Six Renegades selected to participate in Arizona Fall League

Wappingers Falls, N.Y. (Sept. 16, 2022) – Major League Baseball today announced the full rosters for the 2022 Arizona Fall League, and five members of the 2022 Hudson Valley Renegades were among those named. Outfielder Jasson Domínguez, infielders Tyler Hardman and T.J. Rumfield, and pitchers Nelson Alvarez and T.J. Sikkema are all slated to play. Defensive Coach Jose Javier is slated to coach in the league as well.

Domínguez, Hardman, Rumfield, and Alvarez will play for the Mesa Solar Sox, while Sikkema, now with the Kansas City Royals organization, is a member of the Surprise Saguaros. Javier will serve as a coach for Mesa.

Jasson Dominguez

Domínguez, the Yankees’ No. 2 prospect and the No. 42 prospect overall according to MLB, hit a blistering .306/.397/.510 in 40 games with the Renegades this season. The switch-hitter finished his season with a flourish, hitting home runs from both sides of the plate in the Gades season finale with the Wilmington Blue Rocks on Sept. 10, leading to his selection as South Atlantic League Player of the Week. Signed by the Yankees in 2019 for a $5.1 million bonus, Domínguez, 19, has already played in two Futures Games, and is one of the most ballyhooed prospects of the past decade. He played at three levels in the Yankees system this season, and is currently with Double-A Somerset.

Tyler Hardman

Hardman spent the entire season with the Renegades and set or matched multiple team records in the process. His 22 home runs are tied for the most in a single season by a Renegade, and are tied for second-most on the team’s all-time career leaderboard. He also shattered the team single-season RBI record by driving in 79 runs. Hardman led the Renegades in batting average at .262, and finished second in the South Atlantic League in RBIs, fourth in home runs, sixth in extra-base hits (40), and seventh in slugging percentage (.479). A fifth round pick in 2021 out the University of Oklahoma, Hardman was recognized by Baseball America as the Best Defensive Third Baseman in the South Atlantic League in the publication’s annual tools survey. Following the conclusion of the Renegades season, Hardman joined the Double-A Somerset Patriots.

T.J. Rumfield

Despite an early-season injury limiting him to only 52 games, Rumfield was one of the Renegades most-productive hitters in 2022, batting .284/.381/.411 with four home runs and 34 RBIs. Defensively, Rumfield made a habit of stellar play, stealing several balls from the dugout and the stands with acrobatic efforts. Acquired in an offseason trade from the Philadelphia Phillies, he was a 10th round pick in the 2021 MLB Draft out of Virginia Tech.

Nelson Alvarez

Alvarez was one of the most dependable arms out of the bullpen all year for the Renegades, appearing in a team-high 35 games and going 5-2 with a 2.85 ERA. After spending the 2021 season in Hudson Valley, the right-hander had a breakout 2022, increasing his K% from 20.5 to 28.9 while also dropping his walk rate. A 13th round pick of the Yankees out of the University of South Florida in 2019, Alvarez is the all-time appearances leader for the Renegades, with 65 pitching appearances across his two years with the club. His eight career wins in relief are second-best among Renegades relievers all-time.

T.J. Sikkema

Sikkema starred in his 11 appearances with Hudson Valley before he was dealt to the Royals in July as part of the trade that returned Andrew Benintendi to the Yankees. After missing the entire 2020 and 2021 seasons, Sikkema went 1-1 with a 2.48 ERA, while striking out a whopping 38.0% of opponents in 36.1 innings in Hudson Valley. In his final two appearances with the Gades on July 10 and July 16, he struck out 21 batters and walked just two while allowing three hits across 10.1 dominant innings of work. He was the only Renegades pitcher in 2022 to strike out double-digit batters in a game, and he accomplished the feat twice in back-to-back appearances. Sikkema was a Competitive Balance Round A selection by the Yankees in 2019 out of the University of Missouri.

Jose Javier

Javier finished his first season on the Renegades staff in 2022 as the Defensive Coach. Under his tutelage, Hudson Valley led the SAL in fielding percentage (.978) and committed the fewest errors (104) of any team in the league. In addition to his work defensively, he also worked with Renegades position players on baserunning, and oversaw the team shattering several stolen base records. The Renegades set a new franchise record and finished fourth in Minor League Baseball with 230 steals in 2022. On July 6 at Jersey Shore, the Gades stole 11 bases in a single game, becoming the first full-season team in MiLB to swipe that many bases in a game since at least 2004.

The Arizona Fall League season lasts six weeks, beginning Oct. 3. The league is comprised of six teams, with each team made up of prospects from five MLB organizations. Sixteen of MLB’s Top 100 prospects, including Domínguez, are slated to play in the AFL in 2022.

The New York Yankees have seven prospects participating in the AFL, with RHP Yorlin Calderon, RHP Shaine McNeely and RHP Leam Mendez also slated to play for Mesa. Brandon Rodriguez, the trainer for the Yankees’ Single-A affiliate Tampa Tarpons will serve as one of the athletic trainers for Mesa. The Oakland Athletics, Chicago Cubs, Miami Marlins and Tampa Bay Rays also have their minor leaguers playing for the Solar Sox.

ABOUT THE HUDSON VALLEY RENEGADES

The Hudson Valley Renegades are the High-A affiliate of the New York Yankees in the South Atlantic League. The Renegades begin their 2023 season at home on Friday, April 7 with a three-game homestand against the Greensboro Grasshoppers. For more information, please visit hvrenegades.com or call 845-838-0094.

ABOUT DIAMOND BASEBALL HOLDINGS

Diamond Baseball Holdings (DBH) was formed in 2021 to support, promote and enhance Minor League Baseball Clubs affiliated with Major League Baseball through professional management, best practices, innovation and investment (DiamondBaseballHoldings.com).