Yankees prospects: Week five minor league review

The Yankees minor league teams continue to win and we are starting to see some movement in the system with top prospects earning promotions and making their season debuts. Shortstops Oswald Peraza and Josh Smith are both bumping up a level to Double-A and High-A, respectively, after strong starts to their season. Help for the big league club is getting closer as Zack Britton pitched in his second rehab outing and Luis Severino threw his first innings since 2019 in the past week.

Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre RailRiders

Record: 19-9, 1st Place in the Triple-A (Northeast); 3 GA

Past Week: 3-3 vs. Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Phillies)

Upcoming: Away vs. Buffalo Bisons (Blue Jays); 15-13 – Games in Trenton, NJ

Now that Chris Gittens has been promoted to the majors, the combination of Trey Amburgey and Hoy Jun Park continues to pace the Scranton offense. On the pitching side, the team has continued to patch together games — their depth has been challenged after Mike Montgomery opted out to go to Korea and a busy Scranton Shuttle has included the likes of Deivi García, Albert Abreu, Nick Nelson and Brooks Kriske in recent weeks.

Players of Note:

Trey Amburgey: 15 G; .404/.451/.830, 5 HR, 5 2B

Hoy Jun Park: 15 G; .370/.477/.722, 5 HR, 4 2B

Reggie McClain: 8 G; 12 IP, 1.50 ERA, 10 H, 5 BB, 11 K

Albert Abreu: 5 G; 9.1 IP, 0.96 ERA, 3 H, 3 BB, 1 ER, 14 K

Hoy Jun Park is more than just a slugger

Double-A Somerset Patriots

Record: 20-9, 1st place in the Double-A (Northeast) 2.5 GA

Past Week: 4-2 vs. Reading Fightin Phils (Phillies)

Upcoming: Away vs. Erie SeaWolves (Tigers); 19-10

It was a productive week for the Patriots, as even when staff ace Luis Gil struggled through his worst outing of the season, the team still won their weekly series. In the process the Patriots claimed both the player and pitcher of the week in the Double-A Northeast. Zack Britton made his second and third rehab appearances with the team, including his first out of the bullpen. Shortstop Diego Castillo has been on an absolute tear this season and has already matched his career high for home runs in a season with four.

Matt Krook pitched five no-hit innings Saturday evening and is building on an outstanding start to his season after being acquired in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 Draft. The Patriots will receive some more firepower this week when they are joined by one of the Yankees’ top prospects — Oswald Peraza.

Players of Note:

Matt Krook: 6 G; 1.48 ERA, 24.1 IP, 35 K, 0.82 WHIP

Donny Sands: 21 G; .303/.391/.461; 2 HR, 6 2B, 10.3% BB, 14.9%K

Diego Castillo: 17 G; .350/.412/.633, 4 HR – Double-A Northeast Player of the Week

JP Sears: 2 G; 6 IP, 10 K, 3 H, 1 BB, 1 R, 0 ER – Double-A Northeast Pitcher of the Week

High-A Hudson Valley Renegades

Record: 15-13, 2nd place in the High-A East (Northern) 4 GB

Past Week: 2-3 vs. Wilmington Blue Rocks (Nationals)

Upcoming: Away vs. Brooklyn Cyclones (Mets); 9-18

Ken Waldichuk continues to baffle High-A hitters, tossing a six-inning gem in his latest outing, and has yet to allow a run through 24.2 innings pitched. Despite Oswald Peraza’s promotion, the team will not be without a star shortstop for very long thanks to Josh Smith receiving a promotion from Tampa. The team is also expected to receive some pitching help this week as Luis Severino could be making his second rehab start with the Renegades on Saturday.

Players of Note:

Ken Waldichuk: 6 G, 0.00 ERA, 24.2 IP, 45 K, 11 H, 0.85 WHIP, .134 BAA

Eric Wagaman: 5 G; .467/.579/1.000, HR, 3B, 3 2B

Oswald Peraza: 28 G; .306/.386/.532, 5 HR, 10 2B, 16 SB, 1 CS

Ezequiel Duran: 16 G; .349/.406/.714, 4 HR, 3 3B, 5 2B

Low-A Tampa Tarpons

Record: 22-8, 1st place in the Low-A Southeast (West Coast) 3 GA

Past Week: 5-1 vs. Lakeland Flying Tigers

Upcoming: Away vs. Clearwater Threshers (Phillies); 15-14

The Tarpon offense continues to hammer away at opposing pitching and has now scored 263 runs in their first 30 games. With a run differential of +101, the team put up nine runs in an inning for the third time this season. This past week, Anthony Volpe smashed a 440 foot home run on his way to winning the Low-A Southeast Player of the Week award. Notable players are joining the Tarpons on a regular basis these days. Luis Severino’s rehab start is the biggest example, as he started the clock on his return to the Yankees with 2.2 innings pitched. The team also saw one of its best pitching prospects, Yoendrys Gomez, make his season debut on Wednesday night.

Players of Note:

Josh Smith: 11 G; .333/.480/795, 6 HR, 6 K, 7 BB

Anthony Volpe: 5 G; .435/.519/1.000, 3 HR, 3B, 2 2B, 3 SB – Low-A Southeast Player of the Week

Chad Bell: 9 G; .433/.514/.833, 3 HR, 3B, 2B

Austin Wells: 13 G; .354/.508/.521, 3B, 6 2B