Yankees Prospects: Week 23 minor league review

The minor league season came to a close for two more of the Yankees affiliates this past week. Low-A Tampa and High-A Hudson Valley were both eliminated from playoff contention late in the week after strong second halves of the season. Triple-A Scranton is making an incredible run at a division crown after falling to a big deficit early in the season, while Double-A Somerset received some big-name cameos this week from rehabbing major leaguers. Let’s take a look around the Yankees system to see how the teams fared and who stood out.

Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre RailRiders

Record: 73-61; T-Second place in the International League (East), 1.5 GB

Past Week: 4-2 vs. Durham Bulls

Coming Up: Home vs. Worcester Red Sox

Scranton is 54-27 dating back to early June and has made up 14 games in the standings in that time. They now sit just 1.5 games back of the International League East division lead with 16 games to go. Armando Alvarez is putting together his best season by far since being the Yankees 17^th-round pick in 2016. He has been especially hot over his last 53 games, posting a .988 OPS while only striking out around 17 percent of the time. On the pitching side the team has received strong efforts from a number of players including a resurgent Deivi García, who has been working out of the bullpen recently and seems to have rediscovered some of his magic that once made him one of the team’s top prospects.

Players of Note:

Anthony Volpe: 89 G; .285/.372/.526, 16 HR, 3 3B, 30 2B (Double-A and Triple-A)

Armando Alvarez: 53 G; .330/.366/.622, 13 HR, 16 2B

Zach Greene: 12 G; 1.31 ERA, 20 IP, 12 H, 6 BB, 30 K

Deivi Garcia: 4 G; 2.35 ERA, 15.1 IP, 8 H, 4 BB, 17 K

Double-A Somerset Patriots

Second-Half Record: 37-24; Second place in the Eastern League (Northeast), 3.0 GB

Overall Record: 81-49 First-Half Champion in the Eastern League (Northeast)

Past Week: 5-1 vs. Hartford Yard Goats (Rockies)

Coming Up: Home vs. Portland Sea Dogs (Red Sox)

The Patriots received some high-profile help over the last week as they hosted rehab appearances from Luis Severino, Aroldis Chapman, Zack Britton, Miguel Castro, and Harrison Bader in their series against Hartford. The team’s bats continued to hum along, as Andres Chaparro had another big week posting a 1.575 OPS across five games. The hard-hitting corner infielder has put together a very strong Double-A campaign and enters the final week of the regular season with a .947 OPS in 59 games at the level. The Patriots already have a playoff berth locked up but can go for the clean sweep of the first and second titles if they can take down first place Portland this week at home.

Players of Note:

Clayton Beeter: 6 G; 2.66 ERA, 20.1 IP, 14 H, 9 BB, 34 K

Austin Wells: 46 G; .284/.389/.511, 10 HR, 1 3B, 8 2B

Andres Chaparro: 29 G; .343/.415/.667, 8 HR, 11 2B

Trey Sweeney: 24 G; .283/.405/.467, 4 HR, 5 2B, 10 SB (High-A and Double-A)

High-A Hudson Valley Renegades

Second Half Record: 37-27; Second place in the South Atlantic League (North), 2.0 GB

Overall Record: 71-59

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

Coming Up: Season Complete

Jasson Domínguez’s season at Hudson Valley is in the books and the results have to be incredibly optimistic for Yankees fans. The team’s second-best prospect according to MLB.com started out slow this year before showing the first positive signs in late April. After a few weeks of solid play, Domínguez took it to another level over his last 87 games, posting a .911 OPS across Low- A and High-A. He’s not done yet either, as today, he was promoted to Double-A Somerset for their stretch run.

Domínguez finishes the season as the South-Atlantic League player of the week as he hit .400 in the last series and had a game where he homered from both sides of the plate. On the pitching side, Richard Fitts concluded an amazing late-season run with another strong outing for the Renegades. He will be a pitcher to watch early next season and could move quickly to the upper levels of the system.

Players of Note:

Jasson Domínguez: 87 G; .298/.417/.494, 12 HR, 6 3B, 13 2B, 32 SB, 20.7 % K rate

Richard Fitts: 6 G; 0.46 ERA, 39 IP, 18 H, 4 BB, 45 K (Low-A and High-A)

Tyler Hardman: 75 G; .294/.348/.543, 19 HR, 2 3B, 12 2B

Edgar Barclay: 28 G; 1.74 ERA, 67.1 IP, 41 H, 20 BB, 86 K

Low-A Tampa Tarpons

Second Half Record: 34-28; Third place in the Florida State League (West Coast), 3.5 GB

Overall Record: 61-67

Past Week: 1-4 vs. Daytona Tortugas (Reds)

Coming Up: Season Complete

The Tarpons and manager Rachel Balkovec’s run towards the playoffs fell a few games short after a tough week in Daytona. The second half saw a number of promising developments for the Tarpons, especially on the offensive side of things. Spencer Jones did everything the organization could have hoped for from their most recent first-round pick. He will almost certainly start next season in High-A, and could be fast tracked to Double-A by mid-season if his play remains strong. The catching combination of Ben Rice and Antonio Gomez finished strong with their bats, and gives the Yankees more depth at a key position in the system.

Players of Note:

Spencer Jones: 22 G; .325/.411/.494, 3 HR, 5 2B, 10 SB

Ben Rice: 61 G; .293/.390/.486, 9 HR, 8 2B

Antonio Gomez: 50 G; .300/.361/.461, 6 HR, 1 3B, 9 2B

Yon Castro: 22 G; 3.59 ERA, 87.2 IP, 77 H, 31 BB, 103 K