Dan Burawa Tears Oblique Muscle

Originally it was thought to be a rib cage injury, but he had an MRI and was diagnosed with a tear of the oblique muscle, which is one of the abdominal muscles. This injury will take approximately 2-6 weeks to heal if it is a 2nd degree strain. If it is a 3rd degree strain, it will require surgery and he'll be out up to 6 months, possibly more. He was likely slotted to start next season in either High A or AA. Here's to hoping he has a fast recovery, and that it's NOT a 3rd degree strain.

15 Prospects Invited to Big League Camp

Gary Sanchez and JR Murphy: Image thanks to milb.com

In no particular order...

1. Manny Banuelos LHP
2. Austin Romine C
3. Gary Sanchez C
4. Doug Bernier INF
5. Dan Burawa RH RP
6. Colin Curtis OF
7. Jose Gil C
8. Kyle Higashioka C
9. Brett Marshall RHP
10. Ryan Pope RH RP
11. Graham Stoneburner RHP
12. Jorge Vazquez 1B
13. Adam Warren RHP
14. Kevin Whelan RH RP
15. Chase Whitley RH RP

Others will be invited as well, but won't be in the official press release. For example, I think it is safe to say that Dellin Betances, David Phelps, DJ Mitchell, Brandon Laird, George Kontos, and some other solid specs will be in attendance. Nothing exciting here, but I'm sure it's very exciting for some of the prospects. JR Murphy and Gary Sanchez will be excited for their first trip, although they were both probably more invited for their ability to hold a catcher's mitt and catch 95 mph heat while in the crouched position.

YEEP 7/15/11: Who's the new guy?

Evil Em VP of the day: Jose Quintana. 7 IP, 9 K, 0 ER. That'll get you the MVP. Image thanks to... you guessed it, fourseamimages.com

AAA SWB: W 7-3 vs. Toledo. W: Flores
Russo: 2/4, HR, 2 R, 4 RBI, BB. Busy night for him.
Montero: 1/5, RBI, 3 K
JoVa: 2/4, 2 RBI, K
Laird: 0/2, K. He was ejected. Played LF today.
DJ Mitchell: 4.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 4 K. I bet no one is up in arms about him not eclipsing 5 IP today.
Whelan: 1 IP, 2 H, ER, BS. He's back.
Wordekemper: 1 IP, K, 0 ER.
Kensing: 1 IP, K, 0 ER. I mention him because I read somewhere he was clocked at 93-94 recently.

AA Trenton W 3-1 vs. Reading. W: Garrison, S: Schmidt.
Ray Kruml: 0/4, R, K
CoJo: 1/3, BB, CS
Austin BRomine: 0/2, R, 2 BB.
R-Ly Lyerly: 1/4, K, RBI.
Boilin Zoilo: 0/4, 2 K. Newly promoted, obligatory adjustment period.
Melky Mesa: 2/4, 3B, 2 RBI. Nice game for him.
Nothing to speak of pitching wise. Steve Garrison had a good start, but he doesn't excite me.

High A Tampa: W 1-0 vs Palm Beach. W: Quintana, S: Burawa
Mustelier: 1/4, R, 2B. Promoted from GCL. I guess he's on the fast track. They did this instead of my suggestion to promote Shane Brown. I'm okay with it (not that Cashman cares that I'm okay with it) because both need to move quickly to be useful.
Walt Ibarra: 2/2, BB, picked off. He's 15 for his last 30.
Seggy Segedin: 2/4, K, E. He's starting to heat up at Tampa after a short adjustment period.
K-Roll Roller: 0/3, 2 K
Castrol GTX Castro: 0/3, K, E.
Jose Quintana (Jose Quintanadana): 7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 9 K. Look what I can do. You thought I was a RP non-prospect, but I'm 22 years old and I can pitch mofo. Oh, and I forgot to mention, I'm lefty... :-/ hehe.
Daniel Burawa: 2 IP, 3 K 0 ER. That's it!

Low A Charleston: L 8-4 to Greensboro. L: Evarts
Eddy Sosa: 0/5, K
Ramon Flores: 0/5, K
Sanchize: 2/4, R, 2B, K, HBP. He's got a little pattern going of 2 hit games followed by no hit games. Overall, he's actually been pretty good lately though.
Nothing worth talking about in the pitching performances here.

Short Season Staten Island: L 2-1 to State College. L: W. Rodriguez
Cody Grice: 0/3, RBI
Cheetoh Culver: 0/4. In the midst of a mini-slump. At least he's not striking out though.
Angelo Bubba Gumbs: 1/4, K, SB (7). He's done a nice job on the basepaths. Still trying to decide who I like better between he and Culver.
Shane Brown: 2/3. He just won't stop hitting. Gotta love the resilience (.475 avg, that's right, AVERAGE, in 61 at bats).
Gerritse: 2 IP, K, 0 ER.
Tracy: 2 IP, 2 K, 0 ER.

