Series Preview: On The Road In Hartford
Bridgewater, New Jersey – The Patriots returned to their winning ways out of the All-Star break by taking two of three ball games from Binghamton over the weekend. Somerset now sits at 7-7 overall in the second half of the season, tied with Reading and Hartford, for second place overall
Bridgewater, New Jersey – The Patriots returned to their winning ways out of the All-Star break by taking two of three ball games from Binghamton over the weekend. Somerset now sits at 7-7 overall in the second half of the season, tied with Reading and Hartford, for second place overall in the division. The club will continue their season-high nine game road trip with a stop at Dunkin Park to open up a six-game series with the Yard Goats beginning tonight in Hartford.
Yankees top prospect Jasson Dominguez during 11 games in July🚀🛸
— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) July 16, 2023
13-for-42 (.310/.408/.405) .813 OPS
6 multi-hit games, 4 RBI, 5 R, 1 HR, 1 2B, 7 BB, 7 SB pic.twitter.com/oDB5fJR5Ir
Here is a look at some of the storylines and highlights surrounding the Patriots along with a look ahead to what is on tap in Hartford this week.
The Martian is Soaring: After hovering around the .200 mark for a good chunk of the season, outfielder Jasson Dominguez has really elevated his game offensively in the month of July after hitting just .186 in June. In 11 games this month, the Yankees top-prospect is slashing .357/.460/.500 with a homer, six RBI and seven stolen bases. This time of the year typically becomes difficult to alter cumulative stats in a meaningful way, but the 20-year-old Dominguez has managed to raise his batting average 20 points thanks to seven multi-hit efforts, including three straight against the Rumble Ponies last weekend.
Immaculate Performance: Lefty reliever Edgar Barclay, who is in the midst of posting one of the most dominant seasons on the mound in the Yankees system, tossed the rare immaculate inning during Saturday night’s 3-1 loss to Binghamton. The southpaw tossed nine pitches, recording nine strikes and three punch outs in the fifth inning to accomplish the feat for the first time in Somerset’s history in affiliated ball. Barclay struck out six batters for his third straight appearance.
Rosario Streaking: After walking twice during Sunday’s series finale at Binghamton, outfielder Jeisson Rosario extended his season-high on-base streak to 13 games. Over that stretch, Rosario hit .283 with a .410 on-base percentage.
Transactions: Over the weekend, the Yankees announced that they released infielders Delvin Perez and Matt Pita from their contracts.
Knowing the Opponent: The Yard Goats sit at 7-7 overall and are tied with Somerset for second place in the divisions second half standings. The Patriots took five-of-six from Hartford in their only other meeting this season when the two clubs met at Dunkin Park last month. After this series, the two teams will square off one more time in Somerset for six at the end of August. Hartford finished the first half with the second worst record in the Eastern League and were just 1.5 games better than Reading for the league’s low mark.
Outfielder Yanquiel Fernandez is the Rockies third ranked prospect on their MLB Pipeline top-30 list and the 20-year-old Cuban-product has had a stellar 2023 season. Fernandez has touched three levels of the system already this year (A, A+, AA) after being promoted to the Yard Goats back on June 20. In 77 cumulative games this year, Fernandez has blasted 22 homers and driven in 77 runs while slashing .294/.345/.570. In just 16 games at Double-A, Fernandez has already blasted five homers and driven home 10.
Rockies 13th ranked prospect Hunter Goodman has blasted a team-high 18 homers and 64 RBI to go along with 21 doubles. In addition to Fernandez, the Yard Goats roster three additional top-10 Rockies prospects from MLB Pipeline -#4 Drew Romo, #7 Warming Bernabel and #10 Jordan Beck.
Southpaw Joe Rock, the organization’s 14th ranked prospect, has been a standout performer in the Yard Goats rotation. The 68th overall pick in the 2021 draft has fanned 48 batters in 46 innings spanning 10 starts and has allowed just two earned runs over his two starts in the month of July.
Series Probable Pitchers:
Tue: RHP Matt Sauer (1-1, 6.57 ERA) vs. RHP Nick Garcia (1-7, 7.11 ERA)
Wed: RHP Blane Abeyta (5-4, 5.93 ERA) vs. LHP Colten Schmidt (0-0, 3.00 ERA)
Thu: RHP Chase Hampton (1-0, 3.90 ERA) vs. RHP Case Williams (1-8, 6.46 ERA)
Fri: RHP Yoendrys Gomez (0-0, 1.44 ERA) vs. LHP Joe Rock (1-5, 3.91 ERA)
Sat: RHP Richard Fitts (5-5, 3.72 ERA) vs. RHP Andrew Quezada (1-4, 4.25 ERA)
Sun: RHP Matt Sauer (1-1, 6.57 ERA) vs. RHP Nick Garcia (1-7, 7.11 ERA)
Matt Kardos | SomersetPatriots.com Beat Writer
Matt Kardos has covered the Yankees minor league system for over a decade and will spend his 11th 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.