Yankees Prospects: Week 25 minor league review

Six of the Yankees’ top nine prospects are playing in meaningful minor league games late into the season at the upper levels of the system. Austin Wells, Jasson Domínguez, and Anthony Volpe are all playing in big spots as their teams try to finish off the season strong. Let’s take a look at how Triple-A Scranton and Double-A Somerset fared over the last week.

Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre RailRiders

Record: 81-65; Second place in the International League (East), 1.5 GB

Past Week: 4-2 vs. Lehigh Valley IronPigs

Coming Up: Home vs. Buffalo Bison

The RailRiders were 16-7 this month heading into yesterday’s doubleheader that they split against Buffalo, and yet over the last two weeks they have not been able to gain any more ground on first place Durham. Only the division winner advances to the playoffs and time is running short for a team that was once 15.5 games out in the division race.

Matt Krook set the RailRiders’ season record with his 155th strikeout of the season. He has been a streaky pitcher but has been especially good over his last 17 games, holding opponents to a .197 batting average. Blake Perkins had a big week, and he has been very strong at both the Double-A and Triple-A level this season.

Players of Note:

Anthony Volpe: 99 G; .269/.356/.487, 16 HR, 3 3B, 31 2B, 34 SB (Double-A and Triple-A)

Matt Krook: 17 G; 3.20 ERA, 84.1 IP, 59 H, 43 BB, .197 BAA

Armando Alvarez: 62 G; .312/.356/.566, 13 HR, 17 2B

Blake Perkins: 44 G; .296/.399/.549, 9 HR, 1 3B, 7 2B

Zach Greene: 16 G; 1.40 ERA, 25.2 IP, 13 H, 9 BB, 39 K

Jimmy Cordero: 30 G; 1.72 ERA, 36.2 IP, 24 H, 9 BB, 49 K

Double-A Somerset Patriots

Second-half Record: 39-28; Second place in the Eastern League (Northeast), 3.0 GB

Overall Record: 83-53; First-half Champion in the Eastern League (Northeast); Best Full Season record in the Eastern League

Past Week: 2-0 vs. Portland Sea Dogs (Advanced to Eastern League Championship)

0-1 vs. Erie SeaWolves (Best-of-three Eastern League Championship)

Coming Up: Home vs. Erie SeaWolves (Pirates)

The Patriots return home on Tuesday night with their Championship hopes on the line. They dropped a closely contested game on Saturday night in Erie and will now have to hold serve at home to bring home an Eastern League Championship.

Prior to getting to the series with Erie, the Patriots disposed of the Portland Sea Dogs in two straight games. In the first game of the series, Somerset put nine runs on the board without a single extra base hit. Elijah Dunham led the way by going 4-for-5 on the night, while the pitching staff behind Randy Vasquez held down the Portland lineup. Clayton Beeter followed with another strong outing, but that game turned into a back-and-forth affair that went into extra innings. Outfielder Brandon Lockridge came through with a walk-off hit in the 10th inning to lock in the series victory.

Players of Note:

Jasson Domínguez: 93 G; .290/.409/.490, 13 HR, 7 3B, 14 2B, 33 SB

Clayton Beeter: 8 G; 2.08 ERA, 30.1 IP, 18 H, 14 BB, 47 K

Austin Wells: 54 G; .280/.381/.512, 12 HR, 1 3B, 10 2B, 7 SB

Tyler Hardman: 36 G; .281/.327/.534, 9 HR, 2 3B, 6 2B