From the Back Fields to the Bronx

On the latest episode of From The Back Fields to The Bronx, Ricky Keeler is joined by Tampa Tarpons beat writer John Brophy to talk about the first full week of the 2022 season for all four of the New York Yankees full-season affiliates.

First up, John talks about the Tarpons having success on the mound with their pitching and he discusses what has stood out to him about the way Rachel Balkovec manages the Tarpons and connects with her players. Then, he discusses the improvements he is seeing in Anthony Garcia's plate discipline after conducting an interview with him earlier this week.

When the conversation shifts to Somerset, Ricky and John talk about whether or not to be concerned about Anthony Volpe's slow start, the talent the rotation has led by Ken Waldichuk, and the team's high strikeout totals to begin the year.

Scranton Wilkes-Barre had a rough week in Norfolk and Ricky thinks there should be some concern with the way Luis Gil and Deivi Garcia have struggled to begin the year. Finally, the duo looks at Hudson Valley's lineup and how even without Trey Sweeney at the moment, the Renegades may have the deepest lineup in the system.

After talking about their position groups to watch this year, Ricky and John talk about the pitch clock that has helped decrease how long the games are going and whether or not it is a good or bad thing for the sport.

 

On the latest episode of From The Back Fields To The Bronx, the show is back in 2022 and we catch you up on everything that has gone on in the New York Yankees organization this winter from a minor league perspective. Ricky Keeler is joined by Tampa Tarpons/FCL beat writer John Brophy and Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders beat writer Alex Kielar for this episode.

The episode begins with John talking about his time covering Yankees prospect mini-camp and some of his observations when watching Anthony Volpe take batting practice, how Jasson Dominguez looks in camp, and who has impressed him amongst players he didn't see live in 2021, including Hayden Wesneski.

Then, the trio looks at the biggest Yankees storylines of the offseason, such as Rachel Balkovec being the new Tarpons manager this year and some of the new coaches at the major league level being promoted from within the minors (Dillon Lawson, Desi Druschel, Casey Dykes).

Of course, the conversation also goes towards the ongoing MLB lockout and some of the stories where the minor leagues could be directly impacted.

Keep an eye out for future episodes of From The Back Fields To The Bronx as the minor league season gets closer.

On the latest episode of From The Back Fields To The Bronx, co-managing editor Ricky Keeler takes a closer look at the only Yankees affiliate to make their league's championship series and that is the Tampa Tarpons in the Low-A Southeast.

On Tuesday night, the Tarpons will begin a best-of-five series against the Bradenton Marauders (Pittsburgh Pirates). Games 1 and 2 will be in Bradenton and Tampa will host Games 3-5 since they finished with the best record (73-43).

To help preview the championship series, Ricky was joined by Spenser Smith, the play-by-play announcer for the Bradenton Marauders. Spenser discussed some of the recent additions to the Pirates system from offseason trades the big league club made, what their pitching rotation could look like in this upcoming series, and whether Pirates fans should be optimistic about the direction of the team considering the success their lower levels of the farm system had this season.

Plus, Spenser gave his thoughts on some of the prospects that have stood out to him on the Tarpons which include Trey Sweeney, Anthony Garcia, and Blas Castano just to name a few. Of course, we did ask him to give his thoughts on Jasson Dominguez as well.

Be on the lookout for a more extensive preview of the series tomorrow put together by our Tampa Tarpons beat writer, John Brophy.

On the latest episode of From The Back Fields To The Bronx, managing editors Ricky Keeler and Matt Kardos discussed all four affiliates as they all have only a few weeks left in their respective seasons.

The conversation started with Double-A Somerset as TD Bank Ballpark has been cleared for play after the devastation of Hurricane Ida. The Patriots will return home Friday pushing for a postseason bid. Matt gives insight on Luis Medina finding his command on the mound, Isiah Gilliam finding his form in the outfield, and some of the new faces that have been on the mound for the Patriots.

When talking about the other three affiliates, Ricky and Matt went over Hudson Valley's power surge in the month of September, Tampa clinching a postseason bid with the help of Trey Sweeney and Anthony Garcia, and how Michael King and Adam Warren could maybe help the Yankees down the stretch with their success recently at Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre.

