MOOSIC, Pa. — Speed has been Duke Ellis’ clearest path back toward the majors, and Thursday night offered another reminder of why the Yankees have kept the 28-year-old outfielder in their system.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre lost 10-5 to the Rochester Red Wings at PNC Field after Rochester scored six runs in the sixth inning. Before that collapse, Ellis helped the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate create pressure with the part of his game opponents have struggled to neutralize: his ability to turn any trip on base into immediate scoring position.
Ellis doubled during a three-run fourth inning that put Scranton/Wilkes-Barre ahead 5-2. Max Schuemann supplied the biggest swing with a three-run homer. Rochester answered two innings later, with Maxwell Romero Jr. homering to open the sixth before Trey Lipscomb and Riley Adams delivered run-scoring hits.
The final score mattered in the International League standings, but Ellis’ night carried a separate significance for the Yankees. New York has already trusted his speed in a postseason setting, and the club is again in an AL East race where marginal roster advantages matter. The Yankees entered Friday 64-51, 4 1/2 games behind Tampa Bay and a half-game ahead of Boston.
Ellis is not on the Yankees’ current 40-man roster, according to the club’s official roster listing, so a major league return would require a corresponding move. He must keep giving the Yankees a reason to create space for a specialized skill.
That specialty has followed Ellis throughout his career. A walk, an error or a single can become a runner at third within a few pitches. It is the kind of late-inning tool that becomes more visible when roster margins tighten in September and October. The Yankees have also seen how one burst of speed can alter a close game without changing the lineup’s broader construction or asking Ellis to hit for power.
On Thursday, that skill produced a mark no Scranton/Wilkes-Barre player had reached before.
Ellis turns speed into franchise history
In the seventh inning, Ellis reached on an error and stole second base for his 41st steal of the season. It was also his 83rd career steal with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, moving him past Nick Punto’s previous franchise record of 82.
Ellis immediately stole third for No. 42 this season and No. 84 in his RailRiders career.
The milestone belongs to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre franchise, the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate, rather than the major league Yankees. It also put Ellis within reach of another team mark. Tommy Barrett set the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre single-season record with 44 steals in 1989. Ellis needs two more to tie it and three to pass it.
That chase is the clearest measure of Ellis’ 2026 impact. His running game has remained his defining weapon, and Thursday pushed his season total to 42 while giving the Yankees another reminder of a skill that can translate to a narrow MLB role.
Who is Duke Ellis?
Robert Duke Ellis is a left-handed hitting and throwing outfielder who played at Texas after beginning his college career at Panola College. The San Diego Padres selected him in the 20th round of the 2017 draft, but he did not sign. He joined the Chicago White Sox as a nondrafted free agent in 2020.
Ellis made his MLB debut for the White Sox on June 4, 2024. The Yankees claimed him off waivers from the Seattle Mariners on Aug. 26, 2024.
He appeared in three September games for the Yankees and collected his first hit with New York. His speed then earned him a place on the Yankees’ 2024 AL Division Series roster against Kansas City as a pinch-running option.
Across his brief major league career, Ellis has one hit in five at-bats and five stolen bases. His father, Robert Ellis, also pitched in the majors and spent time with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons, giving Duke Ellis a family tie to the Triple-A market where he now owns the career steals record.
Spring training gave Yankees another look
Ellis returned to Yankees camp in 2026 as a non-roster invitee. The Yankees formally invited him on Feb. 5 and reassigned him to minor league camp on March 15.
MLB’s official spring-training statistics show Ellis appeared in 16 Grapefruit League games. He went 4-for-27, a .148 average, with one triple, one home run, two RBIs, four walks and three stolen bases.
His most memorable spring contribution came with his glove. On March 8 against the Mets, Ellis raced back and made a leaping catch at the wall to take a home run away from Jorge Polanco.
The spring line did not force Ellis onto the Opening Day roster, but it reinforced the profile the Yankees already knew. He can cover ground in the outfield, create pressure on the bases and change a late inning without an extra-base hit.
For a Yankees club in a tight postseason race, those traits can retain value even though Ellis is not a traditional young top prospect.
One record down, another within reach
The Yankees’ immediate roster does not give Ellis a direct path to Yankee Stadium, and his absence from the 40-man roster adds another hurdle. At 28, his case is different from younger prospects being evaluated as future everyday players. His value is specific and immediate.
Ellis has passed Punto for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre career mark and is closing on Barrett’s 37-year-old single-season standard while trying to remain relevant to the Yankees’ late-season roster calculations.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre fell to 60-48 overall and 23-11 in the second half with Thursday’s loss. The series against Rochester continues Friday night at PNC Field.
For Ellis, two more steals would tie another franchise mark. Three would give the Yankees minor leaguer a second one in the same season.
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