Well, we are about two days away from the Railriders opener at Buffalo looking to defend their National Championship. On Monday, the Yankees announced their roster and today, I will review the position players on the roster and what you can possibly expect from the position players.
Catcher: With Gary Sanchez permanently in New York, the workload of the catching will be manned by Kyle Higashioka and Eddy Rodriguez. Kyle Higashioka played 39 games with the Railriders last year and played a combined 132 games last year with both Trenton and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He hit .250 last season with the Railriders hitting 10 home runs and driving in 30 runs. With him pretty much solidified in Triple-A, he'll have a chance to prove himself. Eddy Rodriguez is the second catcher on the Railriders roster. He played in 44 games, hitting .214, hitting 3 homers and driving in 13. He was primarily the backup for the Railriders last year and it looks like he will serve as the backup this year.
Infield: The Infield is highlighted by the Yankees' 12th best prospect Tyler Wade, who spent all of 2016 in Double-A Trenton. In Double-A last season, he hit .259 with 5 homers, drove in 27 and stole 27 bases. Another prospect is Cito Culver, who spent some time last season with the Railriders. He hit .263 with SWB and hit .252 with Trenton. A veteran at this point with the Railriders is Rob Refsnyder. He hit .316 in 58 games before getting called up to New York where he hit .250 in 58 games as well. Another player with major league experience is Ji-Man Choi, a newcomer to the Railriders. He played 54 with the Los Angeles Angels and hit 5 homers there. He also spent 53 games at Triple-A Salt Lake City where he hit .346 with 5 homers and drove in 31. A player with the most ML experience is Ruben Tejada, who had a setback season after an injury in the MLB postseason in 2015. He spent most of last season with Triple-A Sacramento, he hit .301 in 40 games last season, driving in 21. The last infielder is a returning player in Donovan Solano. He played in 131 games with the Railriders last season, also played 9 games with the Yankees. He hit 7 home runs and drove in 67 with the Railriders. He hit .227 with New York, hitting a home run and driving in 2 in 9 games. The infield is a mixture of young players and veteran presence, could be interesting when Tyler Austin comes back and either comes in and plays first base or the outfield.
Outfielders: 2 of the 4 outfielders on the Railriders are in the Yankees' Top 30 prospects. Clint Frazer is the 23rd best prospect in MiLB. He was acquired in the Andrew Miller trade and joined the Railriders shortly after. He played 25 games with the Railriders, hitting 3 home runs, driving in 7. He spent April through July in Double-A Akron. He played 89 games with Akron before getting called up to Triple-A Columbus and played 5 games til he was traded on July 31st to the Yankees. With Akron, he hit 13 homers, drove in 48 and stole 13 bases. In 25 games at SWB, he hit .225 with 3 homers and drove in 7. Look for him at have a big impact in the Railriders lineup. The next big outfield prospect on the Railriders is Dustin Fowler. Fowler spent all of last season at Double-A Trenton. He played 132 games, hitting .281 with 12 homers and 88 RBIs, and stole 25 bags. Time will tell how he will adjust to Triple-A pitching. The next outfielder is Mark Payton, a player who spent most of last season with Trenton. Payton played in 97 games with Trenton and played 2 games with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Also played 24 games at Tampa. In Trenton, he hit .272 with 7 homers and 47 RBIs. He also stole 8 bases. He hit .429 in 2 games with the Railriders. The final outfielder is one who played in the major leagues last season is Mason Williams. He had a rough 2016 season as injuries plagued him. However, he was able to play 12 games with the Yankees. He hit .296 in New York. At Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, he also hit .296 and drove in 23 runs. The outfield is very inexperienced to say the least but that doesn't mean they aren't talented. They could be an interesting group to see this season with top prospects Frazier and Fowler.
That'll do it for the review of the Railriders' position players. Tomorrw, I will look at the pitching staff of the Railriders. Til then guys, I will be back with another article tomorrow.
MLB Scoreboard
Tigers 6 White Sox 3
Yankees 5 Rays 0
Astros 2 Mariners 1
Rockies 6 Brewers 5
Cubs 2 Cardinals 1
Indians 4 Rangers 3
Padres 4 Dodgers 0
Giants 8 D'Backs 4
Angels 7 Athletics 6
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