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Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Good News Bad News

Injuries/News:

The good news is that there is a reason Ross Ohlendorf has been sucking as of late. The bad news is that it’s due to a lower back injury. I’ve speculated about Ohlendorf potentially hiding an injury from the second or so week of the season, so I don’t want to say I told you so, but...I told you so. Before it’s brought up that the Yankees are only admitting to the injury occurring recently, I want to say that teams rarely fully reveal the extent and duration of injuries and come on...how does a guy go from walking 29 men over the course of 182.2 innings one year to walking 19 in 34.2 innings the next year, if not for injury? Anyway, the initial diagnosis is that the injury, a strained lumbar spine, isn’t really that serious. However, because of it, the AAA rotation is now Clippard, Jackson, Wright, and the bullpen so Brett Smith, Alan Horne, Jeff Marquez, or Jason Jones could be getting the call.

AAA:

One of the three healthy AAA starters left, Chase Wright, took the mound and pitched decently. Wright’s final line of 6.1-8-1-1-1-2-0 (IP-H-R-ER-BB-K-HR) was nice because he only walked 1 person, but not so nice because he seemed to have major trouble putting hitters away. A fun fact about Wright is that he’s given up 0 homers in 40 innings between AA and AAA and...well, he gave up more than 0 homers during his stint in the majors.

Alberto Gonzalez was 0 for 4 with a strikeout and his average has dipped to .231. Eric Duncan was given the night off due to his recent struggles.

AA:

No game scheduled.

A+:

The Tampa offense could only muster 4 hits and 0 runs last night, but at the least the prospects didn’t have completely lost nights. Tabata, Corona, and Miranda were all 1 for 4 with a single. Miranda picked up a customary strikeout as well. Colin Curtis was 0 for 3 with a strikeout to drop his AVG to .237. and his OPS below .700. Francisco Cervelli, however, was immune from the difficulty the rest of his teammates had as he went 1 for 2 with a single and a walk. Cervelli now has a 15:16 BB:K ratio in 90 ABs and is having an excellent season.

A-:

One of the Yankees more highly touted international arms, Ivan Nova, made his full season debut and pitched predictably poor. While he flashed potential with his fastball, change, and curve at times, the overall results were not good. Considering that he was pitching in Ashville, I’m not too concerned. The final line of 5.1-4-4-3-3-3-1 shouldn’t be too disconcerting to anyone. Nova has terrific scouting reports, but I’m going to wait on him to develop a track record before jumping on the bandwagon.

Mitch Hilligoss was 3 for 4 with all singles and now has his AVG up to .319. An OPS of .800 is within sight as his hit streak has reached 21 games. Austin Jackson was 0 for 2 with 2 walks and a stolen base. Jackson’s BB:K ratio is a solid 15:30 and he has stolen 10 bases in 12 games. In both aspects he is showing that he has refined his game from where it was during the 2006 season. Seth Fortenberry and Jose Gil were a combined 1 for 8 with 2 strikeouts. Both hitters have been maddeningly hot and cold. Eduardo Nunez was 3 for 4 with 2 singles and his first home run of the season. Nunez now has 1 of each type of extra base hit. While his season cannot be categorized as good or promising, Nunez does seem to be making some type of progress from last year’s complete train wreck.

Spotlight On:

Ian Kennedy taking the mound for Tampa. I know...I think.

From the Comments:

What players are the Yankees targeting in the upcoming draft? Will they fall back on their bad old days or will it be more like 2006? Or more waste of times like Poterson or Duncan or Henry?

I wonder what round Mike Moustakas will go in, I’d like the Yankees to be bold and draft and sign him. Firm commitment to USC and Bora$$ is representing him.

I have no idea what the Yankees are going to do with regards to the draft. If I find out anything more concrete than that, I will be sure to discuss it, but at this point the Yankees choosing at the end of the round and the 56,490 picks that occur between the Yankees first pick and their second pick make draft speculation more difficult than normal.