DotF: Sensley’s big game helps Pulaski to a win

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Triple-A Scranton is off until Thursday for the All-Star break. The All-Star Game itself is Wednesday night. LHP Caleb Smith will represent the Yankees. OF Dustin Fowler was selected to the game as well, but won’t participate due to the fact he’s both hurt and in the big leagues right now.

Double-A Trenton is also off until Thursday for the All-Star break. Their All-Star Game is Wednesday night as well. LHP Nestor Cortes, SS Thairo Estrada, RHP Yefry Ramirez, and OF Zack Zehner will represent the Thunder. LHP Justus Sheffield and 1B Mike Ford were also selected for the All-Star Game but won’t participate. Sheffield is hurt (oblique) and Ford was recently promoted to Triple-A.

High-A Tampa was rained out. They’re going to make this one up as part of an August 28th doubleheader.

Low-A Charleston (5-4 loss to Columbia)

  • SS Hoy Jun Park: 0-4, 1 BB, 2 K
  • 2B Diego Castillo: 0-3, 2 BB — threw walks in his last two games after zero walks and his previous 25 games
  • LF Blake Rutherford: 1-5, 1 K
  • CF Estevan Florial: 0-5, 4 K — maybe he should have taken a day before coming back from the Futures Game
  • C Donny Sands: 0-4, 1 K
  • RF Isiah Gilliam: 1-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K
  • RHP Rony Garcia: 5 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, 1 WP, 1/6 GB/FB — 60 of 91 pitches were strikes (66%) … he’d walked three guys in his first three starts and 16.1 innings

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DotF: Holliday continues rehab, McKinney homers in AAA loss

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2017 Futures Game (USA wins 7-6)

  • RHP Domingo Acevedo: 1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 0/1 GB/FB — 18 of 22 pitches were strikes (82%) … the first five batters squared him up pretty good … clearly Acevedo is a bust and the Yankees should trade him for [insert random middle reliever] before his stock drops any further
  • RF Estevan Florial: 0-1, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K — he entered the game in the fifth inning … Florial struck out against Royals LHP Foster Griffin and walked against Athletics LHP A.J. Puk … he also tagged up from first and advanced to second on a foul pop-up near the first base dugout, which is pretty nuts (here’s video)

Triple-A Scranton (5-2 loss to Lehigh Valley)

  • CF Mason Williams: 1-4, 1 R, 1 K, 1 SB — threw a runner out at second
  • DH Matt Holliday: 1-4, 1 RBI, 1 K — 3-for-8 (.375) with two strikeouts in his two rehab games
  • LF Billy McKinney: 1-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K — four homers in his last eight games
  • 3B Miguel Andujar: 1-4
  • SS Abi Avelino: 0-4, 1 K
  • RHP Domingo German: 3.1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 1/5 GB/FB — 29 of 44 pitches were strikes (66%)
  • RHP Gio Gallegos: 2 IP, zeroes, 4 K, 0/1 GB/FB — 19 of 26 pitches were strikes (73%)

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Yankees 5, Brewers 3: Frazier’s walk-off homer saves the day

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Source: FanGraphs

Things weren’t looking too good the first seven or eight innings Saturday afternoon. The offense was pretty lifeless against Brewers finesse lefty Brent Suter. Then the Fighting Spirit kicked in, and the bats woke up against the Milwaukee bullpen. Clint Frazier turned a 3-2 deficit into a 5-3 win with one swing of the bat. The Yankees really needed a win like that. We all did. It’s a Saturday, so let’s recap this game with bullet points:

  • Sevy Settles Down: It took the Brewers five batters to build a 3-0 lead. Domingo Santana poked an opposite field three-run home run into the short porch one batter after Travis Shaw was allegedly grazed by a pitch. Replays were inconclusive at best. After that tough first inning, Luis Severino settled down beautifully and fired six scoreless innings. He struck out ten. Severino’s final line: 7 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 10 K. Tough first inning. Everything after that was great.
  • Quiet Bats: It wasn’t until the fifth inning that the Yankees registered a hit and it wasn’t until the seventh that they got on the board. Suter lulled them to sleep with 88 mph fastballs all afternoon. Frustrating. A ground rule double (Chase Headley), a single (Jacoby Ellsbury), and an error (Suter) plated the first run. Suter threw away a pickoff throw. The Brewers are so bad defensively. So, so bad. Frazier followed with a triple to bring the Yankees to within 3-2. Signs of life!
  • Battle of the Bullpens: The Yankees won a battle of the bullpens! That hasn’t happened much lately. Dellin Betances and Aroldis Chapman finally looked like Dellin Betances and Aroldis Chapman. Six up, six down, five strikeouts. Thanks for that, guys. The ninth inning rally was pretty straightforward. All-Star closer Corey Knebel walked Didi Gregorius and Ellsbury, then left a 97 mph fastball middle-middle to Frazier. Frazier legendary-bat-speed-ed the hell out of it into the left field seats for a walk-off homer. Awesome. Just awesome. Here’s the video.
  • Leftovers: Frazier went 3-for-4 and was a double short of the cycle. He drove in four of his team’s five runs. The rest of the Yankees went 3-for-27 (.111) … Frazier is the first Yankee with triples in back-to-back games since Robinson Cano in 2011 … Aaron Judge and Ellsbury both had a single and a walk … Brett Gardner and Gary Sanchez both went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.

Here are the box score, video highlights, and updated standings. We also have a Bullpen Workload page. This series and the first half of the season comes to an end Sunday afternoon. Masahiro Tanaka and Jimmy Nelson are the scheduled starting pitchers. Maybe the Yankees will give us one last win before the All-Star break. That’d be cool.

Minor League Update: I have neither the time nor the energy for a full DotF tonight. Sorry. Here are the box scores. Peruse at your leisure. Matt Holliday is scheduled to start a rehab assignment with Triple-A Scranton tonight.

DotF: Mateo extends hitting streak in Trenton’s win

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Got a bunch of notes to get us started:

  • Baseball America released their midseason top 100 prospects list earlier today. Seven Yankees made it: SS Gleyber Torres (3rd), OF Blake Rutherford (36th), OF Clint Frazier (48th), RHP Chance Adams (55th), OF Estevan Florial (70th), LHP Justus Sheffield (72nd), and OF Dustin Fowler (88th). I’ll have some thoughts on this next week.
  • The Yankees signed Alabama-Birmingham RHP Garrett Whitlock (18th round) to a $247,500 bonus, reports Jim Callis. That is over the $125,000 slot for each pick after the tenth round, so the remaining $122,500 counts against the bonus pool. The signing deadline was 4pm ET today. Here is our Draft Pool tracker.
  • 1B Mike Ford (hamstring) and RHP Ronald Herrera (shoulder) were placed on the Triple-A Scranton disabled list, the team announced. Ford isn’t expected to be out long. Also, RHP Bryan Mitchell was sent from Triple-A Scranton to High-A Tampa. That allows him to make a start next week during the Triple-A All-Star break.
  • Two Yankees made Baseball America’s Prospect Team of the Month for June and they are not among the team’s top prospects: 2B Nick Solak and RHP Zack Littell. Hooray farm system depth! Solak hit .392/.453/.595 (204 wRC+) with three homers in June. Goodness. Littell had a 0.58 ERA (1.92 FIP) in 31 innings.
  • A bunch of Yankees made this week’s Prospect Hot Sheet: SS Jorge Mateo (7th), RHP Dillon Tate (8th), RHP Jorge Guzman (11th), and OF Billy McKinney (16th). That’s a good sign. Mateo, Tate, and McKinney are trying to rebuild prospect stock right now while Guzman is trying to establish his.

