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DotF: Park, Ruta, and Gittens have big games in Trenton’s win

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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

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DotF: Estrada and Ford stay red hot in Scranton’s win

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Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (9-5 win over Buffalo)

  • 2B Thairo Estrada: 2-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 3 RBI — 8-for-23 (.348) with three doubles and two homers in his last five games
  • 1B Mike Ford: 2-3, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI — up to .471/.525/1.029 with nearly twice as many extra-base hits (four doubles, five homers) than strikeouts (five) … he has to be loving life with the MLB ball against Triple-A pitching
  • RF Trey Amburgey: 1-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 K, 1 SB
  • DH Ryan McBroom: 1-3, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K — 7-for-15 (.467) with a double and two homers in his last five games
  • SS Gosuke Katoh: 2-4, 1 RBI, 1 2B, 1 K, 1 CS
  • LHP Gio Gonzalez: 5 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, 3/1 GB/FB — 61 of 93 pitches were strikes (66%) … Gonzalez has one more start to show the Yankees they should add him to their roster before his April 20th opt-out date arrives … my guess right now is they will add him to the roster and figure out where exactly he fits later
  • RHP Jake Barrett: 2 IP, zeroes, 2 K, 1/2 GB/FB — 20 of 25 pitches were strikes (80%)

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DotF: Thairo Estrada hits two home runs in Scranton’s win

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Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (10-4 win over Buffalo)

  • 2B Thairo Estrada: 3-5, 2 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI — here’s video of his first home run … this is his third career two-homer game, and I was surprised to see he had that many … he had a double off the top of the wall in his last game as well (it was originally called a homer before being overturned on replay), so he was pretty darn close to hitting three homers in two games … they are using the MLB ball in Triple-A this year, so power seems to be up all around the level … Thairo turning into the 15-20 homer guy because of the ball would be pretty fun
  • 1B Gosuke Katoh: 1-5, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 K — three homers in eight Triple-A games after five homers in 118 Double-A games last year … hooray for the MLB ball
  • RF Ryan McBroom: 2-3, 3 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 HBP
  • RHP Drew Hutchison: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 8 K, 5/3 GB/FB — 54 of 89 pitches were strikes (61%), plus he picked a runner off first base
  • LHP Rex Brothers: 1 IP, zeroes, 2/0 GB/FB — seven of nine pitches were strikes

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DotF: Breaux goes deep, Myatt dominates in Charleston’s win

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LHP Danny Coulombe was placed on the Triple-A Scranton injured list, reports Conor Foley. He has a minor shoulder issue. RHP Jonathan Loaisiga reported and took Coulombe’s roster spot. Also, C Kellin Deglan was brought up from Extended Spring Training to replace the called up C Kyle Higashioka. Deglan had been with Scranton the entire season working out as an extra player.

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (4-1 win over Buffalo in five innings) completed early due to rain

  • LF Trey Amburgey: 0-3, 2 K
  • DH Mike Ford: 1-2, 1 R, 1 HBP — currently hitting .452/.527/.936 through eight games
  • 2B Gosuke Katoh: 0-1, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 K — holding his own in Triple-A thus far
  • C Ryan Lavarnway: 1-2, 1 R, 2 RBI
  • RHP David Hale: 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 1 HR, 1 WP, 5/2 GB/FB — 40 of 61 pitches were strikes (66%)

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DotF: Amburgey, Ford stay hot in Scranton’s walk-off win

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LHP Danny Coulombe will be shut down for about a week with a shoulder issue, reports Conor Foley. Coulombe left his last outing with the trainer and an MRI came back clean, so he’ll rest a bit.

