The Bronx View

Tampa had the day off. Scranton:

One of those days where there isn’t too much to report on in Scranton.

Jesus Montero went 0-for-4 as Scranton was able to pound out eight hits…but only one run. That run came off of the bat of Reegie Corona (23, IF), who hit a solo home run. Corona is actually an interesting prospect in his own right – but he hasn’t hit in Scranton this year (.218/.292/.331; 25 walks, 42 K in 69 games). Last year for Trenton, he put up a solid .287/.397/.397 line with more walks than strikeouts (56/50). He still flashes some speed, as he is 7-for-8 stealing bases this year and was 16-for-20 doing it last year. Eduardo Nunez contributed a hit, dropping his June line to .333/.358/.436.

Rumolo Sanchez was all over the place today, lasting only 4.2 innings, allowing six hits and five walks. Amazingly, he also only allowed one run. He struck out three.

—————————————–

Trenton:

Well, he did it again. Brandon Laird connected on home run #16 today, while little Austin Krum hit a game-winning two-run home run in the 8th inning of a 4-3 decision.

Laird is at .293/.345/.545 on the season. In his last ten games, he’s put up a bit of a weird line: .200/.289/.600. That’s because he has eight hits in those 10 games…five of which went over the fence.

Krum’s blast was his second of the season and he is now hitting .262/.360/.323 with 12 steals in 19 attempts. Any future he has is of a backup outfielder – and to make himself more valuable, he has to be better stealing bases.

David Phelps had an off-day for him, as he hit the lowest possible outing to qualify for a quality start. He went six innings, allowing three runs on five hits. He walked only one and struck out 10. In 13 starts, he is 5-0 with a 2.19 ERA (82.1 IP, 57 H, 21 BB, 77 K, 2 HR, 1.23 GB/FB).

Tim Norton pitched two scoreless innings in relief to get his first Double-A victory. In four innings with Trenton, he has allowed one hit and no walks while striking out seven.

———————————————–

Charleston:

A bit of a heart-breaker today as Charleston allowed a run in the first inning….and went on to lose, 1-0. They were only able to muster three hits in the loss, one of which was by JR Murphy (.244/.296/.309).

On the hill, Michael Solbach was the hard-luck loser, allowing that one run on just one hit in five innings. He did walk three though, while striking out one. The 24-year old is 1-2 with a 2.86 ERA this season (17 games, 3 starts, 44 IP, 43 H, 11 BB, 46 K, 2 HR).

Scranton:

Wouldn’t it be nice if Jesus Montero is going on a bit of a power surge?

Montero went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run, while Eduardo Nunez added two hits (including a double) and a run batted in…but it wasn’t enough as Scranton lost, 5-4.

Montero’s home run was his fourth of the season, and he now has nine extra base hits in his last 10 games played. After struggling mightily for weeks, he finally has his slugging percentage back up over .400 (.402) and he has 15 hits in his last 10 games.

Nunez just keeps motoring along, and is all the way up to .322 on the season. He is hitting .410 in his last ten games.

On the mound, Mark Melancon pitched well in relief, going two scoreless innings. He allowed one hit and no walks while striking out three. Melancon has had some struggles this season, but it will be interesting to see what the Yankees do if he gets on a roll. He hasn’t allowed a run in his last five appearances, though I think in one of those appearances he gave up some inherited runs. ————————————————————

Trenton:

Brandon Laird hit his organization leading 15th home run of the season, but Trenton’s furious late comeback was all for naught in a 10-9 loss. Trenton scored two runs in the eighth and three more in the ninth to tie the game at 9, only to lose it in the tenth.

Laird has been pretty much all or nothing as of late. He only has four hits in his last seven games, but three of them have been home runs. He is hitting .293 with 15 doubles, two triples, 15 home runs and 64 RBI.

Austin Romine, mired in a 3-for-34 slump entering the game, went 3-for-5 with a double, a walk, an RBI and two runs scored. He is now hitting .288.

