Minor league snapshot
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Misc on Jun 14, 2010 
Print This Post
| 
Email This Post
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre
36-28, second place
Top hitter: SS Eduardo Nunez leads the team in hits, batting average, stolen bases and runs. He’s also second in RBI, and I’ve heard his defense has been pretty good this season, which seemed to be a concern after his 33 errors last year.
Top pitcher: Closer Jonathan Albaladejo leads the league in saves and has a 1.17 ERA with 40 strikeouts in 30.2 innings. My guess is that he’s leaped over Mark Melancon in the call-up pecking order.
Top prospect: No doubt C Jesus Montero is struggling in his first Triple-A season. He’s only 20 years old, so it’s still far too early to give up on him, but he’s hitting just .230 with three home runs.
Noteworthy: 1B/3B Jorge Vazquez was just promoted from Double-A. He’ll play both infield corners… Lefty relievers Boone Logan and Royce Ring are each pitching well with a sub-1.00 WHIP… RHP Ivan Nova has won two straight starts… OF Colin Curtis is back from a high ankle sprain… OF David Winfree leads the team in HR and RBI… RHP Zach McAllister had a five-game winning streak snapped on Friday. He has a 4.57 ERA and Triple-A hitters are batting .291 against him.
—
Trenton
38-23, first place
Top hitter: 3B Brandon Laird is a legitimate MVP candidate with the league lead in RBI. He’s also top five in slugging percentage, home runs, hits and runs. He’s primarily played third with some time at first.
Top pitcher: The Thunder have a few relievers with big numbers, but it’s hard to overlook starter David Phelps who’s 4-0 with a 2.08 ERA and a team-high 60 strikeouts. This is only his second full season of pro ball.
Top prospect: Laird might be the team’s top hitter, but C Austin Romine isn’t far behind. Even with a June slump he’s hitting .293 with a .429 slugging and a .360 on-base.
Noteworthy: Former New York OF Justin Christian was signed after spring training and has been a Trenton regular… RHP Hector Noesi won three of his first four Double-A starts after a call-up from Tampa. He has 24 strikeotus, five walks and a 2.57 ERA… 2B David Adams, LHP Jeremy Bleich and CF Damon Sublett are significant prospects on the Trenton disabled list… Relievers Grant Duff, Eric Wordekemper, Josh Schmidt and Wilkins Arias have pitched well, but they pitched well in Double-A last year. They’ve simply been crowded out of Scranton.
—
Tampa
32-27, third place
Top hitter: 2B Corban Joseph continues to establish himself as a legitimate infield prospect. Getting time at second and third base, he’s hit .309 with a .441 slugging percentage and a team-high 15 doubles and 37 RBI. He’s made 10 errors.
Top pitcher: With Noesi called up to Trenton, RHP Adam Warren is probably the top starter with a 2.44 ERA. He’s induced more than twice as many ground outs as fly outs. He was drafted just last year, so he’s definitely worth watching.
Top prospect: RHP Andrew Brackman had an awful April, a solid May and he’s so far had a good June. In his past four starts Brackman has a 1.56 ERA with four walks and 23 strikeouts. He’s getting further removed from Tommy John surgery, and it seems to be making a difference.
Noteworthy: Everyone’s favorite switch-pitcher Pat Venditte has 38 strikeouts and nine walks through 31.1 innings. He’s been slightly better against lefties than righties… RHP Dellin Betances came off the DL to allow just three hits through six innings on Thursday. RHP Manny Banuelos remains on the disabled list… If you don’t know it already, remember the name Graham Stoneburner. The right-hander was drafted last year and he’s arleady been promoted from Charleston to Tampa. He’s dominated both levels… 3B Bradley Suttle missed all of last season after shoulder surgery… LHP Shaeffer Hall is a Missouri kid, so of course I like him, and he’s earned a call-up to Tampa after a 1.85 ERA through 10 Charleston starts.
—
Charleston
29-33, fifth place
Top hitter: 1B Luke Murton leads the team 23 doubles and 37 RBI, and he’s tied for the team lead with eight home runs. In 10 fewer games than he played last season, he’s already topped his doubles and RBI totals and matched his home runs from last season in Staten Island.
Top pitcher: The top starters have already been promoted, but RHP Jose Ramirez is still in the rotation and pitching pretty well with a 3.31 ERA, 61 strikeouts and 20 walks. He just just 20 in January.
