April 11th, 2023: Judge, Volpe, Schmidt, Brito, Bench, Loáisiga, Bullpen, Prospects

Weekend series in Baltimore just aren’t the same without Kenny Singleton in the booth. I’m not sure what Singleton is up to these days (other than having his Twitter account hacked) but I hope he’s enjoying retirement. Let’s get to today’s post as the Yankees and Guardians play the biggest New York vs. Cleveland series of the week.

1. Weekend thoughts. Three series, three series wins. Winning two of three all season will get you to heaven. The Yankees brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning of each of their four losses and they’ve yet to lose a game when someone other than Domingo Germán or Clarke Schmidt starts. They haven’t been out of a game yet, even though they tried like crazy to punt last night's game based on the lineup and bullpen usage (Ian Hamilton against the top of the order in the seventh inning of a tie game?). Now for a few thoughts on the last few games.

Judge drops the no-stride with two strikes

The perils of semiweekly blogging: I planned to point out today that Aaron Judge appears to have dropped the two-strike no-stride approach he picked up from Paul Goldschmidt over the winter, then over the weekend Judge came out and told Bryan Hoch he’s abandoned it. He said he wasn’t comfortable with it in games. My detective work goes for naught.

“I kind of thought maybe I’d use the no-stride a little bit more with that two-strike approach,” Judge told Pete Caldera on Sunday. “We’ll keep the (mental) approach, but some of the mechanical adjustments I was trying to make with that, we kind of scratched that. Still a lot of improvement I can make on that. Still striking out a couple too many times, but we’re eight, nine games in. We’ll get it down.”

This is a recent development. Judge used the no-stride in one plate appearance this season. Last Monday against Taijuan Walker, Judge ran the count full with a runner on third and no outs, and used the no-stride. He fouled away a pitch and then took ball four (video). That's a classic “shorten up and put the ball in play” situation. On Saturday, Judge again batted with a runner on third and no outs. Even after he got to two strikes, he used his full leg kick and lifted a sacrifice fly to center (video). The no-stride was there Monday and gone Saturday.

Spring Training adjustments, man. We spend weeks talking about them and hope they'll help the player unlock a new level of performance, and then he gives up on it a week into the season. And to be clear, I’m not complaining or saying Judge should stick with the no-stride. Who am I to say the reigning MVP is making a mistake? Judge has struck out a lot in the early going (34.9%), but he’s also hitting .333/.419/.694 (203 wRC+) with four homers. Again, who am I to complain?

Also, Judge is also working on a 43-game on-base streak dating back to last August 29th. He’s hit .372/.505/.786 and reached base 98 times in those 43 games. Here are the Yankees’ longest on-base streaks since Joe DiMaggio’s franchise record 74-game on-base streak in 1941, which included his 56-game hitting streak:

1. Derek Jeter: 57 games (1998-99) (second longest in franchise history)
2. Alex Rodriguez: 53 games (2004) (third longest in franchise history)
3. Aaron Judge: 43 games (2022-23)
4. Several tied at 42 games (most recently Luke Voit from 2018-19)

Judge, by the way, hit his fourth home run in the team’s 17th game last season. He hit his fourth homer in the team’s ninth game this season. He’s ahead of last year’s pace! Judge breaking his own American League single-season home run record would probably get a headline or two. Anyway, I planned to note Judge has abandoned the no-stride with two strikes, then he confirmed it over the weekend. So that’s that.

Volpe’s struggles/adjustment period

Anthony Volpe’s adjustment period is underway. At one point he struck out in four straight at-bats during the Orioles series and saw only 13 pitches in the four-bats (do the math). He had an 0-for-10 stretch with six strikeouts spanning the Phillies and Orioles series. Volpe definitely looked like an overmatched kid.

“Anytime a guy comes up, you realize the chance for struggles, and I don’t even want to call it that. We’ve played seven freakin’ games out of 162. So it’s overreaction on overdrive,” Aaron Boone told Gary Phillips on Saturday when asked whether he was sweating Volpe’s slump.