The rejunivated Marcos Vechionacci contributed a 3-for-4 night with a home run, two RBI, a walk, and two runs scored. He is now all the way up to .301 on the season, thanks in part to a .424 number in his last 10 games. In June, he is hitting .442/.539/.628. Probably nothing more than a random hot streak, but wouldn’t it be fun if he has finally tapped into all of the potential he once had? Luis Nunez (23, IF) went 2-for-4 with a walk in the loss to raise his line to .252/.298/.401 on the season. He has seven hits in his last three games.

————————————————————

Tampa:

Andrew Brackman has been rolling along over his last several starts, but tonight he put up a clunker as Tampa lost, 5-1. Brackman lasted only five innings, giving up five runs on five hits. He walked two and struck out five. He allowed two home runs.

The outing rose his ERA back above 5.00 on the season (5.10). In 60 innings this year, he has allowed 67 hits while walking nine and striking out 56. He has allowed five home runs.

Pat Venditte pitched the final three innings, allowing no runs on three hits. He walked nobody and struck out six. He has a 2.23 ERA in 20 games, striking out 48 in 36.1 innings. He has also allowed only one home run while walking nine. I think he should be promoted after Trenton’s All-Star break at the latest.

At the plate, Corban Joseph went 2-for-4 with two doubles to raise his average to .303. He has 17 doubles and four home runs in 244 at-bats.

————————————————————

Charleston:

Slade Heathcott continues to hit, going 2-for-5 today with a walk, a run scored, and a stolen base…but it wasn’t enough as Charleston lost an 11-6 slugfest.

Heathcott is now hitting .313 with six steals in seven attempts. He has three doubles, a triple, six walks and 15 strikeouts in 64 at-bats.

Fellow teenager JR Murphy also contributed two hits to the losing effort. He drove in a run, scored two, and drew a walk of his own. He raised his average to .242.

Jimmy Paredes (21, SS) went 3-for-6 with a double, two RBI, and a run scored. He is hitting .280 on the season and .342 in his last ten games. After a slow start to the season (.236/.263/.303 in April), Paredes has really turned it on: .313/.339/.416 in May and .273/.324/.379 in June. Not bad for a young, developing shortstop.

Scranton:

Does Jesus Montero think he is Brett Gardner all of a sudden? Montero went 3-for-4 tonight with a single, double, and a triple (his second in two games!) to help Scranton take a 4-1 victory.

All of a sudden, Montero is hitting .405 over his last ten games, and has eight extra base hits in those games (6 doubles, 2 triples). He has three three-hit games in his last seven games played. He is up to .248 overall and his slugging percentage is starting to creep up – it’s still only .390, but that is a big climb from where he was.

Eduardo Nunez went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI and is now hitting .320 on the season.

Dustin Moseley struck out 10 hitters for the second consecutive start to get the victory.

Jonathan Albaladejo earned yet another save, his 23rd. With the current state of the Yankees bullpen, they seriously need to consider giving him another try. He is 1-1 with a 1.10 ERA for Scranton this season. In 32.2 innings, he has allowed 16 hits, two home runs, and has walked 11 while striking out 44.

—————————————–

Trenton:

Hector Noesi threw yet another good game…but it turned out to be nothing more than a Vazquez type of night, as the Thunder fell 1-0.

Noesi, like Vazquez, went 7 innings. He allowed six hits, walked nobody, and struck out five. His only mistake ended up in the stands for a home run. Noesi is now 3-1 with a 2.31 ERA for Trenton (35 IP, 31 H, 5 BB, 30 K). In two stops, he is 8-3 on the season (78 IP, 66 H, 11 BB, 82 K).

Daniel Brewer hit his 17th double in the losing effort.

—————————————–

Tampa:

George Kontos is back from his surgery. His first performance didn’t go very well in terms of the scoreboard, but that wasn’t the important thing. Kontos gave up three runs on four hits in 2.2 innings as Tampa lost, 9-4. He walked one and struck out four. He pitched a scoreless first, gave up three in the second, then got two outs in the third. Obviously, he was given X number of pitches tonight to do whatever he could do with them. Overall, the most important thing is that he is back throwing. Kontos is a 25-year old hard throwing right-hander who could have a future in the bullpen. Before going down to injury last year, he was 4-5 with a 3.15 ERA (71.1 IP, 63 H, 30 BB, 63 K).

