The Yankees sent their XST group to Clearwater today for a 1 PM contest against the Phillies. The game was played on Ashburn Field within Carpenter Complex.
Summary :
The Yankees scored three runs in the fifth inning on three doubles and a single and added another in the seventh on a home run. They took a 4-0 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning and had allowed just one hit to that point.
Gavin Tonkel led off the ninth with a hard line drive single to left field, he advanced to second base on a walk. Uziel Viloria then smacked a three run home run over the right field fence ! With two outs in the frame Erick Brito drew a walk, he scored when Yemal Flores lined a double down the left field line that rolled all the way to the fence. The Yankees then rolled the inning - game ended in a 4-4 tie.
Hitting - 4 hits
Uziel Viloria ( 20 years old ) hit the ball hard in all of his plate appearances - he singled and homered but also lined out to right field on a tracer. Good day for the young infielder. Yemal Flores doubled and Gavin Tonkel singled.
Uziel Viloria file photo - taken by Mark Wylie
Pitching
RH Ofreidy Gomez started and struck out all three hitters he faced. The 26 year old was signed as a minor league free agent on April 12th. He’s pitched in the Royals and White Sox organizations - last season he appeared in 31 games at both the AA and AAA levels in the Chicago system primarily in relief. He was a starter for the most part in the Royals system. Gomez overpowered the young Yankees he faced - scouting reports have his fastball in the 93-97 range - I believe we saw every bit of that today. Very muscular built young man - hardly cracked a sweat 😅.
RH Eiberson Castellano - faced eleven hitters over three scoreless innings - allowed one hit ( double ) and hit a batter - struck out four and walked none. In his first inning the Yankees put runners on second and third with no outs but he pitched out of it - retired the next nine batters in order. The 20 year old from Maracaibo, Venezuela continues to impress, plenty of pop on his fastball with sinker like movement and a sharp breaking secondary ( slider ) that was a put away pitch this afternoon. He’s got strong mechanics and a powerful build akin to Francisco Morales - definitely one to watch for as he advances.
RH Manuel Urias - yielded all four Yankees runs over three innings - five hits, a walk and three strikeouts. The 21 year old from Mexico has displayed outstanding command in times past but today was catching too much of the middle of the plate and was generally up with his pitches. The Yankees hit three doubles and a home run against him. He did show a curve ball with big break, can’t afford to sit middle in - today was one to be chalked up to experience and learning.
LH Christopher Soriano & RH Alex McKenney each threw a scoreless inning to close out the game - apologies though as my IPad battery died and I wasn’t able to take notes on their performances - Soriano sat down the Yankees in order as I remember.
Eiberson Castellano - file photo taken by Casey Burns
Defensive Notes :
Chris Burke continues working on converting to the outfield from catcher - he made a very strong throw to the plate from left field today that almost nabbed a runner on a very close call. Chris is moving much better route wise out there as compared to when we first saw him in regular spring training.
Scott Kingery opened the game today at second base and played a couple innings there - he batted three times in the scrimmage as well before exiting. It’s the first time since Spring Training we’ve seen him play the field.
Other Notes :
IF Luis Garcia is now here on injury rehab assignment to work with the training staff. Other 40 man roster players here on injury rehab work include Sam Coonrad, Kent Emmanuel, Jo Jo Romero, Ryan Sherriff and Rafael Marchan.
Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️
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