GCL Yankees W 12-6 v Blue Jays. W: Polanco.
Janitor Custodio: 1/5, 2 R, 2 B, RBI. 15 for his last 44, 6 2B, 5 BB, 9 SB, 0 CS. (.420 OBP).
Jose Rosario: 3/4, 2 R, HR, 3 RBI, BB, K. Never realized that this kid is still only 19. They must see some serious potential with him to have put him in the GCL last season despite poor numbers. Looks like he might be fulfilling some of that potential now. He's 15 for his last 36 (.416), with 3 BB, 2 HR and a 9 game hit streak in his last 9 games.
DAdams: 2/4, 2 R, 2B, 2 RBI. Played a full game... at DH. They are just being reaaaaally cautious.
Junior Bichette: 1/4, R, BB, K. 4 games in a row with at least 1 hit.
Yeicok Calderon: 1/3, R, 2B, RBI,BB, K, SB (5). Getting tired of RAB misspelling his name.
Ravenous Ravel Santana: 1/3, R, 3B, 2 RBI.
Edwin Rodriguez: 2 IP, H, ER, BB, K
Checo: 1 IP, 3 K.

YEEP 7/11/11: Bombs Away

 Evil Em Vee P of the day: Raymond Kruml. This was a tough one, because so many people had great games today, but based on recent performance, I gave it to Kruml. Image Courtesy of Bare Bones (johnalbone.wordpress.com).

AA Trenton: L 6-7. L: Venditte:
Kruml: 3/5, 2 R, HR, RBI. Average up to .301, 2 HR in 2 G, 5th HR of the season. He's fast too.
CoJo: 0/5, 2 K. Ice cold these past few games.
Melky Mesa: 1/4, R, K, CS
R-Ly (Lyerly): 1/5, R, 2 K.
Heyer: 3 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 ER, BB, 4 K. Not his best outing.
Josh Bromance Romanski: 3 IP, H, BB, 2 K. 0 ER since the call-up.
Sideshow Venditte: .1 IP, H, R, ER, HR. 2 bad games in a row.

High A Tampa: W 10-1 vs St. Lucie. W: Mikey O'Brien
Honest Abe Almonte: 2/4, R, BB, K. He's not cooling down, hopefully any time soon.
Walt Ibarra: 1/3, RBI
Boilin Zoilo Almonte: 3/5, R, 2 RBI, K. Also stayin hot.
K-Roll Roller: 2/5, R, RBI, K
JR Murph: 3/4, 2 R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, K.
Rob Seggy Segedin: 1/4, R, K
Kelvin Castrol GTX Castro: 3/5, 3 R, 2 RBI. I like what you're doin GTX.
Mikey O'Brien: 5 IP, 2 H, ER, 4 BB, 3 K, HR. I don't like the walks, but other than that, great outing. He'll be in AA by next season IMO.
Daniel Burawa: 2 IP, H, 3 K. He's got half of a season to bring his ERA back from that horrific appearance a week or so ago. I think he will because he had great stuff.
K-Flan Flannery: 2 IP, H, K. Doin what he does.

Short Season Staten Island: W 9-1 vs Vermont. W: DeLuca
Mad Mase Williams: 4/6, 2B, 3B, RBI, K, CS. Two words. Real. Deal.
Cheetoh Culver: 2/5, 2 RBI
Bubba Gumbs: 0/4, BB, K, CS.
Shane Brown: 1/2, 2 R, 3 BB. Will somebody get this guy out please? .552 OBP, 1.25 OPS. Such a shame that he's 23.
Evan DeLuca: 5 IP, 2 H, ER, BB, 6 K. He's killin it. We could use a guy like him at Charleston, wink wink hint hint!
Matt Tracy: 2 IP, BB, K. 0 ER still.
Phil Wetherell: 1 IP, BB, 2 K. I strongly feel he will be a fast mover through this system.

GCL Yankees: W 8-7 vs GCL Pirates. W: Rodriguez, S: Hinojosa
Janitor Custodio: 1/5, 2 R, 2B, K, SB. 10 SB on the season already.
Ravenous Ravel Santana: 0/5, K. He's slowed down significantly since his hot start. Hope he's not just another De Leon
Tyler Austin: 1/3, HR, 2 RBI, BB, SB. He has NOT slowed down. .377 average, 3 HR, 9 SB on the season so far. Excellent production even from a 1B.
Junior Bichette: 0/4, R, BB, K. Looking forward to the 30 day rule to take effect with this kid. Time for him to make some adjustments.
Tejeda: 2/4, SB, CS. Playing very well so far.
Jose Rosario: 2/4, R, HR, 3 RBI. .325 with 1 HR, 1 3B, 1 2B, 4 SB in his last 10 games.
D Cruz: 2.1 IP, 7 ER, 2 BB, 3 K. Baaaaaaaad.
Edwin Rodriguez: 3.2 IP, 2 H, 2 K. 20 year old kid from the DSL. Good outing.
Jo De La Cruz: 2 IP, 1 H, 1 K.
Hinojosa: 1 IP, H, K. 2/2 in save ops.