Top prospect: After opening the season in extended spring training, last year’s No. 1 draft pick CF Slade Heathcott is hitting .351/.419/.432 through his first nine games of full-season ball.
Noteworthy: Reliever Ryan Flannery is having a nice year with 25 strikeouts, seven walks and a 0.92 WHIP… One month after his 19th birthday, C J.R. Murphy is hitting just .221 with one home run. He joined the team in mid-May… Last year’s seventh-round pick RHP Sean Black has a 4.53 ERA for the year, but he had a 2.78 in May and has a 3.18 in June… C Kyle Higashioka was the youngest player in big league camp this spring. He’s hitting .201 with three home runs. He’s thrown out 34.5 percent of base runners.
Hey guys. If you haven’t I highly recommend reading NoMaas’s interview with Mark Newman. Tons, tons of info there.
Also, Montero has been hitting better lately, and already has a 2B today.
To hug or not to hug, that is the question.
Chad-
Phil asked you this the other day.
How come we haven’t heard anything on our draft signings, or have we ?
Thanks.
A Rebecca/plagiarist sighting! Wow!
I had a scout tell me today he feels Heathcott is the best Yankee OF prospect since Bernie Williams.
He thinks the kid has a chance to be special.
any idea how many games back these teams are? 5th place and 10 gb or 5 gb is different
SJ-
Thanks for that.
I nicknamed him “Slade the Blade” so I hope he lives up to the billing.
How fast will Heathcott move through the system?
Depends on health and how he handles the inevitable slumps.
I would guess he spends the rest of the year in Charleston.
Next year, he will start in Tampa. If he plays well there, he could finish the year in Trenton.
Rishi,
I’ve seen Tampa and Charleston play this year.
As teams, they aren’t very good.
Each team though has a few guys worth following through the system to see how they develop.
It would be amazing to have him in AA by the end of 2011.
I hope his head is screwed on better than Tabata’s.
With Heathcott’s speed I hope he also becomes an accomplished bunter.
Thanks, SJ – I only know what I get from the people who post here – work and following the Yankees are more than enough to occupy my days
bret,
That’s an aggressive timetable. He’s in essence a college freshman this year. He’s actually a year or two ahead right now by playing the SAL.
If he can continue to hit, he could move quickly.
The bat will dictate how fast he moves.
Charleston trailing 2-1 after 2 innings. Heathcott single, stolen base, run scored.
Zoilo Almonte with RBI single.
Sean Black, 2 innings, 2 hits, 2 runs, 1 earned run, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts, 1 HRA
After 4 innings, sanchez line is: 4 innings, 2 hits, 1 run, 0 walks, 4 strikeouts, 1 HR, 57 pitches, 37 strikes 3 ground outs, 5 fly outs. 6-1 scranton.
Bottom of the 4th inning: Gorecki triple
Curtis with RBI single
after 4 innings: 7-1 scranton
I asked for a list of draft signings today, but my sense is that they’re waiting to simply send a press release. I know none of the top picks have signed. Cito Culver can’t sign until after his high school graduation.
MTU (aka GBURL) June 14th, 2010 at 8:12 pm
With Heathcott’s speed I hope he also becomes an accomplished bunter.
———————————————————————————————————————-
They have him hitting leadoff right now, I assume just to get him extra at bats, but, viewed as a middle of the order hitter later on.
Chad, Thanks for all the content on a slow baseball day…GB7, Thank you for the updates.
GTLU hint for tomorrow:
Curtis Granderson has batted .417 in 12 at-bats against Doc.
I really wonder if Montero’s slow start in AAA will cause Cashman to sour on him much as he did Austin Jackson last year? From everything I’ve read something that Cashman saw from Jackson at AAA last year convinced him that he was not a ML center fielder. I wonder if history will repeat itself here?
Chad/GB-
Thank you.
What’s Murphy’s story? Seems he’s been DHing more than catching and the catching has been a struggle for him. IIRC he only switched to catcher his senior year in high school, so it’s not a shock to see him have some difficulties, but how’s he get the experience? Will they have him go to SI when the Short Season league starts?
I’ve been looking at the schedule for the rest of the year. After the AllStar break we are done with west coast swings. If we can finish strong before the break (we travel to ARI, LAD and then to OAK and SEA) we could have a nice run in the second half of the season.