I wouldn’t say Volpe snapped out of it with Saturday night’s triple, but it certainly felt like a monkey off his back moment. Volpe is 0-for-8 with a walk since the triple, though there were a few loud outs in there, plus the at-bats were better. It was good morning, good afternoon, good night, rinse and repeat for a bit there. Here are Volpe’s swing and miss locations entering Monday’s game:

These days teams know a player’s weaknesses before he even gets called up, and the Orioles were comfortable challenging Volpe with fastballs upstairs. It worked too. Eventually Volpe caught on and tripled on an elevated heater, but, for the most part, the O’s exposed the hole, and now Volpe has to work to close it. (I’m pleasantly surprised at the relative lack of whiffs on breaking balls below the zone. That was said to be Volpe’s primary weakness in the minors.)

“It means the world,” Volpe told Max Goodman on Saturday about receiving the championship belt the Yankees give to the game’s standout player after each win. “Being a part of this team, being welcomed in by these guys, has made it 10 times better than I ever could’ve imagined. They recognized that I was going through it and struggling and they were there for me every step of the way and then to get recognized by them, makes it better than getting recognized by anyone else.”

It’s only been 10 games, yet Volpe is the only Yankee to play every inning of the season. Judge had a DH game and also came out early in the late innings of last Monday’s blowout win over the Phillies. Gleyber Torres has had two DH games too. Volpe has played every inning of every game at shortstop. There’s been no getting him off his feet in the late innings, no giving him a day to clear his head, nothing. He’s the shortstop and the Yankees aren’t shying away from it.

Ultimately, a .129/.250/.194 (30 wRC+) line is a .129/.250/.194 (30 wRC+) line, and if literally any other player did that, we would want him replaced, even this early in the season. Top prospects get a level of patience others do not though. It is the way of the world. Volpe’s history tells us he needs 25 or so games to settle in at a new level and maybe he’ll need (likely will need) more than that to figure out big leaguers, especially after only a short cameo in Triple-A. We’ll see.

Growing pains were always likely to be part of the Volpe experience and the Yankees knew that, and were okay with it. There have been enough flashes of what he can bring to the table (the opposite field pop, the plate discipline, the stolen bases, etc.) to stick with it, even if it gets ugly at times. We all want our favorite prospect to hit the ground running. Rarely does it happen that smoothly. Even Mike Trout stunk in 2011. It’s a difficult game. Not everyone masters it right away.

Schmidt continues to struggle against lefties

New cutter, same old trouble with lefties. Clarke Schmidt is flunking his rotation audition because he still has not solved left-handed batters. Baltimore’s lefties went 4-for-9 with two doubles and two walks against him Friday, and four of the final five lefties he faced reached base. Here are a few numbers on the young season:

Schmidt vs. RHB: .182/.231/.182 (.191 wOBA)
Schmidt vs. LHB: .421/.500/.895 (.574 wOBA)

Schmidt vs. LHB first time thru lineup: 3-for-10, 1 BB, 5 K
Schmidt vs. LHB thereafter: 5-for-9, 3 2B, 2 HR, 2 BB, 0 K

Schmidt hasn’t been good against lefties the first time through the lineup, though one of the three hits was an infield single, and he’s at least missed some bats. Once lefties get that first look at him though, forget it. They adjust and eat his lunch next time around. Even the outs Schmidt got Friday were loud. Of his 13 balls in play, seven had 100+ mph exit velocities. Yeesh.

“That’s something that I want to be good at,” Schmidt told Phillips about his issues with lefties. “Whether it’s starting or relieving, you need to be able to get a left-handed hitter out.”

Schmidt did break out his changeup Friday. He didn’t throw a single changeup against the Giants in his first start of the season, then he threw six against the Orioles, all to lefties. I’d say, at best, two of the six changeups were competitive. Here are the locations and here’s the video of all six, if you’re interested:

The changeup didn’t help Schmidt any but at least an adjustment was attempted. He didn’t throw any changeups to the Giants, then he used it against the Orioles. The Yankees and Schmidt are aware of his trouble with lefties and they’re trying to solve it, but so far nothing’s worked. Until he figures out lefties – if he ever does – Schmidt’s a reliever masquerading as a starter.

“That’s what separates average from good, and good from great. It’s that level. Can you graduate to that level of command?” Boone told Ryan Chichester about Schmidt. “Stuff is fine. He has the pitches and he has all the weapons. Can he get to that next level to be that starter, that frontline starter? That’s what it’s gonna take. That’s all there is to it.”

The Yankees are down three starters and none are coming back anytime soon, so they have no choice but to stick with Schmidt a little longer. His next start will be against the Guardians, a team that routinely has three lefties (Andrés Giménez, Steven Kwan, Josh Naylor) and two switch-hitters (Josh Bell, José Ramírez) in the lineup. That’s another bad matchup for Schmidt. Might be time to break out the ol’ knuckleball, Clarke.

