Welcome to Week 20 of the Yankees minor league recap! As a few affiliates fight for playoff spots amidst strong seasons, Triple-A Scranton is being propelled by former and future big-leaguers while High-A Hudson Valley has responded nicely to the post-deadline roster shuffle. Meanwhile, a trio of pitching prospects in Somerset are battling to become the next big thing in the rotation.
Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre RailRiders
Record: 70-47; T-Second place in International League (East), 1 GB
Past Week: 3-3 vs Indianapolis Indians (Pirates)
Coming up: Away @ Buffalo Bisons (Blue Jays)
The RailRiders split a home series against Indianapolis this past week, and find themselves in a close race for the division. They’re one game behind Jacksonville and tied with Durham at 70-47, but since the second half of the season began they’ve been the best team in the International League at 32-13. It’s a close race for the playoffs, and every game matters as the regular season winds down. The series began on Tuesday with a 6-5 loss, as starter Erick Leal gave up six earned runs in four innings. Jeimer Candelario hit his third homer since joining the RailRiders, and Duke Ellis hit his second at the level.
Scranton won 6-5 on Wednesday on the back of Allan Winans, who recorded yet another strong start with five strikeouts and just one earned run in five innings. Winans has a 1.20 ERA in the minors this year, but his struggles in the Bronx indicate that he may be a textbook example of a “Quad-A” pitcher. If they keep him at Scranton, he should play a huge role in the RailRiders’ fight for a playoff spot. Jose Rojas hit his 21st homer of the year in the win, and Jorbit Vivas, T.J. Rumfield, and Bryan De La Cruz recorded two hits each. Rojas homered again on Thursday and De La Cruz went 4-for-5 in a 9-6 loss, but the major story was a rehab performance from Ryan Yarbrough, who looked sharp in a three-inning start. Yarbrough pitched well in the Bronx before an oblique injury and should fill a long relief role with the big-league club once he completes his rehab assignment.
Kenta Maeda started Friday’s game and allowed four runs over five innings, and Scranton lost 6-5 in ten innings. Rojas homered for a third straight game, and Candelario hit his fourth with Scranton. The RailRiders finished the series strong with two wins over the weekend, starting with an 11-5 victory on Saturday. Brendan Beck earned the win, tossing five innings with three earned runs allowed, and Spencer Jones broke out of a slump with two hits and two RBI. They won again on Sunday 7-5, as Leal tossed six innings with two (unearned) runs allowed and six strikeouts. Fernando Cruz pitched an inning in an rehab appearance and allowed two runs. It was an up-and-down week for some of the arms on the verge of the Bronx, but Winans, Yarbrough, Cruz, Scott Effross, and Jake Bird are all on the radar of the big league roster. The RailRiders will travel to Buffalo this week.
Players of Note:
Spencer Jones: 178 PA; .296/.371/.618, 14 HR, 33 RBI, 15 SB, 9.6 BB%, 28.7 K%, 151 wRC+
T.J. Rumfield: 473 PA; .308/.393/.499, 15 HR, 82 RBI, 4 SB, 11.4 BB%, 16.5 K%, 136 wRC+
Allan Winans: 75 IP; 1.20 ERA, 27.4 K%, 7.4 BB%, .208 BAA, 1.05 WHIP
Double-A Somerset Patriots
Record: 61-53; Second place in Eastern League (Northeast), 15 GB
Past Week: 3-3 @ Portland Sea Dogs (Red Sox)
Coming Up: Home vs Hartford Yard Goats (Rockies)
The Patriots split a series in Portland last week, and stayed consistent at eight games over .500 on the season. They’ve been playing well over the past couple months, but despite being in second place they’re still 15 games back of the red-hot Binghamton Rumble Ponies. The series started on Tuesday with a 6-3 loss with 2024 first-rounder Ben Hess on the mound. Hess pitched 4.2 innings, allowing three runs while walking two and striking out six. Garrett Martin hit his 11th home run of the year in the loss. Somerset bounced back on Wednesday with a 6-3 win, behind a much better performance from Carlos Lagrange who allowed two runs over six innings with four strikeouts. George Lombard Jr. reached base three times with an RBI double, a single, and a walk.
Somerset lost consecutive 3-2 games on Thursday and Friday, starting with a tough Thursday loss despite six strong innings from Brock Selvidge who struck out four and allowed just one run. Friday’s loss provided a similar sting for Trent Sellers, who pitched six innings of his own with five strikeouts. Despite four walks, he allowed just two runs but was tagged with the loss anyway. The Patriots ended the week on a better note with two wins on Saturday and Sunday. Lombard went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a walk, and homers from Jake Gatewood and Tyler Hardman propelled Somerset to victory. Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz took the mound, pitching just four innings due to four walks, although he did strike out eight batters in the short outing.
They won an exciting 4-3 game on Sunday in ten innings thanks to a late homer from Jackson Castillo, but the biggest story of the game was Ben Hess, who had one of the best outings of his professional career with six shutout innings. The trio of Hess, Lagrange, and Rodriguez-Cruz are all competing to become the next top pitching prospect following the promotion of Cam Schlittler, and their outings in Somerset should be appointment viewing for Yankees fans. Somerset will host Hartford this week.