Next, the conversation shifted to how teams approach the final weeks of the season. Is it still solely about development when a postseason spot is on the line or are the playoffs an afterthought considering the long offseason these players have had? The duo also dives into a scenario if Hudson Valley misses the playoffs, should Somerset call up Anthony Volpe (25 home runs this year) and have Oswald Peraza go up to Triple-A for the final two weeks of their season?

 

On the latest episode of From The Back Fields To The Bronx, Pinstriped Prospects managing editor Ricky Keeler is joined by Tampa Tarpons beat writer John Brophy to discuss how all four Yankees affiliates are either going for a division title or fighting for a spot in their league's championship series.

Of course, all of our thoughts are with everyone dealing with the effects from Hurricane Ida and this includes the players for Double-A Somerset. If you feel inclined to help the players out, here is how you can do it:

https://twitter.com/adoptmilbplayer/status/1433748112242270212

The conversation starts with the Tarpons playing in Bradenton this week in a championship preview. How have the Yankees top draft picks from this past July looked with Tampa so far such as Trey Sweeney and Cooper Bowman? Plus, John discusses Anthony Garcia's power surge, Antonio Gomez's development behind the plate, and what the Tarpons pitching rotation looks like after a lot of promotions have shaken it up.

When looking at the other affiliates, the duo discusses Randy Vasquez's Double-A debut in Somerset, Beck Way's debut at High-A Hudson Valley, Jake Sanford having an under-the-radar year for the Renegades in the outfield, and JP Sears making a good impression in the Triple-A rotation.

In terms of general minor league topics, Ricky and John go over which prospects they would have liked to see make their big-league debut if 40 players were still allowed to be on the major league roster in September, how they approach covering rehab assignments, and the six-game series format carrying over into next year.

On this week's episode of From The Back Fields to The Bronx, we decided to take the show in a little bit of a different direction. The founder of the website, Robert M Pimpsner, just wrapped up nearly 20 years of covering the New York Yankees farm system as a member of the media.

Pimpsner covered his last game for the website last Saturday when he was at the Hudson Valley Renegades game against Brooklyn. What was in his mind before the game, during the game, and after the game and when did it hit him that the era was coming to an end?

During this podcast, you will hear Pimpsner reflect on his favorite moments and favorite interviews he has ever done covering the system,. how minor league baseball has changed since he started covering it, and how Pinstriped Prospects changed the way minor league baseball is covered. In addition, he discuss how he feels minor league baseball can improve.

Then, Pimpsner and Keeler go over the process of how Pinstriped Prospects is debuting their new top 50 prospect list that will come out over the next few weeks. Pimpsner goes over the formula of how the rankings were made, any possible surprises, and how the Yankees depth in their system is still strong even after the deadline deals.

Thank you Rob for everything you have done for this website and hopefully we can provide the same great content that this site is known for as you go succeed as whatever you decide to do next.

On this week's episode of From The Back Fields to The Bronx, managing editor Ricky Keeler is joined by Tampa Tarpons beat writer John Brophy to talk about the promotions that were made in the New York Yankees farm system after the July 30 trade deadline.

After discussing the Andrew Heaney trade with the Angels for Janson Junk and Elvis Peguero and who it benefits in the organization, the two of them discuss how the Low-A Tampa Tarpons roster looks different with a lot of the 2021 MLB Draft picks playing on the team such as 1st Round pick Trey Sweeney and 4th Round pick Cooper Bowman. Who is John most excited to cover and we look at a decision to promote Sweeney over Alexander Vargas (currently on FCL).

With the Tarpons getting the draft picks, player such as Austin Wells, Everson Pereira, and Andres Chaparro, and Matt Sauer are up at High-A Hudson Valley. With Josh Breaux now at Double-A Somerset, the two of them discuss the potential split playing time at High-A behind the plate with Wells and Anthony Seigler among other topics.

After discussing the rehab assignments of Clarke Schmidt and Luis Severino, the duo talks about Luis Gil's major league debut and John gives an update as to how he thinks Jasson Dominguez is doing in Tampa.

On this week's episode of From The Back Fields to The Bronx, managing editors Ricky Keeler and Matt Kardos discuss the Yankees big moves as the trade deadline happens today at 4 PM ET. In the last week, New York has added OF Joey Gallo and 1B Anthony Rizzo from the Rangers and Cubs respectively.