Brito belongs

Shoutout to Josh Donaldson for tweaking his hamstring and going on the injured list, allowing the Yankees to recall Jhony Brito before his 15 days in the minors were up. Brito made his second start of the season and the second start of his MLB career Saturday night and it wasn’t easy, but he held the upstart Orioles to one run in five innings. It was a gutsy outing.

“He made a lot of big pitches when he needed to,” Boone told Mark Sanchez after the game. “... He’s not been fazed by anything so far.”

The biggest difference between Brito and Schmidt is resourcefulness. Schmidt tends to stick to the game plan, which is good to a certain extent, but when things go sideways he’s not as quick to go to (or figure out a) Plan B. Brito has adjusted on the fly. His fastball command stunk Saturday, yet he was able to lean on his changeup to get outs, even after falling behind in the count 2-0 and 3-0 to several batters.

The fifth inning at-bat against Cedric Mullins stood out to me. The Yankees had just taken a 4-1 lead in the top of the fifth, then Ramón Urías started the bottom half with a single. Brito struck out No. 9 hitter Terrin Vavra, but it took him 10 pitches, and his pitch count was climbing. The lineup turned over and Brito fell behind in the count 2-0 to Mullins. Here’s the video and here are the pitch locations:

The first two fastballs missed. Brito had the gumption to throw a 2-0 changeup for a strike, but he missed with yet another fastball to run it to 3-1. At that point Brito’s one ball away from a walk and bringing Adley Rutschman to the plate as the tying run, and he’s probably out of the game. Rather than give in and try another fastball, Brito went changeup (called strike), changeup (foul), changeup (tapper back to the mound) to retire Mullins. It was impressive.

“This is a dream ever since I was a little kid,” Brito told Sanchez after the game. “To me and to the staff, I just wanted to prove that I could pitch.”

Brito and Schmidt are both in the rotation now but they are competing with each other. Whenever Carlos Rodón or Luis Severino returns*, either Brito or Schmidt is going to the bullpen (or Triple-A?), and right now Brito is winning this competition handily. It’s only two starts for each, yes, but results matter, and Brito has looked the part. He’s been impressive and he’s showing he deserves to stay in the rotation even after Rodón (or Severino) returns.

* Rodón faced hitters in live batting practice a few days ago while Severino threw his first bullpen session Monday. Rodón’s a bit ahead of Severino based on that.

L’affaire de IKF

It says something – it says a lot of things – that Boone chose Isiah Kiner-Falefa to pinch-hit in an important spot Friday evening. The Yankees had just taken a 5-4 lead in the sixth inning and the Orioles went to lefty Danny Coulombe with a runner on second and one out. Franchy Cordero hit a three-run homer earlier in the game, but he stinks against lefties …

• Career vs. RHP: .233/.301/.415 (93 wRC+) with 33.6 K% and 8.9 BB%
• Career vs. LHP: .180/.254/.311 (55 wRC+) with 39.0 K% and 8.1 BB%

… so going to Kiner-Falefa there wasn’t unreasonable. I know he’s had a nice little start to his career with the Yankees but come on, it’s Franchy Cordero. Let’s not let one good weekend trick us into thinking he’s something he’s not. And once Coulombe balked Oswaldo Cabrera to third, it was the perfect spot for Kiner-Falefa. He had the platoon advantage and he produces a ton of weak grounders to second and short, and one there gets the run home.

Rather than hit one of those weak grounders to score Cabrera, Kiner-Falefa popped up to the first baseman to conclude a three-pitch at-bat so bad Starlin Castro cringed. I mean, what in tarnation is this? Could you maybe not swing at a pitch in the batter’s box?

To me, the problem isn’t Boone pinch-hitting Kiner-Falefa for Cordero. The problem is roster construction. Because Donaldson had not yet been put on the injured list, the Yankees were operating with a three-man bench Friday: Kiner-Falefa, Aaron Hicks, and Kyle Higashioka. Almost no manager will use his backup catcher in that spot, so it was Kiner-Falefa or Hicks.

“I like the chance of IKF putting the ball in play there. He popped it up,” Boone told Phillips. As for Kiner-Falefa staying in and striking out against righty Bryan Baker with a runner on second and two outs in the eighth, Boone said: “We’re looking for a hit in that spot. It’s not an on-base situation, necessarily. It’s more of a hit (situation), so I liked IKF there.”

