Saturday, January 5, 2008
Those That Missed The Cut Pt. 1
The following is a brief rundown on the prospects THAT did not make my Top 25. Questions, comments, and criticism are welcome. I’m going to attempt to have the Top 25 done by the time ST rolls around, but...no guarantees. The following list isn’t in any specific order. Ages listed are “baseball ages” for the 2008 season.
Eric Duncan, 1B, 23 In Duncan’s time in the Yankee minor league system I have ranked him as the 3rd (’04), 1st (’05), 2nd (’06), and 10th (’07) best prospect in the organization. While Duncan’s high initial rankings were due in part to the Yankee system being terrible, I think that knowing what I know now, I would not have ranked him as high. 2007 was the same old story for Eric. He drew a good amount of walks and didn’t strike out too much, but an inability to hit for average killed his overall numbers: .241/.323/.389. I’m at the point where I don’t believe Duncan will ever learn to do that and his power, on base skills, and defense aren’t strong enough to make him worthwhile unless he can his average up a lot. The Yankees seem to have soured on Eric as well, leaving him unprotected for the Rule V draft, where no one picked him up. It can no longer be said that “Duncan is so young, players his age are normally in [insert favorable minor league level here]” and being what he is, a “slugger” who has trouble providing offensive value due to an inability to turn quality ABs into quality outcomes, I could not leave him in my top 25.
Chris Garcia, RHP, 22 If he can somehow get healthy and stay that way, Garcia has the ability to make me look stupid for leaving him off. However, having missed time due to TJ surgery and then a knee injury while rehabbing, which followed a ‘06 where he also struggled with injuries...I’m beginning to think Garcia just won’t stay healthy enough for long enough to show why some talent evaluators felt he had more ability than Phil Hughes.
J.B. Cox, RHP, 24 Cox could also make me look foolish, but in my defense, he was one of the last guys cut. I’m confident that he will be back to some level of “normal” this year, but a guy coming off an injury whose projected future ML role is 7th inning guy didn’t strike me as someone I wanted in the top 25.
Tim Norton, RHP, 25 This one really hurts. Norton had filthy stuff. Great low to mid 90s fastball and developing splitter. While the Yankees were using him as a starter, he seemed destined for the bullpen as a shutdown reliever. Unfortunately, 5 starts into his ‘07 he had to undergo shoulder surgery, which is not something I tend to be forgiving with.
Brett Gardner, OF, 24 I think this is the one I’m going to get the most hate for, but...I just don’t see it. I’ve gone over his stat lines numerous times, I’ve seen him play, and I just don’t get the Brett Gardner love. Last year I said he could be “the player that everyone thinks Scott Podsednik is” in ranking him 16th and now I think he might just be the real Scott Podsednik. He is not Jacoby Ellsbury. Brett MAY be just as fast and while they may provide equivalent baserunning value, that’s about the only area where they are comparable. Instead of making him a standout defender, Brett’s speed helps him to be a good one due to his making his share of poor reads on the ball. In addition, at the plate, while Jacoby is never going to hit for much power, he has far more than Brett and that is going to help Jacoby’s skills translate to the major league level. Brett walks a good amount now, but major league pitchers are going to knock the bat out of his hands rather than walk him. He also strikes out way more than a player of his skill set should, but has made progress in that regard. Overall, Brett Gardner is REALLY fast and may one day use that to turn into a 5th OF or something, but that’s not enough.
Steven Jackson, RHP, 26 Jackson is a sinkerballer who gets his share of groundballs, but makes far too many mistakes, leading to an elevated home run rate. Outside of his sinker, 88-92, Jackson didn’t demonstrate much in the way of secondary pitches. He’s looking like a one pitch guy, which eliminates him from being a starter long term, and his one pitch isn’t dominant enough to make him a great reliever, at this point.
Alberto Gonzalez, SS, 25 I really like Alberto Gonzalez. It was really tough for me cut a guy from the top 25 who I believe is a really good defender with a developing bat. For the Yankees he could be one of the league’s best backup infielders and on another club he may be a league average SS. I believe that whatever the Yankees did to Gonzalez when he was demoted to AA, it worked because he has been a very different player since then, making a huge cut in his K rate while upping his walk rate. This lasted through his AA time, his return to AAA, and is now carrying over in the winter leagues. Of course, if that improvement isn’t real he’s just a good glove who can’t hit and that’s not worth much.
Steven White, RHP, 27 White has a good fastball, in the low 90s, but it’s not a great fastball. He has decent, if inconsistent, secondary pitches. His control isn’t great. I think he could be Luis Vizcaino, a serviceable reliever, but not much else. He has no long term future starting.
Colin Curtis, OF, 23 Curtis looks like Brett Gardner without the speed. I wanted to believe there was more there last year, but it seems the scouts were correct in writing him off as a ‘tweener. He has time to change this evaluation, but it’s always scary when a guy who lacks power is promoted and proceeds to see good offensive numbers turn into terrible ones due to an increase in strikeouts and decrease in walks.
Chase Wright, LHP, 25 Wright has an average fastball and slightly above average change, but his control and command of all his non-change pitches leaves a lot to be desired. As a result, he is consistently behind in the count and this leads to predictable pitching sequences, which could one day lead to him doing something historic, like giving up a lot of homers in a row or something. The lack of command and control also makes Wright a less than ideal candidate for a bullpen role, so he doesn’t seem to have much of a big league future unless he can learn to command his very average stuff.
Kevin Whelan, RHP, 24 Thanks to a pretty good fastball and splitter combo, Whelan will always have supporters. Unfortunately, his control left him too frequently last year for him to put up the numbers he could/should have. I do wonder how his numbers would have looked if he were limited to just 1 innings more frequently. He’s a guy that I wouldn’t be surprised to see jump back on to the 25 next year.
*To Be Continued*
Monday, October 15, 2007
It’s been a while…
2007 Minor League Pitcher of the Year
This one is a tie between Joba Chamberlain and Ian Kennedy. Joba’s performance was more impressive on a rate basis, but Kennedy gets extra credit for the larger body of work. To be fair to Joba, he would have had more innings had he not been so awesome that he was called up with a month to go in the minor league season.
2007 Minor League Hitter of the Year
Austin Jackson wins in what was not much of a competition. Despite a poor statistical performance at Charleston, Jackson was hitting the ball hard in games I listened, but just right at people. He then went to the FSL and raked. After a slow start in Hawaii, he is raking again.
2007 Minor League All Star Team
C Francisco Cervelli
1B Juan Miranda
2B Prilys Cuello
3B Brandon Laird
SS Reegie Corona
OF Austin Jackson
OF Jose Tabata
OF Justin Snyder
RHP Chamberlain/Kennedy
LHP Michael Dunn
Breakout: Cervelli
Comeback: Jackson/Horne
***
Alan Horne’s Bullpen Candidacy:
As mentioned in a thread earlier today, I’m not sure Horne would be a good candidate for the bullpen. He has the fastball as well as groundball and strikeout tendencies I like to see in a potential reliever, but there are two things that make me think he might not transition well to such a role. First is that his game is based around having one very good pitch, his fastball, and several solid pitches, his curve, change, and slider. Anecdotally, it seems most shut down relievers live off of two really good pitches. In addition, it has been said that something that gets Horne into trouble from time to time is his arm action as it is not ideal. If that problem exists, one would expect it to cause the most issues when he first gets in the game and, tellingly, Horne’s first inning walk rate this year was 5.4 per 9. His walk rate for the rest of the game was about 3 per 9. Take this information with a grain of salt, but it seems to make sense given the available qualitative information.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
The Hughes Report (9/6/07)
The difference in his performance tonight was that he did a better job of mixing his pitches. We actually saw the fastball, curveball, AND change. On the downside, Phil is still throwing too many fat pitches when he needs to get one over. If you’re down in the count, yeah, you need to throw a strike, but it can’t be a fat one because those get hit hard. And now, on to the velocity report.
High: 93
Low: 89
Mean: 91
Velocity Drop: Following the 4th inning
-John Sickels’ thoughts on Ian Kennedy: http://www.minorleagueball.com/story/2007/9/5/12490/10875#commenttop
-Good Reading: http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/minors/features/264668.html
-P.S.: How about that A-Rod guy?
Monday, September 3, 2007
Ian Kennedy’s Debut
The Good: Kennedy’s velocity was a bit better than the “high 80s” thrown around by some in the prospect analysis community. In actuality, the range on his fastball was 87-92, which is more in line with the reports from Pinstripes Plus than anywhere else, so kudos to Patrick, Frankie, and the rest of the guys over there. The average velocity of the 54 fastballs thrown was 90.5. In addition to showcasing solid-good velocity, Kennedy had great fastball command. The home plate ump was a bit inconsistent, on both sides, but Kennedy did a great job of hitting the corners with his fastball.
Ian also showed flashes with his Vulcan change. The movement to the pitch was a bit funky because he places the ball between his middle and ring finger, forming the V for Vulcan. This was the pitch that he was able to fool left-handers with. Overall, he did a good job with this pitch.
The Bad: Kennedy also flashed his slider, curveball, and sinker on Saturday. On this day, I would say the slider probably showed the most promise. Despite that, I don’t think any of these pitches looked especially great (Don, don’t kill me). While the pitches themselves showed promise, Kennedy left more than his fair share of them up in the zone, so his command wasn’t great with respect to this portion of his arsenal. Fortunately, the Devil Rays were not able to take advantage of this and he escaped largely unscathed.
The Verdict: I was very pleased with Kennedy’s debut and feel he showed enough to warrant another start. With Hughes’ current struggles, I wouldn’t mind if the Yankees kept the 5-man rotation in tact just to have a better idea of who has the hot hand heading into October between the two rookies. I think Hughes has more long-term potential, but if at the end of the month the Yankees are in the playoffs and Kennedy has performed superior, he should get the post-season nod.
***
-The minor league season is, essentially, over. Austin Jackson was promoted to AAA as a reward for his great year and Marcos Vechionacci to AA as a reward for his hot finish. Both players will, almost assuredly, start next year for Trenton. AA will have its best collection of position player talent in quite some time between those two and Jose Tabata.
-The GCL Yankees won their league championship for what seems like the 12th time in the last 4 years. Jesus Montero, who very quietly had a good season, killed the ball in a small playoff sample. He hit .280/.366/.421 in 107 regular season ABs and then went 6 for 16 with a double, 2 homers, 2 walks and 4 Ks. Just a very solid year for a guy some wanted to write off so soon after being regarded as the best prospect on the international market.
-On a final, “funny” note, here at RLYW and within the Yankee blogosphere we’re all worried about Phil Hughes’ velocity. Hughes has been pitching at 90-93, touching 94. Within these same communities, we’re also all pleased with Kennedy’s velocity during his first game where he was 89-92. Over in Red Sox land, everyone is in love with Clay Bucholz. Bucholz is sitting 90-93. I’m not going to ignore that more troubling than Hughes’ velocity range has been his tendency to tire quickly, but for those who are dismayed regarding Hughes’ overall velocity...please calm down. Now, if only he could regain some feel for the change, we wouldn’t even have to have this discussion.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
All Hughes, All The Time
*I have made no efforts to read this over and check for grammar or anything like that. I’m studying for the LSATs. I just moved. I’m in recovery from one of the worst migraines of my life. I have a new, super time consuming internship. Grammar sucks.*
My initial goal with this entry was to figure out what’s wrong with Phil Hughes. However, after going through his last 4 outings pitch by pitch, I can’t say that there is anything wrong with Phil Hughes. What he’s going through is typical of young pitchers, even immensely talented ones, making their first go round in the bigs. This much SG has attempted to illustrate.
