It’s a good week when just one of the seven affiliates has a losing record, and that’s only because they lost to their sister club. There were a lot of sensational hitting performances this week on the farm, but that’s not to say the pitching slacked off either.
In fact, it was a really good week to be an under-the-radar prospect this week.
Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders
Record: 34-34, 8.5 GB in the International League East after a 3-3 week against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Phillies)
Run differential: +4
Coming up: Away @ Columbus
Clippers (Guardians)
Things started pretty bleak this week for the RailRiders, who became even more shorthanded this past weekend after Jasson Domínguez’s rehab assignment was cut short on Friday. They went 1-3 entering the weekend, but rallied to win two consecutive one-run games to secure the series split.
With Domínguez and Spencer Jones filling roles up in the big leagues, there aren’t many intriguing bats to talk about. Tyler Hardman is starting to heat up, Duke Ellis has had some big swings lately, and Jonathan Ornelas is raking, but the storyline is George Lombard Jr. continuing to heat up. He’s starting to really drive the ball in the air and, after several near-misses with the long ball over the past few weeks, hit two in a row during Friday’s doubleheader. He’s up to a 106 wRC+ at the level.
Elmer Rodríguez drew the Tuesday/Sunday starts this week and combined to allow four runs in 11.1 innings. His strikeout rate was way down this week, but he threw enough strikes and limited damage to continue holding serve as “next man up.” Brendan Beck got screwed over with the suspended game on Thursday, only tossing 3.1 scoreless innings before the game was halted. Adam Kloffenstein struggled, while Dom Hamel tossed a rare quality start.
The bullpen was headlined by Carlos Lagrange, who served as the multi-inning piggyback for Rodríguez on both Tuesday and Sunday, combining to allow three runs across 5.2 innings with eight strikeouts to just one walk. He’s probably going to settle in at the 2-3 inning role going forward.
After him, it was up and down. Bradley Hanner and Yovanny Cruz took some bad outings on the chin, while guys like Dylan Coleman and Yerry De los Santos stepped up. We also got a Will Brian cameo, as he was briefly promoted midweek to strike out three in 1.1 scoreless innings in his Triple-A debut before being returned to Somerset.
Players of Note:
George Lombard Jr.: .226/.374/.374, 4 HR, 15 RBI, 15 XBH, 8 SB, 106 wRC+
Oswaldo Cabrera: .245/.314/.358, 5 HR, 30 RBI, 5 SB, 76 wRC+
Brendan Beck: 5-2, 3.38 ERA, 4.00 FIP, 1.08 WHIP, 17.3 K-BB% (69.1 IP)
Elmer Rodríguez: 3-3, 3.00 ERA, 4.09 FIP, 1.22 WHIP, 13.1 K-BB% (51 IP)
Carlos Lagrange: 1-3, 4.14 ERA, 4.56 FIP, 1.26 WHIP, 19.6 K-BB% (58.2 IP)
Double-A Somerset Patriots
Record: 35-28, 0.5 GB in the Eastern League Northeast after a 5-1 week against the Binghamton Rumble Ponies (Mets)
Run differential: +40
Coming up: Away @ Portland SeaDogs (Red Sox)
The quirks of the minor league schedule mean that, even though it’s June, it’s playoff hunt time for Somerset. The final week of the “first half” begins today, and they sit just a half game behind Hartford for an automatic playoff spot with six games to go. They held serve this past week, taking 5 of 6 from Binghamton with some great pitching, allowing three runs or fewer in four games.
With Jace Avina still out and Garrett Martin having his first homerless week since April, the offense has needed someone to step up in a big way. DJ Gladney (6-for-23, HR, 6 RBI, 2 2B) and Jackson Castillo (7-for-24, 4 HR, 11 RBI, 4 BB) have absolutely done that, with the highlight of the week coming when Gladney obliterated a ball 474 feet on Friday night.
As I said previously, it was a good week for pitching. Trent Sellers started them off with five two-run innings on Tuesday, Cade Smith tossed seven shutout innings on Wednesday in his best start of the season, Xavier Rivas pitched four shutout innings on Thursday, Jack Cebert allowed just one run in 5.1 innings on Friday, and Kyle Carr tossed a quality start on Saturday. Even the brief outings by Ben Hess (3.1 IP, 1 R), Chase Hampton (welcome back to Somerset!), and a rehabbing Alexander Cornielle in the piggyback system didn’t hurt.
There were some moving parts in the bullpen, as Harrison Cohen returned from a brief absence on Sunday, but at the cost of Chris Veach going down with an injury. That, along with Will Brian being sent to Scranton for a few days before returning, kinda just led to this being a silent week for these guys. Remember, they got three piggyback long-relief outings by Cebert, Rivas, and Chase Chaney behind guys like Cornielle, Hampton, and Hess, so there weren’t many innings to go around.
