 57 runs in just 37 games with a 150 wRC+. He was on pace to completely eviscerate the single-season RBI record and found his way into the top 10 all-time with a minuscule sample. The Yankees had so much trust in him that he was not only given a rare in-season promotion from the DSL to the Florida complex, but was assigned directly to Single-A Tampa, a move only done for elite prospects (like the Dodgers’ Josue De Paula, for example).
In his first week in Tampa, he’s already registered four batted balls with an exit velocity over 108 mph, putting himself in extremely rare air as a teenage bat.
There’s a lot to be excited about with this guy, who might genuinely be the third-best position player in this farm system behind Lombard and Kilby. In a year that’s seen a lot of injuries damage players’ stocks, Pena might be the biggest winner of this entire minor league season.
