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Monday, April 30, 2007

Fresh Off The DL

Injuries/News:

Eric Duncan returned from the AAA DL in a big way today...Still no word on Vechionacci, Joba, or Kontos

AAA:

Darrell Rasner got the start for Scranton and pitched well before being pulled early. Rasner’s line was 5-4-0-0-1-3-0 (IP-H-R-ER-BB-K-HR) when he was pulled after 83 pitches. I can’t think of any other reason for him leaving the game this early, given how well he was pitching, so I’m going to speculate that he will be recalled sometime this week and the Yankees didn’t want to fully stretch him out.

Alberto Gonzalez had the day off, but there was a prospect in the Scranton lineup in the form of Eric Duncan. While he struck out in his first AB, Eric had a terrific day. He finished 2 for 4 with the previously mentioned strikeout, as well as a single, and a home run. The non-strikeout out was a fly ball deep to RF, but to be entirely fair, the single was also a pop to short LF so there’s some give and take there. Duncan had quality ABs and attacked pitches middle away, as is his tendency. It’s nice to see him get right back into the swing of things. It’d be nice if he could put up a big enough first half that he can become the full time 1B at the ML level.

AA:

Jeff Marquez picked up today’s victory for AA Trenton in impressive fashion: 7-7-0-0-0-6-0. The right-hander gave up some seeing eye singles in the first few innings, but settled down nicely. Most impressive about his outing was his confidence in all of his pitches, as well as the quality of said pitches. More so than Phil Hughes and Tyler Clippard when they were at Trenton, he did an excellent job of using his entire arsenal when needing out pitches. Right now, he is the Yankees best pitching prospect in the minors.

Brett Gardner utilized his speed to get a 2 for 5 night while striking out once between picking up the two singles. The CF also managed a stolen base. It was a busy day for him that even included a collision at 1B where, for a second, it seemed he might have been hurt. In the game following his hit streak being broken, Cody Ehlers got back on track by going 2 for 3 with 2 singles and 2 walks. Cody had a very solid approach at the plate today.

A+:

Daniel McCutchen found the going a bit tougher in his second High-A start. The right-hander could only muster a 5.2-7-3-3-2-4-1 line. McCutchen is really old for the level, so he’s going to have to adjust quickly to be taken seriously as a prospect.

Reegie Corona was 2 for 4 with 2 singles and a walk. Corona now has 4 walks in his last 4 games as he seems determined to provide value beyond AVG. Speaking of value beyond AVG, Jose Tabata was 1 for 1 with a single and 2 walks. Tabata has drawn 5 walks in the last 2 games. Unfortunately, he was removed from the game in the late innings. I don’t buy that the Yankees would utilize Colin Curtis as a defensive replacement for Tabata, which is supposedly what occurred, so I suspect something might be up. Hopefully, it’s just some type of slight discomfort. After coming in to play defense for Tabata, Curtis was 0 for 1 at the plate. Meanwhile, Juan Miranda continued to struggle. The 1B was 0 for 4 and is now 1 for his last 15. Next thing you know he’ll be bunting every time up…

A-:

Another day, another hit for Hilligoss. The 3B went 1 for 3 with a triple and has now hit in 11 straight games. Austin Jackson, Seth Fortenberry, and Jose Gil all had major struggles on this day though. They were a combined 0 for 11 with 3 strikeouts. Each of them has shown flashes this season, but struggled with consistency. Hopefully, they can heat up as Hilly has. Eduardo Nunez was 1 for 2 with a walk, a single, and a strikeout. Nunez has done a solid job controlling the strike zone thus far. Hopefully, the power comes next.

Michael Dunn was a bit victimized by poor defense, but still had a solid outing as far as peripherals: 6-9-5-1-1-9-2. Dunn is a bit old for the level; he will turn 22 in a few weeks, but should be given some leeway in regards to this because he is a converted pitcher. Thus far, the conversion has gone very well. In a system lacking LHP, Dunn is quickly making a name for himself.

Spotlight On:

Ross Ohlendorf taking the mound for Scranton. Ohlie will be attempting to get back on track, just like much of the AAA rotation seems to be attempting to do these days.