For those that are concerned about his velocity, I’m not sure there’s any sense in worrying about it too much. While he was only 89-91 against Detroit, he has otherwise pitched consistently at 90-93 with the occasional 94 or 95 thrown in. The good is that that 90-93 is comprised primarily of 92+s in the early going. The bad is that he’s had trouble maintaining it for the entire game. That should hopefully come with time...or as soon as Clemens gets him on the workout. Hughes is also a guy that for all the glowing minor league reports, has had stretches where he wasn’t quite right mechanically and his velocity would dip into that upper 80-91 range. So, my hope is that what we saw in Detroit was due in part to that and it will be fixed before his next start. Maybe he can talk to Mo about that after he’s done running with Clemens.
Where I would worry about Hughes is pitch selection. I’ve noticed Hughes shaking off some pitches here and there, which tells me he is being allowed to take a role in calling his games. If he is, the Yankees need to stop that. If he isn’t, and the Yankee coaching staff is, then I’m worried about the Yankee coaching staff. Hughes has had 12-15 pitch sequences in games where he will throw 90% fastballs. This is fine and dandy when you’re Wang and throwing a mid 90s sinker or Joba and throwing upper 90s 4-seamers, but I’m not so sure how effective this is with a low 90s 4-seamer. I’ve never played organized baseball, so I might be off there.
Another strange thing about Hughes’ pitch selection is that he doesn’t tend to mix changes and curves within an inning. Going through the past 4 games it’s almost as if it is decided that in Inning X he will use the change as his off-speed pitch and in Inning Y it will be the curve and never shall there be a deviation. Once again, I don’t have the real baseball experience to say what’s going on here or what the thinking is, but I would assume that this is something the opposition has picked up on and it’s allowing them to have an easier time guessing. I’d be curious to see if someone (SG) could run the numbers and see how batters tend to hit against Hughes with 1 out, 2 outs, 3 outs as far as batted ball outcomes.
So, in conclusion, I’m hopeful Hughes will right himself and I also really hope the Yankees decide to mix up the pitch selection. Long-term, I’m still a Phil Hughes fan, but in the short term there may be some growing pains, which will be tough to deal with given that Phil is now one of the guys the team needs to count on.
-Austin Jackson is in the AFL. I hope he performs as well there as he has at Tampa. Look, no negativity, Don.
-Nice to see Marcos Vechionacci making the late season charge for a .700 OPS, which may be enough to get him to Trenton for the start of the ‘08 season.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Tabata and Garcia Injury Updates
-Baseball America has the scoop on Jose Tabata having surgery to remove his hamate bone. The Yankees expect him to begin rehab six weeks after the surgery and he might still have a shot at playing winter ball. This is, probably, the reason he’s struggled so much to hit for power. Don’t expect him to come back ripping the ball into the gaps and over the fences, it sometimes takes guys a while to get adjusted following this procedure.
-Christian Garcia pulled a Phil Hughes and injured his knee doing some running during his rehab from surgery. Nothing major, but it forces him out of participation in instructs, it seems.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
The Yankees Lost a Series?
With the way the team has been playing for the past month and a half, a series loss comes as a shock. However, given that Jeff Karstens took the mound on Tuesday and that Baltimore put Erik Bedard on the mound on Wednesday, this was not so shocking.
Anyway, I was at the game yesterday and was surprised to find a lot of negativity regarding Hughes during the liveblog/game chatter when I came home. Now, my vantage point was from at an angle behind home plate, so I can’t comment on whether or not he was really missing the zone or just getting squeezed, but his raw stuff seemed pretty good yesterday. The curveball was terrific, he used his change sparsely for a couple easy fly balls, and his fastball seemed to be fine (90-93 for his entire outing, including the final frame). The only time the crowd really got on him was the play where he dropped the ball attempting to cover first. The hits he was giving up were, for the most part, very weak and/or helped by the defense. The one at bat where it seemed an Oriole hitter was really on his stuff was Millar’s final at bat where he hit rocket after rocket foul down the LF line. Hopefully, Hughes is better next time out, or at least gets better results.
-On the issue of velocity...while I noticed the velocity dip this year, I forgot that Carlos Gomez had attributed it to a change in his arm angle. While 90-93 is good enough, if you can maintain it, which he’s been steadily improving on, 92-95 would be, if nothing else, sexier.
-On the issue of fastball types...Hughes does throw both a 2-seam and 4-seam fastball, so sometimes when you see those 88s, it’s not fatigue it’s a 2-seamer.
-Edwar was very very good. I wonder if he’s going to have to wait 12 days to pitch again.
-Henn was very good as well. He’s struggled throwing strikes all year, but did a good job of that yesterday. He has good enough stuff from the left-side where if he just throws strikes, he’s going to be a very serviceable reliever. It’s just a question of whether his control will be there consistently.
-Marcos Vechionacci is closing out the year with a hot streak. This might be enough to get him promoted to Trenton to start ‘08. Unfortunately, his year has still been terribly disappointing. While it’s great that his glove continues to get rave reviews, at some point he’s going to have to start hitting. If this year didn’t kill his prospect status, one more year of not hitting will.
-Looks like the FSL has figured out Austin Jackson. He’s still had a nice year and made some real improvement, but perhaps not as much as it seemed when he was hitting everything a couple weeks ago.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Joba vs. Hughes
Fortunately, we have both.
Saturday, August 4, 2007
The Return of Hughes
So, as you may have heard, Phil Hughes made his return this afternoon. Hughes’ final line looks pretty poor, 4.1-7-6-6-2-5, but there was some good and bad mixed in there. The good is that Phil was pretty good through this first 4 innings. He needs to become more economical, but he was getting the job done. The bad is that, for whatever reason, he isn’t maintaining his velocity. He was throwing in the low 90s for the first couple innings, but then dropped to 88-91. I’m not sure what to make of this at the present time. I was able to watch Hughes in person last year, as well as get reports from others who attended his games, and he was always able to maintain his velocity. I’m hoping this is a matter of him just needing to get some innings under his belt. The one piece of evidence for this viewpoint would be that the 90-93, touching 94 that he was throwing in his first couple innings was better velocity than he had shown at any point in his first two ML starts.
Anyway, the velocity loss wasn’t much of a problem for Hughes until he began missing his spots with his fastball. The biggest example of this would be the home run. Phil missing spots with his fastball also wouldn’t have been as much of a problem if he was commanding his curveball, which he wasn’t. The change-up also wasn’t there today. So, Hughes wasn’t good today, but the command problems are solvable and hopefully the velocity is as well.
***
Meanwhile, in the minors...Austin Jackson is for real. He’s cut down on his K rate a ton and is drilling the ball. By the end of the season you could say he’s a better prospect than Tabata and get taken seriously. Hell, if you’re the aggressive type, you might even be able to pull it off now.
In addition, the Joba Chamberlain Relief Project is going swimmingly. Joba made his third relief appearance, this one a 2-inning outing. In his 2 innings Joba gave up 1 hit and struck out 5. He has 18 Ks in 8 AAA innings. I fully expect him to be with the team by the end of the week. I might not love the idea of him being in the pen, but at least it gives me another reason to watch.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Joba To The Pen
-So, I’m sure most of you have heard by now, but Joba Chamberlain has been moved to the Scranton bullpen. The Yankees have said that the move is to see if he can help them out of the big league pen this year, but that his long term future is as a starter. I have mixed feelings about this move. On the one hand, it would be awesome if Joba could help the team this year because Kyle Farnsworth and Scott Proctor aren’t QUITE getting the job done. On the other hand, working out of the bullpen is something Joba is not used to and he’s about to be asked to do this in the big leagues, in a playoff race, in New York, 1 year out of college. How Torre will use Joba also needs to be considered. I’m not the biggest fan of Joe Torre’s bullpen management because he tends to overuse guys when they’re going well and under use them if he doesn’t trust them. Ideally, I think the Yankee brass would have liked to have Edwar Ramirez in this spot, but since Torre was determined not to use him, they’re going to Joba. I hope this works out and that this doesn’t impact his long term ability to be a starter. He needs more time to refine his game, but has overpowering raw stuff, so maybe this will all work out. I would love to see SG run some sort of MLE projection of what Joba can contribute...taking into account guys getting better when they go to the pen and such things. Thanks, SG.
-Ian Kennedy was very good in his first AAA start. Ian has done a terrific job in the minors this season, but guys with average fastballs don’t get shots to help out the bullpen. One thing that I do like though is that Kennedy is being given the opportunity to get his innings totals so that, hopefully, it won’t be too difficult for him to transition to a 6-month season next year. This is something that Joba or Hughes may struggle with next year due to their relatively light workloads.
-Speaking of Phil...Phil didn’t seem to have his best command today, missing off the edges a bit, but still got the job done. He kept the ball down in the zone, even when missing, and was able to turn in a Wang-ian performance. Hughes’ next start will be in the big leagues and not a moment too soon. The Kei Igawa Experience has been...underwhelming.
-Looks like I jumped the gun on Austin Jackson cooling down. He’s swinging at everything and hitting it hard, impressive stuff.
-Jesus Montero has had a nice start to his pro career, .282/.364/.487 in 39 ABs with a 5:8 BB:K ratio.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Rushing?
-Phil Hughes was terrific tonight. His fastball was in the low 90s all night and he was locating it to the corners. He was getting both of his curveballs over for strikes and swings and misses and he even did a solid job of flashing the change. He might need one more outing to get his pitch count up, but stuff wise he’s good to go. The sooner the better, I tire of Kei Igawa.
-I don’t think Ian Kennedy and Joba Chamberlain are being rushed. They’ve both done enough this season to convince me that they’re better than AA. At the same time, I do think they’re being rushed. Neither has demonstrated that they’re at a level where there is nothing more that they can learn from the AA experience. I would think the Yankees realize this, but feel that the promotion is a necessary step in figuring out how close these two are to contributing to next year’s rotation. For Joba, it is also probably a test to see how much he might help this year’s bullpen. Considering this, I support the promotions.
-To clarify, when I made my comment about Clippard losing his shot to be a part of the Yankee rotation I didn’t mean that he would never recover. Clippard has less stuff than Chamberlain, Hughes, and Kennedy (probably). However, prior to this year he was more ready as far as inning totals and minor league level. Now, all 3 of those guys are ahead of him in terms of readiness, which means they are more than likely going to get full shots at a rotation spot before he does. Even assuming injuries, just having guys ahead of him lessens his shot.
-Despite rocky outings his last two times out, I’m curious as to how well Alan Horne has to pitch before he gets Ross Ohlendorf’s AAA rotation spot.