Players of Note:
Jace Avina: .276/.358/.583, 14 HR, 35 RBI, 30 XBH, 145 wRC+ (injured)
Garrett Martin: .253/.326/.531, 19 HR, 49 RBI, 16 SB, 126 wRC+
Coby Morales: .263/.343/.474, 11 HR, 46 RBI, 11 SB, 117 wRC+
Hayden Merda: 0-0, 3.38 ERA, 2.97 FIP, 1.08 WHIP, 32.7 K-BB% (24 IP)
Kyle Carr: 5-4, 4.31 ERA, 3.94 FIP, 1.38 WHIP, 17.9 K-BB% (56.1 IP)
High-A Hudson Valley Renegades
Record: 29-33, 10.5 GB in the South Atlantic League North after a 4-2 week against the Jersey Shore BlueClaws (Phillies)
Run differential: +1
Coming up: Away @ Rome Emperors (Braves)
After an absolutely miserable week to start June for the pitching staff, they bounced back pretty nicely against Jersey Shore this week, winning via shutout on Tuesday before a pair of 11-3 victories later in the week. They secured the series win with a 6-3 win on Sunday.
Kaeden Kent continued to hold serve as the team’s leadoff bat with a .300 average and not many extra-base hits. It was an absolutely massive week for Wilson Rodriguez (12-for-24, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 6 XBH), as the Puerto Rico native settles in midway through his first year in High-A. Eric Genther continued to slug in what’s been a big few weeks for him, while Josh Moylan cooled off after a multi-week heater. Enmanuel Tejada has also been a consistent on-base threat since he was promoted from Tampa in May.
The week started off with a great sign, as the struggling Bryce Cunningham finally looked like the player he was pre-injury last year with six shutout innings on Tuesday. Luis Serna followed things up by getting back on track with a quality start, Allen Facundo walked six but got through five innings with a no-decision, Rory Fox tossed a quality start of his own on Friday, and Sean Paul Liñan had a decent four-inning outing. Only starter who took it on the chin this week was Franyer Herrera on Saturday.
Nothing special from the pen this week. Jack Sokol took both a win and a loss, Brandon Decker continued to look good, and Brady Kirtner finally started to settle in. Tanner Bauman and Thomas Balboni Jr. exchanged good and bad outings, as well.
Players of Note:
Kaeden Kent: .297/.353/.426, 4 HR, 30 RBI, 22 XBH, 16 SB, 106 wRC+
Core Jackson: .250/.366/.450, 6 HR, 26 RBI, 15 SB, 115 wRC+
Eric Genther: .241/.373/.379, 6 HR, 29 RBI, 14 XBH, 105 wRC+
Luis Serna: 3-3, 4.15 ERA, 3.39 FIP, 1.29 WHIP, 15.3 K-BB% (52 IP)
Bryce Cunningham: 1-3, 5.00 ERA, 5.49 FIP, 1.30 WHIP, 13.0 K-BB% (27 IP)
Single-A Tampa Tarpons
Record: 34-29, 5 GB in the Florida State League West after a 4-2 week against the Bradenton Marauders (Pirates)
Run differential: +30
Coming up: Home vs. Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (Twins)
It’s too late for the Tarpons to make a run at the first-half playoff spot, but if they can continue to ride this momentum into the second half, they’ll be playing in the postseason. In all four wins, they allowed three or fewer runs, and they did so in one of the two losses as well. The offense was down, but the pitching was just so good.
The big three continued to hit for Tampa, as Jackson Lovich, Hans Montero, and Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek all continued to hit, while Logan Maxwell is back entrenched in this lineup and hitting. Even JoJo Jackson, who had a mediocre May after a strong April, is starting to heat up. This lineup doesn’t have many holes right now, even if nobody is putting up a ridiculous slashline.
What a fun week for this rotation. Justin West only got three innings in on Tuesday, and Brennan Stuprich struggled on Sunday, but everyone else looked great. Thatcher Hurd got screwed over with a suspended game, but tossed three solid innings before Wyatt Parliament piggy-backed him with five two-run innings. JT Etheridge improved to 6-0 with five shutout innings. Henry Lalane had his fourth consecutive great start with six shutout innings with nine strikeouts. And to put the cherry on top, Tyler Boudreau struck out 11 in six strong innings on Saturday.
The bullpen continues to be buoyed by the strong performances of Jose Martinez and Pedro Rodriguez. Jose M. Rodriguez is overcoming some inconsistent command, Parker Seay and Greysen Carter are stringing together scoreless outings after scoreless outing, and even once-struggling relievers like Jordarlin Mendoza and Jose Ledesma have slowly gotten their gargantuan ERAs down. We also got a rehab assignment from former Somerset closer Kevin Stevens, who was arguably the best reliever in the system in 2024.
