Shelley Duncan likes the team he has been given this season. A lot.<\/p>\n
He realizes it could totally change in a few weeks, given the nature of minor-league baseball. But for now, the manager of the Triple-A Scranton\/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders is excited about the group he currently has. It has some experience, plenty of talent<\/a>, and certainly built some good chemistry in spring training.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cOur goal here is to make every single one of those players a better baseball player and get them to the big leagues,\u201d said Duncan, who is in his fourth season as RailRiders skipper and was the 2025 International League Manager of the Year. \u201cWe love the way the roster is right now, but everyone knows it could be completely different in two weeks. You just have to appreciate the moment, appreciate what we\u2019ve got right now. There\u2019s some very fun baseball players to watch in that locker room. It should be exciting for the fans, exciting for us and something to really look forward to.\u201d<\/p>\n The season got off to a good start in Buffalo over the weekend with the RailRiders taking two of three from the Bisons in the opening series. They were scheduled to begin a six-game series Tuesday in Rochester against the Red Wings, but the first game was rained out. The series is set to begin Wednesday.<\/p>\n Topping the roster are outfielders Jasson Dom\u00ednguez, Spencer Jones and infielder Oswaldo Cabrera.<\/p>\n Dom\u00ednguez, a.k.a. \u201cThe Martian,\u201d spent all of last season with the Yankees. Due to the crowded outfield situation in the Bronx, Dom\u00ednguez is back in Triple-A with a chance to play every day and continue to work on aspects of his game that will get him back to the majors for good.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Jones is rated the Yankees\u2019 No. 6 prospect by MLB Pipeline. The 6-foot-7 slugger totaled 35 home runs and 80 RBIs at two stops in the minors last season, including 19 homers and 48 RBIs in 67 games with the RailRiders. He hit his first home run this season in the second game of a doubleheader Sunday at Buffalo.<\/p>\n \u201cI expect to see Spencer work hard. Go up there locked in every at-bat. Give everything he can every single day,\u201d Duncan said. \u201cHe\u2019s made a couple swing changes that are really promising. His energy, his attitude is always top-notch. That\u2019s what I expect to see. The results will take care of themselves. You never know what kind of pitcher you\u2019re going to face, what the weather is going to be like, any of that stuff. Just go out there and play the game.\u201d<\/p>\n Cabrera will continue to work his way back from a fractured left ankle suffered during a slide into home plate in a game in Seattle last May.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Despite the fact that Dom\u00ednguez and Cabrera spent time last season in the major leagues, Duncan doesn\u2019t expect them to show any disappointment at being in the minors.<\/p>\n \u201cThe time I\u2019ve spent with those guys, I expect them to play with energy; to not let that woe-is-me enter their minds,\u201d Duncan said. \u201cThey\u2019re not going to go out there and give three-quarters of an effort. They\u2019re going to give everything they have. That\u2019s who they are. You know their character, that\u2019s how they go about their business. There is letdown in people. A lot of times you don\u2019t have that same adrenaline that you\u2019re used to getting on a nightly basis in the big leagues. If it\u2019s not there for them in the beginning, these guys will figure it out. But I don\u2019t expect any letdown from them when it comes to work, effort, attitude, preparation. They\u2019re going to be good.\u201d<\/p>\n Also back from last season are infielder Braden Shewmake and speedy outfielder Duke Ellis.<\/p>\n Newcomers include infielders Max Schuemann, who played 101 games with the Athletics last season; Paul DeJong, a nine-year MLB veteran who spent last season with the Washington Nationals; Jonathan Ornelas, who split time with the Round Rock Express and Gwinnett Stripers last season and also appeared in six major league games with the Texas Rangers (4) and Atlanta Braves (2); Ernesto Martinez Jr., who played last season with the Nashville Sounds\u2019 and outfielder Yanqiuel Fernandez, who played 52 games last season with the Colorado Rockies.