Yankees Prospects: Week 15 minor league review

A rare tough week for Somerset, but the rest of the Yankees’ full-season affiliates combined to go 13-4, and Everson Pereira built upon his bright debut in Triple-A.

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

Record: 7-3 (41-43 overall) and a game back in the International League after winning 3 out of 5 games with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Phillies)

Coming up: On the road for 3 games against the Norfolk Tides (Orioles) starting Friday, July 14

The RailRiders’ lineup is full of recognizable names, but now even the players who are unfamiliar to Yankees fans are making major contributions. Catchers Ben Rortvedt and Carlos Narvaez have been producing with their bats, Andrés Chaparro is running hot again, Estevan Florial continues to put up numbers, and Oswald Peraza has played the way we expected him to play. When outfielder Michael Hermosillo and infielder Wilmer Difo join the party, the very steady Jamie Westbrook is hitting consistently, and Triple-A newcomers Brandon Lockridge and Everson Pereira are going off, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre has a team that can score runs with anyone. A sub-.500 team in the first half of the season, the RailRiders are playing well in the early going of the second half.

It helps that Mitch Spence continues to string together strong starts, and now quietly Will Warren seems to have found his footing after a promotion from Somerset. Warren got off to a rough start in Triple-A, but he now has an ERA of 0.61 in his last three starts and has punched out 17 in 14.2 innings pitched. That’s a great sign for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s rotation, but it’s a better sign for the Yankees’ organization, and they will be hoping his Double-A teammate Clayton Beeter follows in those footsteps.

Players of note (stats are season totals):

3B Andrés Chaparro: .798 OPS, 16 HR, 60 RBI, 15 2B, 54 R, 41 BB

OF Estevan Florial: .985 OPS, 21 HR, 50 RBI, 57 R, 45 BB, 18 SB, 92 K

SS Oswald Peraza: .860 OPS, 12 HR, 28 RBI, 33 R, 5 2B, 11 SB (43 games)

2B Jamie Westbrook: .875 OPS, 12 HR, 37 RBI, 10 2B, 41 R

SP Will Warren: 4.37 ERA, 35.0 IP, 32 H, 16 BB, 38 K

SP Mitch Spence: 4.45 ERA, 91.0 IP, 90 H, 34 BB, 79 K

SP Randy Vásquez: 5.11 ERA, 61.2 IP, 65 H, 34 BB, 69 K

RP Aaron McGarity: 4.12 ERA, 39.1 IP, 25 H, 13 BB, 48 K

Double-A Somerset Patriots

Record: 5-6 (47-32 overall) and 4.5 games back in the Eastern League Northeast after losing 4 out of 5 games with the Reading Fightin Phils (Phillies). The final game of the series was suspended in the bottom of the 9th inning tied 4-4.

Coming up: On the road for 3 games against the Binghamton Rumble Ponies (Mets) starting Friday, July 14

Bad weeks have been rare in Somerset over the last two seasons, but the Patriots had a tough one last week. The team stacked with top Yankees prospects couldn’t seem to get it going, and winning games is a challenge when a player who hit .250 in the series leads your team in hits, as Austin Wells did with just 5 knocks. Tyler Hardman, coming off a performance that earned him Eastern League Player of the Week, went 1-for-20 against the Fightin Phils and struck out 11 times.

The news was a little more cheerful on the pitching side, where Chase Hampton had a start more reminiscent of his outings for Hudson Valley in the first half and Richard Fitts threw another gem. Hampton struck out 10 in his 5 innings, and Fitts had 8 K’s of his own in 6.2 innings of 1-run ball. Reliever Edgar Barclay continued to shine since his promotion to Double-A by punching out six in four innings of work, and newly-signed Jesús Lirzano had a successful debut by striking out four of his own in two shutout innings.