Triple-A Scranton (4-1 loss to Lehigh Valley)

  • CF Jake Cave: 1-4, 1 K
  • 3B Miguel Andujar: 0-4, 1 K
  • RF Billy McKinney: 0-3, 1 K
  • SS Abe Avelino: 0-3
  • RHP Chance Adams: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 3/4 GB/FB — 62 of 95 pitches were strikes (65%) … he’s walked at least three batters in seven of his 17 starts this year, which is a few too many
  • RHP J.P. Feyereisen: 2.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 2/2 GB/FB — 28 of 44 pitches were strikes (64%)
  • RHP Gio Gallegos: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 0/1 GB/FB — 14 of 21 pitches were strikes

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DotF: Scranton walks off with a win behind Andujar, McKinney

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It’s been a while since I’ve updated the standings, so let’s do that today. Here are the day’s notes first:

  • LHP Justus Sheffield was placed on the Double-A Trenton disabled list with a right oblique strain, the team announced. Manager Bobby Mitchell admitted to Kyle Franko it is a pretty significant strain. Sucks. There is no timetable for Sheffield’s return. At least it’s not his arm, I guess.
  • Baseball Prospectus released their midseason top 50 prospects list, which includes three Yankees: SS Gleyber Torres (7th), RHP Chance Adams (37th), and Sheffield (47th). Prospect eligible players in the big leagues (so OF Clint Frazier, OF Dustin Fowler, and IF Tyler Wade) were not included, ditto 2017 draftees.
  • OF Zack Zehner and LHP Nestor Cortes have been added the Double-A Eastern League All-Star Game, it was announced. Zehner is replacing 1B Mike Ford (promoted) on the roster and Cortes is replacing Sheffield.
  • Welcome back, Mason Williams. He cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A Scranton, the Yankees announced. That’s good. Never hurts to have a spare center fielder lying around.

Triple-A Scranton (4-3 win over Buffalo in eleven innings, walk-off style) they are 54-32 and have a one-game lead in the North Division

  • DH Jake Cave: 2-6, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 K
  • 3B Miguel Andujar: 1-6, 2 RBI — two-run walk-off single in the 11th
  • 1B Mike Ford: 3-4, 1 R — Conor Foley says Ford left the game with hamstring soreness and he’ll be reevaluated tomorrow … the first base depth chart is really, really thin right now
  • RF Billy McKinney: 3-5
  • 2B Jonathan Diaz: 3-5, 1 R, 1 K — first game back with the RailRiders after yesterday’s minor trade
  • LHP Dietrich Enns: 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 7/3 GB/FB — 67 of 92 pitches were strikes (73%) … 28/5 K/BB in 28 innings around the shoulder injury
  • RHP Jonathan Holder: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 0/1 GB/FB — 13 of 24 pitches were strikes (54%) … he’s going to have to do better than that to get back to the big leagues
  • RHP Ben Heller: 2 IP, zeroes, 3 K, 1/2 GB/FB — 18 of 28 pitches were strikes (64%)

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DotF: Mateo stays hot, Sheffield hurt in Trenton’s win

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Some notes to get us started:

  • So long, Tommy Layne. He has been released, the Yankees announced. Layne was pitching well with Triple-A Scranton, but the Yankees need roster space as players get healthy and get promoted, so the 32-year-old journeyman gets the axe.
  • The Yankees have acquired IF Jonathan Diaz from the Blue Jays, the team announced. Diaz spent all of last season with the RailRiders. Scranton is short on position players due to injuries and all the recent call-ups. Diaz is just a warm body to fill out the roster.
  • 1B Mike Ford was bumped up from Double-A Trenton to Triple-A Scranton, it was announced. IF Billy Fleming and LHP Daniel Camarena were sent the other way. Also, RHP Gio Gallegos has been activated off the disabled list. Whatever was bothering him couldn’t have been that bad.
  • Great stuff from Michael Peng on RHP Jorge Guzman, one of the players who came over in the Brian McCann trade. “We are teaching him not to throw but how to actually pitch, how to read hitters and how to throw different pitch sequences. And to me, seeing him learn these different things has been the biggest adjustment he has made. He seems seems to pick on the things we’re trying to teach him,” said Staten Island Yankees pitching coach Travis Phelps.