It wasn’t that they felt he wasn’t a ML CF.
They felt he wouldn’t hit for much power in the majors and they already had an OF like that in Gardner.
They felt Granderson was going to be a better player than Jackson, even if Jackson hit his ceiling.
Montero’s bat has always projected higher than Jackson’s. They are two different level of prospects.
Doesn’t mean Cashman would never trade Montero. You never say never about any prospect.
It would take a bigtime return though in order for him to trade Montero.
Funny. I decided to check out RAB comments after I saw Rebecca’s post.
She is over there bashing lohud.
Murphy may be ticketed to SI when short season starts to catch there.
If that’s the case, perhaps they are saving some wear and tear on him now and getting him some AB’s in Charleston.
After 5 innings, Sanchez: 5 innings, 2 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts, 1 HRA, 73 pitches, 46 strikes, 4 ground outs, 5 fly outs
So our “A list” prospects currently are :
Montero
Romine
Nunez
Heathcott
Ramirez
Any others ?
Chad – many thanks for the minor league update. This was a great idea on an off-night.
1. Interesting that Albie has overtaken Mark Melancon out of the Scranton pen. Not a good sign for Melancon. He came with high expectations, but like so many has had problems taking that next step.
2. Lots of interesting numbers from guys. It gives hope, but as we’ve seen, many just don’t pan out. And it’s so hard to predict who will or won’t.
3. SJ – thanks for the tip on Heathcott. He’s at least three years away, so it will interesting keeping tabs on him.
4. GB – thanks, as always, for your keeping tabs. Stoneburner really sounds like another player to keep an eye on.
Oh and by funny, I didn’t mean I think it is funny that she is bashing lohud.
An annoyed chuckle kind of funny
“1. Interesting that Albie has overtaken Mark Melancon out of the Scranton pen. Not a good sign for Melancon. He came with high expectations, but like so many has had problems taking that next step.”
Melancon’s seems to be really struggling of late. He’s allowed 36 baserunners in his last 13 2/3 innings.
MTU:
you need to add Manny Ban
MTU,
I think David Adams is making his way up the prospect list. He’s a 2nd baseman and flat out rakes.
Montero line single to right field (he’s 3-3)
After a DP grounder, Corona doubled.
after 5 innings, Scranton leads 7-1.
MTU,
That’s pretty much the A List. Not a bad list.
The guys to watch are the guys like Phelps, Laird, Adams, Brackman (who could be A List again by the end of the season), Warren and Stoneburner.
Those guys are good prospects other teams are scouting heavily.
Man how bad are the Mariners. The Cardinals just finished a 1-6 road trip where they were badly beaten up, they are killing the Mariners 8-2. The Mariners start a rookie French who lasted 4 innings! They miss Lee and Felix this series.
SJ-
What’s your take on Banuelos ? A-list or not ?
This is actually funny.
Japan won 1-0 today.
The assist on the goal was from Daisuke Matsui
Vinny,
Can’t add Manny until he starts pitching again to see how he does.
If he pitches well, he’s probably a B-B+ guy for this year.
Unfortunately, its been a lost year for him so far.
Brackman this evening…
6IP 5H 2R 1ER 0BB 11K 0HR
He’s starting to put it together.
For Tampa Yanks tonight: Maruszak has a homer and 2 run single for 4 RBI, Joseph is 2-3 with 2 runs scored.
Brackman after 6 innings, 5 hits, 2 runs (1 earned), 0 walks, 11 strikeouts, 5 ground outs, 3 fly outs
SJK: Moving on to individual players and a lightening rod in the fanbase, let’s talk about Andrew Brackman. His control is remarkably better this year. His strikeout-to-walk ratio is almost 6. But, I also read reports earlier in the year that his velocity was down and his secondary pitches still needed significant work. Where does he stand right now with you?
MN: He was at 95 the other night. His secondary pitches have improved significantly. He’s made some great progress. There might be some Double-A in his future this year if he continues to perform well. This is the ‘second-year after elbow surgery’ case right here.
http://nomaas.org/2010/06/hell.....perations/
Joe, Nor and MTU, ya’ll are very welcome. Happy to do the updates.
And don’t look now, but Melky Mesa is having a pretty nice June.
