Friday, June 6, 2008
NY Times - Kepner: Waiting for the Call
Thanks to Pinstripe Alley for this llink to this Times’ story about Mark Melancon today.
The Yankees were scrambling to reach .500 and escape last place. Joba Chamberlain had struggled in his first career start, and the bullpen was a work in progress without him.
The answer just might have been at sleepy Thomas J. Dodd Stadium, where the Yankees’ Class AA team, the Trenton Thunder, played a three-game series this week. Reliever Mark Melancon sat alone with a reporter in the vacant stands before Wednesday’s game, and he did not flinch when asked if he was ready for the majors.
“I think I could be ready as soon as they want me,” Melancon said. Later, he added there was no reason to think a call-up was far away.
“If I pitch well and continue to do what I’m capable of doing, I don’t see why not,” Melancon said. “Why not? Why isn’t it close? I really do believe I am capable of doing what they’re doing, all those guys out there. So, yeah, I think it’s close.”
Melancon, 23, is the reliever most likely to succeed Mariano Rivera as the Yankees’ closer, and he could make an impact sooner. He worked three scoreless innings for a win Wednesday and is 4-0 with a 2.30 earned run average in 19 games between Trenton and Class A Tampa.
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