Triple-A Scranton (3-1 win over Buffalo)

  • LF Jake Cave & 2B Donovan Solano: both 1-4, 2 K
  • 1B Mike Ford: 0-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K
  • DH Miguel Andujar: 0-3, 1 BB
  • RF Billy McKinney: 1-3, 2 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 K, 1 HBP — 8-for-22 (.364) with one double, two triples, and three homers in six games at Triple-A … he’s hit seven homers in his last 21 games after hitting four homers in 123 games last year and seven homers in 106 games the year before
  • SS Cito Culver: 1-3, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 E (fielding) — he’s hitting .262/.332/.492 this year, you know
  • 3B Abi Avelino: 0-3, 1 CS
  • RHP Bryan Mitchell: 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 1 WP, 12/1 GB/FB — 60 of 85 pitches were strikes (71%) … Good Bryan showed up tonight

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DotF: Gomez homers, Guzman dominates in Staten Island win

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Got some notes to get us started:

  • RHP Nick Rumbelow has been moved up from Double-A Trenton to Triple-A Scranton, the team announced. Rumblin’ Rumbelow has a 2.38 ERA (1.40 FIP) with 15 strikeouts and three walks in his first 11.1 innings back from Tommy John surgery.
  • SS Jorge Mateo was named the Eastern League Offensive Player of the Week following his first week in Double-A. He’s went 12-for-23 (.522) with three triples and a homer in six games last week. It would be so rad if Mateo could rebuild some prospect value these final two months of the minor league season. The more productive high-end prospects at the upper levels, the better.
  • Make sure you check out 2080 Baseball’s latest scouting reports on Mateo, 2B Nick Solak, and RHP Dillon Tate. “(He) projects to have three plus-or-better pitches in his arsenal, which are the makings of a future Role 60 number three starter at maturity,” said the Tate write-up.
  • The Yankees have signed Alabama-Birmingham RHP Garrett Whitlock, their 18th round pick, according to a family member on Twitter. No word on his bonus, though I doubt it exceeds the $125,000 slot for picks after the tenth round. Whitlock was awesome in the Cape Cod League last year, sitting mid-90s with a nasty slider. He had a back injury this spring and his stuff backed up.
  • The Yankees have signed Manhattan SS Jose Carrera as an undrafted free agent, reports Dan Martin. “This game is not about size. The biggest thing you can have in this game is your heart, and the mental side of it. If you’re tough and you believe in yourself, you can succeed,” said the 5-foot-2 Carrera. He hit .274/.344/.381 in four years with the Jaspers.

Triple-A Scranton (6-5 win over Pawtucket) they scored five runs in the top of the ninth to win

  • 2B Donovan Solano: 2-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB — 15-for-38 (.395) during his nine-game hitting streak
  • DH Ji-Man Choi: 2-5, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 K — had the go-ahead two-run double during that ninth inning rally … Bill Koch says it clanked off a rehabbing Brock Holt’s glove in left field
  • 3B Miguel Andujar: 1-5, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 K, 1 E (throwing)
  • LF Billy McKinney: 3-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI — 6-for-16 (.375) with a double and two homers in four Triple-A games
  • SS Abi Avelino: 0-2, 1 R, 1 BB
  • RHP Ronald Herrera: 6 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 4/6 GB/FB — 48 of 73 pitches were strikes (66%)
  • RHP Jonathan Holder: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 1/0 GB/FB — eleven of 16 pitches were strikes (69%) … first appearance since being sent down
  • RHP Nick Rumbelow: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 2/1 GB/FB — 21 of 38 pitches were strikes (55%) … first Triple-A appearance since blowing out his elbow last April

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