Happy Father’s Day to all of the dads out there! After the Yankees affiliates went 2-1 on Saturday, all four teams are back in action Sunday. Tampa looks to avoid a rare series loss, Scranton Wilkes-Barre searches for another sweep, and Somerset’s starter looks for his strikeout streak to continue. Check out who is taking the mound this afternoon in our Pinstriped Previews:
Deivi Garcia (Photo by Matt Bufano)
Triple-A
Syracuse Mets (11-29) vs. Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (27-11)
PNC Field I 1:05 PM ET
RHP Jesus Reyes (0-6, 6.97 ERA) vs. Deivi Garcia (1-2, 8.10 ERA)
Due to Saturday’s game being rained out and the makeup date not taking place until July 7, this week’s series now becomes a five-game series and the RailRiders will go for the sweep this afternoon. They will also look to extend their win streak to seven games.
Matt Krook was scheduled to make his Triple-A debut last night. However, due to the rainout, that will have to wait. Instead, that start will go to Deivi Garcia. For Garcia, it can only go up after recording just one out in the series opener on Tuesday.
Garcia allowed five runs on two hits, walked four, and struck out a batter on 35 pitches (15 strikes). In three starts this month, the 22-year-old right-hander is 0-2 with an ERA of 14.09 and has many walks as strikeouts (10) over 7.2 innings. While Syracuse has just 11 wins on the season, they have scored 10 runs off of Garcia in two starts (3.2 innings).
Syracuse will go with Jesus Reyes, who joined the Mets this offseason after originally being in the Reds organization. The 28-year-old right-hander had a rough outing in his last start against Worcester on June 13. He went two innings, allowed eight runs on nine hits, walked two, and struck out four on 71 pitches (44 strikes) in a loss.
Like Garcia, it has been a rough June for Reyes. His ERA has jumped up from 6.51 in May to 7.90 in June and opponents are hitting .379 against him this month (.267 in May). If both pitchers can’t get back on track, there could be a lot of offense in this series finale.
Glenn Otto. Photo by Matt Kardos
Double-A
Richmond Flying Squirrels (22-19) vs. Somerset Patriots (26-14)
TD Bank Ballpark I 1:05 PM
LHP Michael Plassmeyer (0-1, 13.50 ERA) vs. RHP Glenn Otto (3-2, 3.95 ERA)
Saturday night’s 15-5 loss to Richmond is going to be one that Somerset wants to forget quickly. Despite the loss, they still have a chance to win five of the six games in this series before they head to Portland next week for a big series. This game will be a rematch of the pitching matchup that took place Tuesday when the Patriots cruised to a 10-1 victory.
Glenn Otto will look to pick up where he left off in that game after another great performance. On June 15, the 25-year-old right-hander went seven innings for the first time this year. He allowed one run on three hits, walked two, and struck out 14 (tied a season-high) on 90 pitches (64 strikes).
In three starts this month, Otto has held opposing hitters to a .174 average and he has 34 strikeouts to 6 walks over the course of 19.2 innings. His 69 total strikeouts on the season are 12 more than any other player in the Double-A Northeast (Roansy Contreras is second with 57).
As for Plassmeyer, the 24-year-old southpaw will be making his second start in the Giants organization. San Francisco acquired Plassmeyer on June 11 from the Rays in the deal that sent Matt Wisler to the Giants. At Double-A Montgomery, he was 2-1 with a 3.64 ERA in seven appearances (three starts) and he had 33 strikeouts to.7 walks in 29.2 innings of work.
Plassmeyer will look to bounceback off of a rough performance on Tuesday in his Richmond debut. He went 4.2 innings, allowed seven runs on 10 hits and struck out two on 81 pitches (56 strikes). He allowed one home run to Diego Castillo in that game. Castillo went 3-for-4 with a double and four RBIs in addition to the home run.
James Nelson (Robert M Pimpsner)
High-A
Jersey Shore BlueClaws (17-23) vs. Hudson Valley Renegades (24-16)
Dutchess Stadium I 4:35 PM
LHP Jhordany Mezquita (1-1, 4.00 ERA) vs. RHP Jhony Brito (1-2, 3.16 ERA)
On Saturday night, the Renegades scored the final six runs of the game en route to a 8-4 win over Jersey Shore. Part of the comeback included back-to-back home runs by James Nekson and Oliver Dunn in the bottom of the sixth inning. Plus, relievers Nick Ernst and Derek Craft combined to strike out seven and walk one without allowing a run over the final 3.2 innings.
Hudson Valley will look to win six of the seven games in this series this afternoon.
As for Jersey Shore, Mezquita will make his second appearance of the series. On June 15, he came in to pitch ithe bottom of the sixth and had a rough outing. In 2/3 of an inning, he allowed four runs on one hit, walked four (tied a season-high) and struck out a batter on 32 pitches (13 strikes).
Mezquita ended up walking three of the first four batters he faced. Those walks came back to bite him as Chad Bell ended up hitting a game-tying grand slam. The Renegades faced Mezquita on May 25 and the 23-year-old southpaw went 4.1 innings, allowed a run on two hits, and struck out five on 53 pitches (38 strikes) in a no-decision.
The only run that Mezquita allowed in that start was a solo home run by James Nelson in the bottom of the fourth. Speaking of Nelson, he is 5-for-14 in the series and has driven in four runs in the last two games.
Anthony Volpe (Photo by John Brophy/Pinstriped Prospects)
Low-A
Bradenton Marauders (26-15) vs. Tampa Tarpons (28-13)
GMS Field I 12:00 PM
RHP Jared Jones (1-0, 3.38 ERA) vs. LHP Clay Aguilar (0-0, 3.00 ERA)
Down 5-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning on Saturday night, it looked like the Tarpons were on the verge of extending a rare losing streak to four games. Then, Anthony Volpe happened. Not only did Volpe extend his hit streak to 15 games, but he hit a game-tying three-run home run. Two innings later, with the score tied at six, he hit a walk-off home run to send the fans home happy.
With a win this afternoon, Tampa will secure a split of the six games series. The 22-year-old left-hander has made nine appearances this season out of the bullpen, but this will be his first professional start. The Yankees signed Aguilar last year as a non-drafted free agent out of the University of Houston.
In the 12 innings Aguilar has pitched, he has 19 strikeouts to 4 walks and has held opposing hitters to a .217 average while throwing 66% of his pitches for strikes. He hasn’t thrown more than 36 pitches in a game this season. However, he has not allowed a run in six of his last seven outings. Against Clearwater on June 11, Aguilar went 1.1 innings, allowed one hit, walked a batter, and struck out four (tied a season-high from June 8) on 32 pitches (21 strikes).
Aguilar will go up against Jones, who the Pirates selected in the 2nd Round in last year’s MLB Draft. This will be his third start of the season. The 19-year-old has 17 strikeouts and 5 walks over the course of 10.2 innings, but four of those walks have come as a starter.
On June 12 against Daytona, Jones went three innings, allowed three runs on three hits, walked two, and struck out five on 57 pitches (36 strikes) in a no-decision. He is ranked as the 16th best prospect in the Pirates organization according to MLB Pipeline.
In 58 at-bats this month, Volpe has a slash line of .414/.514/.897 with six home runs, 17 RBIs, and five stolen bases. Last night’s 3-for-5 night was the fourth time this season the shortstop has had three hits or more in a game and the four RBIs were two off of a season-high (six against Lakeland on June 3).
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