Yankees prospects: Week 13 minor league recap

Photo by Madison McCall/Minor League Baseball A promotion for Spencer Jones and another dominant start for Cam Schlittler headlined the week in the Yankees organization Welcome to Week 13 of the Yankees minor league recap! The week was headlined by a promotion to Triple-A for Spencer Jones, who homered 16 times in Double-A and already launched his first two in Triple-A as well.

Scranton has been red-hot lately, and Jones bat should be a huge boost if hes able to keep up this level of production.

Heres how the Yankees minor-league affiliates performed last week:Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre RailRidersRecord: 43-35; Fourth place in International League (East), 6.5 GBPast Week: 5-1 vs Worcester Red SoxComing Up: Away @ Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs (Phillies)The main story in Scranton this week was the promotion of the red-hot Spencer Jones, who earned a boost to the highest level of the minors after spending a year and a half at Double-A Somerset.

Jones joined the team on Friday, in the middle of a week in which the RailRiders dominated a series at home five games to one.

The series began on Tuesday, with a 6-5 victory over the Red Sox.

Jose Rojas was the focal point on offense, picking up two hits and riving in three of the six total runs.Scranton shut out Worcester 4-0 on Wednesday behind a dominant start from Cam Schlittler, who is quickly becoming one of the premier pitching prospects in the league and in close proximity of the majors.

Schlittler tossed six shutout innings with nine strikeouts, allowing just two hits.

T.J.

Rumfield had three hits including a two-RBI double.

They won again 4-2 on Thursday, as Bryan De La Cruz hit an early two-run homer and C.J.

Alexander drove in two more on a clutch single.

Spencer Jones made his Triple-A debut on Friday, and homered in his very first at-bat at the level.

Rojas homered as well in the second inning, and four early runs were enough for Scranton to record their fourth straight victory by score of 4-2.

The RailRiders one loss of the week came on Saturday in extra innings, as Scott Effross didnt have his best stuff and allowed three runs in the tenth inning.

Scranton recorded just one extra-base hit in the game, and lost 5-3.

They were able to get back on the right track on Sunday and ended the week with a 6-1 win, on the back of starter Erick Leal who struck out seven in as many innings and allowed just one unearned run.

Jones hit his second homer in three days off of Tanner Houck, and went 2-for-4 in the game.

Hes also struck out six times in these three games, so it appears the all-or-nothing approach is translating to Triple-A thus far.

Scranton will look to keep the momentum up on the road against Lehigh Valley.Players of Note: Jesus Rodriguez: 268 PA; .316/.407/.399, 1 HR, 24 RBI, 10 SB, 13.1 BB%, 15.3 K%, 123 wRC+T.J.

Rumfield: 291 PA; .284/.368/.468, 9 HR, 45 RBI, 4 SB, 10.7 BB%, 18.6 K%, 122 wRC+Jorbit Vivas: 211 PA; .290/.409/.414, 4 HR, 27 RBI, 8 SB, 13.3 BB%, 7.6 K%, 127 wRC+Allan Winans (now with MLB club): 50 IP; 0.90 ERA, 29.4 K%, 6.5 BB%, .211 BAA, 1.04 WHIPDouble-A Somerset PatriotsRecord: 37-38; T-Third place in Eastern League (Northeast), 11 GBPast Week: 2-4 vs Erie SeaWolvesComing Up: Away @ Reading Fighting PhilsNow for the flip side of the promotion.

Jones getting the call to Scranton means the Patriots lost their most potent bat, and they showed signs of stumbling by dropping a home series to the SeaWolves this past week.

The series began with a 12-5 blowout loss, as Marcus Stroman and Trystan Vrieling both got shelled for a combined nine runs in six innings.

On the bright side, Cole Gabrielson and Roc Riggio both homered for Somerset in the loss.

They dropped another game 9-3 on Wednesday, as Carlos Lagrange simply didnt have it and allowed seven walks in four innings.