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Behind the plate, the RailRiders have a pair of veteran catchers in Ali Sanchez, who has 50 games of major league experience with five teams over four seasons; and Peyton Henry, who played last season with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs and had five home runs and 15 RBIs against the RailRiders. Edinson Duran is also back as the third catcher.<\/p>\n \u201cOur defense is amazing,\u201d Duncan said. \u201cAll the infielders are shortstops except for the first baseman, so we\u2019re going to move those guys around. As a manager, you\u2019re getting to play a shortstop at second, short and third every single day, that\u2019s lucky. Our outfield is extremely fast. Right now, it\u2019s lined up that we can win games in multiple ways. That\u2019s what you love to see. Very solid right now. You just hope it lasts.\u201d<\/p>\n On the mound, three top prospects are in the starting rotation.<\/p>\n No. 22 Brendan Beck returns after going a combined 13-5 last season with Double-A Somerset and the RailRiders with a 3.36 earned-run average and 123 strikeouts. The right-hander started opening day in Buffalo and allowed no runs or walks and one hit with nine strikeouts in five innings to get the victory.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Right-hander Carlos Lagrange is ranked No. 2 and earned the James P. Dawson Award as the most outstanding Yankees rookie in spring training.\u00a0Lagrange made his Triple-A debut Sunday in the doubleheader opener in Buffalo and allowed one run and four hits in four innings with no walks and three strikeouts. He threw the fastest pitch in the minor leagues during the opening weekend at 101.3 mph in the first inning to Yohendrick Pinango.<\/p>\n Fellow right-hander, Elmer Rodriguez, the No. 3 prospect, is coming off a season that saw him win 11 games and strike out 176 batters at three levels. He is scheduled to make his season debut during the Rochester series.<\/p>\n Another starter is righty Dom Hamel, who spent last season with the Syracuse Mets. And notably, 2024 AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil is expected to begin the season with the RailRiders until the Yankees need a fifth starter.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The bullpen, which does not have a left-hander, had a strong opening series with one win, one save and a 0.73 ERA. in three games. Among the relievers is Harrison Cohen, the Yankees No. 28 prospect; Kervin Castro; Yerry De Los Santos; Zach Messinger; and Angel Chivilli, who was acquired in a trade with the Colorado Rockies for T.J. Rumfield.<\/p>\n Last season<\/a>, the RailRiders had an overall record of 87-60. They won the second-half title in the International League, but lost in the final<\/a> in three games to the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, top affiliate of the Miami Marlins.<\/p>\n Despite having a talented roster, Duncan said getting back to the postseason will be a 150-game grind.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a really, really good team on paper to start,\u201d Duncan said. \u201cBut when I look around the league, this is probably, in all my years of Triple-A baseball, the strongest with teams across the board. It\u2019s going to be a challenge. It\u2019s not going to be easy for anyone. You\u2019re going to face good pitching. Pitchers are going to face good hitters. It\u2019s going to be really exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shelley Duncan likes the team he has been given this season. A lot. He realizes it could totally…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":154669,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[65926,68438,1422,68102,69239,29828,39201,68106,68105,51789,68104,65924,55950,56349,57206,51840,51795,57210,68101,178,180,179,5001,68100,57205,33461,68107,29829,42344,65923],"class_list":{"0":"post-154668","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-scranton","8":"tag-ali-sanchez","9":"tag-angel-chivilli","10":"tag-atlanta-braves","11":"tag-braden-shewmake","12":"tag-carlos-lagrange","13":"tag-chicago-cubs","14":"tag-colorado-rockies","15":"tag-dom-hamel","16":"tag-duke-ellis","17":"tag-jasson-dominguez","18":"tag-jonathan-ornelas","19":"tag-kervin-castro","20":"tag-last-season","21":"tag-luis-gil","22":"tag-max-schuemann","23":"tag-miami-marlins","24":"tag-oswaldo-cabrera","25":"tag-paul-dejong","26":"tag-railriders","27":"tag-scranton","28":"tag-scranton-headlines","29":"tag-scranton-news","30":"tag-seattle","31":"tag-shelley-duncan","32":"tag-spencer-jones","33":"tag-texas-rangers","34":"tag-the-athletics","35":"tag-washington-nationals","36":"tag-yankees","37":"tag-yerry-de-los-santos"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154668\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}