-After a terrible mid-season slump, Francisco Cervelli seems to be getting back on track. He’s 10 for his last 30 with 2 doubles, a triple, a homer, 2 walks, and 5 Ks.
-After a tremendous start, Austin Jackson has cooled down. He’s only hitting .256 with 0 walks and 6 strikeouts in his last 10 games. Hopefully, he can start drawing walks again so he’s not using up as many outs.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Ryan Bradley Memorial
http://blog.nj.com/ledgeryankees/2007/07/chamberlain_kennedy_promoted.html
Kenney and Chamberlain were promoted to AAA with Wright and Clippard moved down to AA. This move speaks volumes about how highly the Yankees think of these two. The Wright demotion makes perfect sense, in my opinion, but I would have liked to see Clippard get some more time to overcome whatever problems he’s facing. It looks like any shot he ever had at consistent rotation time is now gone.
More later.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Action Again
-I don’t want to jinx it, but Austin Jackson’s numbers are getting better just about every day. Jackson hit a homer and a double today to up his season line at Tampa to .425/.469/.699. Jackson still strikes out more than you’d like, but it’s dramatically reduced from last year. Jackson has struck out in 23.3% of at bats this year, which is improved from 28.2% last year. In 227 less at bats he’s hit 4 less doubles, 2 less triples, and 3 more home runs so his power is also up. Austin still has to come back to Earth a bit because there’s no way he’s this good, but the hot start at Tampa is going a long way to placing him in the discussion for the Top 10 of one of the best systems in baseball.
-As if the Yankees needed another elite right handed pitching prospect...Zach McAllister had the best start of his pro career. In 6 innings, he gave up 3 hits, no walks, and struck out 10. McAllister is now sporting a 10.4 K/9, a 4.5:1 K:BB ratio, and a 5:1 Ground Out:Fly Out ratio. In other words, ignore the 3.86 ERA, he has been terrific. With Jeff Marquez having just a solid season, perhaps McAllister is the best hope for a groundball/strikeout monster.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Futures Game Liveblog/Sunday Minor League Chatter (4PM ET, ESPN2)
(Click Comments to read more)Friday, July 6, 2007
Action
-So...I’m sure most of you’ve noticed, but since arriving in Tampa, Austin Jackson has been hitting and hitting very well. Jackson was 3 for 5 today with a homer and a triple. In 50 FSL ABs he’s hitting .420/.483/.640 with a 6:8 BB:K ratio. This has boosted his season line to .288/.362/.421. I was ambivalent about Jackson’s promotion to Tampa despite poor numbers and me being a stathead. The reason was that despite poor production, Jackson was making consistent hard contact and it seemed that he was suffering from some bad luck. Well...in Tampa his luck has completely turned around. Given the poor state of things in the Yankee farm system on the position player side, if Jackson can continue to hit well, not this well, but well enough, he could be the second best offensive prospect in the system by this offseason.
-Zach McAllister has a 5.19 ERA, but he’s striking out a batter an inning and generating almost 5 outs on the ground for every out in the air. Other than a poor first start, he’s rolling. Nice to see.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Dellin and The Rain
-Dellin Betances both walked and struck out 6 batters today in 4.2 innings. On the year, Dellin has walked 13 guys in 18 innings. I ranked Betances slower than most others did this past offseason and this is why. Despite an impressive GCL debut, I didn’t feel ready to throw away all the concerns regarding his polish pre-draft. He’s got great stuff, no doubt, but I expect him to struggle a bit before really hitting his stride as a pro.
-Brett Smith pitched a 5-inning no-hitter today, but in the process he walked 7. Smith has been coming back to Earth and, despite the lack of runs or hits, the abundance of walks shows that this trend is continuing.
Joba Just Makes Me Happy
-Joba Chamberlain had, arguably, the best performance of his pro career last night. Chamberlain dominated hitters with his fastball, curveball, slider, and even the change. On most nights, Chamberlain can work with 2 or so of those pitches and he’ll be fine, but on this night, with all them going it was unfair. There was no point in the game where it seemed like the opposition had a shot and Chamberlain might have even had a higher K total had the strike zone been just a bit more favorable. I mentioned this on John Sickels’ site tonight, but Joba is an impressive guy to observe. His fastball is TREMENDOUS and if he’s commanding it and the rest of his stuff is even ok, he can dominate rather easily.
-I mentioned this in the Liveblog, but it needs to be repeated, Phil Hughes’ first minor league rehab start will be this Monday. That means he should be back by the last week of July, which means no more Kei Igawa in the rotation.
-Jose Tabata was 4 for 6 with a double. I don’t know if he just got healthy from his cyst issue or if he just decided to turn it on, but Tabata has been excellent at the plate as of late. Tabata has 16 XBH in 285 ABs, but 7 of those are in his last 93 ABs.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
The Outfield
-At the present time, the Yankee outfield has amounted to a bunch of suck. Damon, Abreu, and Matsui look done as far as being good to great players and Melky Cabrera has an uninspiring overall line despite hitting for an OPS of roughly .800 over the last two months. Because of this, Brett Gardner’s season is gaining importance. Gardner has added gap power to his arsenal this season and after another productive stretch of games his OPS is over .800. He’s going to turn 24 at the end of August and is repeating the league, so I’m not going to act as though he’s a great prospect, but if the Yankees promote him to AAA and he continues to be similarly productive he will have placed himself in the ‘08 OF picture. In a way, it’s kind of sad, but the Yankee OF is going to need a major overhaul.
-On the topic of future Yankee OF, Jose Tabata finished the month of June at .346/.420/.436. I would love to see even more power, but right now he’s representing himself well enough. Given their history of handling offensive prospects, I would say Tabata is on the verge of being promoted and might have that occur if he has another hot week. There might even be some pressure to fast track Tabata considering next year’s dreary OF picture.
-The Alan Horne AA Experience continues to perplex. After 7 more dominant innings of 1 run ball, Horne now ranks 2nd in the EL in Ks and ERA. He’s not overly young. RunElvis (hat tip to wherever I saw this, but I can’t remember) is in the AAA rotation. There’s no reason for him to still be in AA. None.
-Don’t look now, but Brett Smith’s hot streak is apparently over. Smith has given up 19 ER in his last 29 innings. Brett has had a nice run, so hopefully he can rekindle whatever he was doing enough to get traded for something useful.
-John Flaherty tried to reason that Kei Igawa gave the Yankees a start you can take from your 5th guy over the weekend. I disagree. Igawa gave up 4 runs on 3 homers in 6.1 innings. That’s not good and it’s not really acceptable from anyone in your rotation. If Igawa continues to suck and he’s given no indication for anything else to be assumed, Steve White might be the millionth Yankee pitcher to debut. White’s peripherals are poor, but he has a flashy ERA and a big fastball, which at this point might be enough to give him a leg up on the competition. Such an awful season. Phil Hughes please come back.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Command
-Tyler Clippard looked like the Major League Tyler Clippard last night. This is not a good thing. Tyler struggled to hit the catcher’s mitt and the results were not pretty. Guys with averagish fastballs need to throw strikes. Clippard, outside of one 3 start hot streak, has struggled to do that this year. As a result he’s struggled overall. Hopefully he can have as big a second half as he did last year.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Promise
-Zoilo Almonte was one of the Yankees big international signees a little while back and after what seems like forever, he’s finally made his way stateside. Despite the fact that it seems like Almonte’s been around forever, at least to me, he’s still only 17 and is off to a very nice start for a 17-year-old in the GCL. Almonte was 2 for 4 with a double today and is hitting .393/.452/.643 through the first 8 games of the GCL season. He has 3 walks and 5 strikeouts in that 28 at bat stretch, which is nice to see from a guy who posted a 28 to 52 ratio in 192 Dominican Summer League at bats last year.
-Austin Jackson and Jose Tabata were both 1 for 4 today as they hit back-to-back blasts. I’m still not sold that Jackson’s hot start is anything more than just that, a hot start, but it’s nice to see him adding some power. One thing that is certain is that Austin’s make marked improvements in his K rate. Based on subjective as well as objective information, I feel that what’s occurred is that Austin’s gotten a better idea of which pitches to hit. He’s striking out and walking less because he’s learning that it’s ok to attack pitches early in the count if they’re your pitch.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Frustration and Semantics
-While Scott Proctor was busy giving the game away, Chris Britton pitched 2.1 more shutout innings for Scranton. Britton’s season totals are now 36-33-12-9-11-42-2 (IP-H-R-ER-BB-K-HR) and a 2.25 ERA. There has to be at least ONE reliever in this awful, awful, awful bullpen that he’s better than. He should be given the opportunity to show this.
-Ian Kennedy was solid over 5 innings for Trenton. I think the Yankees are beginning to attempt to cap his innings a bit. Either that or he’s just been more inefficient than usual. Kennedy is a guy whose scouting reports always mention control and command. He also has 30 walks in 89 innings on the year. The walk rate seems high for someone with such a reputation especially given that Tyler Clippard posted lower rates over his minor league career only to come to the bigs and walk the park. However, the difference here is that despite low walk totals, Clippard’s always been a guy noted for being somewhat wild in the zone. The result is that despite typically low walk totals, Clippard might throw fat strikes, reflected in his less than stellar HR rate. On the other hand, Kennedy seems to know when to pitch around guys and how to throw quality strikes, as he’s only given up 3 homers thus far despite being a flyball pitcher. Some of that low homer rate is luck and some of it is skill. How much of it is skill is going to be a huge part of determining Kennedy’s value as a prospect.
-Ivan Nova struggled with his control and got knocked around, 4-8-8-8-4-2-1. Nova’s ERA is now up to 3.74. While he was able to overcome his peripherals and post a pretty ERA in the early portion of the season, his peripheral stats and ERA are beginning to line up.
-Angel Reyes, a popular preseason breakout pick, continues to do just the opposite. Reyes walked 3 guys in less than 2 innings and has now walked 9 in 3 NYPL innings. Taking into account his Sally League numbers, he has 30 walks in 34 innings. The diminutive hard throwing lefty is looking more and more like the last diminutive hard throwing Yankee lefty prospect, Abel Gomez.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Cool Minors Stuff
I’m going to try and switch up the format here a bit, because reporting on all the levels at once is a bit daunting for me. I’m going to focus on the interesting trends, or what have you, that I think are noteworthy.
-Alan Horne pitched another impressive game last night. Horne’s final line of 5-4-2-1-1-6-0 (IP-H-R-ER-BB-K-HR) left him with an ERA of 2.39 in 86.2 innings. As mentioned in the comments of the last post, Horne has also been deemed an “untouchable” prospect. Tremendous turnaround year.
-Brett Gardner’s been hitting for less power than he was early in the season, but his batting average is going up. It seems that Gardner was in fact sacrificing average for power in the early-going, but perhaps he’s found a balance. The weird thing in all of this is his K rate. When he was hitting for more power, he was striking out less, but now that he’s been hitting more singles, he’s been striking out more.
-Austin Jackson is 7 for his first 14 in High A, which is nice, but seeing as it is all singles, it’s probably a bit of a fluke.