JB Cox was brilliant in his second game back from no man’s land – he didn’t allow an earned run in two thirds of an inning! The only problem? He allowed four unearned ones.

Neil Medchill went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI, but that was only enough to get him up to .192 on the season.

—————————————–

Charleston:

Not much to report here for the second night in a row, as they only mustered five hits in a 4-1 loss. What, the entire organization can’t hit now?

JR Murphy contributed a hit, as did Zolio Almonte. Almonte hit a double and scored the team’s only run. His average is at .288 and his slugging percentage is at .502.

Scranton:

Jesus Montero actually legged out a triple tonight, but that was one of the three hits Scranton was able to muster as they got shutout, 2-0.

The triple was Montero’s second of the season (which probably means that if Brett Gardner was running, they would have been inside-the-park home runs).

Zack McAllister only lasted four innings in this one, laboring through 88 pitches. He allowed both runs on six hits, walking two and striking out three. McAllister (22) is now 5-4 with a 4.56 ERA (71 IP, 83 H, 17 BB, 46 K) on the season.

Some minor promotion news: Reliever Eric Wordekemper (26) has been promoted from Trenton. He went a scoreless inning tonight, allowing two hits and striking out two. For Trenton, Wordekemper pitched very well (3-0, 2.88 ERA, 34.1 IP, 26 H, 8 BB, 35 K). I wouldn’t expect much of anything from him, though he could make a major league appearance or two. ———————————————————

Trenton:

Shortstop Luis Nunez did his best impression of Scranton’s Eduardo, going 3-for-4 with a home run, four RBI, and two runs scored to lead Trenton to a 8-4 victory.

Nunez (23) hit well in limited duty for Tampa in 2009, putting up a .304/.362/.462 line in 158 at-bats. Eduardo is the much bigger prospect, but Luis has a little bit of talent too.

Marcos Vechionacci went 2-for-4 with two runs scored to raise his line to .295/.367/.456.

In other minor promotion news, Tim Norton was promoted from Tampa to Trenton. Tonight, he pitched two scoreless innings of relief, striking out 3. The now-27 year old pitcher has bounced around a bit in the organization, starting & relieving while battling injuries. It’s never too late for a reliever to bloom, but his time is obviously running out. He was 0-0 with a 1.69 ERA for Tampa, striking out 32 while walking only 3 in 21.1 innings.

———————————————————

Tampa:

Shaeffer Hall continues to befuddle minor league hitters, though he only lasted 5.2 innings in this one. In those 5.2 innings, he allowed 2 runs (1 earned) on six hits, while walking one and striking out five as Tampa took the win. Hall is now 3-0 with a 1.04 ERA in three starts for Tampa, and 5-2 with a 1.69 ERA in 13 starts overall. (85.1 IP, 65 H, 13 BB, 63 K, 1 HR, 1.40 GB/FB)

At the plate, Melky Mesa went 1-for-4 with a two run home run, his 6th of the season. He is now hitting .244/.325/.407 on the season, and is at .326/.404/.652 in 42 June at-bats.

———————————————————

Charleston:

Slade Heathcott had one of Charleston’s lowly three hits as they fell, 6-1. Heathcott is now 18-for-55 and is on an 8-game hitting streak.

Emerson Landoni, who went 5-for-5 last night, went 2-for-3 tonight with a solo home run.

Scranton had the night off.

Trenton:

Daniel Brewer had a nice night, going 2-for-3 with a double, three RBI, a walk, and his 19th stolen base of the season but it wasn’t enough as Trenton fell, 8-4.

The culprit for this loss was the last remaining player from the Gary Sheffield trade, as Kevin Whelan gave up three runs on NO hits in a third of an inning.  He walked five batters and struck out one to give his ERA a nice boost to 8.53.

