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Saturday, June 26, 2004

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, HE’S BACK

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, HE’S BACK
Columbus lost and it was another overall run of the mill game for the AAA squad. Scott Proctor pitched, but did not do great. In 1.2 innings the hard throwing reliever allowed 2 hits and walked 2 while striking out 1, though he did manage to avoid giving up any runs.

Andy Phillips was 0 for 3 with a walk and a strikeout while playing 1B. Phillips seems to have settled in at the .330 range in terms of batting average, he is currently at .332. 3B Jeff Deardorff had another good game as he went 2 for 4 with 2 singles to raise his average to .288.

An extra innings affair plus a good offensive showing meant that the Trenton batters got tons of plate appearances. The important hitters, outside of the resting Dioner Navarro, made good use of this. Robinson Cano had a huge game; the 2B was 4 for 6 with 2 singles, a double, and a home run. After this performance Cano is at .298, right on the cusp of that magical .300 batting average. Not one to be easily outdone, Bronson Sardinha continued to rake AA pitching by going 3 for 5 with 3 singles. I think Sardinha is enjoying life after the FSL.

The starting pitcher for the Thunder was Ramon Ramirez and he was simply dominant. In 7.1 innings, Ramirez permitted 5 hits, 3 runs, 3 earned runs, walked 1, and struck out 10. Once again, the numbers since his return from injury are: 20.2 innings, 17 hits, 8 runs, 8 earned runs, 2 walks, 23 strikeouts, and 1 home run. He has a quickDIPs of 2.06. CLEARLY, he was only struggling earlier because of the injury, and almost as clearly, he should be promoted to AAA. The Official Sixth Starter of the Minor Yankee Blog is back.

Melky Cabrera is unstoppable right now. After completing the MWL and slumping briefly in the FSL, Cabrera is starting to roll again. Tonight he was 2 for 4 with a double and a walk. For those of you attempting to keep count, and I know it’s hard, Melky now has 33 extra base hits in 269 combined at bats between A- and A> He also has 21 walks. Not too shabby for a 19-year-old who also happens to play outstanding defense.

Battle Creek, former home of Melky Cabrera, lost by a score of 5 to 2. Their offense only managed 2 runs despite banging out 11 hits and their opponents only managing 7 hits. Hector Made was not invited to the hit party though; he was 0 for 3 with a walk and 2 strikeouts. After experiencing a spike in his walk rate Made had gone back to his hacktastic ways. Hopefully, this is a step in the direction of his more patient, productive approach. Erold Andrus was 1 for 4 with a single and 2 strikeouts. Andrus has taken the 2-slot in the lineup, which was once the property of Good Made.

Eric Duncan continued to swing a power bat by going 1 for 4 with a triple and a strikeout. The triple was Duncan’s second of the year and his thirty-third extra base hit of the season. Duncan is finally getting on track again and if he gets hot enough may give himself a shot at some decent A exposure.

To cap the night, the most exciting team in the world, the GCL Yankees lost for the first time all season. Christian Garcia got his first action of the year. Though he started the game he did not last very long. In his lone inning of work, the very raw Garcia gave up 2 hits and 2 walks while not striking anyone out. This led to the scoring of 1 run, which was earned. (For nickname explanations see yesterday’s post) Toolsy McTools had a very mixed night. On the one hand he made 4 outs, including 3 strikeouts, and an error. On the other hand he also hit his third triple of the year.

My Boy had a night full of positives. He played SS, which is great, because I’m assuming it means he is excellent defensively at 3B, as that is the only type of 3B that can seriously be moved to SS. How was he at the plate? Excellent. In 1 at bat Vech singled, in his other he doubled. His other 2 plate appearances ended in walks. Perhaps this is the emergence of his famed plate patience/discipline. Yes folks, he is only 17.

Jon Poterson had another 0fer, this time it was for 4 at bats. Only one of those outs was a strikeout though, so that’s a plus. Tools managed to go 1 for 4 while striking out twice and Tools Jr. was 0 for 3 with a walk and a strikeout.

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