Players of Note:
Jackson Lovich: .293/.372/.539, 11 HR, 40 RBI, 23 XBH, 14 SB, 141 wRC+
Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek: .283/.386/.453, 8 HR, 28 RBI, 19 SB, 129 wRC+
Hans Montero: .268/.390/.495, 7 HR, 32 RBI, 24 XBH, 15 SB, 138 wRC+
Tyler Boudreau: 3-2, 3.18 ERA, 3.07 FIP, 1.10 WHIP, 22.8 K-BB% (51 IP)
Henry Lalane: 2-1, 3.24 ERA, 2.88 FIP, 1.18 WHIP, 18.3 K-BB% (41.2 IP)
FCL Yankees
Record: 17-14, 5 GB in the FCL North after a 4-1 week.
Run differential: +24
Now, that’s more like it. What a great week for the FCL squad, who might not be any closer to the FCL Blue Jays at the top, but they’re finally playing a more consistent brand of baseball.
Remember last week when I said Wilberson De Pena fell back to earth? Well, he’s back on Jupiter. In five games this week, he went 9-for-23 with 4 HR, 10 RBI, and two doubles. When you add in Dexters Peralta’s tremendous growth in the game power department and Jose Castro returning from a multi-week absence to start slugging the crap outta the ball, this looks like the best offense in the Florida Complex League.
On the pitching end, it’s still a big gap between Omar Gonzalez and everyone else, but an intriguing face popped up on a rehab assignment. 2023 10th-rounder Brian Hendry made his season debut after missing all of 2025, and it wasn’t that long ago when he pitched to a 0.48 ERA in seven starts with Hudson Valley in 2024 before injuries ravaged him. He’s 26 now, but can look no further than Brendan Beck for a late bloomer.
Players of Note:
Wilberson De Pena: .349/.401/.690, 11 HR, 42 RBI, 21 XBH, 13 SB, 144 wRC+ (142 PA)
Jose Castro: .413/.597/.739, 4 HR, 13 RBI, 15 SB, 216 wRC+ (67 PA)
Richard Matic: .319/.453/.462, 11 XBH, 14 RBI, 9 SB, 138 wRC+ (148 PA)
Sabier Marte: 20 IP, 7.25 ERA, 3.96 FIP, 1.75 WHIP, 16.8 K-BB%
Omar Gonzalez: 29 IP, 2.48 ERA, 3.16 FIP, 0.90 WHIP, 22.7 K-BB%
DSL Yankees & Bombers
DSL Yankees:
Record: 5-6, 3.5 GB in DSL East after a 4-1 week
Run differential: +33
DSL Bombers:
Record: 3-8, 4 GB in DSL Southeast after a 2-3 week
Run differential: -29
After a truly miserable opening week, both DSL teams got some momentum this week. Across both affiliates, a number of outstanding hitting performances are rising from the ashes, including Isaias Castillo, Stiven Marinez, and Juan Martinez. While Mani Cedeno, the most prominent name down here, isn’t lighting the world on fire, he has a .943 OPS. Just wait for the run environment to calm down.
The pitching is still pretty bad, but there are bright spots. Jhosneyker Colina has allowed just one run in 10.2 innings with 13 strikeouts. Yunior Jerez hasn’t allowed an earned run in nine innings with 12 strikeouts. The samples are too small for anyone else to emerge, especially with the leaguewide walk problems, so check back next week.
Prospect of the Week: Isaias Castillo
Weekly Stats: 7-for-20, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 7 XBH, 5 BB
Season Stats: .383/.463/1.000, 7 HR, 18 RBI, 14 XBH, 3 SB, 221 wRC+ (54 PA)
You might not know who this young man from Santo Domingo is, but you might want to learn the name.
Castillo was born in June 2008, which even makes a college student like me feel old. He signed with the Yankees in late January 2025 for $750,000 as the third-largest bonus in the class behind Mani Cedeno and Ruben Castillo. He had a fairly unremarkable debut season in 2025, hitting just one home run, eight extra-base hits, and posting just a 90 wRC+ in 27 games with a high strikeout rate. He was barely 17 at the time, but there’s a reason he wasn’t on many radars.
Well, just 11 games into the season, he’s already exceeded pretty much every counting stat from last year as he celebrated his 18th birthday on Monday. He’s been the best hitter in the Dominican Summer League so far, blasting same-age pitching to a degree we rarely see.
The sample size is still very small, and we have almost two entire months to go in the DSL season, but this is the guy you should be keeping your eyes on down in the D.R.
