Friday, April 20, 2007
The Good, The Bad, and The Expected
Injuries:
Marcos Vechionacci did injure himself during Tampa’s math game (hat tip to Mike). It appears to have occurred on a defensive play and should not keep him out too long. More seriously, Humberto Sanchez underwent TJ surgery on Wednesday (hat tip to Pete Abraham). I guess coming to the Yankees has done nothing to quell Humberto’s issues with staying healthy. I can’t say I’m surprised at this and it’s partially why I wasn’t sure about ranking a guy like him over someone like Clippard who’s taken the ball every time out in his minor league career (knocks on wood). As others have said, it’s a testament to the current state of the Yankee farm system that four pitchers of interest can go down to TJ and it hardly forces you to bat an eyelash. Finally, Chien-Ming Wang toed the rubber for the Tampa Yankees, got through his 5 innings of work, and will be activated in time to start next week.
AAA:
Ross Ohlendorf gave up his first home run of the season, but got his control in check and had his best start of the season. The Yankees seem to be doing their best to ease their pitchers into heavier workloads as Ohlie left following 87 pitches, 56 of which were for strikes. Ohlendorf was still getting the job done, still keeping the ball low, and for the most part still throwing strikes. However, another factor to consider might be the need to get some of the bullpen arms some work.
Alberto Gonzalez was 2 for 7 with a big triple, a strikeout, and a stolen base. Had Scranton not ended up losing the game, Alberto would have likely been recognized as the hero due to his big hit. Gonzalez has done a very solid job in the early going with his .289/.313/.400, which is respectable for a terrific defender playing in a tough league and park for offense.
Eric Duncan finally showed some single-hitting ability, which is the big question with him, but also flashed his strikeout ability as well. Duncan was 2 for 5 with a walk and 3 strikeouts, but in his defense, he did seem to have some issues with the home plate ump’s interpretation of the strike zone.
AA:
Jeff Marquez was pinned with a loss for Trenton, but really did not pitch poorly. He lost his control for a bit in the fourth and that combined with some bad luck on groundballs led to 4 unearned runs crossing for Binghamton. Marquez has typically been a slow starter in his minor league career, so it’s nice to see him doing solid to begin the year.
On offense, Brett Gardner and Cody Ehlers continued to struggle with the ol’ batting average as they were a combined 1 for 8 with 2 strikeouts. The lone hit was a single by Ehlers.
A+:
Jose Tabata did not strike out! He didn’t have a great game either, but most importantly for me, he did not strike out. The 18-year-old phenom was 1 for 4 with a single and a steal. Jose seems focused on showing off his baserunning ability and treating the FSL like he did the GCL. Or it could just be that he’s starting this year in better shape than he did his SAL season.
Juan Miranda was 0 for 3 with a walk and 2 strikeouts. He’s shown flashes in the early going, but seems to be struggling with the strike zone. Despite the big contract, I don’t expect too much from Miranda and am willing to be patient with him.
Reegie Corona, last year’s SAL surprise sensation, had the best game of anyone in the Tampa lineup. Corona was 4 for 5 with 2 doubles while striking out once. His average is now up to .263, but he’s going to have to hit even higher than that to be valuable as he does not walk much or hit for power.
A-:
Rained out
Spotlight On:
I want to say Tyler Clippard is starting tonight, check The DL Watch, but it seems that the Yankees decided to just skip his rotation turn. This might be because he warmed up, but just didn’t get to pitch during the rained out back end of the doubleheader and the Yankees want to keep him as close to regular as possible. Either that or the Yankees are just attempting to keep everyone else as close to regular as possible. So, tonight either Clippard or DeSalvo will be starting for Scranton. Either way, that game gets the spotlight.
Comments
Sanchez has had elbow troubles off and on for years. it is very likely that this is the only reason Detroit was willing to include such a talent in the deal.
that said, having TJ surgery could be the best thing that ever happened to him.
if this permanently fixes his elbow injuries and he comes back throwing just as hard, he could still become a stud for the 2009 yankees.
we’ll see who will have more value in 2009, Humberto Sanchez or 40 year old Gary Sheffield making $13M.
If Sanchez is throwing low 90’s instead of high he could still be valuable. Maybe not a #1, but perhaps as a #3. And it’s not exactly like the offense needs Sheffield right now, is it?
Cox’s ligament surgery was athroscopic, not TJ, so it’s just three, right?
Sanchez
Melancon
Garcia
We still have Whelan at least
Rich, yeah, technically, Cox surgery wasn’t TJ.
Fabian, did I not write on your excellent blog a few years ago that you can never have enough pitching prospects? Yes, I did.
As I wrote then, for every ten prospects just one will likely become a top flight ML pitcher. Another will be a solid ML’er and a third will be of some help, the rest falling by the wayside.
See what I mean….
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