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (9-8 win over Buffalo in ten innings, walk-off style)

  • LF Trey Amburgey: 2-6, 2 R, 1 3B, 2 K — he’s been crushing the ball, and he’s only here rather than Trenton because the Yankees needed Clint Frazier in the big leagues
  • 1B Mike Ford: 2-3, 1 R, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 2 BB — 13-for-29 (.448) with three doubles and four homers in seven games
  • PH Mandy Alvarez: 1-1, 1 RBI — had the walk-off single after they slowly blew an 8-1 lead
  • 2B Thairo Estrada: 1-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 BB, 2 K — here’s video of the double, which was originally called a homer before being overturned on replay
  • DH-C Ryan Lavarnway: 0-3, 1 R, 2 BB, 2 K
  • C Kyle Higashioka: 1-2, 1 R, 2 RBI — exited the game for an unknown reason in the fourth inning, which forced the RailRiders to give up the DH and put Lavarnway behind the plate … manager Jay Bell told Conor Foley that Higashioka was removed from the game because the Yankees are calling him up, which is probably bad news for Gary Sanchez and his tight calf … the Yankees have another off-day Monday, so maybe they plan to limit Sanchez to DH this weekend and need a temporary backup catcher? … we’ll see, fingers crossed
  • RHP Chance Adams: 0-1, 1 K — this was his first professional at-bat and he didn’t take the bat off his shoulder … he had to hit because Lavarnway moved from DH to catcher
  • 3B Gosuke Katoh: 2-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 E (throwing) — two homers in six Triple-A games after hitting five homers in 118 Double-A games last year
  • RHP Chance Adams: 4.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 2/3 GB/FB — 62 of 94 pitches were strikes (66%) … only two starts, but things are going a lot like last year

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DotF: Schmidt struggles in Tampa’s loss, Breaux returns in Charleston’s win

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If you’re still searching for a DotF replacement, check out The Bronx View and their daily minor league report. It is more than a straight box score/stats roundup.

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (3-2 loss to Lehigh Valley)

  • CF Trey Amburgey: 2-5, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 SB — 12-for-29 (.414) in his first six Triple-A games
  • 1B Mike Ford: 2-5, 1 2B, 1 RBI — 11-for-26 (.423) with a double and four home runs in six games so far … this is his third straight year at Triple-A, remember
  • SS Thairo Estrada: 0-5, 1 K
  • RF Ryan McBroom: 2-2, 2 BB
  • LHP Nestor Cortes: 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 6/4 GB/FB — 50 of 79 pitches were strikes (63%), plus he picked two runners off first … this dude is going to keep getting jobs the next 12 years because he’s left-handed and dominates in Triple-A
  • RHP Jake Barrett: 0.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 1/0 GB/FB — 13 of 19 pitches were strikes (69%)

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DotF: Gio Gonzalez strikes out ten in Scranton’s win

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I’ve had a number of folks ask where they can get their DotF fix once RAB shuts down. I recommend MLB.com’s Prospect Pipeline page. Scroll down, pick the Yankees, and they have the day’s box scores all on one page. There are no player comments like DotF, but all the stats are there. Some quick notes:

  • OF Matt Lipka was placed on Triple-A Scranton’s injured list with a hamstring issue, reports Conor Foley. No word on a timetable for his return. IF Billy Fleming, who I mistaken said had been released in last week’s chat, was called up from Extended Spring Training to fill the roster spot.
  • Dan Martin wrote about RHP Clarke Schmidt’s dominant season debut. “He was actually better than his line. He topped out at 95-96 with a great curve and changeup and threw a lot of strikes. He was as good as advertised,” said pitching coordinator Danny Borrell.

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (5-1 win over Lehigh Valley)

  • LF Trey Amburgey: 1-3, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 K — 10-for-24 (.417) in the early going … remember, he was supposed to start the season in Trenton … he’s only here because the RailRiders needed an outfielder to replace Clint Frazier when he was called up to the Bronx
  • DH Mike Ford: 2-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
  • SS Thairo Estrada: 2-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB — first hits of the season
  • C Kyle Higashioka: 1-5, 1 RBI, 2 K
  • LHP Gio Gonzalez: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 K, 1 WP, 6/2 GB/FB — 56 of 89 pitches were strikes (63%) … much better than his first start last week … Conor Foley says Gonzalez threw junk all game, so breaking balls and changeups with only a few fastballs … he’s lost quite a bit of velocity in recent years and sat mostly 88-89 mph last season, so kitchen sink might be the way to go at this point of his career … with Luis Severino being shut down for six weeks, Gonzalez suddenly becomes pretty important … there is enough time for two more Triple-A starts before his April 20th opt-out
  • LHP Danny Coulombe: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 1/0 GB/FB — 10 of 24 pitches were strikes (42%) … Conor Foley says Coulombe left the game with the trainer, so that’s not good

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