Although maybe not intentional, that is a cry for help. That is a manager lamenting a choice between two bad options, one of whom is on the roster because the front office overrates his defensive ability and the other because someone high up won’t okay eating the money to release him. So, the Yankees are stuck with a weak bench, and the results are games like Friday and starting lineups like Monday:

1. 2B Gleyber Torres
2. CF Aaron Judge
3. 1B Anthony Rizzo
4. RF Giancarlo Stanton

*** MLB hitters stop here ***

5. DH Willie Calhoun
6. C Jose Trevino
7. LF Franchy Cordero
8. 3B Isiah Kiner-Falefa
9. SS Anthony Volpe

The Yankees have ignored their bench the last few offseasons and picked up guys like Rougned Odor and Jay Bruce and Marwin Gonzalez and Franchy at the end of camp, and then they run out lineups like that 10 games into the season because guys with injury histories (Donaldson and Harrison Bader, in this case) get hurt. It’s been the same story for three years now.

At least one of Calhoun, Cordero, Hicks, or Kiner-Falefa will be in the starting lineup every game until Donaldson (or Bader) returns. That’s just the roster math. Getting healthy is certainly part of it, but there’s work to be done on the margins of the roster these next few weeks. When your options are letting Cordero face a lefty or pinch-hitting Kiner-Falefa because the other guy on the bench is somehow worse, yeah, there’s room for improvement.

Miscellany

Gleyber update: .387/.537/.710 (247 wRC+) with 10 walks and three strikeouts. He drew his tenth walk on June 8th last year (51st game). Torres worked a 12-pitch walk against Cole Irvin on Saturday. It was the longest plate appearance of his career, besting a few 11-pitch at-bats (most recently last June against Ross Stripling) … Stanton played right field Monday, his first time playing the outfield on the road. I thought the Yankees would only play him in Yankee Stadium’s tiny right field or a similarly small part of another stadium, like left field in Boston or Houston, but they ran him out there in right field in Cleveland. That was a welcome sight. The more Stanton can play the outfield, the better. Regardless of where he’s played, Stanton’s murdered the ball this year, especially the last 4-5 games … And finally, I need to clarify something I wrote last week. Taxi squads are still a thing but they do not work the same way as the last few years. Teams can bring an extra player on the road the day before he’s added to the roster, and that’s it. They can’t bring five extra players on a road trip just in case anymore. You can bring a guy up and have him with the team the day before he’s put on the roster, like Brito being with the Yankees on Friday before he was activated Saturday. That’s it.

2. Loáisiga’s injury and a shorthanded bullpen. Jonathan Loáisiga’s annual arm injury has arrived. Loáisiga was placed on the injured list Saturday with what the Yankees called elbow inflammation. He received a cortisone injection and will be shut down several weeks, so this isn’t a short-term thing. Loáisiga’s injuries rarely are. Here’s his injury history:

• 2014-15: Did not pitch due to shoulder trouble.
• 2016: Had Tommy John surgery in May.
• 2017: Returned from Tommy John surgery in June.
• 2018: Missed six weeks with shoulder issues.
• 2019: Missed more than three months with a shoulder issue.
• 2021: Missed three weeks with a shoulder issue.
• 2022: Missed nearly two months with a shoulder issue.

Loáisiga has missed time with an arm injury in nine of the last 10 seasons (!), with the only exception being the shortened pandemic season. Love the guy, he’s awesome, but you have to expect him to miss a chunk of time every year. Loáisiga has thrown more than 50 innings just once since 2018. Will he get there this year? Seems unlikely now.

“Obviously it’s been something that’s tripped him up at different points in different years,” Aaron Boone told Max Goodman. “Again, hopefully this isn’t a long-term thing. We don’t think it is, but still frustrating, especially because obviously how important he is to our team.”

The Yankees have two-thirds of a very good pitching staff on the injured list: Loáisiga (elbow), Scott Effross (elbow), Luis Gil (elbow), Tommy Kahnle (biceps), Frankie Montas (shoulder), Carlos Rodón (forearm), Luis Severino (lat), and Lou Trivino (elbow). Trivino threw a bullpen session recently and it went well. He might be closest to returning among that group and the Yankees said he would be out until May, so yeah. The pitching staff is in rough shape.