Players of Note:
High-A Hudson Valley Renegades
Record: 69-42; Second Place in South Atlantic League (North), 9 GB
Past Week: 4-2 vs Aberdeen IronBirds (Orioles)
Coming Up: Away @ Jersey Shore BlueClaws (Phillies)
Hudson Valley kept up their momentum with a series win, taking four out of six games at home against Aberdeen. Much like Somerset their strong performance won’t translate to a division win, as the Greensboro Grasshoppers are decimating the competition at 79-34, but a 69-42 record is a good sign for the farm system nonetheless. The series against Aberdeen began with a 5-2 loss on Tuesday, despite an excellent start from Brandon Decker who pitched six shutout innings with two walks and seven strikeouts. The bullpen gave up five runs over the final three innings, leading to a loss for the Renegades.
Bryce Cunningham made a surprise return on Wednesday in his first appearance since June. It wasn’t an excellent outing, as he pitched just 1.1 innings and walked three batters, but both pitching staffs were dominant and the game reached extra innings without a run on the board for either side. Juan Matheus led the way on offense for Hudson Valley, and his third hit of the game served as a walk-off in the bottom of the tenth. The Renegades’ offense came back to life on Thursday in a 10-1 win. Dillon Lewis led the way with two doubles, a home run, and five RBI, and recent draftee Core Jackson went 2-for-4 with a triple. It was another strong outing for Kyle Carr, who tossed six innings with one just one run allowed and five strikeouts. Carr’s ERA for the season sits at just 2.19, and he’s knocking at the door for a promotion to Somerset.
The Renegades won 5-1 on Friday, with the headline being starter Xavier Rivas who struck out 12 batters across seven innings of one-run ball in just his second performance since being promoted to the level. Rivas has struggled with control at times, but he held the walks in check and had the best performance of his career. Second-round draft pick Kaeden Kent also hit his first professional home run in the win. Starter Andrew Landry pitched well on Saturday with nine strikeouts and just one run allowed in 5.2 innings, but the offense was lifeless and failed to record a single hit in a 3-0 loss. It was another struggle offensively on Sunday, but they pushed a run across in the sixth inning on a Josh Moylan sac fly and that was enough for a 1-0 victory. Cade Smith dominated over five innings, striking out five and allowing just one hit. Hudson Valley will travel to Jersey Shore this week to take on the BlueClaws.
Players of Note:
Low-A Tampa Tarpons
Record: 53-59; Fifth place in Florida State League (West), 16.5 GB
Past Week: 5-3 vs Dunedin Blue Jays
Coming Up: Away @ Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (Twins)
It was a loaded week for the Tarpons, who played eight games in total against the Dunedin Blue Jays due to two doubleheaders. They won five of them, keeping their record in check in the midst of a mediocre season. The week started on Tuesday with the first doubleheader, and Tampa won the first game 3-1 in a continuation that began on July 24. They won the second game 6-2, with Henry Lalane striking out three in as many innings as he continues to ramp back up after spending most of the season injured. Roderick Arias was the focal point on offense, as he went 3-for-4 with a double and scored two runs.
An offensive onslaught on Wednesday led to a 13-6 victory, led by Kyle West, Willy Montero, and Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek, who each had three hits. Wilson Rodriguez, Enmanuel Tejada, and Arias all homered in the win as well. The second doubleheader of the week came on Thursday, with the two teams splitting the games one apiece. Tampa won the first game 4-1, behind 5.2 shoutout innings from Jose M. Rodriguez, who struck out six and was credited with the win. Dunedin took the second game 16-7, hammering starter Edinzo Marquez who allowed 10 earned runs in just 2.2 innings.
Tampa lost 7-6 on Friday, rallying late in the game after being shut down for the first five innings by breakout pitching prospect Johnny King. Toole hit a three-run homer and the Tarpons were able to tie the game in the ninth, but Dunedin won it in the tenth inning. They lost again 7-2 on Saturday as Josh Tiedemann allowed four runs in two innings out of the bullpen and the offense put up little resistance, but the Tarpons ended the week on a strong note with a 7-5 victory on Sunday. First-round pick Dax Kilby went 2-for-5 with a double out of the leadoff spot, and Jackson Lovich led the way with a 4-for-4 game and three runs scored. Tampa’s playoff chances at this point are virtually hopeless.
Players of Note:
DSL Yankees and DSL Bombers
Records: 22-28; 26-23
Stiven Marinez and Juan Torres, two 17-year-olds holding their own at the level, are the best candidates for the Bombers to find a breakout prospect following the trade of Browm Martinez to Washington. Torres hasn’t developed much power yet, which isn’t out of the ordinary for a prospect his age, but a .361 average gives him a great start to build on his offensive profile for a future breakout. Marinez has displayed an advanced plate approach with a 20% walk rate.