-Jose Tabata has his OPS up to .750 on the strength of a .328/.418/.379 June. His numbers for the month are actually also a little better than that because of a suspended game, which has yet to be counted, where he was 1 for 2 with a double.
-The Seth Fortenberry in Low A experiment continues to perplex. Seth hit his 12th homer tonight and is OPSing a good bit over .900 since the beginning of May. I’m not sure why he’s still at the level. Time is not on his side and the Yankees aren’t doing him any favors.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Signs
Injuries/News:
Recently, I’ve been watching Scrubs on late night FOX, it’s a quality show, and I think I’ll pick up the DVDs...I really like the White Castle “like collecting” commercial...Austin Jackson was promoted to Tampa, I don’t think he’s proven it, necessarily, and I’m not sure why Seth Fortenberry wasn’t promoted, but thems the breaks...Juan Miranda and Colin Curtis were/are promoted to Trenton, per NYYFans...Futures Game rosters were announced and Joba Chamberlain was the only Yankee selected to participate in the game. This makes this year’s game considerably less exciting than last year’s Tabata and Hughes celebration, but better than the Kevin Thompson year. Yeah, somewhere between those two.
AAA:
Matt DeSalvo had a weird start. On the one hand, he struck out 10 guys in just 4.2 innings. On the other, he also gave up 10 base runners. DeSalvo’s ERA now stands at 1.96 in a little over 40 AAA innings. Matt is in a weird position. I think the best way to learn and adjust is to experience failure, but Matt is good enough, it seems, that he can post decent minor league ERAs despite peripherals indicating that he isn’t pitching as well as he could. I wonder if this makes it more difficult to drive home the point that he really needs to work on his control and command.
Eric Duncan had his 2nd awful game in the last 3. This time he was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts. With the recent increase in strikeout rate, there’s just about no positive you can hang your hat on for Duncan. He hasn’t been healthy, he hasn’t hit for consistent power, he hasn’t hit for average, and he hasn’t controlled the strike zone. Alberto Gonzalez was 2 for 4 with a double. The 2 hits were his first in a week. The last game in which he had a hit was also a 2 for 4 with a double game.
AA:
Ian Kennedy picked up his first AA loss despite not pitching TOO poorly. Kennedy’s line of 5-3-1-1-2-3-0 (IP-H-R-ER-BB-K-HR) was not enough as the Trenton bats were asleep. The only guy in the lineup to do anything was Brett Gardner, who was 4 for 5. With Colin Curtis and Juan Miranda arriving soon, the Trenton offense should get a bit of a boost. If they can get some offense to go along with the pitching they already have, they might not ever lose again, kind of like how the Yankees were never going to lose again and then the Rockies swept them.
A+:
Reegie Corona was 3 for 4 with a walk as he attempts to reverse his trend of decreasing month-to-month offensive performance. Corona’s a really small guy, so fatigue may be why he’s slowed down both of the past two seasons. Or it could be that the league has figured him out each time. Given my aggressive ranking of him, I hope it’s the former. Colin Curtis and Juan Miranda ended their FSL careers in style, going 0 for 4. Curtis drew a walk and Miranda struck out once. Jose Tabata was 1 for 2 with a double and 2 walks. Of Tabata’s 9 doubles on the year, 3 of them have come in his last 8 games. Maybe something is finally clicking. Marcos Vechionacci was an uninspired 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
A-:
Ivan Nova posted another underwhelming line; this one was 6-6-4-4-0-4-0. My new conclusion is that Nova is throwing too many strikes, or not enough quality strikes. His stuff is good enough that he can leave it over the plate and be effective. However, because the pitches are too fat, he’s not striking out as many as he should. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Mitch Hilligoss was 3 for 5 with a strikeout as he continues to hit singles with great regularity. Seth Fortenberry was 1 for 5 with a double and a strikeout, taking over Austin Jackson’s CF spot. Eduardo Nunez was 0 for 4 with a strikeout. Hitting right handed doesn’t seem to be working out much better than being a switch-hitter. Jose Gil was 2 for 3 with a walk.
SS:
Zach McAllister’s much anticipated debut went poorly, 3-6-5-4-3-3-0. The good was that McAllister’s fastball seamed to have a lot of run to it, getting in on right-handed batters and he kept it down for the most part. Unfortunately, he kept it too down and as a result ran a lot of deep counts. He also REALLY struggled with his curveball, throwing a lot of hangers up in the zone. The other good part was that McAllister just looks like a guy with a lot of physical potential. He’s listed at 6’6’’ and 240, but looks like he still has a lot of room to add weight.
R:
The GCL guys had a fairly quiet game. Abe Almonte was 0 for 3 with a walk and a strikeout, Cuello was 2 for 4, and Zoilo Almonte was 0 for 3.
Midseason Top 25
The listing is done by name, position, and grade. Preseason ranking is noted in parentheses. If players have the same grade that means they are, for the most part, interchangeable.
1. Phil Hughes, RHP, A- (1)
2. Jose Tabata, RF, A- (2)
3. Joba Chamberlain, RHP, A- (4)
4. Jeff Marquez, RHP, B+ (6)
5. Alan Horne, RHP, B+ (NR)
6. Tyler Clippard, RHP, B (5)
7. Ian Kennedy, RHP, B (8)
8. Francisco Cervelli, C, B (NR)
9. Reegie Corona, 2B, B- (NR)
10. Dellin Betances, RHP, B- (7)
11. Austin Jackson, CF, B- (13)
12. Ivan Nova, RHP, B- (NR)
13. Seth Fortenberry, CF, B- (NR)
14. Juan Miranda, 1B, C+ (NR)
15. Zach McAllister, RHP, C+ (21)
16. Ross Ohlendorf, RHP, C+ (NR)
17. Steven White, RHP, C+ (18)
18. Steven Jackson, RHP, C+ (NR)
19. Chase Wright, LHP, C+ (NR)
20. Alberto Gonzalez, SS, C+ (NR)
21. Eric Duncan, 1B, C+ (10)
22. Colin Curtis, OF, C+ (NR)
23. Dan McCutchen, RHP, C+ (NR)
24. George Kontos, RHP, C+ (17)
25. Mitch Hilligoss, 3B, C+ (NR)
26. Brett Smith, RHP, C+ (NR)
27. Brett Gardner, CF, C+ (16)
28. Marcos Vechionacci, 3B, C+ (11)
29. Angel Reyes, LHP, C+ (22)
30. Chris Garcia, RHP, C+ (20)
Honorable Mention: Jose Gil, Jesus Montero, Carlos Urena
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Ok Start for the Phenom
Injuries/News:
Nope.
AAA:
Eric Duncan’s second game in the 3-hole was better than his first. Duncan was 2 for 5 with a homer and a K. Alberto Gonzalez showed no sign of life, going 0 for 3 to drop to .223.
Steve White picked up the victory, but was mediocre, at best. White’s final line of 5-4-3-3-4-2-0 (IP-H-R-ER-BB-K-HR) was not encouraging. Because he’s got solid velocity, if White can string together some good outings and Igawa struggles he might be the kajillionth Yankee prospect to get a shot. Chris Britton relieved him and gave up a solo homer while striking out 3 batters in 2 innings of work and Edwar Ramirez struck out 2 in his lone inning of work.
AA:
Alan Horne picked up his 7th victory. Perhaps no one in the Yankee system has seen their stock rise more than Horne and he continued on that path with a 6-5-1-1-1-4-0 outing against the league’s top offense. Horne’s emergence will be reflected in the midseason Top 30, unveiled later today.
Brett Gardner was 2 for 5 with 3 strikeouts and Cody Ehlers was 1 for 4 with a walk and 2 strikeouts. It’s weird to see Gardner have a multi-strikeout game this year. Last year, not so much, but this year, yes. As long as it doesn’t happen too often, he’ll be fine.
A+:
Dan McCutchen went 7 strong, striking out 3 while walking 1 and allowing 2 hits. McCutchen hasn’t struck out as many guys as you would expect for someone with his stuff, but he’s been effective at keeping runs off the board. He’s also averaging almost 7 innings a start, which is a positive considering his innings eating potential was a large part of the organization’s attraction to him.
Reegie Corona and Juan Miranda struggled at the plate, going a combined 1 for 10 with 3 strikeouts. Tabata and Curtis fared better, 3 for 9 with 2 strikeouts. Curtis also stole a base.
A-:
All Star Break
SS:
Dellin Betances made his much anticipated season debut and showed flashes, but ultimately wasn’t sharp enough. The umpire was also squeezing him a bit, according to the announcer. Dellin’s final line was 4-5-3-3-2-5-0 and a couple of his hits allowed were of the infield variety. Not a great outing, but I’ll take it. I’ll also expect better going forward.
R:
Daniel Gil picked up his first victory despite having an inconsistent outing. Similar to Betances, Gil’s line showed a bit of his potential as well as some of his inexperience 3-4-2-2-0-4-0.
Prilys Cuello was 1 for 3 with a walk, a strikeout, and, surprisingly, two steals. Zoilo Almonte was an impressive 3 for 5 with 2 doubles and a strikeout. I’ve had my eye on Almonte for some time, so I’m very interested in seeing how he does.
Spotlight On:
Zach McAllister going for Staten Island on Sportsnet New York.
Depth Chart:
INF
C. Basak-Playing at AAA and hitting well enough at the level, but doesn’t offer too much with either the stick or the glove, his arm also seems a bit short at times on plays at short and third
R. Pena-Playing at AA, offers nothing with the bat, but is reputed to be a standout defender
G. Lopez-Playing at AA...a homeless man’s Hispanic David Eckstein
A. Baldiris-Playing at AA...can draw the occasional walk, but nothing else and is a poor defender
Depth
Injuries/News:
The GCL and NYPL started today, which means 150% the daily box scores to check and games to pay attention to. Yay.
AAA:
With Andy Phillips’ promotion to AAA, Eric Duncan was moved into the number 3 spot in the Scranton lineup. He responded by going 0 for 5 with 3 Ks. The Yankees are almost begging for Duncan to prove he’s ready and he’s been unable to do so. It’s a bit sad. His BB:K ratio, which was the one thing you could hang your hat on all season, has now deteriorated to 24:35. Alberto Gonzalez was 0 for 3 with a strikeout as he continues to search for new lows.
Colter Bean got the start, but didn’t pitch very well. Coming on in relief of Bean was Steven Jackson, who didn’t pitch much better. Jackson allowed 5 baserunners in 2 innings. It has to be depressing to come into the organization relatively highly touted and then, halfway through the season, you’re relieving for Colter Bean. This is not the season the Yankees or Jackson imagined.
AA:
Trenton lost to Akron and while Jeff Marquez did not take the loss, he pitched poorly enough to deserve it. Jeff walked 4 in 5 innings, showing some of the control inconsistency that has plagued him in the past. As pitching coach Scott Aldred hinted in his recent interview with Pinstripes Plus, Jeff has been somewhat surprisingly consistent this season; hopefully this is an anomalous start.
