Yankees Prospects: Week two minor league review

Minor League Baseball entered a new era this week, with the strict enforcement of a pitch clock. While the pitch clock has existed for several years in the minor leagues, umpires are now regularly calling automatic balls and strikes against offending players, leading to dramatically shorter games across the minors. With that backdrop, the Yankees system had a mixed week, with just Double-A Somerset and Low-A Tampa winning their weekly series.

Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre RailRiders

Record: 5-6; Sixth place in the International League (East), 4 GB

Past Week: 1-5 vs. Norfolk Tides (Orioles)

Coming Up: Away vs. Buffalo Bison (Blue Jays)

Matt Krook and Hayden Wesneski turned in strong starts at the beginning of the week, but those efforts resulted in a pair of losses as the RailRiders’ offense struggled to get going. Those competitive games early in the week gave way to a pair of blowouts, as both Deivi Garcìa and Luis Gil were hit hard by the Norfolk batters. Scranton was in danger of a being swept in the series, but a strong Sunday pitching performance by Manny Bañuelos allowed the highly-touted Oswald Peraza to brush off an otherwise-quiet week by swatting a walk-off double in the second game of a doubleheader on Sunday afternoon.

Players of Note:

Hayden Wesneski: 2 G; 0.00 ERA, 8.2 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 8 K

Manny Bañuelos: 2 G; 1.29 ERA, 7.0 IP, 2 H, 3 BB, 7 K

Matt Pita: 5 G; .444/.583/1.000, HR, 2 2B

Ronald Guzmán: 5 G, .357/.526/.857, 2 HR

Double-A Somerset Patriots

Record: 6-3; Tied for first place in Eastern League (Northeast)

Past Week: 4-2 vs. Erie SeaWolves (Pirates)

Coming Up: Away vs. Hartford Yard Goats (Rockies)

The Patriots split the first four games of the series with the Pirates Double-A Affiliate. They then turned it on over the weekend, outscoring the SeaWolves 17-4 in the final two games. After starting the 2021 season with 30.2 scoreless innings pitched for Low-A Hudson Valley, Ken Waldichuk has now started the 2022 season with 10 scoreless innings. On the offensive side of the ball, Andres Chaparro has heated up and is showing the power that is expected from a player with some of the best exit velocities in the system. Top prospect Anthony Volpe is off to a shaky start in his first exposure above A-ball, but he did end the week on a high note with a grand slam on Sunday for his first Double-A homer.

Players of Note:

Ken Waldichuk: 2 G; 0.00 ERA, 10 IP, 3 H, 16 K, 2 BB

Jhony Brito: 1 G; 0.00 ERA, 4 IP, 3 H, 6 K, 1 BB

Brandon Lockridge: 8 G; .310/.429/.517, HR, 3 2B

Andres Chaparro: 7 G; .367/.387/.600, 2 HR, 2B

High-A Hudson Valley Renegades

Record: 4-5; Tied-Fourth place in the South Atlantic League (North), 2 GB

Past Week: 2-4 vs. Rome Braves

Coming Up: Home vs. Brooklyn Cyclones (Mets)

The Renegades kicked off the week with strong 11-1 victory that saw first baseman TJ Rumfield go 5-for-5. Rumfield has been a pleasant surprise early this season, as after going hitless on opening night, he has hit in seven straight games. Joining Rumfield in pacing the Renegades offense is Everson Pereira, who is putting up big offensive numbers so far this year following up on his breakout campaign from 2021. The Renegades will now return north for a pair of series at home in the coming weeks.

Players of Note:

Everson Pereira: 8 G; .394/.500/.576, HR, 3B, 2B

TJ Rumfield: 8 G; .412/.487/.735, 2 HR, 5 2B

Carson Coleman: 2 G; 0.00 ERA, 4.2 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 4 K

Beck Way: 2 G; 4.82 ERA, 9.1 IP, 7 H, 3 BB, 16 K

Low-A Tampa Tarpons

Record: 6-3; third place in the Florida State League (East Coast), 1 GB

Past Week: 4-2 vs. Dunedin Blue Jays

Coming Up: Away vs. Clearwater Threshers (Phillies)

The Tarpons continued their winning ways this week, taking their second straight series to start the season. Jasson Dominguez has modest overall numbers to start the season but is riding a six-game hitting streak that includes his four doubles that he has recorded so far this season. He’s also hit at least one ball 100 mph in each of those six contests. The duo of Jack Neely and Danny Watson have been lights-out coming out of the Tarpons’ bullpen so far this season. Neely was especially impressive on Saturday night, as he faced seven hitters, struck out six of them, and recorded 12 swings and misses against his electric fastball and slider combination.

Players of Note:

Jack Neely: 3 G; 0.00 ERA, 4.1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 10 K

Madison Santos: 7 G; .318/.464/.455, 3 2B, 7 SB

Danny Watson: 3 G; 0.00 ERA, 7 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 10 K

Jasson Dominguez: 8 G; .250/.270/.361, 4 2B, SB