Saturday, August 02

The end of the Yankees’ road trip on Wednesday marked their 25th game, which -- believe it or not -- means the regular season is already 15 percent complete.

The organization’s Minor League campaigns are also in full swing as we approach the end of the first month, which makes this an appropriate time to check in down on the farm and highlight players who have come out of the gates hot at each level.

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

Infielder/outfielder Jorbit Vivas, who was recalled by the Yankees this week when outfielder Trent Grisham was placed on the paternity list, earned an opportunity to make his Major League debut by swinging the bat well for the RailRiders.

In 20 games, Vivas was 25-for-73 (.342) with five doubles, two home runs, 14 RBIs and four stolen bases. He is the Yankees’ No. 20 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline.

Vivas was tied for fourth in the International League in hits entering play Thursday. He’d also struck out just four times, with 10 walks, good for a .432 on-base percentage.

Double-A Somerset Patriots

Right-hander Brendan Beck has been stellar, holding opponents scoreless through his first three starts, spanning 15 innings. Beck has permitted just five hits and two walks, striking out 13 over that stretch. He leads the Eastern League in WHIP (0.47) and in opponents' batting average (.098).

Beck’s performance, including six hitless innings against the Altoona Curve on April 15, prompted his selection as the Eastern League’s Pitcher of the Week for April 14-20. Beck was a second-round pick from Stanford in 2021 and missed all of last season due to right elbow issues.  

High-A Hudson Valley Renegades

After impressing with the big league club during Spring Training, infielder George Lombard Jr. has carried that performance into his second full professional season, entering play Thursday with 14 hits in 49 at-bats (.286).

The 19-year-old Lombard -- the club’s No. 1 prospect and the No. 98 prospect in baseball -- has a double, a triple, a homer and seven RBIs, with nine stolen bases already. Lombard’s .463 on-base percentage ranks first in the South Atlantic League entering play Thursday.

Lombard was the Yankees’ first-round selection in the 2023 MLB Draft out of Gulliver Prep in Miami.

Single-A Tampa Tarpons

Left-hander Griffin Herring is off to a strong start in his first professional season, posting a 2-0 record and a 0.55 ERA with 22 strikeouts through three starts.

Entering play Thursday, Herring is second in the Florida State League in ERA, is tied for sixth in innings (16 1/3), ranks third in strikeouts and second in opponents' average (.172). The 21-year-old has permitted 10 hits and seven walks, striking out 22.

Herring, the club’s No. 26 prospect, was a sixth-round pick from Louisiana State in last year’s MLB Draft.

• Giancarlo Stanton accompanied the team to Cleveland, an appropriate place for the MVP of last year’s American League Championship Series to do something he hadn’t yet this season -- hit on the field.

• It was no accident when the Yankees parked Jasson Domínguez’s spring locker alongside Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger, a couple of previous Rookie of the Year Award winners -- in fact, Judge even told Domínguez, “You’re next.” Here’s a look at the early ROY field. 

• When Judge’s career is all said and done, remember to add one to the home run column. Here’s everything you need to know about the captain’s lost homer in Tampa, including something I’d never considered before -- what’s the minimum height for a Major League foul pole?

Who was the last Yankees pitcher to hit a home run?

A) Sparky Lyle

B) Isiah Kiner-Falefa

C) Lindy McDaniel

D) Nick Swisher

April 23, 1903: The Highlanders recorded the first win in franchise history, a 7-2 road victory over the Washington Senators. Harry Howell was the winning pitcher in the contest, which followed an Opening Day loss.

B) Kiner-Falefa

For decades, the correct answer was McDaniel, who hit a ninth-inning homer off the Tigers’ Mickey Lolich on Sept. 28, 1972, at Tiger Stadium. In 1973, the American League introduced the designated hitter, which has limited pitcher at-bats since.

That changed on June 22, 2023, when Kiner-Falefa moved from third base to the mound for the ninth inning of a blowout loss to the Mariners. Kiner-Falefa tossed a scoreless top of the ninth, then hit a two-run homer off Chris Flexen in the bottom half of the inning. The Yanks lost, 10-2, but Kiner-Falefa earned a slice of history.

Swisher (April 13, 2009) also homered in a game for the Yankees in which he pitched; however, he was playing first base at the time of his homer. 

To subscribe to Yankees Beat, visit this page and mark "Yankees Beat" from our newsletter list. Make sure you're following the Yankees or that they're checked as your favorite team.

View Online

© 2025 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. MLB trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball. Visit MLB.com. Any other marks used herein are trademarks of their respective owners.

Please review our Privacy Policy.

You (mlb-newsletters@mlb.com) received this message because you registered to receive commercial email messages or purchased a ticket from MLB. 

Please add info@marketing.mlbemail.com to your address book to ensure our messages reach your inbox. If you no longer wish to receive commercial email messages from MLB.com, please unsubscribe or log in and manage your email subscriptions.

Postal Address: MLB.com, c/o MLB Advanced Media, L.P., 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.