Omar Martinez homered for Somerset, and Spencer Jones did as well (his last homer before the promotion).

Somerset pulled off a close 4-3 win on Thursday in extra innings, as Brock Selvidge tossed five strong innings and Jones said farewell to Double-A with a walkoff single in the tenth.

They lost again on Friday however by a score of 6-2, recording just three hits in the game as a team.

Trent Sellers had his swing-and-miss stuff working, punching out eight in 4.2 innings, but the bullpen struggled and Somerset couldnt get anything going on offense.

They bounced back on Saturday in a 7-3 victory, behind a three-hit, two-RBI game for Rafael Flores and a clutch three-run double for Max Burt.

The week ended on a sour note, as the SeaWolves beat the Patriots 9-1 on Sunday.

The one run was a solo shot from Flores, his 13th of the season.The SeaWolves have been one of the most dominant teams in the minor leagues all season, so theres reason to believe Somerset can bounce back from dropping this series.

Theyll travel to Reading this week for a series against the Fightin Phils.Players of Note:George Lombard Jr: 209 PA; .209/.340/.320, 2 HR, 14 RBI, 14 SB, 15.3 BB%, 23.9 K%, 104 wRC+Rafael Flores: 317 PA; .287/.347/.491, 13 HR, 48 RBI, 5 SB, 8.2 BB%, 27.4 K%, 146 wRC+Dylan Jasso: 288 PA; .266/.340/.459, 10 HR, 40 RBI, 0 SB, 8.0 BB%, 21.9 K%, 136 wRC+Brendan Beck: 54.1 IP; 1.82 ERA, 24.8 K%, 5.7 BB%, .192 BAA, 0.92 BAAHigh-A Hudson Valley RenegadesRecord: 42-31; Third Place in South Atlantic League (North), 10 GBPast Week: 2-4 @ Wilmington Blue Rocks (Nationals)Coming Up: vs Brooklyn Cyclones (Mets) (3 Home, 3 Away)It was another tough week for the Renegades, who have really cooled off over the last six weeks after an excellent start to their season.

They dropped four of six in Wilmington, and the series began on a tough note with a 1-0 loss on Tuesday.

Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz was excellent, striking out seven in six innings of one-run ball, but Hudson Valley had an uphill battle against Travis Sykora, one of baseballs top pitching prospects, who tossed six shutout innings with eight strikeouts.

A solo homer from Gavin Dugas was the only run scored in the game.Ben Hess made his return on Wednesday in an uninspiring 1.2 innings in which he walked three batters and allowed two runs, but the offense picked him up with an eight-run fifth inning and the Renegades cruised to a 10-3 win.

Alexander Vargas had three hits, including his third home run of the year, and Jose Colmenares picked up a clutch three-run double.

Thursdays game was suspended until Friday due to rain, but when it eventually finished the Renegades had their second win in a row in a 2-0 victory.

Kyle Carr tossed four shutout innings with four strikeouts, and RBI singles from Vargas and Tomas Frick were enough to get it done.

The second game of the day did not go as well, as the Blue Rocks decimated the Renegades 11-0 behind five shutout innings from Alex Clemmey.

Hudson Valley lost both games over the weekend as well, as a five-run eight inning allowed the Blue Rocks to win 7-4 on Saturday despite seven strong innings from Josh Grosz.

Josh Moylan drove in all four Hudson Valley runs on a grand slam in the sixth.

Sundays loss was a close game by a score of 4-3, as Rodriguez-Cruz was less effective in his second start of the week and allowed four runs (three of them unearned).