SJ:
appreciate the word on Heathcott. Very exciting prospect (probably my fave)
interesting comment from Newman:
MN: I knew he was called up, but I haven’t checked the box score. We always knew he would be a good player, but we’re always going to trade good players — not all of them, but some of them, because we’re trying to win championships. The ownership has always told us, “The Yankees don’t rebuild.” The fans tell us that too. We’re the New York Yankees. We don’t go into a 3-year hiatus while we try to re-stock the system. We have to do this on the run. But those are the directives
I suspect the Yankees might have instructed Brackman to dial it down from 11 velocity-wise and throw the ball over the plate. He got murdered early, but perhaps he’s slowly not only getting stronger, but now mechanically more sound he’s beginning to dial it back up.
I saw Brackman pitch recently and he looked more like the guy from NC State I saw than at any other time in his pro career.
You can see it coming together for him.
I’d like to see him spend the second half of the year in AA.
If he can spend two months in AA, and pitch well, he’s a good Spring away from knocking on the door in NY.
Not a big Albaladejo fan no matter well he pitches in Scranton. He’s little more than mop up duty as far as I’m concerned and those guys grow on trees in the bigs.
I know Melancon hasn’t lived up to his billing yet but he seems to have much more upside than Albaladejo. Hopefully, he will get it together once of these days and find his control.
And Chad, I echo Joe frim LI’s sentiments. Great post for an off night. Hell, great post for any night.
We diehards love to hear about how the kids are doing. All the updates on that front are appreciated.
That goes for GB7 and his updates as well.
Adams is still out with a high ankle sprain/
B+ list includes Mitchell. Watch out for center fielder Zoilo Almonte, too. He’s raw, but, talented. Mesa has everything…including a young Alfonso Soriano’s strike zone judgement.
Looks like Montero has really started to turn his season around the last week or two.
“…including a young Alfonso Soriano’s strike zone judgement”
————————————————————
if that is the case, then probably a mature Soriano’s strike zone judgement as well
GF-
Everyone is hoping the beast has awakened.
MTU – we had a dumont.
Tom,
I once had a scout tell me the Yankees philsophy regarding prospects is that they keep the guys that do something really, really well within their skillsets.
Whether that’s running well, hit for power, hard thrower, etc.
“Good” players get dealt for help on the major league roster. However, if a guy has a special skill or tools, they will develop that guy to try and get him to the big club.
I’ve been waiting for a post like this. Thanks Chad. These types were amongst your best in Scranton.
Exciting times. Youth to make season even more interesting and trading pieces to help acquire talent.
Brackman and Betances are back.
If this system is fully healthy, we’re loaded.
Bronx-
Just another reason to like you.
5BB to 7K’s in 33 AB’s for Mesa in June.
Not all-world #’s, but for him a huge step.
We’ll see if it’s an abebration.
“I once had a scout tell me the Yankees philsophy regarding prospects is that they keep the guys that do something really, really well within their skillsets.
Whether that’s running well, hit for power, hard thrower, etc.
“Good” players get dealt for help on the major league roster. However, if a guy has a special skill or tools, they will develop that guy to try and get him to the big club”
———————————————————–
SJ:
based on this, does Nunez meet the criteria. Or is he strictly trade bait in 2010/2011?
“If this system is fully healthy, we’re loaded”
—————————————
would still like to see my boyy Kontos, get back
Albaladejo is a AAAA pitcher, not a MLer.
Vinny,
I think they would prefer to hold onto Nunez for another year.
He’s a gap to gap hitter, and that’s a special skill for a SS in today’s baseball.
He’s developing enough as a prospect though to where they might get some interesting offers for him.
I’d say that’s a 50-50 case.
SJ, that makes sense.
Do you think Gardner made Jackson redundant in the organzations eyes? Meaning, did the fact Gardner had success as an MLB’er make Jackson expendable to fill other needs?
OK. I’ve got what I think is a good question.
Who are the biggest “sleepers” in the system right now ?
Guys with big upside but not quite on the Radar just yet ?
I really liked this. It would be cool if you could do a midseason ranking of all prospects. Maybe top 30.
Speaking of Nunez, he just tripled in the Right center gap.
“He is more dedicated than before, teammates say, and as a result is no longer overshadowed by Dustin Pedroia, his counterpart in Boston, or Chase Utley, whose Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday open a three-game series at Yankee Stadium. As of now, the best all-around second baseman is probably wearing pinstripes. And carrying a very good glove.
