2024 Yankees Prospects: Week 3 minor league review
Trystan Vrieling dominates, Ben Rice eats, and Omar Martinez swats.
www.pinstripealley.com/2024/4/23/24137024/yankees-prospects-weekly-minor-league-review-trystan-vrieling-ben-rice-luis-serna-omar-martinezWelcome to the third edition of the 2024 weekly minor league roundup, where I review each Yankees affiliate from the week before and the prospects playing there. It wasn’t the greatest week on the farm, but there were still plenty of interesting performances. Let’s dig in!
Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre RailRiders
Record: 13-7, one game up in the International League East after going 3-3 against the Lehigh Valley iron Pigs (Phillies)
Run differential: +13
Coming up: Away for six games against the Durham Bulls (Rays) starting Tuesday, April 23rd
After a stunning 6-0 series on the road against a stacked Norfolk (Orioles) squad, the RailRiders returned to Scranton - and to earth. The pitching staff, which had been phenomenal the week prior, surrendered 34 runs (31 earned) to a Lehigh Valley offense that’s been middle of the pack thus far.
Encouragingly, Will Warren seems to have put his season debut stinker behind him. The second-ranked pitching prospect in the system tossed six scoreless innings on Thursday while racking up seven punchouts and allowing just two hits and one walk. His sweeper seems to be coming alive, as is the command of his four-seamer up in the zone.
Cody Poteet also had another impressive outing where he went six and a third innings on Saturday, surrendering just one run on six hits, no walks, and four strikeouts. The Yankees’ faith in Poteet as a potential depth option seems to be paying dividends.
Scranton’s offense was mostly held in check aside from an eight-run performance on Thursday evening. Everson Pereira led the lineup in this series, batting .375 with two homers and five RBIs. He still whiffs way too much, but there’s no denying he can pack a punch when he makes contact.
Josh VanMeter was the only other hitter to sport an OPS above .700 in the series. T.J. Rumfield, who’d gotten off to a strong start with Double-A Somerset, was promoted to Triple-A early last week. Though he had an underwhelming debut week, it’ll be interesting to see whether he continues to make solid amounts of contact against higher-level pitching. SWB remains in first after their split series against Lehigh Valley, and they’ll look to extend their one-game lead in the International League East when they travel to Durham and take on the last-place Bulls (Rays).
Prospects of note (notable stats are season totals at the level):
2B Caleb Durbin: 93 PA, .284/.419/.459 (133 wRC+), 1 HR, 16 RBI, 15 R, 10 SB
OF Brandon Lockridge: 60 PA, .213/.383/.298 (94 wRC+), 0 HR, 9 RBI, 9 R, 11 SB
OF Everson Pereira: 77 PA, .254/.351/.612 (138 wRC+), 6 HR, 14 RBI, 13 R, 2 SB
1B T.J. Rumfield: 24 PA, .273/.292/.364 (64 wRC+), 0 HR, 6 RBI, 0 R, 0 SB
C Carlos Narvaez: 79 PA, .207/.392/.310 (99 wRC+), 1 HR, 8 RBI, 10 R, 1 SB
RHP Will Warren: 4 GS, 15.1 IP, 5.28 ERA, 30.3 K%, 18.2 K-BB%, .235 BABIP
RHP Clayton Beeter: 3 GS, 12.1 IP, 3.65 ERA, 34.0 K%, 17.0 K-BB%, .269 BABIP
RHP Yoendrys Gómez: 3 GS, 9.0 IP, 4.00 ERA, 24.3 K%, 13.5 K-BB%, .348 BABIP
LHP Edgar Barclay: 4 GS, 17.2 IP, 3.06 ERA, 23.2 K%, 13.4 K-BB%, .300 BABIP
Double-A Somerset Patriots
Record: 7-8, 3 GB in the Eastern League Northeast after going 3-3 against the Hartford Yard Goats (Rockies)
Run differential: -4
Coming up: Away for six games against the Reading Fightin Phils (Phillies) starting Tuesday, April 23rd
After Somerset’s series with New Hampshire concluded, I thought to myself, “Ben Rice has been quiet. Too quiet.” It seems Ben Rice agreed, as the catcher/first baseman exploded with four dingers in as many games and a .375 average last week. Rice might have the best hit tool in the entire system (it’s either him or Caleb Durbin) because he pairs excellent swing decisions with an innate feel for contact.
Overall, the Patriots scored 28 runs in the series, tied for second in the Eastern League in that span. As I’ve stated before, it appears the Patriots will go as far as their offense allows them... except when Trystan Vrieling is on the mound.
That’s right, Vrieling’s done it again. The right-hander, who made his professional debut not even three weeks ago, threw 7.2 hitless innings on Friday night. He also struck out six batters and walked just two. I recently made a joke on X about how I’m wrong a fair amount when it comes to what prospects I expect to break out (any scout who tells you they’re right more than 50 percent of the time is probably lying), but it feels good to know I was in on Vrieling before most. Suffice it to say, that take is paying off in a big way.
