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Sunday, April 29, 2007

Trenton Bound?

Injuries/News:

Austin Jackson is back in action, but still no word on Eric Duncan or Marcos Vechionacci.

AAA:

Steven Jackson got rocked again for AAA Scranton. This was the second consecutive start in which Jackson could not complete 4 innings. Given the amount of arms in the Yankee system, Jackson is going to have to get his stuff together quickly or he will be headed to AA. The most depressing part of his 3.2-8-6-6-2-2-3 (IP-H-R-ER-BB-K-HR) line was the fact that he gave up 3 homers. Jackson doesn’t have particularly impressive stuff and needs to keep the ball down in the zone. Right now he’s missing by inches and leaving the ball belt high. The opposing hitters are then doing what they’re supposed to do with those types of pitches.

Alberto Gonzalez was 0 for 2 and would leave the game in the 7th after being hit by a pitch. No word yet on whether or not he will be missing time.

AA:

Chase Wright returned to AA and did a much better job with those hitters than he did with major league ones. His 6-5-2-2-2-6-0 line was probably a bit disappointing for him though because he lost his scoreless streak. If Wright continues to pitch well for the Thunder, he could be the guy to take Steven Jackson’s AAA spot.

Brett Gardner had his best game in a long time. The speedy CF was 3 for 5 with 2 singles, a triple, and 2 steals. Gardner has now exceeded his 2006 AA extra base hit total. In addition, despite hitting .056 points lower, Gardner’s current OPS is actually higher than what he posted in AA last year. His stolen base, extra base hit, and walk total are all equal or better than his strikeout total. If he can get his AVG up a bit higher then Gardner will begin to get more serious recognition.

Cody Ehlers was 0 for 4 with a strikeout. After a lukewarm hit streak, Ehlers is back to his struggles. He’s just not driving the ball at all right now.

A+:

Tampa played another marathon game, and as tends to be the case in those situations, some ugly lines were produced. Reegie Corona’s was the ugliest of all. He was 0 for 5 with a walk and a strikeout, but that wasn’t the worst of it. Corona managed to make 4 errors, all of them of the fielding variety. Juan Miranda was 0 for 7 with 2 strikeouts and is now down to .250.

Colin Curtis, Francisco Cervelli, and Jose Tabata all had nights of varying promise. Curtis has been hot lately and continued that by going 2 for 4 with 2 singles and 2 walks. He is now 9 for his last 16 with 1 home run, 6 walks, and 2 strikeouts. Cervelli was 1 for 5 with a double, a walk, and 2 strikeouts. Francisco never seems to have an entirely negative night. There are always one or two things that he gets done that makes you say “well, at least he...”. Jose Tabata was 1 for 4 with a single, 3 walks, and a strikeout. Tabata has been hitting the ball up the middle and the other way as of late, which is his strength as a hitter, and I think he might be ready to go on a tear.

A-:

Austin Jackson returned to the Charleston lineup, but was largely left out of the 7-run, 12-hit party. Jackson returned as a DH, probably to give him some more time to heal, and went 0 for 4 with a walk and 2 strikeouts. Jackson’s 3:18 BB:K ratio is less than exciting. Mitch Hilligoss continued to hit well as of late, going 2 for 5 with 2 singles and 2 stolen bases. Hilly’s hit streak is now 10 games. Seth Fortenberry was 2 for 5 with 2 singles, a strikeout, and a stolen base. Fortenberry is very old for the Low-A level, but there’s something about him that I find very exciting. Finally, Eduardo Nunez was 1 for 4 with a single. 66 ABs into the season and he has yet to collect an extra base hit.

Spotlight On:

Jeff Marquez takes the mound for Trenton this afternoon. Normally, I would go with Scranton, but I really love Marquez and Darrell Rasner, who is currently scheduled to start for Scranton, is just not that exciting to me.