Patriots Notebook 5/7: You Can Call Me Altoona
Bridgewater, New Jersey – After a misty rainstorm washed away their series finale against New Hampshire on Sunday, the Patriots earned their first series win since opening weekend against Richmond by taking three-of-five from the Fisher Cats last week. Sitting at two games under .500 at 12-14, Somerset will pack
Bridgewater, New Jersey – After a misty rainstorm washed away their series finale against New Hampshire on Sunday, the Patriots earned their first series win since opening weekend against Richmond by taking three-of-five from the Fisher Cats last week. Sitting at two games under .500 at 12-14, Somerset will pack their bags and make the 270-mile trek west to Altoona, Pennsylvania to take on the Curve, who at just 6-21 overall, have the Eastern League’s worst record. The Pittsburgh affiliate had lost 15 consecutive games before defeating Harrisburg 6-2 on Sunday.
SWEEP🧹 For the second time in Somerset franchise history, the Patriots have swept the Eastern League Player of the Month awards with INF Benjamin Cowles and RHP Trystan Vrieling.https://t.co/tCRJJDueR7
— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) May 3, 2024
Sweeping the Hardware:
The Patriots swept the Eastern League’s April awards last week when right-hander Trystan Vrieling was named Pitcher of the Month and infielder Ben Cowles secured the Player of the Month nod.
Cowles ended the month with an EL leading .351 batting average and .433 on-base percentage and was tied for the most hits in the league with 27 in 21 games played. Entering action on Tuesday morning against Altoona, Cowles is riding a 12-game on-base streak.
The 2021 tenth-round draft selection credits his hot start to some tough moments during a cup of coffee at Triple-A to end last season. It became apparent to both Cowles and the organization that he needed to clean up his swing in order for him to find success.
“I worked closely with Kevin Martir here and Trevor Amicone in Triple-A a little bit last year when I got called up to Triple-A for a week,” said Cowles. “I struggled up there a little bit and I kind of sat down and asked them why am I missing so much in the zone. We kind of had a hard talk about why my swing really didn’t play up there. We went through different drills and kind of just adopted a new approach and tried to understand what pitchers want to do – what’s their arsenal and how they are trying to get you out. That really helped me eliminate parts of the zone and take my takes a little bit easier in my approach.”
Vrieling was an ultra-rare prospect to make his professional debut at Double-A and all he did was end the first month by being honored as the most decorated pitcher in the Eastern League. The Yankees 22nd ranked prospect led all pitchers with a 0.75 WHIP while posting a dazzling 1.88 ERA and .145 batting average against. In four starts in April, Vrieling fanned 25 batters and walked just six over 24 innings of work.
Spencer Jones doing Spencer Jones things🤧
— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) May 2, 2024
The #Yankees No. 2 prospect cuts the deficit to 5-3 with an RBI single in the 2nd! pic.twitter.com/qkSGLkhe3D
Pain in the Neck: After missing the team’s first seven games of the season with a stiff neck, Yankees top-minor league prospect Spencer Jones feels like the injury is finally behind him and is relishing being able to play every day.
“It’s frustrating when the season is starting – you’ve been waiting a whole year for it and not being able to be out there for those first couple of games is tough. I’m glad I got to rest my body a little bit and get my neck back to 100% and I feel as good as I have ever felt right now.”
Jones added, “I’ll be honest, I really couldn’t move that well. If I was in the batter’s box, those weren’t going to be my best swings and I didn’t want to put myself in a tough position physically to start the year.”
In 12 April games, Jones slashed .320/.382/.540 with two homers and eight RBI to go with three stolen bases.
#Yankees 3B Jon Berti discusses his second rehab start with Somerset in which he drew 2 BB and swiped a base. pic.twitter.com/fBElSHfR7I
— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) May 1, 2024
Berti to Burdi: Yankees infielder Jon Berti continued rehabbing with Somerset last week before being activated by the Bombers on Saturday. You can read about his stint with the Patriots here. Before the team’s series finale against New Hampshire was washed away on Sunday, it was announced that reliver Nick Burdi was scheduled to commence a rehab assignment with the team and would have started had the game gotten underway.
The right-hander was placed on the IL on April 17 with right hip inflammation after being used as a reliable leverage reliver in the backend of the Yankees pen. Burdi had fanned eight batters over 6.1 innings and posted a 0.00 ERA before landing on the shelf.
Watch out for the Curve: It could be easy to look past Altoona based on their 6-21 record, but the Curve starting rotation features three of the Pirates top-seven prospects that are all equipped with high-end stuff. Fourth ranked prospect Anthony Solometo is 0-1 with a 5.06 ERA, but the southpaw is a New Jersey-native and was the 37th overall pick in the 2021 draft by the Bucs. While the early numbers aren’t pretty, the 21-year-old has a career 3.26 ERA with 183 punchouts in 174 career innings and has top of the rotation upside.
Right-hander Bubba Chandler was taken shortly after Solometo in the 2021 draft (72nd overall) and the Pirates fifth-ranked prospect has been one of the few bright spots for Altoona in the early going. The 21-year-old Chandler has posted a 3.10 ERA and a strong 1.18 WHIP with 23 strikeouts over 20.1 innings over five starts in his first full season at Double-A. Eastern League opposition is hitting just .197 against him.
Seventh ranked prospect Braxton Ashcraft was Pittsburgh’s second-round draft selection way back in 2018 and somehow, he is still just 24 after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2021. The right-hander posted a robust 1.35 ERA with a .197 batting average against in eight starts at Altoona last season, but 2024 has not been as kind to Ashcraft. In five appearances (four starts) this season, Ashcraft is 0-2 with a 6.64 ERA and has allowed 27 hits in just 20 innings while the EL is hitting .307 against him.
Series Probable Pitching Matchup:
Tue. RHP Bailey Dees (1-2, 5.70 ERA) vs. RHP Sean Sullivan (0-3, 2.78 ERA)
Wed. RHP Trystan Vrieling (2-2, 3.41 ERA) vs. RHP Braxton Ashcraft (0-2, 6.64 ERA)
Thu. RHP Blane Abeyta (1-3, 5.47 ERA) vs. RHP Po-Yu Chen (0-2, 6.30 ERA)
Fri. LHP Brock Selvidge (2-1, 1.73 ERA) vs. RHP Drake Fellows (0-0, 2.25 ERA)
Sat. RHP Zach Messinger (0-2, 4.28 ERA) vs. RHP Bubba Chandler (1-1, 3.10 ERA)
Sun. RHP Bailey Dees (1-2, 5.70 ERA) vs. TBD
Matt Kardos | SomersetPatriots.com Senior Writer
Matt Kardos has covered the Yankees minor league system for over a decade and will spend his 12th season on the beat covering the Patriots for SomersetPatriots.com. Throughout his career, Matt has contributed to MLB.com, YES Network and Pinstriped Prospects. When he’s not at the ballpark, Matt enjoys traveling with his wife Kimberly, watching Jets football and collecting sports cards.