Brock Selvidge started two games in this series against the middling Yard Goats offense but struggled to locate both variations of his slider. That’s problematic for Selvidge, as he doesn’t have the stuff Vrieling does to succeed while not effectively locating. Though he allowed just two earned runs across ten innings, he walked five batters and surrendered an additional four unearned runs. I had some pause in putting my firm stamp of approval on Selvidge after the Spring Breakout game because he’s so reliant on his secondaries. That, unfortunately, seems to remain the case. Somerset’s 3.33 ERA across the series looks a lot worse when you omit Vrieling’s dominant start on Friday night.
Prospects of note (notable stats are season totals at the level):
OF Spencer Jones: 24 PA, .381/.458/.571 (191 wRC+), 0 HR, 1 RBI, 3 R, 0 SB
C Agustin Ramirez: 58 PA, .245/.362/.673 (180 wRC+), 7 HR, 15 RBI, 11 R, 2 SB
C Ben Rice: 65 PA, .271/.338/.542 (144 wRC+), 5 HR, 8 RBI, 12 R, 2 SB
2B Benjamin Cowles: 62 PA, .340/.435/.547 (176 wRC+), 0 HR, 7 RBI, 9 R, 3 SB
OF Aaron Palensky: 39 PA, .267/.436/.367 (142 wRC+), 0 HR, 3 RBI, 4 R, 2 SB
RHP Chase Hampton: Has not played (shoulder)
RHP Trystan Vrieling: 3 GS, 18.2 IP, 0.48 ERA, 26.9 K%, 17.9 K-BB%, .116 BABIP
RHP Zach Messinger: 3 GS, 17.0 IP, 5.29 ERA, 24.0 K%, 16.0 K-BB%, .277 BABIP
LHP Brock Selvidge: 3 GS, 14.0 IP, 2.57 ERA, 23.4 K%, 12.5 K-BB%, .357 BABIP
RHP Jack Neely, 5 G, 7.0 IP, 0.00 ERA, 34.5 K%, 20.7 K-BB%, .200 BABIP
High-A Hudson Valley Renegades
Record: 9-5, 1.5 GB in the South Atlantic League League North after going 4-2 against the Aberdeen IronBirds (Orioles)
Run differential: +15
Coming up: Home for six games against the Aberdeen Ironbirds (Orioles) starting Tuesday, April 23rd
Hudson Valley’s home opening series proved to be a battle of the pitching staffs, with both teams scoring less than 30 runs across their six matchups. What’s odd is there was some incredibly sloppy play from the Renegades on defense, but the highlight of the week was a defensive play courtesy of my personal cheeseball in the system, Roc Riggio:
Kyle Carr struggled with command (again), Brian Hendry went four scoreless but didn’t get the same number of whiffs against Aberdeen as he got versus the light-hitting Emperors (Braves) his previous time out, and Cam Schlittler struck out seven but also walked four in as many innings on Sunday afternoon. Hudson Valley’s bullpen, however, has been lights out this year and that remained true last week. In 67.1 innings, the Renegades’ bullpen sports a remarkable 2.00 ERA and are striking out more than 11.5 batters per nine innings. Specifically, Ben Shields had a masterful outing while piggybacking for Carr on Saturday, tossing three and a third scoreless and striking out five. He also had an outing earlier in the week where he went 2.2 innings while surrendering one run via a solo shot. Keep an eye on him to ascend to the rotation in the coming weeks.
Scroll back up to the X post from Tom Kosensky, and you’ll see who’s sitting atop the Yankees’ minor league wRC+ leaderboard. That would be Omar Martinez, the catcher that, you guessed it, has above-average raw pop. In this series, Martinez batted .400 with a homer, seven walks, and just two punchouts. Martinez is likely someone I will have to do a full write-up of in time.
Josh Moylan signed as a UDFA last season and proceeded to produce interesting batted-ball data in Tampa. He’s too passive at the plate and the swing can get very long, but there’s enough loft and bat speed to warrant an above-average raw power grade and potential three-true-outcome producer. Alas, he slashed .100/.471/.400 last week, good for an .871 OPS. That’s a fun slash line. Other than that, the offense was largely unimpressive against a solid Aberdeen pitching staff.