Tampa:

Graham Stoneburner pitched yet another strong game, throwing seven shutout innings to lead Tampa to a 4-0 win. Stoneburner (22) allowed four hits and one walk while striking out five. In 6 starts for Tampa, he is 4-2 with a 2.25 ERA (36 IP, 19 H, 11 BB, 35 K, 0 HR). Overall on the season, including his stop at Charleston, he has made 13 starts and is 5-5 with a 2.16 ERA (75 IP, 46 H, 21 BB, 79 K, 2 HR).

Stoneburner’s best asset is a fastball that can register in the mid-90s. His slider is a workable strikeout pitch, and he is working on his changeup.   He’s been pretty much unhittable this season, and if the Yankees wish, they could fast-track him to be a reliever at any time.    Of course, when someone has been this successful as a starter, why fast-track him as a reliever?     He’s been generating a lot of grounders, striking out hitters at a strong clip, and limiting his walks.   That is pretty much the easiest recipe for success.

This is not a polished college pitcher who enters the minor leagues and starts dominating overmatched hitters out of high school.   Stoneburner was quite unpolished coming out of college; he was drafted as an eligible sophomore and only had one year of starting experience in college.    This is why the intrigue is so high; he was an overslot that the Yankees probably expected to hang around in Charleston all year; there was probably even a scenario where they saw him going to Staten Island once short-season began (He only threw one minor league inning last year).   Instead, he got to Tampa in two months and continues to blow away hitters.  I have no idea where he is going – but the beginning has been very, very good.

Pat Veneditte worked the final two innings, retiring all six hitters he faced.  He struck out four of them.  In 19 games, Venditte has a 2.43 ERA (33.1 IP, 23 H, 9 BB, 42 K, 1 HR).     Coming into tonight’s game, he held lefties to a .189 batting average and righties to a .210 batting average.

——————————————————————————-

Charleston:

JR Murphy went 4-for-6 with a double and 2 RBI, while Slade Heathcott went 2-for-6 with two doubles and  four runs batted in as Charleston pounded out 22 hits in a 15-6 victory.    Heathcott (19) is now 17-for-51 with Charleston (.333).   Murphy (also 19) is hitting .241 overall in 108 at-bats. Obviously, when a team pounds out 22 hits, there are going to be a lot of stars of the game: Robert Lyerly went 3-for-5 with a run scored (.327/.380/.432; he is only hitting .568 in his last ten games.) DeAngelo Mack went 1-for-2 with three runs scored and three walks.   Zolio Almonte contributed two hits, a double, an RBI, and his 7th stolen base (though he also has 6 caught stealings).   21-year old infielder Emerson Landoni went 5-for-5 with four runs scored, three RBI, and two stolen bases.    It lifted his previously terrible stat-line to one that is…well, still terrible:  .257/.289/.329.  I do not know much about him other than the fact that the Yankees signed him in 2007 after being released by the Marlins.

On a bit of a down note, Jairo Heredia was lifted after 4.2 innings for reasons unknown.    He hadn’t allowed a run yet, walked one and struck out three.    Heredia has been disappointing this year (actually demoted from Tampa to Charleston) but is still an intriguing prospect.  He threw five scoreless innings in his last start.   Hopefully it is nothing serious. Overall, he is 2-7 this season with a 5.46 ERA (57.2 IP, 74 H, 4 HR, 19 BB, 40 K, 4 HR, 1.66 GB/FB).   Sometimes when you see numbers like these, you think some of his problems can be linked to good, old-fashioned bad luck. ———————————————————————————————-

Posted by Tom K.

Scranton:

Ivan Nova pitched eight brilliant innings to lead Scranton to a 4-1 victory.

Nova allowed one run on five hits.  He walked two and struck out five. On the season, the 23-year old righty is 5-2 with a 3.42 ERA.  In 71 innings, he has allowed 73 hits while walking 25 and striking out 53.    He is 3-0 in his last three starts, allowing four runs (three earned) in 20.1 innings.

