Welcome to Week 8 of the Yankees minor league recap! A lot of under-the-radar prospects made strong cases for fans to put their names on the map this week, as the lower levels of the organization continue to impress within the Yankees organization. Double-A Somerset and Low-A Tampa are on the right track after tough starts to the year, and each team had a dominant stretch during their last series. Here’s how the Yankees’ minor-league affiliates performed last week:

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre RailRiders

Record: 22-26; Sixth place in International League (East), 12.5 GB

Past Week: 1-4 @ Nashville Sounds (Brewers)

Coming Up: Home vs. Worcester Red Sox

It was another rain-soaked week for the RailRiders, who started and ended their series in Nashville with cancellations on Tuesday and Sunday. Wednesday featured a low-scoring doubleheader in which Scranton dropped both games, 3-0 and 2-1. They were shutout by a tandem of rehabbing big-leaguers, Brandon Woodruff and DL Hall, who combined for all seven innings in the first game. The Brewers’ top pitching prospect, Jacob Misiorowski, was equally dominant in the second game despite going just three innings. Bryan De La Cruz provided the only run of the day with a solo home run. Scranton lost again on Thursday by a score of 7-6, despite two home runs for Alex Jackson to bring his total to eight on the year. Scott Effross got hit hard in a rehab appearance, allowing four earned runs in less than an inning.

Scranton got back on track on Friday with a 10-5 victory behind starter Allan Winans, who pitched five innings with five strikeouts, four hits, and one earned run. The run was just the first to be marked against Winans this season, as he continued his dominant start in the win. Dominic Smith hit his seventh homer of the year, and Jose Rojas and Jesus Rodriguez each recorded three hits. The week ended with a 12-5 loss, as Anthony DeSclafani looked less than impressive with five earned runs in 2.2 innings. Three hits from Smith provided a bright spot for the RailRiders, who are off to just a 22-26 start and will look to make up some ground next week in a home series against the Worcester Red Sox.

Players of Note:

Jesus Rodriguez: 140 PA; .376/.464/.479, 1 HR, 20 RBI, 8 SB, 14.3 BB%, 14.3 K%, 160 wRC+

T.J. Rumfield: 166 PA; .293/.386/.493, 6 HR, 28 RBI, 3 SB, 10.8 BB%, 22.3 K%, 134 wRC+

Allan Winans: 28 IP; 0.32 ERA, 32.4 K%, 8.1 BB%, .196 BAA, 1.04 WHIP

Alex Jackson: 94 PA; .304/.404/.658, 6 HR, 22 RBI, 0 SB, 14.9 BB%, 23.4 K%, 174 wRC+

Double-A Somerset Patriots

Record: 22-22; T-Third place in Eastern League (Northeast), 5 GB

Past Week: 5-1 @ New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Blue Jays)

Coming Up: Home vs Akron RubberDucks (Guardians)

It was a dominant week for the Somerset Patriots, who started their series in New Hampshire with five wins in a row before dropping the final game of the week. They started with a 5-0 victory on Tuesday, as five pitchers combined to shut out the Fisher Cats and Tyler Hardman hit a home run while driving in three of Somerset’s five runs. The Patriots won 4-1 on Wednesday behind another excellent performance from breakout pitching prospect Cam Schlittler, who struck out eight over six shutout innings. Antonio Gomez had three hits including a double in the win. Thursday’s game was postponed until Saturday, but Somerset kept their momentum on Friday with a 9-6 victory. Hardman and Rafael Flores had three hits each, and homers from Garrett Martin and Brennen Davis helped the Patriots win a shootout.

Saturday’s doubleheader resulted in two more wins, one by a score of 7-1 and another 6-3. Trystan Vrieling looked great in the first game, tossing 4.1 shutout innings, while two more hits and three RBI from Hardman helped solidify the win. An early two-run homer from Rafael Flores set the tone in the second game, and another from Cole Gabrielson in the fourth established a lead that Somerset was able to hold. Sunday saw the only loss of the series as the Patriots fell 7-5, but top prospect George Lombard Jr. had one of his best games at the level with two hits and two walks. Dylan Jasso also added his eighth homer of the year. Somerset’s hot stretch got their record up to .500, and they’ll try to keep the momentum alive in a rematch against the Akron RubberDucks.

Players of Note:

George Lombard Jr: 54 PA; .222/.397/.241, 0 HR, 5 RBI, 6 SB, 21.9 BB%, 19.2 K%, 109 wRC+

Rafael Flores: 189 PA; .306/.360/.549, 10 HR, 34 RBI, 5 SB, 7.4 BB%, 28.0 K%, 163 wRC+

Dylan Jasso: 166 PA; .286/.337/.500, 8 HR, 27 RBI, 0 SB, 5.4 BB%, 19.3 K%, 145 wRC+

Cam Schlittler: 43.2 IP; 2.47 ERA, 29.7 K%, 8.6 BB%, .231 BAA, 1.19 WHIP

High-A Hudson Valley Renegades

Record: 29-15; Third Place in South Atlantic League (North), 2.5 GB

Past Week: 3-3 @ Winston-Salem Dash (White Sox)

Coming Up: Home vs Wilmington Blue Rocks (Nationals)

The Renegades split a six-game series in Winston-Salem last week, keeping them in third place in a very competitive South Atlantic League. They started the week with a 6-1 loss as Kyle Carr allowed four runs and the offense didn’t show up. Wednesday saw an 11-8 defeat in a slugfest as Carlos Lagrange’s streak of dominant starts came to an unfortunate end. Lagrange allowed six runs in 3.2 innings with four walks and six strikeouts. Offensively, Roc Riggio kept up his hot hitting with two hits including a triple and a homer, three walks, three RBI, and four runs scored.