Brett Gardner was 1 for 3 with a walk and a strikeout and Cody Ehlers was 1 for 3 with a homer and 2 walks.
A+:
George Kontos pitched wonderfully, but did not get a victory because the offense took the day off and he only lasted 5 innings. Kontos would only allow 1 walk and 3 hits while striking out 6 in those 5 innings. In a very small sample, Kontos has been excellent thus far. I’d love to see him get a shot at Trenton if he does this for 3 or so more starts, but I doubt that will happen with the current logjam at the upper levels.
Frank Cervelli was 1 for 3 with a double and a strikeout and Jose Tabata was 2 for 4. Other than that, the offense was shackled.
A-:
All Star Game
SS:
Staten Island lost their season opener. They don’t have too much in the way of position prospects at the moment and their least interesting starter took the mound, so…
R:
The GCL Yankees lost, but Jairo Heredia shone. Heredia was one of the top pitchers the Yankees signed last summer and he showed why by striking out 5 while allowing 3 hits and 1 walk in 3.2 innings. Heredia is just 17 and is one to keep an eye on. Abe Almonte, Prilys Cuello, Zoilo Almonte, and Andres Dionicio all got their GCL seasons underway. Almonte is a speedy INF compared to Jose Reyes, Cuello is slugging INF compared to Cano, Almonte is a toolsy CF compared to Melky and Dionicio is a guy who plays H.
Spotlight On:
Staten Island. Dellin Betances gets his first start of the year.
Depth Chart:
1B
S. Duncan-Playing at AAA...Ready to hit the occasional homer, but won’t contribute much, if anything else...This is as good as he’s going to be
E. Duncan-Playing at AAA...Ready to draw the occasional walk, but won’t contribute much, if anything else...He should/could be better, but isn’t thanks to injuries and not doing a good enough job of capitalizing on HIS pitches
C. Ehlers-Playing at AA...Not near ready...Power is a huge question...Smaller 1B with good eye, can draw walks, solid defender
J. Miranda-Playing at A+...Big time power...Strike zone control is a bit shaky...Defense is still up in the air...Probably at least a year away despite advanced age
More tomorrow, I’m tired.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Ian and Joba
Injuries/News:
As it was mentioned in the last comments section, Trenton is currently going with a 6-man rotation.
AAA:
I’m not sure why the Yankees are going with Runelvys Hernandez in the AAA rotation, but, he took the mound last night and pitched poorly. Runelvys would take just 4 innings to throw 94 pitches. With the organization confident enough in Igawa to put him back in the major league rotation, I think they should go with an all prospect AAA rotation as opposed to running a retread out there.
Chris Britton got the win, but didn’t pitch particularly well and Edwar Ramirez relieved him and was just ok. Lukewarm outings, at best, by both of these guys should not take away from the fact that they’ve done excellent work this year.
Eric Duncan and Alberto Gonzalez continue to struggle. They are down to .237 and .229, respectively. Yeah…
AA:
Joba and Kennedy continued to roll at the AA level. Kennedy struck out 9 in 5 innings and Joba struck out 8 in his 5. Experienced college arms are expected to transition quickly and both of these guys are doing that, at the least. More encouraging than their progress has been that of Brett Gardner. Gardner is hitting .371/.465/.543 on the month and looking more and more like a prospect as the season progresses.
A+:
The Tampa players had some time off to recharge thanks to the FSL All Star Game. Corona, Tabata, and Curtis had solid games while Miranda, Vechionacci, and Cervelli were able to avoid being complete offensive drains. Miranda and Curtis should be promoted any second now.
A-:
After a hot stretch to begin the month of June, the Charleston offense has really slowed down. Austin Jackson is 3 for his last 26 and 0 for his last 18 with 9 and 6 strikeouts over those respective stretches. Another slumping hitter, Mitch Hilligoss, is 2 for his last 13. The only guy not slumping is Seth Fortenberry, who has been the steadiest force in the Charleston lineup.
Spotlight On:
Trenton.
Today is also opening day for the New York Penn League and the Gulf Coast League. Players to watch for the NYPL include Dellin Betances, Zach McAllister, and Angel Reyes. Players to watch for the GCL include Jesus Montero and Prilys Cuello.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
A Slow News Day
Injuries/News:
Knicks in 08!!!
AAA:
Kei Igawa got the win for Scranton. Igawa’s line, 6-4-1-1-2-4-1 (IP-H-R-ER-BB-K-HR), wasn’t all that impressive, but it was good enough that if Clippard has another poor outing, Igawa might be back in the bigs. I really don’t think the difference in true talent level between the two is enough to make much of a difference, so either way it’s cool. For personal fandom reasons, I’d rather see Clippard in the bigs, but I’ll survive if he’s demoted. Chris Britton continued to toil away in the minors, 3-4-2-2-0-4-0. Winning cures everything and right now the bullpen is doing a good enough job since they rarely have to be used much, but it’s hard to see why Britton is still in the minors.
Alberto Gonzalez was 2 for 4 with a double and a walk. It was the best game he’s had in some time, but his season line remains extremely uninspiring.
AA:
Brett Smith picked up his 6th victory, but didn’t pitch all that well. Smith’s line of 5-4-3-3-4-2-1 brought his ERA up to 1.99. Smith still has terrific season totals, but his recent outings seem to indicate regression to the mean.
Brett Gardner and Cody Ehlers were both 0 for 2 with 2 walks.
A+:
The Tampa Yankees won a nail biter with Dan McCutchen, 6-7-0-0-1-4-0, picking up the victory. Reegie Corona was 2 for 4 with a walk and a steal as a bunch of the offensive players had ok games. Jose Tabata was 1 for 4 with a double and a steal. Colin Curtis was 1 for 4 with a strikeout. Juan Miranda was 1 for 4 with a homer and 2 strikeouts. Frank Cervelli was 0 for 2 with a walk. Finally, Lakeland managed to keep Marcos Vechionacci at bay, 0 for 4.
A-:
Mitch Hilligoss and Seth Fortenberry had good games in an otherwise quiet night for Charleston. Hilly was 3 for 3 with a double and Fortenberry was 2 for 4 with a double. This was the first really good game Hilly’s had since the conclusion of his big hit streak, so it was nice to see. Mitch might be happier than everyone else when it comes to appreciating Vechionacci’s recent hot streak because it seems he will have to wait on something being done with Marcos before he is promoted, which makes sense. Seth...I’m not sure what the wait is to promote him.
Spotlight On:
Ian Kennedy making his 3rd AA start.
Happy Catch Up Time
Injuries/News:
Tim Norton is rumored to be done for the year with major shoulder surgery, which pretty much means he’s done as a prospect...George Kontos finally returned last night...Brett Gardner returned from the DL during my silent period...Jesus Montero WILL play this year, hopefully by the end of the month...Eric Duncan has been placed on the DL with a thumb injury that has been bothering him all season according to the SWBY blog. On the one hand, it makes me hopeful that Duncan has an explanation for his poor performance, on the other hand, there always seem to be an excuse…
AAA:
The Yankee AAA rotation was supposed to be a source of excitement, but that can no longer be said. Clippard is in the bigs, Ohlendorf and Hughes are injured, and Steven Jackson has been moved to the bullpen, finally. Matt DeSalvo and Steve White are plugging away, but neither guy is terribly impressive.
On the offensive side, there’s not much to look for as Alberto Gonzalez continues to struggle and Eric Duncan has returned to the disabled list. The June sample size is small, but thus far Gonzalez has a 2007 OPS trend of .668, .605, and .527.
AA:
The recent news at AA is far more positive. Brett Gardner has returned from the disabled list and is playing extremely well. He is hitting .455/.520/.591 in 6 games back and his season line is up to a somewhat respectable .259/.357/.384. I wasn’t a huge fan of Gardner coming into the season and I still am not, but he’s been showing enough secondary skills to make himself interesting as a potential future reserve.
Unlike Brett Gardner, Cody Ehlers is struggling since coming off the DL. Ehlers seems to be trying to hit for power as his positive BB:K ratio from has been replaced by a ratio of 3:10 in June. While it has resulted in more power, it hasn’t been enough to make his line look good as his June stands at .213/.250/.340. For the season he is at .226/.317/.315 and with Juan Miranda raking in Tampa, he might not have much time left to correct himself.
With the recent promotions of Joba Chamberlain and Ian Kennedy, the AA rotation now goes Chamberlain-Marquez-Horne-Kennedy-Smith. Wow. AAA was supposed to be impressive, but this quintet blows that one out of the water. Joba was impressive in his first AA start despite throwing a lot of pitches. However, that’s bound to happen when you strike out 9 guys in 5 innings. Chamberlain is still primarily a fastball pitcher, with his slider showing flashes, but he’s one of the few guys with a truly dominant fastball, it could probably be described as plus plus, so that’s ok for now.
During the offseason, Jeff Marquez mentioned that it was the development of his curveball that allowed him to start getting more strikeouts in the 06 season. During a recent interview with Pinstripes Plus, Marquez mentioned that he had struggled somewhat with the curve this year, but seemed to be getting the hang of it again and in his last 13 innings he’s struck out 13 men. It seems he has a good idea of how his repertoire works.
Ian Kennedy had a better go of it in his second AA start and so far so good. There are rumors Kennedy has touched 94 recently, I’m not so sure about that. If it’s true, and it becomes a consistent for him, it obviously helps his prospect status quite a bit. If not, he’s still a solid prospect.
Alan Horne and Brett Smith both continued to lay waste to AA batters. If you’re an EL hitter, you have to HATE facing Trenton. They have a team ERA of 2.38 and the second place team is at 3.51.
A+:
The Tampa lineup has been a bit of a feel good story. Marcos Vechionacci is as hot as he has been in his minor league career, Juan Miranda is hitting like Barry Bonds, Colin Curtis is proving that slow and steady wins the race, and the Tampa offense is doing all right for itself.
Jose Tabata is plugging along, doing well enough to keep respectable numbers, but not breaking out enough to need a promotion. It was recently rumored that Tabata has a cyst on his wrist, which is supposedly the source of his power troubles and wrist/hand maladies, but there has been no official word on it. Either way, to this point, Tabata’s prospect status has dimmed just a bit for me. Still an excellent prospect, it’s just that he’s looking more like a future Bobby Abreu than something otherworldly.
Francisco Cervelli is in the midst of a huge slump. He’s hitting just .188 in his last 10 games and his overall line is down to .302/.421/.407. That’s still a terrific line for a 21-year-old C in the FSL. If he can correct himself, or even just maintain his current line, Cervelli would have done a TON to enhance his prospect status this year.
Daniel McCutchen and George Kontos have replaced Kennedy and Chamberlain as the top two in the rotation. They aren’t as exciting a duo, but they get the job done. Kontos was out for a while with an undisclosed injury. It was rumored to be something having to do with the shoulder, but I REALLY REALLY think it was disciplinary action. Either way Kontos returned last night and pitched very well 4-2-0-0-1-6-0 (IP-H-R-ER-BB-K-HR) and McCutchen pitched well today 6-7-0-0-1-4-0. Hopefully, both guys can keep up the good work.