Players of note:

OF Jasson Domínguez: .691 OPS, 10 HR, 39 RBI, 61 BB, 24 SB, 55 R

C Austin Wells: .820 OPS, 11 HR, 48 RBI, 14 2B, 27 R

SS Trey Sweeney: .784 OPS, 12 HR, 37 RBI, 15 2B, 50 R, 11 SB

1B T.J. Rumfield: .746 OPS, 15 HR, 42 RBI, 7 2B, 35 R

3B Tyler Hardman: .846 OPS, 20 HR, 41 RBI, 42 R, 8 2B, 2 3B

SP Chase Hampton: 4.03 ERA, 22.1 IP, 19 H, 26 K, 6 BB

SP Richard Fitts: 3.63 ERA, 89.1 IP, 82 H, 96 K, 21 BB

SP Yoendrys Gómez: 1.21 ERA, 22.1 IP, 12 H, 23 K, 14 BB

RP Edgar Barclay: 0.44 ERA, 20.2 IP, 13 H, 32 K, 9 BB

High-A Hudson Valley Renegades

Record: 8-7 (47-34 overall) and 3 games back in the South Atlantic League North after winning 5 of 6 games with the Jersey Shore BlueClaws (Phillies)

Coming up: At home for 3 games against the Bowling Green Hot Rods (Rays) beginning Friday, July 14

After sputtering out of the gate in the second half, the Renegades turned things around by almost sweeping the BlueClaws last week. It wasn’t the dominant Hudson Valley team of the early going, but the contributions came from all over the roster. Players like Marcos Cabrera, Luis Santos, and Eduardo Torrealba, who have gotten limited opportunities for a variety of reasons, combined to go 15-for-30 and score nine times. Cabrera ripped two homers, and he was the only Renegade player with more than one last week.

You don’t have to score a lot of runs when you have a pitching staff like Hudson Valley does. Another start, another stellar performance from Drew Thorpe, who twirled another 7 shutout innings. Brendan Beck, still building up as a starter, blanked the BlueClaws for 3 innings himself, and Tyrone Yulie, Juan Carela, and Joel Valdez all turned in quality starts of their own. The bullpen stars continued to shine, as Bailey Dees, Jack Neely, and Luis Velasquez combined for 10.1 scoreless innings and struck out 14.

Players of note:

OF Spencer Jones: .800 OPS, 10 HR, 40 RBI, 20 2B, 4 3B, 40 R, 21 SB

C Agustin Ramirez: 1.073 OPS, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 5 2B, 6 R (9 games)

2B Benjamin Cowles: .731 OPS, 11 2B, 7 HR, 25 RBI, 33 R

C Antonio Gomez: .667 OPS, 3 HR, 25 RBI, 14 2B, 25 R

SP Zach Messinger: 3.54 ERA, 68.2 IP, 62 H, 85 K, 34 BB

SP Drew Thorpe: 2.13 ERA, 84.1 IP, 61 H, 101 K, 28 BB

SP Juan Carela: 2.99 ERA, 72.1 IP, 54 H, 93 K, 26 BB

SP Tyrone Yulie: 3.99 ERA, 65.1 IP, 47 H, 79 K, 38 BB

RP Jack Neely: 2.41 ERA, 37.1 IP, 19 H, 59 K, 14 BB

RP Bailey Dees: 1.98 ERA, 36.1 IP, 19 H, 55 K, 14 BB

Low-A Tampa Tarpons

Record: 9-6 (40-41 overall) and 2 games back in the Florida State League West after winning 5 out of 6 games with the Dunedin Blue Jays

Coming up: At home for 3 games with the Lakeland Flying Tigers beginning Friday, July 14

Losing the bats of Agustin Ramirez and Christopher Familia to Hudson Valley and putting Anthony Hall on the injured list did not stop the winning ways of the Tarpons. Jesus Rodriguez, Omar Martinez, and Ben Rice, all of whom can play behind the plate, made their contributions in the batters’ box last week. The trio combined to go 21 for 62, hit 4 home runs, drove in 17, knocked out 5 doubles, and scored 11 times. That type of production helped bring Tampa to the verge of a sweep over the Blue Jays of Dunedin.

Sean Hermann, Brock Selvidge, and Baron Stuart all turned in good starts, as they combined to throw 17.2 innings and allow four earned runs among them. The bullpen was able to hold things down in part due to the efforts of Ocean Gabonia, Adam Stone, Cole Ayers, Alex Bustamante, and Shane Gray, none of whom allowed a run last week.

