Gil, Medina help lead system to the best record in MiLB: The Farm Report

The Yankees farm system continues to have the best record in MiLB after week three. As of Sunday, there were five teams across minor league baseball sitting at 13-5. Within the Yankees organization, SWB, the Somerset Patriots, and Tampa Tarpons make up three of those 13-5 starts to the season. Overall, the Yankees have the best organizational record in baseball (48-24, .666), a full 2.5 games better than Cleveland (45-26, .636).

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Scranton Wilkes-Barre (AAA)

SWB once again played great baseball, going 4-2 in Rochester, and have now won 7 out of their last 10. They finished the week in first place, two games up on the Buffalo Bisons. After setting the SWB franchise record with 212 home runs in 2019, they have hit 28 home runs in their first 18 games this season. The RailRiders are tied for eighth in minor league baseball in home runs, although they have not seen an elite power performance from any one-hitter. Only Chris Gittens (t-10th, 4) ranks in the top 15 in home runs in Triple-A East.

Notable additions to the roster were three players from Double-A Somerset, all three playing significant time in the series against Rochester. INFs Hoy Park, Brandon Wagner, and OF Thomas Milone have combined to hit .339 (19-for-56) with 10 R, 4 2B, 1 HR, 11 RBIs, 12 BB, 17 K, and 2 HBP. In Wednesday's 3-2 win over the Red Wings, Park and Milone drove in all three runs. Milone, the SWB Player of the Week, finished the series 9-25, 3 R, 2B, 5 RBI, 2 BB, 5 K.

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For the Florial watchers out there, he finished the week with a .172/.294/.483 slash. He also has two home runs and nine strikeouts in his two weeks in AAA.

On the pitching side, Clemson grad Brody Koerner has been a leader of the pitching staff. In his third appearance, he hurled 4.1 innings of 2 run ball on 71 pitches. He ends the week with a 2.25 ERA over three starts, 12.1 IP, and three runs.

Deivi Garcia continues his up and down season, throwing 2.1 innings, 5H, 4ER, 3BB, 2 SO on Saturday. His ERA now sits at 5.17.

SWB begins a six-game set at home against the Buffalo Bisons on Tuesday. The Jays farm team is in second place (11-7), two games behind the first-place RailRiders.

Somerset Patriots (AA)

The Somerset Patriots had a flawless week, going 6-0 against the Hartford Yard Goats. They finish the week in the same spot as SWB, in first place with a 13-5 record and two games up on Boston's affiliate in Portland. It's even more impressive after losing three of their better players promoted up to SWB only one week after Estevan Florial left.

INF Dermis Garcia has now hit safely in ten-straight games. During the ten-game stretch, Garcia is hitting .350 (14-for-40) with six home runs, nine runs scored, and 14 RBI, including four home runs against Hartford, and is the Somerset Player of the Week. He began the season 1-for-24 (.042) in his first seven games before beginning his current hit streak.

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The Patriots pitching staff leads all of Double-A with 220 strikeouts. The pitchers have struck out double-digit batters in 15 of 18 contests this season, including 11 of their last 12 games. Prior to Sunday's action, the Patriots pitching staff had the lowest collective WHIP in all of Double-A (1.08), second-lowest BAA (.194), and fifth-lowest ERA (3.05). Luis Gil, the Yankees' 5th ranked prospect per MLB Pipeline, continues to dominate. On Friday, he threw 4.2 innings, 0R, 2H, 1BB, and 9SO. His season stats currently sit at 0-0, 1.76ERA, 12 H, 3ER, and 28 SO in 15.1 innings. Janson Junk also continues to stand out with a 0.82 ERA in 11 innings. He tossed four innings of one-hit ball on Wednesday.

Somerset plays home against the third-place Hartford Fisher Cats (TOR) beginning Tuesday.

Hudson Valley Renegades (A+)

HV is all about the threes. In week three, they went 3-3 for the third week in a row. They remain in second place, behind the Aberdeen Ironbirds (BAL).

Yankees' 7th ranked prospect Luis Medina dominated in his start last week and is the Organizational Player of the Week. He threw 5.2 innings, giving up one run, one hit, 11 SO, two BB, and has a sparkling 1.45 ERA. He seems to have outgrown A ball, with a season line of 2-0, 1.45 ERA, 18.2 IP, and 32 SO. Last week's Player of the Week, Ken Waldichuk, also continues to be unhittable. The lefty gave up one hit while striking out ten over 4.1 innings on Saturday as the Hudson Valley Renegades beat the Brooklyn Cyclones, 5-3. The Yankees 27th ranked prospect has thrown 14.1 innings without giving up a run and has 29 strikeouts.

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Offensively, Eduardo Torrealba is hitting .412 (7-for-17) since joining the Hudson Valley lineup on May 19. Ezequiel Duran makes a solid middle infield with SS Oswald Peraza. Duran, the Yankees' 15th ranked prospect, is hitting .412, 11RBI, and has scored seven runs to go along with the 4th ranked Peraza.

The Renegades will be home for six starting Tuesday against the fourth-place Jersey Shore Blue Claws.

Tampa Tarpons (A)

Tampa is the third of the Yankees' farm teams to finish the week at 13-5, a full four games up on second place Bradenton after a 4-2 week against the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels. They continue to rake, putting up 58 runs over the six games.

Its season run total is a MiLB-best 166 runs scored (9.22/G), 25 more than next on the list: Low-A Delmarva (141 runs). No other team in the Southeast League has scored more than 115 runs (Lakeland). Anthony Volpe (19R) and Andres Chaparro (18R) are among the league leaders in runs scored, with 23rd ranked prospect Trevor Hauver (17R), Pat DeMarco (16R), Elijah Dunham (16R), and 6th ranked prospect Austin Wells (16R) close behind.

Sean Boyle and Nelvin Correa lead the pitching staff. Boyle had two starts and gave up 0ER, and has a 0.71 ERA over 12.2 innings. He is the Tampa Player of the Week. Correa pitched in relief, giving up 0R, 1H, 1BB, and 3SO in 3 innings. He has thrown 12.2 innings and has yet to give up a run. Matt Sauer, the Yankees' 26th ranked prospect, bounced back after a rough start of the season, throwing four innings and giving up one run.

The Tarps travel for six in Dunedin against the last-place Blue Jays this week.

Prospect Profile-Luis Medina (P)

Age: 22 Height: 6'01" Weight: 175 B/T: R/R Rank: Yankees' 7th (MLB Pipeline) Team: Hudson Valley Renegades (A+) Scouting Grades (20-80): Fastball-75, Changeup-55, Curveball-60, Control-40, Overall-50

You learn everything you need to know about Medina with his fastball scouting score. Seventy-Five is elite status. He first threw 100 MPH at the age of 16 and at times gets as high as 102. He does all of that with movement. Mix that with an average changeup and a plus curveball, and he has a chance to be a dynamic ace-like starter. Control is the main weakness. Before this season, he has averaged .76 walks per inning during his professional career, an unsustainable rate that has resulted in a 5.51 ERA.

Keep in mind that young pitchers, even future aces, tend to struggle with control in those first years of pro-ball. He has made strides in the right direction, walking 9 in 18.2 innings this season. In addition to being electric at Hudson Valley, he was the Puerto Rican winter league player of the year.

Medina signed with the Yankees in 2015 for $280,000 out of the Dominican Republic.