?Everyone talks about how gifted of an athlete he is or what a great hitter he is, but no one really talks about his defense,? Mark Teixeira said of Cano. ?And to me, what I?ve seen the last two years, he?s the best second baseman I?ve ever played with or against. His range, his arm strength, his skill at turning the double play ? there?s no one who does it better.? ”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06.....imessports
Rich in NJ,
I don’t disagree with you, but I think for a 6th/7th inning guy, a AAAA guy is all we need. I can see him exceed in that role. I wouldn’t trust him, or at least not right now, in high pressure situations.
SJ- was it you who was saying that the Mariners were scouting our farm system pretty heavily ?
another great quote from that Cano article:
“?It?s not his fault that everything he does, he makes it look easy,? Kelleher said. ?I wouldn?t call it Latin, I wouldn?t call it American. I just call it the Robby Cano style. I bet everybody wishes they had it.? “
Sanchez gave up a total of 3 runs. Ring allowed an inherited run to score after giving up a 2 run homer. 7-4 scranton.
1 out and Curtis kines a double to right (he’s 4-4).
Nunez triples to right to score Curtis.
8-4 Scranton after 6 innings.
Wow! Brackman had 11 Ks tonight. That is impressive in any league.
For some reason, the filter keeps eating my posts.
MTU: Among my scout friends, Adams, Phelps and Stoneburner are the under the radar guys who have emerged this year.
With the season that Albaledejo is having in AAA and the problems the Yankee bullpen have had, I would assume there is good reason he has not been called up.
And that reason is not reflected in his numbers.
Brackman tonite- 11k’s with zero walks.
Thank you again SJ.
MTU, Luke Murton has a really good power bat and not a bad defensive first baseman. Lyerly is hitting well, but, an absolutely brutal 3rd baseman. Hard to say what Suttle is, but, he;s no 3rd baseman, either unless it’s with the bat.
LGY,
Some guys are just AAAA guys. Their stuff just doesn’t translate to the majors.
Much like an offensive player like Shelley Duncan. Great AAA numbers, just wasn’t good enough to sustain it at the major league level.
Thanks GB.
Wow. I just love talking about the farm system.
Albaladejo is about what Colter Bean was 5 years ago.
That’s why I said earlier, its SO hard to make it to the majors and HARDER to succeed there.
You watch enough minor league games in person like I do, you see a LOT of talented kids.
Kids you think are guaranteed to me successful major leaguers.
For one reason or another, most of them don’t make it.
I remember seeing Ricky Ledee in the minors and thinking that kid has a shot to be a really good ML player. It never came together for him.
Its just so tough to know with these kids. So many variables and its often more than just talent.
any time, MTU
Where is Phil the Thrill ? He always seems to have a lot to say about the Minors.
re: Melancon
Isn’t it relatively common for some prospects after returning to the minors after their 2nd or 3rd call-up to struggle?
The whole ‘dealing with the disappointment/questioning your team’s plan for you and your chance to make it to the show’ thing?
Montero is now 3-4 with a double and an RBI. Still fishing for down and away pitches. He’s doing that often, lately.
Igawa and Eric Duncan are perfect examples of a guy who cannot make it out of AAA. I actually thought Albaladejo would have made it and still might. Hopefully Russo can hold on like Cervelli and Pena.
Stuckey,
I don’t think that’s the case with Melancon. He hasn’t been up and down enough to have that affect on him.
I think his long arm action is a problem. It hurts his command and he has been leaving too many pitches in the middle of the plate and pitching in bad counts.
He’s kind of like Tex hitting from the left side. His swing mechanics are such that everything has to be in sync for him to hit from that side.
IMO, Mark is like that as a pitcher. With his mechanics, if they are off a fraction, its not good for him.
I think that’s his biggest problem.
Eric Duncan couldn’t make it outta AA.
Hi Chad,
Thank you for this update. I really appreciate the overview of the farm system. It adds a great dimension to the Yankee coverage!
Thanks for the minor league coverage Chad – it adds a ton of depth to this blog. Keep up the good work!
If I’m not mistaken, you previously covered the SWB Yankees? So minor leaguers are kind of your little niche, correct? I’m sure everyone appreciates the insight you provide.
If you still have any connections with the SWB coaching staff, more in depth and periodic updates on those AAA players would be great.