Patriots Notebook: Heading Northwest for the Double-A Subway Series

Bridgewater, New Jersey – After splitting a rain shortened two-game set with Portland over the weekend that featured an offensive onslaught and an old fashioned pitcher’s duel, the Patriots (1-1) pack their bags and make the trek to Binghamton for their first road test of the season. After freezing temperatures postponed Tuesday's series opener, Somerset begins a six-game slate with a Wednesday doubleheader against the defending champion Rumble Ponies (1-1).

Opening weekend in Bridgewater offered fans an immediate reminder of how unpredictable baseball in April can be. The Patriots erupted out of the gate on Friday night with 18 runs on 22 hits in an 18-2 thumping of the Sea Dogs.

The @Yankees top prospect George Lombard Jr. opened the 2026 season going 5-for-6 with 3 R, HR, 2B, RBI, and SB for Double-A Somerset. pic.twitter.com/74ojahyh5S

— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) April 4, 2026

Top-prospect George Lombard Jr. posted a career-high five hits (5-for-6) with a homer and fell a triple shy of the cycle while third baseman Tyler Hardman went 4-for-5 with a home run.

“It is definitely good to start with a night like that,” Lombard Jr. said. “Obviously it takes some things to go your way to get five hits in a game, so it was a good day in that sense. Most importantly as a team we had more than 20 hits and so it is just a great start for us to get the ball rolling like that, and we just have to keep it going.”

“In the off-season, kind of just worked on a lot of different things, see what worked, see what didn’t work, and then I’m just thankful to be able to go out there and show my talents and abilities.”

Coby Morales meets the media after his 2 HR and 6 RBI Opening Day performance. pic.twitter.com/cf1SggXJvG

— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) April 4, 2026

First baseman Coby Morales blasted two long homers, including his second career grand slam, tacking up six RBIs on the night.

“Hitting is always contagious,” Morales said. “We have a great, great group of guys here, so I am excited to see what unfolds this season.”

The Hess Truck ALWAYS delivers🚎

Ben Hess (@Yankees No. 5 prospect) ties a career-high with nine strikeouts in his season debut, including SEVEN IN A ROW to start the game. pic.twitter.com/K3odlhhpRP

— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) April 4, 2026

Right-hander Ben Hess kept Portland stifled for much of his five innings of work in his season debut. The Yankees No. 5 prospect fanned the first seven batters he faced and finished with a career-high tying nine strikeouts in his 78-pitch outing. The University of Alabama product allowed three hits and three walks which contributed to two earned runs as the lone blemish on his line.

“Phenomenal night,” Morales said. “Ben Hess is one of the best pitchers that I have ever played behind, and I love it when that guy is on the mound.”

Less than 24 hours later Portland extinguished the sizzling Patriots offense by surrendering just four hits in a 1-0 shutout victory to even the series before heavy rainfall postponed Sunday’s scheduled series finale. Southpaw Kyle Carr allowed just an earned run on two hits while issuing four walks and fanning four batters in his season debut.

Patriots pitching combined to allow just three earned runs on seven hits while striking out 24 batters during their quick season opening series. One key area of focus that the staff will focus on this week in Binghamton is cleaning up command of the strike zone after issuing 13 walks against Portland over the weekend.

Here are some quick hitting news, notes and tidbits surrounding the Patriots heading into this week’s action.

First RBI knock of the season for Marco Luciano makes it 6-0 Patriots! pic.twitter.com/3Fk0yokeLu

— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) April 3, 2026

Marco’s World: Not long ago, Marco Luciano was a consensus top 15 prospect in the sport with big league service time under his belt. While those days have faded, the Dominican-product inked a minor league pact with the Yankees over the winter, and the 24-year-old is hoping that a strong start in Somerset can catapult him back to the Majors. So far, so good. While the sample size is small – Luciano opened the season by going 4-for-5 with a walk, an RBI and a career-high five runs scored before going 1-for-4 on Saturday.

“One thing that will never change, and it doesn’t matter the organization, but if you can just flat out hit the way that you need to hit then they will make room for you up there,” said Patriots manager James Cooper. “Secondly, nobody here is a finished product defensively and that’s not a knock on him or anybody else. We want all of these guys to find a way to play some type of Gold Glove-caliber defense...Once you start putting all of those things together the game will start coming a little bit easier to him and when you can put those pieces together the game will slow down for you and you can find yourself getting some promotions.”