A-:
Ivan Nova continues to get the job done, but in a scary way. A guy throwing as hard as Nova, consistent low 90s and touching the mid 90s, should not have only 19 strikeouts in 43 innings. Even if his secondary pitches were all awful, and they’re not, you would expect more Ks at that level on the basis of his fastball. Until he starts getting the strikeouts up, I can’t get too excited about him.
While Nova has struggled with the lack of Ks, Mike Dunn has just struggled with what appears to be fatigue. He’s getting the job done, but not in an especially pretty matter.
The Charleston offense has been terrific lately. Mitch and Austin have been getting on base fairly consistently and Seth Fortenberry, who is in serious need of a promotion, has been driving them in. Jose Gil has continued to show flashes of power, which seems to be at the cost of his plate discipline, and Eduardo Nunez is struggling. The Yankees recently turned Nunez from a SH to a RHB, so when looking at his season numbers, keep this in mind.
Spotlight On:
Trenton, probably.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Jesus Out
Injuries/News:
Tabata is still out...Jesus Montero will likely not be playing this season due to an ankle injury, no long term effects are expected, via Pinstripes Plus.
AAA:
Duncan and Gonzalez were a combined 1 for 8 with a 2 strikeouts. It must be tough for Eric to be struggling right now with Miguel Cairo as the starting 1B.
AA:
Jeff Marquez got those strikeouts, I was looking for, but it didn’t help him have a good start. Instead, Marquez had one of his lesser outings thus far with a final line of 6-6-4-4-0-7-1 (IP-H-R-ER-BB-K-HR). With that, Jeff’s ERA is up to 2.90, so he’s still having a solid season. Not quite the breakout I wanted or expected, but good enough to keep his status amongst the system’s elite.
Cody Ehlers was 1 for 3 with a walk. It was only the 3rd hit for Cody in 20 at bats since returning from the DL.
A+:
Tampa put 8 runs and 16 hits on the board with Marcos Vechionacci having a nice game. Marcos did a great job hitting the ball hard up the middle and was rewarded with a 3 for 5 showing. Marcos is 10 for his last 30, but hasn’t shown much power in that stretch. For now, since it’s the FSL, I’ll be satisfied with a solid AVG. Reegie Corona was 2 for 5, as was Colin Curtis. Curtis struck out once while Corona did not. Juan Miranda was 2 for 4 as he continues to tear the cover off of the ball. Finally, Francisco Cervelli was 1 for 4 with a double, a walk, and 2 strikeouts. Cervelli is moving himself into elite position amongst the Yankee farm.
A-:
Mike Dunn picked up the win, but his performance is definitely indicating that he’s slowing under the pressure of pitching consistently for the first time. Dunn would exit his game with a 5-8-3-3-0-6-1 line. Early in the season, he would not have given up nearly as many hits, but for now he’s going to have to settle for getting his inning in and working on his stamina.
Dunn was able to pick up the win thanks to the Charleston batters having another great game; they’ve really been clicking as of late. Seth Fortenberry was 2 for 3 with another homer and another walk. Seth has 4 homers and 11 walks in his last 9 games. His season line is up to .283/.378/.493. I think he needs a new challenge. Mitch Hilligoss was 1 for 4 with a strikeout. Hilly’s been cooling off, which is expected when one is coming off a hit streak that lasted almost a month and a half. Finally, Austin Jackson was 3 for 6 with 2 doubles and a steal. Jackson’s season line, .279/.352/.398, really isn’t that impressive, but it just “feels” better. Jackson is hitting .310 in his last 10 games with 5 doubles and a 5:7 BB:K ratio.
Spotlight On:
The MLB Draft. 2 PM ET, ESPN2. Tune in and pray the Yankees don’t pick Andrew Brackman.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Ian Kennedy Fails His 1st Test
Injuries/News:
Jose Tabata has missed the last two games for Tampa with some minor nicks/bruises/soreness/whatever you want to call it. He’s fine...On another note; I would love to know where Tim Norton and George Kontos have been...Tyler Clippard was solid tonight. He did a much better job commanding his fastball, but is still not where he needs to be. He doesn’t seem to be ready yet, but hopefully he can continue to defy his peripherals. I’m surprised/disappointed Joe took him out as early as he did, but I guess he figured he was guaranteed to get 7+ innings out of Wang in the next game.
AAA:
Chase Wright took the mound for Scranton and was effective. Wright’s final line of 5.2-5-3-3-2-6-0 (IP-H-R-ER-BB-K-HR) was better than any of his recent outings and solid pitching overall. Wright now has 1 more K than BB at the AAA level. Today was a big day for him. Coming in to relieve Wright was Edwar Ramirez. Ramirez was scored upon for the 2nd game in a row, which is weird. His line was 2.1-2-1-1-1-2-0. One of the hits he gave up was a double to Andy Marte, which could be a good or bad thing depending on whether you still think Marte is a rising star or if his time has come and gone. Anyway, Ramirez is now at 13-8-2-2-4-19-0 at the AAA level. Britton is up, so Ramirez is next guy to campaign for.
Alberto Gonzalez led off and was 1 for 6, while Eric Duncan was 2 for 5 with a walk and a strikeout. Duncan is hitting .300+ over his last 13 or so games. Needs more power and more average. The discipline and patience are excellent.
AA:
Cody Ehlers had a tough day at the plate, 0 for 5 with 3 strikeouts.
Ian Kennedy made his AA debut and there was some good and some bad in his 5-6-4-4-0-6-1 line. The home run was on a pitch that he didn’t get far enough in, which was bad. He was able to strike guys out painting corners and changing speeds, which was good. Kennedy’s performed very well this season, but I’m not THAT excited about him yet. I don’t think Clippard is a world beating prospect and I’m not sure I’d put Kennedy ahead of Clippard. I’m willing to be convinced otherwise, and once I can see him in person, I’ll be able to make a better judgment.
A+:
Colin Curtis and Juan Miranda continued to hit well, Reegie Corona continued to struggle, and Marcos Vechionacci continued being inconsistent. Vechionacci was 0 for 2 with a strikeout and a sac fly, following back to back 2 hit games. Reegie was 0 for 3 with a walk and 2 strikeouts. Despite a recent 5 for 14 stretch, Corona is only hitting .178 in his last 10 games. Curtis was 2 for 3 with a walk and a steal and Miranda was 2 for 4 with a double and 2 strikeouts. Miranda is up to .270/.342/.475 and starting to look like he might not be a waste of money.
A-:
The Riverdogs put 12 runs and 18 hits on the board as just about everyone had a great night. 38 Games Hilligoss was 1 for 6 with 2 strikeouts, as he continues to cool down. Action Jackson was 2 for 6 with a double. Seth Fortenberry was 3 for 6 with a homer. Fortenberry needs to go to Tampa, I think. He’s already 23 and in addition to hitting .277/.372/.477 on the year, he is hitting about .290/.380/.510 since May 1st. Wilmer Pino was 3 for 5 and Jose Gil was 1 for 4 with a homer and a walk. Gil and Pino are both guys I’d like to see heat up considering my preseason faith in them.
Spotlight On:
Jeff Marquez getting the early morning start for Trenton. Marquez needs to start picking up the K rate.
Monday, June 4, 2007
7 Days to Go
Last week before the LSATs, so things are going to be brief. You can check out the important stats here:
http://yankeesprospects.com/daily.php
As for my personal views on today’s action...Ivan Nova pitched pretty poorly. He was around 92 all game with his fastball, but struggled to command the pitch the way he typically he does. Making matters worse, he also struggled with the control of his breaking pitches and as a result he had a start where he held the opposition back, but at the same time he wasn’t very good.
Alan Horne struggled with pretty much the same thing in his previous start for Trenton.
Ian Kennedy was promoted to AA.
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Mitch-um Man
Injuries/News:
Cody Ehlers returned from the DL...I HATE studying for the LSAT.
AAA:
Eric Duncan was 1 for 5 and Alberto Gonzalez 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts as Scranton had a quiet night. On a somewhat random aside, Sean Henn outpitched Twins #1 Prospect, Matt Garza, by going 5-2-0-0-1-4-0 (IP-H-R-ER-BB-K-HR).
AA:
Cody Ehlers was 0 for 4 in his return from the DL. Ehlers is an older guy, so he needs to hit and hit now. His .222/.340/.284 line isn’t getting it done, given his BB:K ratio of 15:14, I’m hoping he can eventually break out.
Brett Smith had his second poor start in a row, as the magic seems to be running out. Smith’s line of 3-3-3-3-3-2-1 would have looked more sensible last year, but not during this year’s run of dominance.
A+:
Rained out.
A-:
Following back-to-back poor outings, Michael Dunn was able to put together a good one for Charleston last night. 7-3-2-1-1-5-1 was what it would take for the 22-year-old LHP to get his 6th victory of the year.
Mitch Hilligoss, who seems to be putting more powerful cuts on the ball as of late, was 1 for 5 with a double to extend his streak to 38 games. After 13 XBH in his first 165 at bats, Hilligoss has 5 in his last 38 and 4 in his last 20. Seth Fortenberry was 1 for 2 with 2 walks and Austin Jackson was 1 for 3 with 2 walks and a strikeout.
Spotlight On:
Alan Horne looking to continue his breakout year.
Friday, June 1, 2007
I Am A Witness
Injuries/News:
Mmmmm...Lebron James.
AAA:
Chase Wright made the start for Scranton and was...not very good. Wright’s K:BB ratio had been unimpressive in his AAA stint and now, so are the rest of his numbers. Wright could only muster a 3.2-6-7-7-4-3-3 (IP-H-R-ER-BB-K-HR) line. His AAA totals now stand at 36.2-34-20-19-18-15-5. Not very good. Despite the tremendous start at AA, Wright’s AAA performance would seem to indicate he is ill-prepared for the level. Edwar Ramirez came out of the bullpen and shut down the opposition, 3.1-2-0-0-0-5-0. Ramirez now has a AAA line of 9.2-5-0-0-2-15-0. Ramirez prospers because of a tremendous change, so he might be one of those one-trick ponies that get exposed at the MLB level. Then again, he might not be. Luis Vizcaino is uninspiring so it would be nice to see him or Britton get a shot.
Eric Duncan had a quiet night, 1 for 5 with a strikeout, and Alberto Gonzalez was 1 for 4 with a double and a strikeout.
AA:
Jeff Marquez started the game for Trenton and picked up the victory, but I’m going to say he needs to improve. The line on Jeff was 6-5-3-3-3-1-1. As you can see he only managed 1 strikeout on the night and his disappointing season total in that category is now 35 in 65.1 innings. These aren’t the types of numbers I envisioned from Jeff in ranking him higher than everyone else, but he’s been able to get the job done thanks to strong groundball tendencies. However, if his performance is going to be transferable to the major league level, he’s going to have to put up some more Ks.
A+:
Ian Kennedy continued to toil pointlessly in the Florida State League; tonight’s dominant outing entailed 7-2-0-0-1-8-0 line. Kennedy’s line in the month of May is 38.2-21-3-3-11-44-0. There’s no reason for him to be in Tampa anymore. None. Promote him, please. Promote Joba too.
