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Notebook 4/23: Heading Out To Reading

April 23, 2024

Bridgewater, New Jersey – After dropping the first two contests of their homestand with Hartford last week, Somerset rebounded nicely to walk away with victories in three of the final four games of the early season six-game slate. Now sitting at 7-8 overall, Somerset will take a short 95-mile trip

Bridgewater, New Jersey – After dropping the first two contests of their homestand with Hartford last week, Somerset rebounded nicely to walk away with victories in three of the final four games of the early season six-game slate. Now sitting at 7-8 overall, Somerset will take a short 95-mile trip out to Reading, Pennsylvania where they will open a six-game series beginning on Tuesday night with the last place Fightin’ Phils, who sit at 6-9 overall after suffering defeat in seven of their last 10 overall.

On the Mend: Yankees star infielder DJ LeMahieu is currently scheduled to meet the Patriots on the road when action gets underway on Tuesday to begin a rehabilitation assignment with the club. The 35-year-old, two-time batting champion, fouled a ball off of his right foot in a spring training game on March 16, causing a non-displaced fracture that has kept him out of live action since. The Yankees have not indicated how many at-bats or games the two-time All-Star will need before deeming him ready to return, but LeMahieu said he would need “probably less than five” during a media availability last week.

Near No-No Earns Weekly Honors: In just the third start of his professional career, Yankees 23rd ranked prospect Trystan Vrieling fired 7.2 innings of no-hit ball to go with six strikeouts in a 1-0 victory against the Yard Goats on Friday night. Vrieling, who was the 100th overall pick in the 2022 draft out of Gonzaga, is now 2-0 with 0.48 ERA with 18 strikeouts in 18.2 innings of work while Eastern League opposition is hitting a mere .082 against the righty.

“I think you just go into every start feeling it out,” said Vrieling. “I had a lot of good plays behind me and a lot of good plays behind the dish, too. Props to all of my guys for making plays behind me. It was fun watching them make plays – it was a cool experience. Going into it, you don’t ever expect to do those kinds of things.”

You can check out our feature story on Vrieling here.

Steaming Rice: Entering action against Hartford last Wednesday, Ben Rice was hitting just .179 on the season. The Yankees 12th ranked prospect then proceeded to homer in four consecutive contests while going a combined 9-for-20 with 7 RBI over the remainder of the series to raise his season average to .271. It was a Rice walkoff homer in the bottom of the ninth on Friday night on the heels of the Vrieling masterpiece that propelled Somerset to a 1-0 victory.

“Trystan [Vrieling] pitched a Hell of a game – he was battling all night,” said Rice. “To be able to deliver there in the bottom of the ninth was pretty cool.”

Since being promoted to Double-A last July 18, the Dartmouth-product is slashing .314/.387/.624 with 21 HR, 56 RBI in 62 games of action.

Backstops on Top: The primary catching duo of Agustin Ramirez and Rice have combined for 12 of Somerset’s league-best 20 long balls. Ramirez is the Eastern League leader with seven while Rice comes in right behind him with five homers. The 15 RBI recorded by Ramirez are also a league-best mark heading into action on Tuesday.

Back in the Groove: After missing eight of the team’s first nine games of the season, the Yankees top-ranked MiLB prospect, Spencer Jones, is finally finding his groove after playing in five-of-six against Harford last week. Jones recorded five hits between back-to-back multi-hit efforts on Saturday and Sunday that included his first homer of the season. The 2022 first-round draft selection is now slashing .381/.458/.571 in just 21 at-bats.

Count on Cowles: In his first taste of the minor league’s upper levels, infielder Ben Cowles has been one of the best hitters in the Eastern League after the first three weeks of the season. The 24-year-old Maryland-product is hitting a team-high .340, while his .435 OBP is the second best in the Eastern League. The 2021 draftee has tallied five multi-hit efforts and has recorded 18 hits in just 15 games of action.

Dees in the Win Column: The organization came to right-hander Bailey Dees in the middle of spring training and asked him if he would be comfortable transitioning to a starting role from his accustomed spot in the bullpen. After building up over the latter stages of the spring in Tampa, Dees had a tough season debut, giving up eight earned runs to Richmond in just 3.1 innings on April 6. The 6’8” Penn State alum has allowed just four earned runs over his last two starts and is coming off an outing in which he fanned a career-high nine batters while throwing a career-high 90 pitches over six innings to earn his first victory as a starter.

“After his first start, what he showed in New Hampshire and what he showed here at home, he is just more confident,” said Manager Raul Dominguez. “After the first one, he worked in the bullpen on his plan and met with his pitching coaches and he has been good, and he looks like he has been a starter for a while.”

Series Probable Starters:

Tue RHP Zach Messinger (0-1, 5.29) vs LHP Lachlan Wells (1-0, 1.80)
Wed RHP Bailey Dees (1-1, 7.90) vs. RHP Christian McGowen (0-0, 4.91)
Thu RHP Trystan Vrieling (2-0, 0.48) vs. RHP Robinson Pina (1-1, 5.54)
Fri RHP Blane Abeyta (0-3, 9.64) vs. LHP Matt Osterberg (0-1, 1.98)
Sat LHP Brock Selvidge (0-1, 2.57) vs. RHP Noah Skirrow (0-1, 10.57)
Sun RHP Zach Messinger (0-1, 5.29) vs. LHP Lachlan Wells (1-0, 1.80)

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.