Bridgewater, NJ – The New York Yankees have announced that LHP Ken Waldichuk and INF Derek Dietrich have been promoted to Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre. The Yankees have also announced that RHP Carlos Espinal, RHP Jose Mujica and RHP Carson Coleman have been assigned to their Double-A affiliate, the Somerset Patriots.
Waldichuk, the Yankees’ top pitching prospect and No. 6 player in the organization, started six games for the Patriots this season and posted a 4-0 record along with a 1.26 ERA and 46 strikeouts, all of which lead the team. Notably, the 24-year-old pitched five no-hit innings and struck out a career-high 12 hitters in a winning effort over the New Hampshire Fisher Cats on May 8.
Since joining the team in late-April, Dietrich has excelled at the plate with an average of .290 as well as a team-high seven home runs and 18 RBI. Dietrich saw time with the RailRiders in 2021 with 36 appearances and batted .215 with five home runs and 22 RBI.
He has appeared in 746 MLB games and has a career .245 batting average with 84 home runs and 255 RBI.
Espinal returns to Somerset after making three appearances with Scranton and pitching 6.2 innings while striking out four hitters and allowing four earned runs. The Dominican Republic native began the season with the Patriots and recorded a 2.45 ERA through 11.0 innings pitched with 16 strikeouts.
In 6.2 innings pitched with the RailRiders, Mujica allowed four earned runs and struck out four batters. He also appeared in his first career MLB game in 2020 with the Colorado Rockies and pitched 4.1 innings in the “Big Leagues.”
Coleman signed with the Yankees as an undrafted free agent in 2020 and has since moved up the minor league system, most recently pitching 19.1 innings in nine games with High-A Hudson Valley and maintaining a 0.47 ERA with 26 strikeouts.