Make it✌️first inning strikeouts for Kyle Carr (@Yankees No. 11 Prospect). pic.twitter.com/IduZQjJLVF

— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) April 4, 2026

Mental Makeup: Kyle Carr made 24 starts for Hudson Valley in his first pro season in 2024. The southpaw tossed 104 innings that season and felt it had warranted him a ticket to open 2025 in Somerset.

During media availability last week, Cooper reflected on a difficult conversation he had with Carr before the 2025 season as his High-A manager in Hudson Valley.

“As a player, nobody wants to repeat a level, especially when you were there for the entire season,” Cooper said.

Carr told his his manager he was going to do everything that he could to prove the front office wrong and make them promote him to Somerset.

"If you could go out there and do what you are supposed to do, then the front office will recognize it, and you will earn a promotion," Cooper said. "He might have been pissed off but he went there and took it out on those hitters," finishing his stint in High-A with a 1.96 ERA across 22 starts before earning a promotion to Double-A in September.

“When I’m at my best, I’m using the whole field…most good hitters when they are going good they’re using the whole field, kind of hitting it where it’s pitched. That’s always where I’m trying to be.”

George Lombard Jr. meets with the media after his first career 5-hit game. pic.twitter.com/CZpbmbEHXg

— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) April 4, 2026

Tuning Out Expectations: Carrying the weight of being the Yankees top-prospect can be a heavy burden for most players. Expectations, media attention, criticism, it all comes with the territory. George Lombard Jr. is the latest crown in a long lineage of players that includes Anthony Volpe, Jasson Dominguez and Spencer Jones that have been called to fulfill their massive promise as potential star caliber major leaguers.

“I wouldn’t say that it is anything new. It’s something that I’ve dealt with and I kind of view it as being blessed and that I have earned the opportunity to be in that position," Lombard Jr. said. "Obviously, there are always going to be other opinions, but for me that is always on the back burner and that is always out of my focus. I know what I have to work on and I know what’s important to me. I just focus on the people around me, my close circle and I think things will work out.”

Let’s Get Ready to Rumble: The Patriots will have an immediate barometer matchup on their first road trip when they take on the defending Eastern League champions in Binghamton. While long time manager Reid Brignac has moved on and names like Nolan McLean, Carson Benge and Jonah Tong have graduated to higher levels, the Rumble Ponies once again feature arguably the strongest roster in the Eastern League, highlighted by 10 of the Mets top 30 prospects, including 7 in the top 15.

The Patriots got a look at A.J. Ewing at the end of last season. After beginning last season as low as No. 28 on the Mets top-prospect list, the 21-year-old used an impressive 2025 season to ascend all the way up to No. 3. After hitting .315 and posting an .830 OPS with 70 stolen bases in 124 games last season, Ewing, the No. 90 overall prospect in baseball, has already opened this campaign by going 4-for-9 with two RBIs and two stolen bases in Binghamton’s first two games this season.

Third baseman Jacob Reimer spent all of last season at 21 years-old playing 61 games in both High-A and Double-A. The 119^th overall pick in 2022 now ranks No. 5 in the Mets organization after tallying 17 homers and 77 RBIs while hitting .282 and posting an .870 OPS. Reimer has opened the season just 1-for-10 over the Rumble Ponies first two games.

Southpaw Jonathan Santucci, who is scheduled to toe the rubber on Wednesday, is the Mets No. 9 ranked prospect and is coming off his first pro season in 2025 after being selected in the second round out of Duke in 2024. After posting a strong 3.46 ERA in 15 appearances at High-A, the organization bumped their top-ranked lefty up to Double-A in mid-July. In 10 starts for Binghamton, Santucci posted a 2.52 ERA and fanned 63 batters in 50 innings while limiting Eastern League opposition to a .189 batting average.

Probable Pitching Matchups vs. Binghamton

Wednesday 4/8: RHP Trent Sellers vs. LHP Jonathan Santucci

Wednesday 4/8: RHP Chase Chaney vs. LHP Zach Thornton

Thursday 4/9: RHP Cade Smith vs. RHP Will Watson

Friday 4/10: LHP Xavier Rivas vs. RHP Bryce Conley

Saturday 4/11: RHP Ben Hess vs. RHP Brendan Girton

Sunday 4/12: LHP Kyle Carr 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 14th 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.