(Gil’s injury stinks so much. The bullpen injuries late last year and early this year would’ve been the perfect time to put him in relief and let him air it out an inning or two at a time. I think Gil has a chance to be a great reliever and the opportunity is there now, but he’s hurt. Sucks.)

Mike King did good work Saturday night (2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K) but his velocity is still down relative to early last year, and it’s still trending down too. This line is moving in the wrong direction:

Because of the injuries, Boone and the Yankees have little choice but to use King in high leverage spots. They can’t let him work through things in less important situations unless they want to use … Albert Abreu? Colten Brewer?… in close games. I’m sure Boone trusts even this diminished version of King over Abreu, Brewer, Jimmy Cordero, et al. I do too.

(To be fair, Cordero bounced back well after giving up that homer to Adley Rutschman in the eighth inning Sunday. He retired Ryan Mountcastle, Anthony Santander, and Austin Hays on 10 pitches with two strikeouts. Also, Cordero against the middle of the order in the eighth and Clay Holmes against the bottom of the order in the ninth is a pretty good sign Holmes is locked into that closer’s role, and won’t pitch earlier in the game.)

The Yankees could try to trade for bullpen help, but it’s difficult to trade for decent players this early in the season, let alone guys who will make an impact. Mike Tauchman for Wandy Peralta is the exception (that trade was made April 27th), not the rule, and even then it took a few weeks for everyone to warm up to Peralta. Are the Royals willing to sell low on Josh Staumont after demoting him to Triple-A? Might as well call and ask, right? His arm is worth a roll of the dice.

Most likely the Yankees will lean on the guys currently in the organization until Kahnle, Loáisiga, Trivino, and whoever else returns. Greg Weissert and Matt Krook are at the front of the call up line in Triple-A, and maybe Deivi García puts himself in the conversation. Then we’re looking at Zach Greene, James Norwood, guys like that. The Yankees are pushing the limits of their depth.

“He’s a young man, so he’s still developing,” Boone told Gary Phillips about García. “What we’ve seen of Deivi a little bit over the last few years is that influx of stuff. The stuff we saw in Spring Training is really good. Maybe that’s something that we can get in smaller bursts.”

If there’s one thing the Yankees have done reliably the last few years, it’s build a quality bullpen. Things can get dicey with Boone calling the shots (see: Cordero entering with the go-ahead run on base Friday only to give Wandy a clean inning down a run later in the game), but the Yankees are usually able to find the right mix. It may take them a few weeks, but they tend to figure these things out.

For now though, losing Loáisiga is a blow, and that would be true even if the rest of the pitching staff were healthy. That ain’t the case. Loáisiga is a trusted late inning reliever and those guys are hard to replace. Hopefully he comes back soon and as strong as he looked after last year’s injured list stint. Until then, there will be some trial and error in the late innings.

“As we’re waiting on him, Trivino, and Kahnle to get back, it’s opportunities for other people,” Boone told Goodman. “And hopefully opportunities where we see a guy or two or more step up into more prominent roles and be more important pieces for us the rest of the way.”

3. Prospect thoughts. The minor league season is fully underway as of this past Friday and we already have a slide of the year candidate. IF Caleb Durbin, who came over in the Lucas Luetge trade, made a swim move at home plate over the weekend. Check it out (video link):

Durbin has been described as an ultra scrappy gritty gamer type. The 23-year-old is 3-for-9 with a double, two walks, and one strikeout to start the year with High-A Hudson Valley. Now here are a few other prospect thoughts (here is my top 30 prospects list, which I reference throughout).

Jones’ hot start (and a small adjustment)

The Yankees challenged OF Spencer Jones, my No. 4 prospect, with a somewhat aggressive assignment to High-A Hudson Valley, and he’s answered the bell. Jones is 6-for-13 (.462) with two doubles and a home run through three games. He hit a ball off the batter’s eye in his second at-bat of the season (video). Man, I love that kid’s swing. Easy, easy power.

Because he’s in High-A, we won’t get any Statcast data on Jones (I want to see the swing and contact rates more than the exit velocity), but I can tell you the Yankees tweaked him at the plate a tiny bit. Specifically, they had Jones lower his hands. Here are the slowed down before and after GIFs:

The 2022 GIF is from the Regionals last summer, Vanderbilt’s final weekend, so that was Jones at the end of his college season. Here’s video from Low-A Tampa last year. Looks like he already lowered his hands there, so this is something the Yankees got Jones to do right away. This isn’t a new adjustment. It dates back to last year.

