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Friday, April 27, 2007

Up and Down with T-Clip

Injuries/News:

The New York Yankees aren’t playing so well.

AAA:

Tyler Clippard was able to pick up his first career AAA victory by showing an ability to adjust. Given the lack of an overpowering fastball, Clippard has often been told to keep his pitches down in the zone. Unfortunately for him, he was missing low at the game’s outset. It wasn’t by much, but it was running up his pitch count and putting him in poor situations with hitters. Then, from about the 3rd inning on, Clippard adjusted and began throwing high. He was able to better hit his spots while doing so and pitch better. His overall line ended up being 5.1-3-1-1-4-5-0 and the way things are going at the big league level right now, that could be enough to name him the number 1 starter. I kid, I kid.

Alberto Gonzalez was 1 for 4 with a single, a strikeout, and an error, his 4th of the season, as he continues to scuffle a bit. Hopefully, he can find his footing.

AA:

Brett Gardner showed signs of life last night by going 1 for 3 with a single and 2 walks. Getting on base 3 times in 5 plate appearances led to 2 stolen bases. Whether by single or walk, the key for Gardner is getting on base. If he can do that and continue to hit the gaps as he’s done in the early going, it would be great.

A+:

Ian Kennedy got the start for Tampa and his final line was not representative of how well he pitched. Still, 5.1-6-3-3-3-9-0 is a fairly impressive performance, but it would have looked much better had the runners he left on not been allowed to score. Similar to his performance in Hawaii, Kennedy is striking out a ton of guys, but also walking his fair share. The walks are the only thing keeping me from declaring him ready for AA.

Jose Tabata, who had been 1 for his last 12, picked up 2 hits in 4 at bats, while striking out once. Tabata is currently hitting .288 and while he isn’t showing much in the way of power or patience at the moment, as long as he keeps his average up, I’ll be optimistic. He was also caught stealing for the second time this season. Reegie Corona was 2 for 4 with a single and a double, as well as a stolen base. Corona has now collected 4 2-hit games in a row. The groove he is in is reminiscent of the way he was hitting during early 2006. Juan Miranda had a blah night as he went 1 for 4 with a single and a strikeout. Colin Curtis and Francisco Cervelli had good nights though. Curtis was 1 for 2 with a single, a walk, a strikeout, a stolen base, and a caught stealing. He had a busy night to say the least. Cervelli was 2 for 3 with 2 singles, a walk, and a strikeout. I’ve really been impressed by Francisco’s transition to full season baseball thus far.

A-:

Angel Reyes got the start for Charleston and, as has been the case for him in the early going, was able to overcome control issues and put together a solid outing. His final line of 5-5-3-2-3-6-0 seems in line with expectations. His control problems aren’t Abel Gomez bad, but they do need to be worked on. Given the amount of walks, passed balls, and wild pitches that have occurred while Reyes is on the mound it seems strange that Dellin Bettances wouldn’t be in full season baseball.

Mitch Hilligoss overcame 2 strikeouts to finish the game 2 for 4 with 2 singles. His hit streak is now at 9 games, with 3 2-hit games thrown in. Wilmer Pino had a single and 2 strikeouts of his own in 4 at bats. Seth Fortenberry was 1 for 3 with a single, a walk, and...2 strikeouts. Eduardo Nunez was 1 for 3 with a single and a walk. Eduardo has a very nice 8:9 BB:K ratio in 62 at bats, but has shown little of anything else. My boy, Jose Gil, had a rough go of it; he was 0 for 4 with a strikeout and had to deal with Reyes’ pitches.

Spotlight On:

Steven Jackson, previously on the Scranton hot seat, gets the start today. With the troubles being faced by the major league rotation leading to Hughes’ call up, Jackson is safe at AAA, for now. However, if he continues to pitch poorly and guys like Alan Horne and Jeff Marquez continue to push well, he’s going to begin feeling pressure.