Players of note:

2B Jared Serna: .827 OPS, 55 R, 14 HR, 51 RBI, 18 2B, 16 SB

OF Anthony Hall: .839 OPS, 8 HR, 33 RBI, 39 R, 8 2B, 2 3B, 35 BB

1B/3B/C Jesus Rodriguez: .801 OPS, 6 HR, 29 RBI, 38 R, 11 2B, 11 SB

OF Nelson Medina: .827 OPS, 4 HR, 22 RBI, 18 R, 8 2B, 7 SB (39 games)

SP Justin Lange: 4.64 ERA, 54.1 IP, 33 H, 85 K, 46 BB

SP Brock Selvidge: 3.50 ERA, 72.0 IP, 67 H, 84 K, 21 BB

SP Hayden Merda: 5.12 ERA, 65.0 IP, 60 H, 65 K, 32 BB

RP Yorlin Calderon: 2.80 ERA, 45.0 IP, 36 H, 56 K, 12 BB

Prospect of the week: Everson Pereira

Pereira is taking to Triple-A just fine. He followed up a strong first week with the RailRiders by going 9-for-17 with a double, a homer, seven RBI, and five runs scored. The results have been great, but the way he’s hitting the ball is even more impressive. It seems like everything he hits is drilled, and the hardest ball he hit last week was a lineout at 114.5 mph. That’s Giancarlo Stanton territory, and it means if he can come close to maintaining the 15.8% strikeout rate he has in a tiny Scranton/Wilkes-Barre sample, we can start getting serious about having a real left fielder at some point in the Bronx.

Games of Monday, July 10

FCL Yankees (13-11): No game scheduled; league play resumes Thursday, July 13

DSL Bombers (12-13): Win vs. DSL Rockies 11-8

2B Gabriel Terrero 2-4, R, RBI, BB, picked off first base
RF Ramiro Altagracia 1-3, R, RBI, BB, SF, outfield assist
C Edgleen Perez 2-5, RBI, K
CF Gabriel Lara 0-5, R, SB, K
3B Ovandy Frias 4-4, 2 R, BB, SB, CS, E
SS Kevin Verde 1-4, R, RBI, 2 K, SF
1B David Beckles 1-2, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, K
DH Geyber Blanco 1-4, R, RBI, 2K
RF Luis Puello 1-3, 2 R, RBI, BB, K

Chalniel Arias 4.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K (44 K in 29 IP for the 19-year-old)
Michell Chirinos 2.1 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, HR
Rafelin Nivar 1.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, HR (W, 1-0)(BS, 2)
Keninson Diaz 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

DSL Yankees (17-8): Win vs. DSL Rays 20-19

CF Jose Castro 2-2, 4 R, RBI, HR(1), 2 BB, 2 SB, 2 HBP
DH Luis Suarez: 1-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2B, 2 BB, K, HBP
SS Santiago Gomez 1-5, R, 2 RBI, 2B, 2 K, HBP, E
3B Luis Ogando 1-3, 3 R, 3 RBI, HR(3), 2 BB, SF, K, E
1B Jhon Imbert 2-4, 2 R, 4 RBI, HR(4), 3B, BB, K (.344/.476/.641 for the 19-year-old)
C Edison Vivas 1-4, 2 R, 2B, BB, K
LF Andres Lacruz 1-4, R, BB
2B Luis Escudero 2-4, 3 R, 3 RBI, 3B, HR(2), BB, 2 K
RF Niurby Asigen 1-4, 2 R, RBI, BB, 3 K, SB, outfield assist

Jorge Luna 2.0 IP, 6 H, 9 ER, 4 BB, 1 K, WP
Alexis Paulino 2.1 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 3 WP
Jose Guzman 1.1 IP, 2 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, HR allowed
Yordanny Sosa 2.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K (W, 2-2)
Domingo Feliz 0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 2 WP (H, 1)
Ernesto Disla 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K (S, 2)