Theyll look to get back on track against the Brooklyn Cyclones, who are one of the best teams in minor league baseball.Players of Note:Parks Harber: 152 PA; .326/.395/.489, 3 HR, 27 RBI, 2 SB, 10.5 BB%, 23.0 K%, 151 wRC+Jace Avina: 187 PA; .277/.401/.446, 4 HR, 22 RBI, 2 SB, 14.4 BB%, 25.7 K%, 146 wRC+Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz: 76.2 IP; 2.47 ERA, 28.9 K%, 10.5 BB%, .179 BAA, 1.08 WHIP Kyle Carr: 63 IP; 2.86 ERA, 19.1 K%, 12.2 BB%, .192 BAA, 1.21 WHIPLow-A Tampa TarponsRecord: 41-33; Second place in Florida State League (West), 4.5 GBPast Week: 4-2 vs Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (Twins)Coming Up: Away @ Clearwater Threshers (Phillies)Tampa won a home series against Fort Myers this past week four games to two as they continue their upward trajectory after a rough first month of the season.

They started the series with a 6-3 victory on Tuesday after a first-inning rally and a solo homer in the fourth off the bat of Hans Montero (his sixth of the season).

They lost 3-1 on Wednesday despite eight innings of work from starter Gage Ziehl, who took the loss while allowing just two earned runs.

Edgleen Perez had three of Tampas five hits, all of them singles.

Tampas pitching got shelled on Thursday in a 12-7 loss, as J.T.

Etheridge and Tanner Bauman combined to give up 11 of the 12 runs.

Perez picked up two more hits in the loss, and Brian Sanchez had three of his own.

They rebounded with a 5-3 win on Friday, behind 13 strikeouts for Xavier Rivas in just 5.2 innings.

Santiago Gomez hit his first homer at Low-A, and Roderick Arias hit his second of the year.

Tampa won again on Saturday 7-4, as Arias went 3-for-4 with an RBI and Engelth Urena roped a two-run double.

They finished their week with a third consecutive victory on Sunday, a 3-1 win in which the bullpen dominated following four scoreless innings from Brandon Decker.

Urena hit a two-run single in the bottom of the seventh that ended up being the knockout blow.

Tampa will take on Clearwater this week on the road.Players of Note:Tyler Wilson: 269 PA; .302/.384/.387, 4 HR, 35 RBI, 15 SB, 11.9 BB%, 21.9 K%, 124 wRC+Engelth Urena: 310 PA; .209/.342/.335, 7 HR, 33 RBI, 6 SB, 14.2 BB%, 18.1 K%, 101 wRC+Brian Sanchez: 179 PA; .288/.367/.444, 3 HR, 32 RBI, 23 SB, 10.9 BB%, 24.3 K%, 129 wRC+FCL YankeesRecord: 19-22; Third Place in Florida Complex League (North), 7.7 GBThe FCL Yankees went 2-3 over the past week, and their record on the season now sits at 19-22.

With a bigger sample size, some of the top performers from the start of the season have cooled off.

Theres still no sign of Brando Mayea in the lineup, and at this point Gabriel Lara might be the most important hitter on this roster, though he was barely in the lineup himself this week.

Lara has a .328/.379/.525 slash line over his first 66 plate appearances.

If this iteration of the FCL Yankee has a standout star waiting to break out, that player has yet to identify themselves.

Its been a mediocre run in the Complex for this team.

DSL Yankees and DSL BombersRecords: 9-10; 7-11The Yankee affiliates in the Dominican Summer League are both below .500 through the first few weeks, as the DSL Yankees are 9-10 and the DSL Bombers are 7-11 to start the season.

Richard Matic has been great thus far for the Yankees, slashing .326/.441/.630 with an 18.6 percent walk rate on his way to a 157 wRC+.

Mani Cedeno, the top signing from this years IFA class, has yet to catch fire in the young season and suffered an injury last week on a hit by pitch.

Izaias Castillo is also off to a hot start with a 164 wRC+ through his first 48 plate appearances, walking 20.4 percent of the time.

Its still a very early in the DSL season, so well need to see wider samples from these players before identifying them as true breakout candidates, but there seems to be more potential here than in the Complex league.

Some of these hitters could be names to watch moving forward..

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