The Renegades flipped the script on Thursday with a 13-2 victory, as a slightly-erratic Ben Hess nonetheless found a way to cruise to a strong performance (5 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, 7 K). Riggio homered again, Coby Morales hit one of his own in a four-hit game, and Parks Harber kept up his blistering season with three hits including two doubles. Josh Grosz was excellent on Friday, tossing seven innings with eight strikeouts and just one run allowed as Hudson Valley dominated again 10-1. It was another strong game from Harber, who put up four more hits to bring his average all the way up to .368 since the promotion.

Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz was sharp again on Saturday (6.1 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 4 BB, 4 K) and Brendan Jones hit his fourth home run of the year, but Chris Kean couldn’t hold a 4-0 lead in the ninth inning and Hudson Valley lost a heartbreaker 5-4. They were able to right the ship on Sunday to close out the week, as some clutch hitting from Jace Avina and three hits from catcher Tomas Frick helped the Renegades secure a 5-4 victory. It’s been an excellent start to the season in Hudson Valley, and the Renegades will take on the Wilmington Blue Rocks next week.

Players of Note:

Ben Hess: 35.2 IP; 3.28 ERA, 34.9 K%, 13.4 BB%, .209 BAA, 1.00 WHIP

Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz: 42.2 IP; 2.74 ERA, 26.6 K%, 11.9 BB%, .162 BAA, 1.08 WHIP

Parks Harber: 87 PA; .354/.414/.570, 3 HR, 19 RBI, 1 SB, 9.2 BB%, 25.3 K%, 173 wRC+

Roc Riggio: 68 PA; .275/.456/.686, 5 HR, 14 RBI, 2 SB, 22.1 BB%, 20.6 K%, 206 wRC+

Low-A Tampa Tarpons

Record: 24-21; T-Second place in Florida State League (West), 2.5 GB

Past Week: 5-1 @ Dunedin Blue Jays

Coming Up: Away @ Lakeland Flying Tigers

After a bad start to the 2025 season, the Tarpons have fully turned it around over the past two weeks. They’re 10-2 over their last 12 games, and they won five out of six last week in Dunedin. They started the week with a 7-4 victory on Tuesday, led by two doubles from Roderick Arias who returned from an injury and is hoping to turn his luck around at the plate. Wednesday saw a 9-5 victory in a high-scoring game, with Arias roping a double and walking three times, and both Tyler Wilson and Josue Gonzalez hitting their second homers of the year.

Tampa won 3-1 on Thursday on the back of Griffin Herring, who dominated with ten strikeouts over six scoreless (and hitless) innings. It was Herring’s fourth win of the year, and lowered his ERA to a superb 1.21 on the season. Dillon Lewis also homered in the win. The only loss of the week came during a 13-9 slugfest on Friday, but Engelth Urena put up four hits at the plate including two doubles, Wilson had four hits as well including another homer and four RBI, and Dillon Lewis had three hits of his own. The Tarpons won a close one 4-3 on Saturday behind a strong performance from Gage Ziehl (5 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 7 K) and homers from Lewis and Urena. Lewis, Wilson, and Austin Green homered on Sunday in a 9-5 victory to end a dominant week for Tampa. Momentum is on the Tarpons’ side, and they’ll look to keep it going in Lakeland.

Players of Note:

Griffin Herring: 44.2 IP; 1.21 ERA, 33.3 K%, 9.2 BB%, .153 BAA, 0.90 WHIP

Dillon Lewis: 176 PA; .241/.318/.475, 8 HR, 26 RBI, 11 SB, 9.7 BB%, 27.8 K%, 118 wRC+

Tyler Wilson: 172 PA; .273/.349/.377, 4 HR, 21 RBI, 10 SB, 10.5 BB%, 27.3 K%, 108 wRC+

Engelth Urena: 189 PA; .227/.360/.370, 5 HR, 19 RBI, 5 SB, 14.8 BB%, 19.6 K%, 112 wRC+

FCL Yankees

Record: 8-9; Third Place in Florida Complex League (North), 3 GB

The FCL Yankees went 2-3 last week to drop their record one game blow .500 on the young season, but their +27 run differential suggests better times might be on the horizon. 19-year-old Brando Mayea continues to be the most impressive hitter on the roster, posting a 138 wRC+ in 70 PA with a .295/.377/.541 slash line. Mayea is walking 8.3 percent of the time, with a strikeout rate of 24.3 percent. These are promising numbers for a young player who could crack some organizational prospect lists in the future, but down in the Complex league you’re looking for eye-popping numbers in order to really put a player on the radar, and the FCL Yankees haven’t quite shown that yet. On the other side, Xavier Rivas is off to a great start with 13.1 scoreless innings on the season, rocking a 43.8 K% and 6.3 BB%. At 22 years old, we will need to see him replicate these numbers in full-season ball before truly getting excited, but it’s a good start.