BRIDGEWATER — There won’t be quite as much fanfare with top prospects, but there will be plenty of familiar faces and more talent on the horizon when the Somerset Patriots begin the Double-A season Friday night in Hartford. In terms of MLB Pipeline’s rankings of Yankees farmhands, No. 3 prospe ct Spencer Jones, No. 12 prospect Cam Schlittler and No. 17 prospect Rafael Flores are the top players to watch. The Yankees hope that Jones, their 23-year-old outfielder who has already suited up for 139 games in Double-A including all of last year, will be ready for Triple-A in the near future. “My goal is just to try to send him to Scranton as soon as possible,” manager Raul Dominguez said. Jones, a two-time selection to the All-Star Futures Game, insists he isn’t feeling pressure to make that happen sooner rather than later. “The timetable is different for everybody, right?” Jones said. “I know that when I get my stuff down and I’m clicking in the right spots, I’m a good player regardless of where I am. So it’s just gonna be about getting to that point because, I guess the joke is, I’d rather be to the league two months late than two months early, right? I don’t want to get exposed. I want to be in a really good spot, I want to know myself, and I want to be a great player.” Jones was blunt about the fact that consistency was a problem last season, when his on-base-plus-slugging percentages oscillated each month to .922, .502, .901, .689, .903 and .932. He finished with 17 home runs, 30 doubles and six triples with an overall slash line of .259/.336/.452 and 25 stolen bases in 34 attempts. What are his personal goals this season? “As every year, stay healthy, play as many games as possible,” Jones said. “And then from there, I just want to be more consistent. I don’t want to have months where I absolutely suck, you know what I mean? For me, obviously tough times are gonna come, but it’s just like smooth sailing with the head and try and be a good leader for a lot of the guys here.” Schlittler will start on the mound in the opener at Dunkin’ Park, followed by Edgar Barclay on Saturday and Trent Sellers on Sunday. While unsure exactly how many pitches he will throw, the Yankees’ reigning Minor League Pitcher of the Year is ready to rock after building up his arm during his first experience in big-league spring training in Tampa last month. “I’m in a good spot, so whatever happen, happens, and hopefully I can get deep into the game,” Schlittler said. “It’s exciting. I’m ready for the season to start. Obviously I’ve gotten a few starts already this spring, so I’m not kind of going in blind. I’m comfortable and I’m ready and definitely very confident in me and the team.” Schlittler, a 24-year-old right-hander, throws a four-seam fastball, a splitter, a curveball and mixes in a gyro slider. The splitter replaced a slower changeup that he threw last year, and he said it’s still in the “testing phase.” The 6-foot-6, 210-pounder has also packed on 10 pounds of muscle, which he believes can only help his durability, stamina and velocity, which topped out around 98 mph last season when he led all Yankees farmhands in strikeouts (30 percent rate, 154 in 120 2/3 innings). Schlittler made 17 of his 23 starts in High-A last season. In his brief time in Double-A late last summer, he posted a 4.45 ERA with 43 strikeouts and 13 walks in 32.1 innings (five starts, seven appearances). Now, he is focused on sharpening his game-planning and mentality on the mound. “I didn’t touch (my) mechanics really,” Schlittler said of his offseason focus. “I kind of made that adjustment coming into last year, last offseason, and even throughout the season last year I made some adjustments, and I think I’m in a good spot with that.” Flores, meanwhile, was the Yankees’ Minor League Position Player of the Year after a breakout campaign in which he slashed .279/.379/.495 with 21 home runs and 31 doubles while playing 66 of his 124 games in Somerset. “My hitting side of my game … there’s no drastic change anymore, I’m just kind of fine-tuning some things, like as far as my approach, my swing decisions,” said Flores, who signed as an undrafted free agent from Rio Hondo Community College in 2022. “This offseason I just kind of tried feeling the same things, feeling the same leg kick, feeling the same bat path, and it kind of just clicked. It’s been good so far. I love it.” Flores will continue splitting time at catcher and first base. Runners stole bases at an 84 percent success rate against Flores in 67 starts last season, so the 6-foot-4, 220-pounder has worked on slowing down his transfer. “The older I’ve gotten, the stronger my arm has gotten, and I’m starting to understand and learn how to use it more,” Flores said. “I think just getting the bobble rate down a lot, and just slowing down and using my arm a little more to kind of get that backspin and just hose guys out.” Another player to watch who had an impressive spring training, according to Dominguez, is outfielder Garrett Martin — a 24-year-old who is set to make his Double-A debut. Dominguez is also excited to welcome back catcher Jesus Rodriguez, who missed two months last year with an injury. Dominguez, who has been a coach in the Yankees’ system since 2008, is now in his third year as Somerset’s manager. He has a completely new on-field staff with hitting coach Mike Fransoso, pitching coach Pete Larson and defensive coaches Uziel Viloria and Derek Woodley. “This is what baseball is about: Every year you get experience, every game you learn something,” Dominguez said. “This is my third year and I feel like I’m more prepared. Even having a new coaching staff, new players, I feel like I was prepared. I’ve prepared myself better in spring training, and even before I got to spring training when I was home, I tried to put some stuff together in the computer just to be creative and be prepared just to keep helping those guys.” In total, the Patriots’ roster features 21 pitchers (although No. 9 prospect Chase Hampton is out for the season following Tommy John surgery), five outfielders, three catchers and four other infielders. Fifteen of the players have suited up with Somerset previously. After the opening series in Hartford, Somerset will run its first homestand next Tuesday through Sunday at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater. ...read more read less