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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.