Not a huge offensive night for the true prospects in Scranton.   Eduardo Nunez & Colin Curtis each went 1-for-4 while Jesus Montero went 0-for-3. The big blow was a 3-run home run by 29-year old minor league lifer Reid Gorecki in the 8th inning, his third of the season.
——————————————————————————————————————
Trenton:

David Phelps is putting together one of the better first halves to a season that you’ll find. Phelps threw seven innings of one-run ball while Brandon Laird hit his 14th home run of the season to lead Trenton to a 9-1 victory.

Phelps (23) is now 5-0 in 12 starts for Trenton with a 2.00 ERA.   In 76.1 innings, he’s allowed only 52 hits while walking 20 and striking out 67.  He has allowed only one home run and has a 1.17 GB/FB.    Phelps is now 26-6 in his minor league career.   He was drafted out of Notre Dame in the 14th round of the 2008 draft.    Phelps throws a bunch of pitches (fastball, curve, slider, change)  and supposedly has a funky delivery that helps keep hitters off-balance.  He is consistently in the low 90s, though he could dial it up a bit more when needed.    His slider is his best breaking pitch.

Laird is at .305 with 14 home runs and 62 RBI.  The 62 RBI I believe leads all minor league players.    Austin Romine contributed a hit and a run, but was only 1-for-5 overall to drop his average to .291.

Ryan Pope pitched the final two innings, allowing two hits while striking out two.   His ERA overall stands at 4.17, but here is his line since joining the bullpen:   17.2 IP, 14 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 25 K.
——————————————————————————————————————-
Tampa:

Dellin Betances pitched a great game, only to have JB Cox blow it, as Tampa took a 6-2 loss. Betances went six shutout innings, allowing only two hits.  He walked one and struck out seven.  It’s almost as if he’s been pitching all season.   In two games since coming back from rehab, he is 1-0 with a 0.75 ERA (12 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 13 K).  Not too shabby.

Cox, making his return to the organization, allowed five runs in one inning.

Melky Mesa went 2-for-4 with a triple and an RBI in the loss.

———————————————————————————————————————-

Charleston:

Zolio Almonte hit another home run, his 10th of the season, as Charelston pulled out a 4-3 victory. Almonte has hit home runs in back to back games and has four home runs in his last three games.

Slade Heathcott contributed a hit and two stolen bases (5) to the winning effort.  Heathcott is now 15-for-45 since joining Charleston and is 5-for-6 stealing bases.    I don’t know if he is going to stay here or not, but so far, he is comfortable at this level.

22-year old Robert Lyerly contributed three hits and an RBI to the cause, and is now hitting .321.  He has yet to show home run power in his brief minor league career, but he does have 20 doubles this season in 215 at-bats.    In Staten Island last year, he hit 8 doubles in 71 at-bats.  He is a left-handed hitter who has played both corner infield positions.

Posted by Tom K.

Trenton was off tonight – but it was still a busy night for many prospects.

Scranton:

Eduardo Nunez went 3-for-5 with two doubles, a triple, and two RBI to lead Scranton to a 8-6 victory.  Nunez got his slugging percentage back up over .400 and is at .323/.364/.413 overall.   He has walked only 14 times, while striking out 35 times in 254 at-bats.  So the name of his game is contact. A shortstop version of Robinson Cano?  We can only dream about that.   One thing he has that Cano doesn’t:  The ability to steal bases.  He is 14-for-17.

Jesus Montero contributed three hits, including a double, to raise his line to .240/.311/.365.   He is 8-for-his-last 15.

Colin Curtis also joined in on the hit parade, going 4-for-5 with a double, two RBI, and two runs scored.   Curtis is at .286/.370/.371.

Jorge Vazquez hit his first Triple-A home run, and drove in three runs overall as Scranton took an 8-6 decision. Vazquez was recently called up to Scranton from Trenton.   He is on the older side (28), but has shown good power since arriving to the Yankees from the Mexican League.  He isn’t on the 40-man roster, so it would take something significant to get him into the Bronx, but this is the type of player you may see come September.