Keeler and Kardos discuss whether or not the Yankees should have been a buyer with the inconsistencies the team has had all season and how surprising the Rizzo deal was. How can Gallo and Rizzo make this offense better as the team pushes for a postseason bid?

Next, they dive into the prospects the Yankees gave up for Gallo (Ezequiel Duran, Trevor Hauver, Josh Smith, Glenn Otto). Did the Yankees give up too much as they cleared their middle infield logjam? Plus, Matt talks about his experience covering Otto, who is expected to make his big league debut for Texas at some point this season. They discuss Kevin Alcantara and Alexander Vizcaino going to the Cubs as well.

The duo dives into the job Cashman was able to do in acquiring players without giving up the top 5 prospects in the system and to still stay under the CBT since they had prospect depth. What other moves do the Yankees have in store today? Finally, they react to Max Scherzer and Trea Turner going to the Dodgers and much more.

On this week's episode of From The Back Fields To The Bronx, managing editor Ricky Keeler is joined by Hudson Valley Renegades beat writer/head scout Steve Alhona to recap how the New York Yankees did in the 2021 MLB Draft. First off, we at Pinstriped Prospects want to thank all of you for reading our draft coverage. We pride ourselves at doing great work with the draft, so thank you.

The duo began the show discussing first round pick Trey Sweeney. Was it the right pick for the Yankees considering who was still on the board, can he stick at shortstop long-term, and what does that mean for the logjam of shortstops in the organization?

After that, they got into Round 2 pick, Stanford right-hander Brendan Beck. How close is he to reaching the big leagues and what stands out about the Pac-12 ace in terms of not having a dominant pitch, but four good pitches. In Round 3, the Yankees took a prep pitcher in right-hander Brock Salvidge and Ricky and Steve give their thoughts on the upside he has.

The two of them then dive into their favorite Day 2 and Day 3 picks and later go into which teams besides the Yankees had good drafts in their opinion. Plus, the Angels took 20 pitchers with their pick. Is it a good or bad strategy to take all pitchers even with an organizational need at the position?

Ricky and Steve wrap up the show by briefly going over the latest promotions (recorded before Trey Amburgey was called up to The Bronx). This includes Jasson Dominguez going to Low-A Tampa, Anthony Volpe, Jake Sanford, and Pat DeMarco going to High-A Hudson Valley, Brandon Lockridge to Double-A Somerset, and Glenn Otto to Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre.

On this special episode of the From The Back Fields to The Bronx podcast, we get you set for the 2021 MLB Draft that begins tonight in Denver, Colorado. The Yankees will have the 20th pick and they do not pick that high in the draft usually, so it should make for an entertaining night.

Managing editor Ricky Keeler and Hudson Valley Renegades beat writer/head scout Steve Alhona are your co-hosts for this show. They begin the episode by talking about the excitement over the 20th pick, the uncertainty of who they might take, and what are the organizational needs/positions they should address heading into this three-day process.

After going over some of the prep school options, you will hear an encore presentation of our interview with Nathan Rode, the director of multimedia and scouting for Prep Baseball Report. Nathan gives his thoughts on the prep class, some options for the Yankees such as right-handers Andrew Painter and Chase Petty, left-hander Anthony Solometo, and outfielder Benny Montgomery among others.

Then, the conversation shifts to the college class. Ricky and Steve debate whether the progress Clarke Schmidt has made should cause the Yankees to decide whether or not to pick Mississippi right-hander Gunnar Hoglund if he is on the board in Round 1. They go over names such as right-handers Gavin Williams and Will Bednar and Eastern Illinois infielder Trey Sweeney.

The second interview will you hear is Ricky's conversation with Joe Doyle, the head of MLB Draft content for Prospects Live. Joe dives into what the Yankees might do in Round 1, some options in Round 2 as well, and we look at how the Yankees organization is viewed externally.

Finally, Ricky and Steve give their Round 1 predictions, what defines a successful draft, and their non-Yankees storylines to watch.

Be sure to keep it right here at Pinstriped Prospects for all of your Yankees MLB Draft coverage!