Colin Curtis was 2 for 5 with a double to up his AVG to .281. In his last 10 games, Curtis is hitting .386, despite just a 2:10 BB:K ratio. Jose “Ichiro” Tabata, who in Player Journal on milb.com says he feels he’s ready for AA, still is not showing any power. The RF was 3 for 4 with a walk and a steal. With his OBP above his SLG, it’s clear that Tabata is going to make a great leadoff hitter someday. Marcos Vechionacci and Francisco Cervelli were each 0 for 3 with a walk as their discipline continued to help them contribute despite slumping.
A-:
Mitch Hilligoss now has one of the longest hit streaks in the last 50 years of minor league play or something. The Streak was extended to 37 games when the 3B went 4 for 5 today. Of the 4 hits, 1 was a homer and another was a double as Hilligoss is beginning to flash some power. If he continues to do that, I would think the Yankees will contemplate promoting him once his streak ends. The soon to be 22-year-old’s line stands at .335/.377/.437. Seth Fortenberry cooled down a bit, going 1 for 5 with 2 strikeouts. Austin Jackson was 2 for 4 with a double, a walk, and a strikeout.
Spotlight On:
Brett Smith going for Trenton.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Stealing The Show
Injuries/News:
Cody Ehlers is rehabbing and should be back in Trenton sometime within a week...Great Joba footage (hat tip to PP forums)...As for the majors, Clippard has average velocity on a regular day and today he didn’t even have that. He also didn’t have any control. He was also facing a lineup heavily slanted to RH power bats. Despite all this, he somewhat luckily managed to go 5 innings and give up just 3 runs to earn his 2nd major league victory. Given how poorly Igawa and DeSalvo pitched this week, that is probably good enough to give Clip at least one more start as the 5th starter. Actually, given that Hughes is likely out until August, we could be seeing a lot of Clippard over the next two months. For a guy who wasn’t very highly regarded coming through the minors, this might be a make or break career opportunity.
AAA:
Steven Jackson was getting results early in the game, but his stuff didn’t look very crisp and by the end of his outing, it caught up with him. Jackson’s final line, 6-8-5-5-3-5-1 (IP-H-R-ER-BB-K-HR), fits in nicely with the rest of his year, which is not a good thing. He needs a demotion or some time off to fix himself because he’s been throwing BP for the better part of the season.
Alberto Gonzalez had a quiet night, going 0 for 3 and Eric Duncan collected 1 of Scranton’s 4 hits, going 1 for 4 with a K. Duncan had good ABs, as is his custom, and a hard hit out to left center, which is another custom of Duncan’s game.
AA:
Nothing to see.
A+:
Juan Miranda’s extra base hit streak ended as his lone hit in 4 at bats was a single. Colin Curtis was the only other prospect of note to get a hit; he was 2 for 4 with a strikeout. And what about the rest of the guys? Jose Tabata, Reegie Corona, Francisco Cervelli, and Marcos Vechionacci were a combined 0 for 12 with 1 walk and 2 HBPs. Hey, at least they didn’t strike out.
A-:
The longest hit streak in SAL history now belongs to Mitch Hilligoss. Mitch was 1 for 5 with a walk and a strikeout as he got a bunt single to extend his streak to 36 games. He also stole his 7th base of the year. Austin Jackson had a rough game, going 1 for 5 with 3 strikeouts. Seth Fortenberry has been stealing the show from Mitch and Austin. The LF was 3 for 5 with a homer and a walk. His season line is up to .278/.365/.485 as he has gone 15 for his last 34 with 3 doubles, 4 homers, 7 walks, and 5 strikeouts in that span. With Fortenberry being 23 years old, it might be time for a promotion.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
The Light At The End Of The Tunnel
Injuries/News:
Steve White made his season debut tonight...Joba Chamberlain picked up his second FSL pitcher of the week award as well as the number 2 spot on the Baseball America Prospect Hot Sheet...Mitch Hilligoss’ streak has him at 18 on the Hot Sheet...Nice feature on Ian Kennedy
AAA:
Eric Duncan might be breaking out. Duncan was 3 for 3 with a single, 2 homers, and a HBP. All of this on a night when the rest of his team could only manage 3 hits. Duncan’s OPS is over 1.000 in his last 10 games. I’m not sold, but I’m paying attention. Alberto Gonzalez collected 2 of those remaining 3 hits, going 2 for 4 with 2 singles. Gonzalez is hitting .314 in his last 10 with a SLG just south of .500.
Kei Igawa, following Roger Clemens’ footsteps back to the majors, had a line of 5-8-4-4-1-6-1 (IP-H-R-ER-BB-K-HR). If Tyler Clippard pitches poorly tomorrow, Kei might be taking his spot, whether or not he deserves to, is an open question.
AA:
Nothing to see here.
A+:
Steve White, who we definitely would have seen already this year had he not been injured, made his 2007 debut pitching in Tampa. The Yankees are probably billing this as rehab while they figure out where they want everyone to be, a roster shuffle is upcoming. White’s line was pretty much what one would expect from a guy who should be in AAA, 6.1-6-1-1-1-6-1. The homer that he gave up was to Cameron Maybin, so I guess he can be forgiven for that.
Juan Miranda was 1 for 1 with a double and 3 walks. Miranda’s last 3 hits have been for extra bases, which has boosted his line all the way to .250/.324/.444. Juan even threw in his first steal of the year, for good measure. Jose Tabata continued his singles hitting, going 2 for 5 with a strikeout, and Reegie Corona continued to slump, going 0 for 5. Corona is just 4 for his last 27 and is down to .281 on the year. Colin Curtis and Francisco Cervelli were a combined 2 for 7 with a walk and a strikeout. The last prospect in the lineup, Marcos Vechionacci, had a big game, going 3 for 3 with a walk.
A-:
Ivan Nova might not have the K totals you would like in a top pitching prospect, but tonight he convinced me has top prospect ability. Nova pitched into the 7th inning for a final line of 6.2-5-1-0-2-4-0. That was good enough for his 3rd victory as well as lowering his ERA to 1.44 in 25 innings. Nova was throwing his fastball for strikes up to 93 and 94 MPH the ENTIRE game. Sometimes younger prospects have trouble maintaining their velocity, so it was impressive that he was able to do this.
Mitch Hilligoss made matters dramatic by waiting until his final AB before extending his hit streak. The hit was a double, which is nice, and Mitch also struck out once during his 5 at bats. Seth Fortenberry blasted a first inning homer and, after that, Columbus was terrified of him as he would walk his next 4 times up. Austin Jackson was 1 for 5 with 2 strikeouts. Statistically, Jackson isn’t having that great of a season, especially when considering that he is repeating the league, but on a subjective level, his ABs have been more impressive and he’s been doing a much better job making good contact.
Spotlight On:
Ian Kennedy going for Tampa tonight. Not sure what the point is. He might have a poor outing, but at this point he’s proven himself at the level.
2007 Draft Preview (Part 1)
This year will mark the first time that the Major League Baseball draft will be televised. Tune to ESPN2 on June 7th at 2PM to check it out. The MLB Draft is much more difficult to peg than the drafts of the other major sports since the players selected often don’t make a difference for a few years. This means rather than draft for a need, teams are drafting whoever their scouting staff has decided is the best player available, and there’s almost never a consensus as to who that is. All that noted, I’d like to highlight a few players that could be available for the Yankees’ first two selections in the draft. I’m determining availability by first checking out players who Baseball America has ranked around where the Yankees are set to pick and from there making adjustments for guys who supposedly will have high bonus demands and the like. This is unscientific, I’m not a scout, and the guys I recommend will be based on my personal biases.
Pick #30:
Kevin Ahrens, 3B, HS - B:S T:R - 6’1’’ 180 - I’m not hopeful of him being available when the Yankees’ first pick rolls around, but this is the guy that I’m in love with right now. Ahrens seems to be a polished hitter with room for growth on his 6’1’’ frame. There also seems to be good reason to believe that he will develop solid power as he firms up his left-handed swing. The negatives to his game are that he’s currently a SS/3B and might be headed to 3B and then from there may even slide further down the defensive spectrum. Overall, he’s got good defensive tools, but his speed is already below average and may get worse. At first, this concerned me, but I just have a good feeling about Ahrens being one of those guys who’ll work at it and be able to stick.
Tim Alderson, RHP, HS - B:R T:R - 6’7’’ 210 - Alderson is a tall RHP that throws in the low 90s. He’s got a weird herky jerky delivery that, honestly, terrifies me. That combined with the fact that there’s already a scouting school of thought that his future role would be as a closer, just makes Alderson a no go for me.
Corey Brown, OF, College - B:L T:L - 6’2’’ 210 - Brown is an OF that can kind of play all positions and has solid tools with a solid performance record. Doesn’t seem to be a guy with a terribly high ceiling and, in addition, he’s got some makeup concerns in his past as well as having struggled with strikeouts during his college career. No go.
Michael Burgess, OF, HS - B:L T:L - 5’11’’ 200 - Burgess hails from the same high school as Dwight Gooden, Gary Sheffield, and Elijah Dukes. However, he hasn’t had any red flags raised about his behavior to this point. Burgess currently plays CF, but judging by his lower half, his general build, and his arm strength, he’s definitely going to end up in RF. Despite his struggles this year, Burgess was ranked highly going into the year, but has dropped a bit with a disappointing senior campaign; I think he’s still a pretty good prospect. However, I also think he’s a project and given the spotty track record that the Yankees have had developing position players, I don’t think they can be trusted with a project.
Chris Carpenter, RHP, College - B:R T:R - 6’4’’ 210 - Carpenter is a college trained righty with a good fastball, but not much else. He’s had a bit of an injury history, including Tommy John, and as a result isn’t even as polished as you would expect a guy coming out of college to be. Furthermore, there are questions about how good his secondary arsenal is, so he might just be a reliever at the next level. Not a fan.
Brett Cecil, LHP, College - B:R T:L - 6’2’’ 225 - Cecil is a college lefty who’s worked really hard to get where he is. He wasn’t highly regarded coming out of high school, but now possesses a low 90s fastball and a great slider. I did not mention a change-up because, apparently, he doesn’t have one. Cecil is projected as a reliever and, in my book that automatically makes him a no for the first pick.
Matt Latos, RHP, CC - B:R T:R - 6’5’’ 210 - Latos was one of the more highly regarded high school pitchers in last year’s draft, but has gone unsigned due to bonus demands. While Latos throws hard, he doesn’t seem to offer much other than that, at least on a consistent basis. Because of that, I’m not so enamored with him.
Michael Main, RHP/OF, HS - B:R T:R - 6’1’’ 171 - Main’s been front and center on the prospect radar since being featured in Baseball America as a 15-year-old. He’s highly regarded both as a pitcher and an outfielder. The consensus seems to be that he will be drafted as a pitcher and there’s enough there for the Yankees to work with. He throws hard, but doesn’t have the greatest movement on his fastball and he’s got iffy secondary stuff. Despite being a short right-hander, Main seems to have projection to him in that he’s very thin and he doesn’t seem to get full extension in his delivery. He would probably be a good pick for the Yankees, but it’s doubtful he will be on the board at pick 30.