The inconsistent Romulo Sanchez started, and got the victory.  He went 5.1 innings, allowing three runs on four hits.  He walked one and struck out seven.   Sanchez is now 3-5 with a 5.03 ERA on the season (62.2 IP, 58 H, 37 BB, 53 K, 6 HR).  In some ways, it is hard to evaluate Sanchez as his likely destination is the bullpen.

———————————————-

Tampa:

It may be safe to say that Andrew Brackman has figured something out.   This is not to say he has figured everything out; but something seems to have clicked. Brackman was brilliant yet again, allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits in six innings to gain the victory as Tampa won, 7-3.

Brackman walked nobody and struck out 11 in the victory.     Brackman is now 5-3 with a 4.75 ERA (11 starts, 55 IP, 62 H, 7 BB, 51 K, 3 HR, 1.83 GB/FB). His line in his last five starts:   29 IP, 23 H, 6 runs (5 earned), 4 BB, 34 K.

At the plate, second baseman Corban Joseph continued his hot hitting, going 2-for-4 with two runs scored to raise his line to .313/.380/.442.    Joseph is hitting .381 in his last 10 games. Addison Maruszak (23, IF) contributed two hits, a home run, and four runs batted in to the cause.  He is hitting .319/.353/.426 on the season.

————————————————-

Charleston:

Zolio Almonte (21) pounded his 9th home run of the year, but it wasn’t enough as Charleston lost 7-4. Almonte is now hitting .284/.338/.486 in 208 at-bats.  The power is very, very real.

Slade Heathcott& JR Murphy both contributed a hit and a run scored, while Jimmy Paredes went 2-for-4 with two doubles and a run scored.  Paredes is now hitting .275/.303/.360 with 24 steals in 29 attempts.   He is a 21-year old shortstop.

Posted by Tom K.

A light report tonight, as both Tampa & Charleston had the night off.

Scranton:

Eduardo Nunez went 3-for-4 with an RBI, while Colin Curtis added a hit, walk, and two runs scored as Scranton took a 3-1 victory.

Nunez is now hitting .317/.360/.394 and is at .321/.357/.358 in June.  This is significant because he didn’t hit all that well in May. Curtis (25, outfielder) is hitting .260/.351/.340 on the season in 100 at-bats.  He’s only hitting .135 in his last 10 games.

Jorge Vazquez made his Triple-A debut, playing third base and going 0-for-3.   Juan Miranda had two hits.

Tim Redding pitched well to earn the victory, and Jonathan Albaladejo picked up his 21st save. ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————– Trenton:

Is there a level that can challenge Hector Noesi?   Noesi pulled off a rare feat for the modern day pitching prospect, tossing a complete game to lead Trenton to a 10-2 victory.

Noesi (23, RHP) allowed two runs (one earned) on nine hits.  He walked one and struck out six.   Since being promoted, he is 3-0 with a 2.57 ERA in four starts (28 IP, 25 H, 5 BB, 24 K, 4 HR).   Overall on the season, including his stint in Tampa, he has made 12 starts and is 8-2 with a 2.66 ERA (71 IP, 60 H, 11 BB, 77 K, 7 HR). Noesi’s best asset is his unbelievable command of two plus pitches.  He throws a fastball in the 92-94 range with a curve ball that has been touted by some as the very best in the organization.   He throws a change for his third pitch, but that pitch is a bit more erratic.   He also mixes in a sinking fastball.     In any case, to demonstrate his command, here is a look at his career line:   263.2 IP, 45 BB, 272 K.   That’s insane. So where is his future?  Assuming he sticks with the Yankees, he could be a bullpen fixture at some point, giving his great command of two plus-plus pitches.  This is not to say they need to start him on that road now; who knows?  He may someday command that changeup better and become a true three pitch pitcher.    He is quickly becoming a very intriguing major league prospect.

At the plate, Brandon Laird went 1-for-4 with a double, two runs scored, and an RBI while Daniel Brewer went 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI.  On the season, Brewer is hitting .243/.321/.405.    He’s a right-handed hitter who is actually showing off much more success vs. righties than lefties (.286/.353/.448 vs. righties; .125/.239/.286 vs. lefties).