Jones is a big dude (listed at 6-foot-7 and 225 lbs.) and lowering his hands is all about getting it into the hitting zone a bit sooner. When he’s holding the bat way up there, it has a long way to go to get into the zone. This shortens things up a bit. At that size, Jones will always swing and miss some. Anything that gets him to the ball a little quicker is worthwhile. Either way, fun start to the season for last year’s first rounder.

“Even though he’s our first pick last year, he kind of surpassed our expectations a little bit just with the all-around polish to his game,” Aaron Boone told Randy Miller in Spring Training. “He did a lot of really good things. I know our player development crew currently is really excited about him and his potential.”

Domínguez plays left field

Double-A Somerset has the most prospect-laden roster in the system and it’s not close. RHP Richard Fitts (my No. 22 prospect), RHP Will Warren (No. 7), and RHP Clayton Beeter (No. 14) started Somerset’s first three games (combined 14 IP, 10 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 23 K), and here’s the top of the lineup the Patriots used:

1. SS Trey Sweeney (No. 9) (recent first round pick)
2. OF Jasson Domínguez (No. 2) (arguably the most hyped prospect since Bryce Harper)
3. OF Everson Pereira (No. 5) (seven-figure international signing)

Pereira hit an opposite field home run Saturday night (video). Sweeney is 2-for-6 with a double, two walks, and two strikeouts in the early going. He told Greg Johnson he’s been taking ground balls at third base, but there aren’t any plans to play the position in actual games yet. Sweeney has played only shortstop this year and throughout his career.

“I know they want me to get some reps maybe in practice every now and then just in case, but as of now I think I’m going to be playing shortstop,” Sweeney told Johnson. “ …I understand what’s ahead of me and how the game and the business works. If anything, it’s a good thing that people believe in my abilities to be able to move around and play third base too.”

As for Domínguez, El Marciano is 0-for-7 with three walks and two strikeouts in the early going. He played left field Saturday afternoon. It was the first time he played a position other than center field in his career. I wouldn’t read too much into that. Players move all around in Double-A and Triple-A. Domínguez will play right field at some point too. Standard operating procedure.

I don’t have anything else to add to this. I just wanted to note Domínguez played left field for the first time, Sweeney is taking grounders at third base, and Somerset’s roster is stacked. There’s an NJ Transit station right outside the stadium. Gonna have to make my way down there at some point this summer, before all these guys get promoted to Triple-A Scranton.

Florial clears waivers

Estevan Florial is still a Yankee. No trade was made and no team put in a waiver claim, so Florial was outrighted to Triple-A on Friday, the Yankees announced. He remains in the organization as a non-40-man roster player. Florial did not join the RailRiders in time for Saturday’s doubleheader and they were off Sunday and Monday. I’m sure he’ll be in Scranton’s lineup Tuesday.

It’s a bit surprising Florial cleared waivers but not a total shock. He went on waivers soon after Opening Day, right after rosters were set, and no team wanted to shuffle things around to accommodate him. I mentioned this was a possibility last month. It’s a crummy outcome for Florial, who surely hoped to land with a team willing to give him an extended big league opportunity.

For the Yankees, it’s a good outcome. Rather than lose Florial for nothing on waivers, the Yankees get to keep a talented player stashed as a depth option in Triple-A. Florial will be a minor league free agent after the season, but we’ll worry about that later. Maybe he’ll have a contact breakthrough this summer and earn a spot on the 40-man roster again.

Injury updates

When SS Oswald Peraza was held out of Triple-A Scranton’s lineup Friday, the day before Josh Donaldson was going to be placed on the injured list, it was easy to assume Peraza would be called up. Then when Peraza was not called up and didn’t play either game of Scranton’s doubleheader Saturday, it was a sign something’s up. Turns out he’s got a hamstring issue.

“He’s day-to-day. I don’t think it’s a big deal,” Boone told Max Goodman (subs. req’d). So there you go. Peraza is 7-for-24 (.292) with five steals and six attempts in six Triple-A games this season. And now that we have Triple-A Statcast, I can also tell you Peraza’s average exit velocity on 17 balls in play is 83.7 mph. Not great! Particularly since his average exit velocity on 40 balls in play in the big leagues last year was 81.6 mph. Hmmm.

