The 2019 season is now really underway. Thursday was Opening Day down in the minor leagues. Baseball is officially in full swing. Here are some notes before we get to the performances:
- OF Trey Amburgey, 3B Mandy Alvarez, and IF Wendell Rijo were added to the Triple-A Scranton roster, the team announced. They’re the corresponding moves to Clint Frazier, Tyler Wade, and Thairo Estrada being summoned to the big leagues.
- RHP Brady Lail is still in Tampa dealing with an injury, Triple-A Scranton manager Jay Bell told Conor Foley. Not sure what the injury is, exactly, and there’s no word on a timetable for his return. This explains why Lail was not an Opening Day roster.
- RHP Justin Wilson, last year’s 23rd round pick, is fully healthy after missing most of the last two years with Tommy John surgery, according to his Twitter feed. He was a bit of a sleeper going into the draft last summer.
Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (8-3 loss to Buffalo) since it’s Opening Day, here are the full lineups and pitching staffs as per DotF tradition
- LF Trey Amburgey: 3-4 — excellent Triple-A debut for the 2015 13th rounder
- DH Mike Ford: 1-4, 1 RBI, 2 BB — got picked off first
- 3B Gio Urshela: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 K — I thought he might get the call instead of Estrada so the Yankees could go heavy on defense, but they’re effectively doing that with Wade, so whatever
- 1B Ryan McBroom: 1-4, 1 K
- RF Zack Zehner: 0-4, 3 K
- C Kyle Higashioka: 1-4, 1 R, 1 2B — thus begins year five in Triple-A
- SS Gosuke Katoh: 0-4, 2 K, 1 E (fielding) — Triple-A debut for the 2013 second rounder … he’s spent a full season at each level as he climbs the ladder, which is pretty old school
- CF Matt Lipka: 2-4, 2 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 K — first Triple-A homer since 2016
- 3B Mandy Alvarez: 0-3 — Triple-A debut for the 2016 17th rounder
- LHP Gio Gonzalez: 4 IP, 8 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 1 HR, 7/2 GB/FB — 45 of 76 pitches were strikes (59%) … there’s time for three more starts before his April 20th opt-out, and they’ll have be much better than this for the Yankees to consider keeping him
- RHP Adonis Rosa: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 3/2 GB/FB — 15 of 20 pitches were strikes
- RHP David Sosebee: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 1 WP, 2/0 GB/FB — 26 of 40 pitches were strikes (65%)
The Double-A Trenton Thunder begin their season tomorrow. RHP Trevor Stephan will be their Opening Day starter.
High-A Tampa Tarpons (4-3 loss to Lakeland in ten innings)
- CF Pablo Olivares: 0-4, 1 K
- SS Diego Castillo: 0-4, 1 K, 2 E (both throwing)
- 2B Oswaldo Cabrera: 1-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 K
- DH Dermis Garcia: 2-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K — OF Tyler Hill pinch-ran for him in the ninth
- RF Isiah Gilliam: 1-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K
- 1B Steven Sensley: 2-4, 1 RBI, 2 K
- C Donny Sands: 0-4, 2 K, 1 E (throwing) — a broken arm limited him to only 28 games last season
- 3B Chris Hess: 1-3, 2 K, 1 HBP
- LF Rashad Crawford: 0-4, 1 K — a year ago he was hitting leadoff for Trenton, now he’s hitting ninth for Tampa
- RHP Clarke Schmidt: 5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K, 3/3 GB/FB — 46 of 65 pitches were strikes (71%), and he had a four-strikeout inning in the fourth … there were two errors behind him, so he wasn’t perfect … he outpitched Tigers RHP Casey Mize (5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K), the No. 1 pick in last year’s draft, so that’s pretty cool … I’m looking forward to a full year of healthy Schmidt
- RHP Rony Garcia: 3.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 1 HR, 1 WP, 4/2 GB/FB — 41 of 65 pitches were strikes (63%) … a bunt single in the eighth inning broke up the combined no-hit bid, which is pretty lame … looks like this is a piggyback situation more than a straight move to the bullpen
- RHP Brooks Kriske: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 1/0 GB/FB — eight of 14 pitches were strikes (57%) … two walks were intentional as he set up force plays with the extra-innings tiebreaker rule
Low-A Charleston RiverDogs (2-1 win over Columbia)
- CF Brandon Lockridge: 0-4, 3 K
- RF Josh Stowers: 0-3, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 CS — organizational debut for the prospect in the Sonny Gray trade
- C Josh Breaux: 0-4, 2 K — last year’s second rounder
- 1B Eric Wagaman: 2-4, 1 R, 2 K
- 3B Nelson Gomez: 1-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 K, 1 E (throwing)
- LF Isaiah Pasteur: 0-3, 2 K — he has loud tools and is a definite sleeper
- DH Mickey Gasper: 0-3, 1 RBI
- 2B Kyle Gray: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 RBI — had a terrible pro debut last season, but last year’s 14th rounder has some pop and might be more than a fringe prospect/organizational guy
- SS Eduardo Torrealba: 0-2, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 E (throwing)
- RHP Roansy Contreras: 5 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 1 WP, 5/1 GB/FB — 57 of 77 pitches were strikes (74%) … he’s going to play the entire season at age 19, so reaching Triple-A before his 21st birthday is a distinct possibility
- RHP Aaron McGarity: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 7/1 GB/FB — 40 of 50 pitches were strikes
The Short Season Staten Island Yankees, Rookie Pulaski Yankees, and two Rookie Gulf Coast League Yankees teams begin play in June.