Double-A Subway Series Preview

Bridgewater, New Jersey - The Somerset Patriots welcome the New York Mets affiliate Binghamton Rumble Ponies to TD Bank Ballpark for a six-game Double-A Subway Series from August 8-13 in a showdown of New York’s top prospects.

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See the future stars of the Big Apple as #Mets and #Yankees top prospects battle it out in the Double-A Subway Series from 8/8 - 8/13 in Somerset.🍎
🎟️ | https://t.co/1ruXpTBrhg pic.twitter.com/7WhdulZY5U

— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) August 7, 2023

After clinching their second consecutive first-half championship with an Eastern League best 42-26 record, the Patriots have kept the ball rolling out of the gate in the second half, maintaining their spot atop the standings with an 18-14 record.

Meanwhile, the Rumble Ponies enter the series one of the hottest teams in the Eastern League, having won eight of their last 10 games, sitting two games behind Somerset in the Northeast Division at an even 16-16.

Binghamton’s roster includes eight of the Mets top 30 prospects, highlighted by No. 2 prospect Luisangel Acuna and No. 4 prospect Drew Gilbert, both of whom bolstered the Rumble Ponies lineup at the 2023 MLB Trade Deadline.

The Mets acquired Acuna from the Texas Rangers on 6/30 in exchange for 3x Cy Young Award winner RHP Max Scherzer. Ranked baseball’s No. 44 prospect, Acuna slashed .315/.377/.453 with 25 2B, 51 RBI, and 42 SB in 84 games for the Rangers Double-A affiliate RoughRiders before the trade. Acuna made an immediate impact in the Rumble Ponies lineup on Saturday, when he scored twice and drove in the game-winning run vs. New Hampshire.

Gilbert, acquired on 8/1 in a trade that sent 3x Cy Young Award winner RHP Justin Verlander to the Houston Astros, ranks as baseball’s No. 68 prospect. A first-round pick in the 2022 MLB Draft out of Tennessee, Gilbert hit .274 with 12 HR, 38 RBI, and a .821 OPS between the Astros High-A and Double-A clubs before the trade. Over his first three games with the Mets organization, Gilbert is hitting .364 with an RBI triple on Saturday and RBI single on Sunday vs. New Hampshire.

Binghamton’s starting rotation also received a boost this past week when the Mets promoted top pitching prospect Blade Tidwell to Double-A. The Mets second-round pick last season, Tidwell was 8-3 with a 3.09 ERA in 17 starts this year at High-A Brooklyn ahead of his call-up.

Somerset’s roster is composed of six players ranked on MLB Pipeline’s top 30 Yankees prospects, highlighted by top prospect Jasson Dominguez, who enters the series on a season-long 16-game on-base streak, over which he is 23-for-70 (.329 AVG) with 12 RBI, 8 R, and 8 SB.

Despite Somerset dropping four-of-six on a road trip to Akron this past week, Dominguez had arguably his best series of the season, hitting safely in all six games going 10-for-25 with HR, 3 RBI, 4 R, and 4 SB.

Dominguez capped off the series with a 2-for-4 performance on Sunday, clubbing his 13th homer of the season and scoring four runs to bolster his Eastern League lead to 69 runs scored on the season while swiping a career-high three bases.

Entering the week, Dominguez leads the Eastern League in runs and walks (72), while placing 4th in SB (33) and 5th in RBI (56).

On the pitching side, Somerset’s staff of top prospects bests all Double-A teams with a 3.73 ERA this season, while pacing the Eastern League with 1,022 strikeouts on the season.

Much of that can be credited to Yankees No. 8 prospect Richard Fitts, coming off his team-leading eighth win of the season in a 5-0 Patriots victory on Saturday, where Fitts threw 7 shutout IP with 5 K and only 3 H allowed. The performance marked Fitts’ 12th quality start of the season, leading all pitchers in Minor League Baseball.

Over his last 13 starts dating back to 5/24, Fitts is 7-2 with a 2.46 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, .205 BAA and 87 K compared to 18 BB in 80.1 IP.

Series Probable Pitchers:

Tue: RHP Dom Hamel (5-5, 4.43 ERA) vs. RHP Chase Hampton (1-1. 4.43 ERA)

Wed: RHP Blade Tidwell (0-1, 6.75 ERA) vs. RHP Yoendrys Gomez (0-1, 2.62 ERA)

Thurs: RHP Tyler Stuart (2-0, 2.16 ERA) vs. RHP Richard Fitts (8-5, 3.56 ERA)

Fri: RHP Luis Moreno (7-4, 4.48 ERA) vs. TBD

Sat: RHP Christian Scott (3-3, 3.00) vs. TBD

Sun: TBD vs. TBD