Railriders Pitchers in Review

Yesterday, I reviewed the position players and today, I will discuss the pitching of the Railriders. With several prospects in the system, it looks like the Railriders will have some interesting pitching prospects for years to come (barring they don't trade any of them). Well now, let's delve the pitching of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders.

Starting Pitching: Currently, there are four starters for the Railriders that were announced in Brady Lail, Dietrich Enns, Luis Cessa and Johnny Barbato. Jordan Montgomery and Chad Green are currently fighting for the No 5 spot in New York but are currently in Tampa as the Yankees don't need a 5th starter til April 16th. I would assume whoever does not get the 5th spot in the Yankees rotation will be in the Railriders rotation. Let's look at the starting staff for the Railriders. Johnny Barbato is slated to be the Opening Day starter on Saturday as both Thursday and Friday's game were both postponed in Buffalo. Barbato only had one start last season as he was in the bullpen almost all of last season. However, he was 3-2 with a 2.61 ERA in 48.1 Innings pitched with 49 strikeouts. Barbato also had time with the Yankees last season as a reliever. He was 1-2 with 15 strikeouts in 13 innings. Time will tell if he'll be able to convert from being a reliever to a starter. Next up is Luis Cessa, who is slated to start the Railriders Home opener. He went 6-3 in 14 starts last season with a 3.03 ERA and 69 strikeouts in 77.1 innings pitched. He also got an opportunity to pitch in New York last season. He started 9 games, going 4-4 with a 4.35 ERA, recorded 46 strikeouts in 70.1 innings. Look for Cessa to be in New York very soon, if not, he'll be atop the Railriders rotation for most of the season. Dietrich Enns is the next pitcher in the rotation. He split time between Double-A Trenton and the Railriders last season. Enns made 10 starts for the Railriders, going 7-2 with a 1.52 ERA, recording 50 strikeouts in 65 innings. Enns had a great 2016 and looks to get to New York this season with another great season in Triple-A. Lail is the next pitcher on the Railriders staff. He started 17 games with the Railriders, going 7-6 with a 5.07 ERA. Lail recorded 58 strikeouts in 92 and 1/3 innings pitched. The final pitcher or pitchers on the staff will be either Jordan Montgomery or Chad Green. One of them will be in New York and the other will probably be on the Railriders. Chad Green is the more experienced one of the two has he was in New York last season and got 8 starts. Green went 2-4 in New York with a 4.73 ERA. He struck out 52 in 45 and 2/3 innings in New York. For the Railriders, he went 7-6 in 16 starts with a 1.52 ERA. He recorded 100 strikeouts in 94 and 2/3 innings at SWB. The other competing for the 5th spot is Jordan Montgomery. He spent most of last season at Double-A Trenton but made 6 starts with the Railriders. Montgomery went 5-1 with a 0.91 ERA, striking out 37 in 37 innings. At Double-A Trenton, he started 19 games. He went 9-4 with a 2.55 ERA, striking out 97 in 102 and 1/3 innings. Despite the question mark on the 5th spot on the pitching staff, the Railriders have a lot of experience in the staff, with several pitchers having chances at the major league and even if there are a few call ups to New York, they have several talented prospects ready to come up to Triple-A. The starting pitching could be their strong suit this season.

Bullpen: The closer will be Ernesto Frieri, a reliever that has been around the major leagues for quite a while. He appeared in 22 games for the Rays last season, getting 2 saves and striking out 19. Several other relievers are Tyler Webb, Joe Mantiply, Tyler Jones, Ben Heller, J.R. Graham, Giovanny Gallegos, and Jason Gurka. Giovanny Gallegos last season split between Double-A Trenton and the Railriders. He appeared in 25 games for the Railriders, recording 2 saves and recording 53 strikeouts. J.R. Graham had a really whirlwind 2016, he traded from the Minnesota Twins to the Yankees organization on May 14th. He spent most of last season with Double-A Trenton, appearing in 17 games. Graham recorded 5 saves, struck out 33 in 29 and 2/3 innings of work. Jason Gurka is a newcomer to the Railriders. He spent last season with the Rockies Triple-A team. Gurka appeared in 18 games, recording 4 saves, striking out 31 in 21 and 1/3 innings. Ben Heller came in as part of the Andrew Miller trade. He appeared in 6 games with the Railriders, but appeared in 28 games with Columbus. Heller had 5 saves in Columbus, striking out 25 in 25 and 1/3 innings. He also got brought up to the Yankees last season, appearing in 10 games. He struck out 6 in 7 innings pitched. Tyler Jones spent all of last season with Double-A Trenton. He appeared in 33 games and recorded 11 saves, striking out 67 in 45 and 2/3 innings pitched. Joe Mantiply is a newcomer to the Railriders, spending most of last season in the Detroit Tigers' Double-A affiliate Erie. Mantiply appeared in 49 games for Erie, striking out 62 in 51 innings last season. Tyler Webb spent all of last season with the Railriders. Webb appeared in 36 games, starting in 5 games. He was 4-3 with a 3.59 ERA, striking out 82 in 72 and 2/3 innings pitched last season. The bullpen could be an interesting part of the Railriders season. With several relievers having a little bit of major league experience.

That is going to do it for the Railriders pitchers in review. As tomorrow and Friday are officially called rainouts in Buffalo, I plan on putting up for more content on local players tomorrow and where the Top 30 Yankees prospects are right now.

MLB Scoreboard


Twins 9 Royals 1


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