Prospects of note (notable stats are season totals at the level):
C Omar Martinez: 48 PA, .333/.458/.615 (202 wRC+), 3 HR, 7 RBI, 5 R, 0 SB
2B Roc Riggio: 54 PA, .167/.333/.333 (102 wRC+), 1 HR, 5 RBI, 6 R, 1 SB
SS Jared Serna: 58 PA, .159/.310/.318 (88 wRC+), 2 HR, 7 RBI, 9 R, 0 SB
C Jesus Rodriguez: 52 PA, .271/.327/.375 (107 wRC+), 1 HR, 5 RBI, 6 R, 0 SB
1B Rafael Flores: 40 PA, .229/.325/.400 (113 wRC+), 1 HR, 4 RBI, 5 R, 1 SB
LHP Kyle Carr: 3 GS, 6.0 IP, 3.72 ERA, 10.9 K%, -13.0 K-BB%, .241 BABIP
RHP Brian Hendry: 2 GS, 9.0 IP, 0.00 ERA, 29.7 K%, 18.9 K-BB%, .182 BABIP
RHP Cam Schlittler: 3 GS, 15.0 IP, 0.60 ERA, 31.1 K%, 16.4 K-BB%, .161 BABIP
RHP Trent Sellers: 4 G, 9.2 IP, 1.86 ERA, 43.6 K%, 33.3 K-BB%, .333 BABIP
Low-A Tampa Tarpons
Record: 4-11, 6 GB in the Florida State League West after going 2-4 against the Port St. Lucie Mets
Run differential: -38
Coming up: Home for six games against the Lakeland Flying Tigers (Tigers) starting Tuesday, April 23rd
Another week, another disappointing showing by the short-handed Tarpons. The pitching was yet again a mess in St. Lucie, walking 32 batters in just 50 innings. Their 32 walks surrendered were the most allowed by an FSL pitching staff last week. The offense at least showed some signs of life, but even they scored a below average 27 runs across their series against the Mets and didn’t hit a single home run. The team is in desperate need of reinforcements from extended spring camp, and that should be happening in the coming weeks.
Brenny Escanio led the way offensively in St. Lucie, as the infielder hit .333 and produced three extra-base hits. As has been noted on X, Escanio looks noticeably more muscular now than last year. He’s chasing more than in years past, but there’s some gap power and defensive versatility that could mimic Oswaldo Cabrera if it hits. George Lombard Jr. continues to impress specifically from a swing decisions standpoint. The power hasn’t come around in-season thus far, but I would remind you that the FSL is extremely pitcher-friendly and he hit one of the more impressive homers during big league spring training.
Roderick Arias continues to whiff and hit the ball hard, making him frustrating to watch as always. Enmanuel Tejeda just hits, man. Though he’s showing a proclivity for chasing outside the zone, his ability to put the bat on the ball is very impressive. He’s also capable of playing anywhere on the infield. Dylan Jasso continues to hit the ball hard at unoptimized launch angles, but I think there’s more to unlock there. As we’ve noted before, the strength of this team is its infield.
Luis Serna and Cade Smith had the most notable outings against the Mets last week, with Serna looking especially impressive. Over his 4.1 innings on Wednesday, the right-hander allowed just one run on two hits and one walk while striking out nine. His changeup is simply disgusting and is going to overpower low-minor hitters. This was a big step in the right direction for the 19-year-old after a terrible season debut the week prior. I’d love to see his arsenal tested against Double-A-caliber hitters by the end of the season, though that’s wishful thinking.
Smith continues to show better velocity and whiff-inducing secondaries each time out, as he punched out five over his three-and-two-thirds innings of work on Thursday evening. Other than that, this pitching staff has really struggled. Rest assured that help is on the way, but their pitching staff is the biggest cause for their 4-11 start.
Prospects of note (notable stats are season totals at the level):
SS George Lombard Jr.: 71 PA, .240/.465/.280 (141 wRC+), 0 HR, 7 RBI, 10 R, 8 SB
SS Roderick Arias: 65 PA, .196/.308/.393 (102 wRC+), 1 HR, 4 RBI, 7 R, 3 SB
INF Enmanuel Tejeda: 65 PA, .310/.354/.345 (104 wRC+), 0 HR, 9 RBI, 7 R, 7 SB
1B Dylan Jasso: 61 PA, .250/.443/.364 (145 wRC+), 0 HR, 5 RBI, 6 R, 1 SB
SS Brenny Escanio: 30 PA, .222/.267/.444 (93 wRC+), 0 HR, 3 RBI, 4 R, 1 SB
RHP Luis Serna: 2 GS, 8.2 IP, 5.19 ERA, 37.8 K%, 29.7 K-BB%, .333 BABIP
RHP Cade Smith: 3 GS, 9.1 IP, 2.89 ERA, 34.9 K%, 16.3 K-BB%, .316 BABIP
LHP Brady Rose: 2 GS, 6.0 IP, 10.50 ERA, 24.1 K%, 13.8 K-BB%, .389 BABIP
Prospect of the week: Ben Rice & Trystan Vrieling
Both Rice and Vrieling were too good to pick between, so I’m cheating a bit this week. Vrieling is quickly turning into one of the biggest storylines in minor league baseball. I cannot emphasize how impressive it is for him to be dominating in Double-A, his very first professional assignment. Rice is a bonafide d-a-w-g out there. He may not catch, but the bat is more than enough to justify first base as his future landing spot.