Jack McGeary, LHP/1B, HS - B:L T:L - 6’3’’ 200 - McGeary is a big bodied lefty who, at the moment, only throws high 80s and 90. Despite this, he seems like one of those guys who’s going to go to pro ball, figure things out, and start getting more consistent low 90s velocity. He also has a pretty good curveball and a change-up that’s shown signs of life as a legitimate pitch. The Yankee organization would love that repertoire and I think he’d be a solid first round pick for the Yanks, if available.
Devin Mesoraco, C, HS - B:R T:R - 6’1’’ 195 - Mesoraco has great tools for a C, for the position he is plus in every category, and combines that with what seems to be a great work ethic (one of those hustle all the time players). C is one of the Yankee minor league organizational weaknesses as well as a position that is generally tough to fill. Prior to going to crap, Jeff Mathis was one of the more highly ranked prospects around, and Mesoraco seems to be around those lines, but with a slightly better physical package due to superior speed and arm strength. Another guy I would love to have in the organization, but I’m doubtful he’ll be around.
Will Middlebrooks, 3B/RHP, HS - B:R T:R - 6’4’’ 215 - Similar to Ahrens, the primary concerns about Middlebrooks are in regards to his range. He’s also being recruited to the same school as Ahrens, but isn’t entirely the same prospect. Ahrens is regarded as more polished, with Middlebrooks offering more ceiling, especially in terms of power. He’s another guy I would love for the Yankees to pick up at number 30. As a plus, he’s shown signs of being a good pitching prospect, so if he can’t hit, after a couple years you can turn him into a pitcher and still recoup on your investment.
Aaron Poreda, LHP, College - B:L T:L - 6’6’’ 240 - Poreda burst onto the scene as a prospect this year. He’s a lefty with a mid 90s fastball so he’s going to attention, but beyond that, he doesn’t offer much. His performance is spotty, understandable considering his recent emergence, his secondary pitches aren’t anything to get too excited about, and according to BA, despite the low walk totals he lacks command. Not interested in a first round college pick that’s going to be this much of a project.
Kyle Russell, OF, College - B:L T:L - 6’5’’ 185 - Russell’s made headlines this Spring by rewriting the University of Texas record books, but I can’t say I would be happy if the Yankees drafted him. When a guy puts up huge offensive numbers and scouts don’t make much noise about him, it gives me reason to pause and reconsider what the guy has done and whether or not that will translate to the next level. His offensive performance was also not without its warts as he struck out a lot. Other than the power, which scouts are only calling plus, Russell does not bring much to the table and I don’t think a 1-tool guy, no matter how good the tool, or a reliever, no matter how good the reliever, should ever be picked in the first round.
Nick Schmidt, LHP, College - B:L T:L - 6’5’’ 230 - Schmidt is a pretty safe first round pick. Based on his scouting reports, I think of a bigger, slightly harder throwing Brad Halsey. I advocated for the Yankees to give Halsey some innings at the back of the rotation while he was here, but can’t advocate for the drafting of Schmidt.
Brad Suttle, 3B, College - B:S T:R 6’2’’ 213 - Suttle is a college 3B with a fairly unexciting scouting report. There are questions about whether he will stick at 3B due to those pesky range issues and there’s nothing about him that scouts are raving about, he just seems like a good bet to be a solid player. As a safe position player, he reminds me of Matt Antonelli from last year’s draft, but perhaps less athletic. That’s not a good thing. I was terrified of the Yankees picking Antonelli then and while I won’t say I’m terrified of the Yankees picking Suttle, I wouldn’t be happy.
All of this established here are my top 5 guys I would like to see the Yankees pursue with the number 30 pick, assuming they are available:
1. Kevin Ahrens, 3B
2. Will Middlebrooks, 3B
3. Devin Mesoraco, C
4. Jack McGeary, LHP
5. Michael Main, RHP
More draft coverage later in the week.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Horne-y Rocket
Injuries/News:
Roger Clemens made his final rehab start as a member of the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees. Clemens’ final line was 6-2-0-0-2-6-0 (IP-H-R-ER-BB-K-HR) and while he looked good, he didn’t look that good. Maybe this is just depression from the way the Yankees as a team are playing creeping into my overall outlook, but I think that a 3.50 ERA with 6 innings a start is a best case scenario for Clemens. That’s worth something, but definitely not 28 million and I don’t think it’s enough to make a huge difference in the overall playoff outlook. I hope I’m wrong.
AAA:
Alberto Gonzalez was 0 for 3 and Eric Duncan was 1 for 3. Duncan’s single was kind of a luckily placed hit, but at this point, he deserves the luck. Balancing out the good luck on that hit was a hard hit ball deep to the outfield for his second out of the game.
Edwar Ramirez came out of the bullpen and dominated, as has been the case all season. Ramirez throws a terrific change-up and the rail-thin righty has done a great job keeping hitters off balance with the pitch all year long as shown by his AAA line of 6.1-3-0-0-2-10-0 and season line of 23-9-1-1-10-43-1.
AA:
Alan Horne picked up the win for Trenton while being impressive without his best stuff. The final line for Horne was 6-7-4-1-2-7-0. A combination of bad defense and well-placed hits lead to the unearned runs that Horne gave up. It didn’t help that Horne seemed to struggle with his secondary pitches all game. The change, slider, and curve were all difficult for him to get over for quality strikes on this afternoon. Fortunately, Horne’s fastball was enough to get the job done, which is a testament to the quality of the pitch. This is getting a bit repetitive, but Horne really needs to be promoted. Today was a day when he didn’t have it and he was able to just go to his fastball and get by, if that doesn’t say that a guy should be promoted to a more challenging level, I’m not sure what does. As I’ve said in the past, the minor leagues are for learning and you can’t learn if you’re not getting punished for mistakes.
A+:
Nothing scheduled.
A-:
34. Mitch Hilligoss’ hit streak reached 34 games as he got himself 3 singles in 6 at bats. That should show me for speculating the streak was coming to an end soon. I’m starting to notice people clamoring for Mitch’s promotion, and while I wouldn’t have a problem with that move, I don’t think Hilligoss has done enough where such a move is a no-brainer, despite the flashy AVG and hit streak. Seth Fortenberry and Austin Jackson were both solid, going a combined 3 for 10 with 2 doubles, a walk, and a strikeout. Jose Gil was 2 for 5 with a homer and is now up to a whopping .233/.286/.359. In his last 10 games, which is stretch over the last 3 weeks, Gil has gone 11 for 36 with a double, 2 homers, 5 walks, and 5 strikeouts. Maybe he’s turning the season around or, maybe I’m just a fanboy. Hopefully, it’s the former.
Spotlight On:
Ivan Nova going against Columbus. Nova’s off to a nice start; let’s see if he starts striking out some more guys.
Upcoming Stuff:
At exactly noon today, the first part of my draft preview will be available.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Joba For President
Injuries/News:
Steve White will be back soon, destination unknown.
AAA:
Eric Duncan was 2 for 3 with a walk to get his average up to .231. With the walk, Duncan’s K:BB ratio inched ever closer to becoming even. Alberto Gonzalez also had a 2-hit game, going 2 for 4 with a strikeout to reach .247.
Chris Britton pitched a scoreless inning of relief, granting 1 hit. Britton’s ERA dropped to .78. In 23 innings he has given up 20 hits and 9 walks while striking out 26.
AA:
The big news out of AA was Brett Smith’s first poor outing of the year. Smith’s line of 5-7-3-3-2-2-1 (IP-H-R-ER-BB-K-HR) would have made sense in year’s past, but not this time around. It could be just a blip on the radar in an otherwise tremendous season, or it could be a sign that Smith is beginning to cool off from the season long hot streak he’s been on.
A+:
Despite not picking up the victory, Joba Chamberlain was outstanding. Joba would post a final line of 8-2-0-0-2-9-0 while tossing 98 pitches. The most impressive part of the outing was that Chamberlain seemed to get stronger as the game went on, generating a ton of swings and misses in his last 3 innings. The Yankees have been slow to promote Ian Kennedy to AA despite his dominance, and I think that can be blamed on them wanting to promote Joba and Ian at the same time. Following this start, I can’t see the duo staying in Tampa past mid-June.
Jose Tabata was 1 for 4 with a walk, a double, and a strikeout. Tabata has hit 2 of his 6 doubles on the year in the last 3 games. Most impressive in his ABs today was the patience Jose was demonstrating. Reegie Corona does not seem to be seeing the ball well, as he went 1 for 4 with a walk and a strikeout. The box score wasn’t that bad, but Reegie had a lot of swings and misses and was able to put together a decent game in spite of that. The poorest showing of the day, however, belonged to Marcos Vechionacci. Marcos was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts and when he did make contact, it was excessively weak. Francisco Cervelli was 1 for 3 with a double and a strikeout and Colin Curtis was 1 for 4 with a walk. Both guys had the types of at bats that would have them classified as professional hitters by announcers across America. Unfortunately, while Curtis is heating up, Cervelli seems to be heading in the opposite direction. Francisco has struck out at least once in 9 straight games, including 2 games where he struck out thrice. He has 13 strikeouts in the last 36 at bats.
A-:
33. Mitch Hilligoss was 1 for 4 with a walk and a strikeout to push his streak to 33 games. Mitch has managed just 1 hit in 4 of the last 5 games, so it would seem that the streak is nearing its conclusion. Austin Jackson was 2 for 5 with a double and Jose Gil was 1 for 3 with a walk as the Charleston offense posted 6 runs on 11 hits. The member of the lineup most responsible for the scoring was Seth Fortenberry, who was 3 for 5 with his 9th double and 7th homer. Despite my love for age relative to league, I have a soft spot for Seth, so I’m happy to see that he seems to be warming up.
Mike Dunn, who definitely seems to be going through some type of fatigue, had a line of 5-7-3-3-1-5-0. It was good enough to pick up Dunn’s 5th victory of the year. As a converted pitcher, it makes sense that Dunn might have more battles with fatigue than the other guys on the farm.
Spotlight On:
Alan Horne and his 6:1 K:BB ratio going for Trenton.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Derek Jeter’s Streak Ended, But His Didn’t
Injuries/News:
Nothing.
AAA:
Eric Duncan and Alberto Gonzalez were both 1 for 3. However, the shortstop’s one was a double, as Gonzalez continues to pile up the extra base hits in the month of May.
AA:
Jeff Marquez had a nice bounce back after his last outing, which was his first poor outing of the year, 7-9-0-0-0-4-0 (IP-H-R-ER-BB-K-HR). Marquez has posted some pretty poor K numbers thus far, but my faith in him is unwavering.
A+:
The Tampa lineup faced another of the Devil Rays’ top prospects and the results were not surprising. Usually, Reegie Corona is solid, but last night, not so much. Corona was 0 for 6 with 3 strikeouts in what might have been his worst offensive game of the year. Jose Tabata, Francisco Cervelli, and Marcos Vechionacci were not much better, as they combined to go 1 for 14