Got some links to dump on you before we get to tonight’s game action:
- Randy Miller spoke to Triple-A Scranton manager Jay Bell about several of his players. “(If) you can command the baseball, you’re going to be successful, and I think that’s all Chance needs to do. Just figure out how to put the ball where he wants it,” he said of RHP Chance Adams.
- Ben Badler (subs. req’d) listed 12 low-profile international signees whose stock is on the rise. Two are Yankees: RHP Juan Carela and SS Carlos Verdecia. “Carela’s velocity spiked (from 86-89 mph) when he reached 96 mph at Dominican instructional league … he pairs it with a sharp-breaking curveball,” says the write-up. The Yankees gave Carela a $350,000 bonus last July.
- Jon Schwartz has a nice story on RHP Tyler Johnson, last year’s 30th round pick. The Yankees made an exception to their hair policy so Johnson could grow his out and have it made into a wig for his mother, a cancer patient.
Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (6-5 win over Lehigh Valley in ten innings, walk-off style)
- SS Thairo Estrada: 2-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 E (fielding) — 8-for-19 (.421) with a double and two homers in his last four games
- DH Mike Ford: 0-5, 2 K
- CF-RF Trey Amburgey: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 BB
- RF-1B Ryan McBroom: 1-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K — third straight game with a dinger
- 1B-2B Gosuke Katoh: 0-4, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K
- LHP Nestor Cortes: 5 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 4/4 GB/FB — 63 of 96 pitches were strikes (66%) … a rare dud
- LHP Stephen Tarpley: 2.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 2 WP, 6/0 GB/FB — 26 of 46 pitches were strikes (57%) … kinda funny how, when a dude like this is in the big leagues, leaving him in to throw 30 pitches seems crazy, yet down here he’ll throw 40+ pitches on the regular
Double-A Trenton Thunder (8-6 win over Akron)
- 2B Hoy Jun Park: 3-5, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 K — two homers in six Double-A games this year after hitting six homers in 103 High-A games last year
- SS Kyle Holder: 1-4, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 K, 1 E (fielding)
- RF Ben Ruta: 3-4, 2 R, 1 2B — 10-for-18 (.556) in his last five games
- 1B Chris Gittens: 4-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI — had four hits in 24 at-bats prior to this game
- 3B Brandon Wagner: 0-3, 1 BB
- RHP Nick Green: 5.1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 11/3 GB/FB — 43 of 73 pitches were strikes (59%) … 20/3 K/BB in 12.1 innings
High-A Tampa Tarpons (4-1 loss to Bradenton)
- SS Diego Castillo: 1-2, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 E (fielding) — now 3-for-41 (.073) on the season … also, that’s already five errors in ten games
- 1B Dermis Garcia: 0-3, 1 BB, 2 K — 3-for-18 (.167) with eight strikeouts in his last five games
- DH Isiah Gilliam: 1-4, 1 K
- C Jason Lopez: 0-4, 2 K
- RHP Frank German: 4.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 8/1 GB/FB — 50 of 67 pitches were strikes (75%) … Nick Flammia says German was up to 98 mph with his fastball … last year’s fourth rounder was not on an Opening Day roster this year, which was weird, so I think he must’ve been hurt … if he was hurt, it couldn’t have been that serious if he’s already returned to game action without a short pitch limit
Low-A Charleston RiverDogs (6-2 win over Greenville)
- CF Brandon Lockridge: 1-5, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K
- 2B Kyle Gray: 2-3, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 BB, 1 K — 5-for-13 (.385) in his last four games
- RF Josh Stowers: 0-5 — he’s in a 2-for-21 (.095) rut
- 1B Mickey Gasper: 3-3, 3 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB — in addition to having an excellent baseball name, last year’s 27th rounder is hitting .393/.452/.643 with three walks and two strikeouts through eight games
- LF Canaan Smith: 1-2, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K — 4-for-15 (.267) with three walks and five strikeouts since being bumped up from Extended Spring Training
- RHP Alex Vizcaino: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, 1 HR, 5/1 GB/FB — 56 of 88 pitches were strikes (64%)
- RHP Shawn Semple: 4 IP, zeroes, 5 K, 3/1 GB/FB — 30 of 46 pitches were strikes (65%) … the 2017 11th rounder has been off-the-charts good so far this season (13 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 26 K) … he spent some time with Charleston last year, so the Yankees should probably get him up to Tampa to see what have, he’s obviously not being challenged here
The Short Season Staten Island Yankees, Rookie Pulaski Yankees, and two Rookie Gulf Coast League Yankees teams begin play in June.