In other injury news, I mentioned several notable prospects were MIA and presumed hurt when the minor league Opening Day rosters were announced last week. Jim Callis provided an update on those very same prospects. Here’s the latest:

• RHP Carson Coleman: Will miss most of the season with a non-Tommy John elbow surgery. This likely explains why he was not a non-roster invitee to Spring Training.
• OF Anthony Hall: Broke the hamate bone in his right wrist last year, then needed a second surgery in January. He’s expected back later this month.
• RHP Yoendrys Gómez (shoulder), RHP Matt Sauer (forearm strain), RHP Luis Serna (shoulder fatigue), and RHP Trystan Vrieling (elbow) are injured with no further details given. When will they return? Your guess is as good as mine.

Callis says Coleman’s surgery was “less extensive” than Tommy John surgery. I wonder if he had the internal brace procedure? That’s an alternative to Tommy John surgery when the ligament tears away from the bone rather than snaps in half. The rehab is a bit shorter and the surgery a little less invasive. Of course, Coleman might’ve had a different surgery entirely. I dunno.

Coleman, my No. 27 prospect, was dominant with Double-A Somerset last year and a potential call up candidate later this season. He’s a one-pitch reliever but that one pitch is electric, and you always need optionable bullpen arms. Coleman will be Rule 5 Draft eligible this winter. The injury complicates the 40-man roster decision, especially if he does miss the entire season.

Hall, my No. 25 prospect, hurt his wrist popping up to short in his first pro at-bat last summer. That’s when he broke his hamate. Apparently he had surgery soon thereafter, recovered in time to participate in an offseason mini-camp, then had renewed discomfort and required a second surgery. Callis says he’ll be back later this month, so it wasn’t that major a surgery.

Gómez having more arm trouble is bad news. That kid hasn't been able to stay healthy. Serna is one of the better pitching prospects in the system and hopefully he won’t miss much time. He was going to be on a workload limit anyway this year (41.1 innings in 2022). Sauer was hurt at the end of last season. Not sure if the forearm strain is that injury carrying over, or something new.

Vrieling pitched in a Grapefruit League game on March 4th, so his injury is fairly new. He is on Low-A Tampa’s 60-day injured list. We won’t see him on a mound anytime soon. LHP Eric Reyzelman, last year’s fifth rounder and a potential quick moving reliever, is on Tampa’s 60-day injured list as well. Three of the Yankees’ top five picks in last year’s draft are hurt. Blah.

(While on the subject of missing players, allow me to note RHP Tyler Danish was released at the end of Spring Training. He had one of the worst springs I can remember: 6 IP, 18 H, 19 R, 3 BB, 7 K, 5 HR. Jeepers. That guy was pitching high leverage situations for the Red Sox last year.)

Miscellany

OF Elijah Dunham has played center field twice in eight Triple-A games this season (he made a nice diving catch too). He did not play a single inning in center last season, and Pereira was not promoted to Double-A Somerset until mid July, so it’s not like Dunham was playing the corners in deference to a top center field prospect. Players move around all the time, so I don’t want to make too big a deal about this, but the guy didn’t play center field at all last season, and yet he was out there the first week (at a higher level) this year. Hmmm … 3B Andrés Chaparro started his Triple-A career with an 0-for-29 slump. He struck out 13 times. Ouch. Chaparro broke out of it with a home run, because of course he did (video). That remains his only hit on the young season (1-for-31) … RHP Justin Lange, who came over in the Luke Voit trade, made his full season ball debut with Low-A Tampa on Sunday. His line: 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 7 K. This is a kid who had a 17.4% walk rate in rookie ball last year. A zero-walk season debut is a pleasant surprise. We’ll see whether it’s the start of something or just a blip … Baseball America (subs. req’d) released their best tools feature earlier this week and SS Roderick Arias was rated as having the second best infield arm in the minors behind Cardinals SS Masyn Winn, who is famous for his 100 mph throws from short. Arias is ranked one spot ahead of Giants 3B Casey Schmitt, who sat mid-90s when he pitched in college. I really hope we get to see Rod-A’s arm at some point … And finally, a few weeks ago I passed along word that MLB is testing a sticky ball in the Double-A Southern League this season. Through one weekend of play, the Southern League averages are a 33.8% strikeout rate and 12.9% walk rate. The other Double-A leagues are at 27.4% strikeouts and 11.9% walks. It’s only one weekend of games, but a) yikes, and b) it looks like that sticky ball comes with an adjustment period.

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