Movers and Shakers: Promotions/demotions in the Yankees minors

 Sorry Ivan Nova, you've got a right to be a big annoyed with your demotion, but it'll be good for you in the long run dude... image thanks to espn.com

AAA

Shaeffer Hall was called up to AAA for 1 start. He did a nice job. Given that it was a spot start, I don't think it matters whether he deserved the temporary promotion or not, but he has in fact done a good job for AA this season.

Buddy Carlyle was outrighted to AAA SWB. This is really not news. Sorry.

Ivan Nova was optioned to AAA SWB due to the return of Phil Hughes. He did a great job in the big leagues. If I had it my way, Freddy Garcia would have gone to the bullpen, but Nova will have the chance to become more than a 2 pitch guy if he can work on his change-up while in SWB.

Kevin Whelan also optioned to AAA. He's injured anyway, but has done a great job in SWB this season. He deserved the promotion to the majors, but belongs in the minors when he returns from the injury.

Chris Dickerson also demoted to AAA.

AA

F Hernandez (NOT Felix) was released. Not surprising since he is garbage.

Ryan Pope was sent to AA Trenton from SWB. He was struggling a bit there, maybe he can reinvigorate himself at the level where he originally found himself as a relief pitcher.

Chase Whitley was promoted to AA. He's done a decent job so far. Had a rough first outing, but has done well since then (4.26 ERA, 6 K in 6.1 IP).

Josh Romanski to AA. The bromance as I call him, he has no runs and 3 K in 3.1 IP. Considering we got him for literally nothing, he is turning into a really solid relief prospect.

Rob Lyerly (R-Ly) was also promoted to AA. He really deserved it. I have been preaching all year long about this guy's ability to make contact. If he starts gaining some power, he will be a dangerous hitter. He has proven that he deserved the promotion so far. .305/.359/.783, 1 HR, 9 RBI in 15 g.

High A Tampa

Daniel Burawa was promoted to High A. In limited action he has performed poorly. 2.2 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K. Honestly didn't feel he was ready for High A. In Low A Charleston, he had a 3.64 ERA and 35 K in 44.2 IP. That's good but in my opinion that's end of the season promotion good, not midseason promotion good. We'll see how he adjusts the rest of the season, it's a small sample size in High A so far.

Mike Gipson was also promoted to High A. He's been injured all season, but was listed on Low A Charleston at the beginning of the year, so this is a promotion. Don't have much to say about this except that he was good in Staten Island last season and I've been excited to see how he does all season.

Mikey O'brien also came from Charleston. He pitched great there, 68 K in 72.1 IP and a 3.2 ERA. He had a shaky first start, but since then has been great after the promotion. Definitely deserved this.

Nik Turley is another former River Dog, and this promotion has been a long time coming. He's been beastly in Low A, easily their best pitcher. He had a rough first start, but that's to be expected with a promotion.

Kramer Sneed, left handed relief pitcher. This promotion is one that I didn't understand, and so far I've been proven right. Sneed had a 4.18 ERA in Low A. He is left handed though, and stikes out more than 1/IP, so I guess the old addage, "he's left handed and he has a pulse," is accurate in this scenario.

JR Murphy, the catcher. I can't say enough about how much this kid deserved to be promoted. He was raking in Charleston, and outplaying Gary Sanchez at that level. He's young and he's got a sweet left handed swing. Yet another catcher to look out for in our system. With Gary Sanchez's fall from grace this season, he has eased that blow a little bit. He's struggled out of the gait, but seems to be easing into his role and improving every day, which is what you like to see.

Kyle Roller also deserved the promotion. They picked him for his bat, and he's done nothing but hit since he arrived here. He's got power, and should continue to move quickly through the organization at least until he starts seeing some real quality pitchers in AA. From there, anything can happen. He's played serviceably since arriving in Tampa (.250), but he'll have to continue to improve at this level.

Rob Segedin is another power hitting corner IF who deserved a promotion. I've had him and Roller paired together as similar players since the beginning of the season, and they have played very similarly. Segedin deserved his promotion, but has started off slow (.196) since his promotion. He's got some work to do.

Finally, Slade Heathcott earned a promotion to High A as well. Unfortunately, he has only played in 1 g since arriving due to injuries, however that game was an epic one for him. He was 3/5 with a HR and 2 R. There was speculation that he was bored in Charleston, but I have my doubts. I'm looking forward to his return.

Low A Charleston

Mark Montgomery made the quick move from Staten Island. So far he's shown why. So far he has made all but 2 of his outs by strikeout. He has 3 IP, and 9 K. Actually had 5 K in his first inning. I'd say he deserved a promotion, because he must be absolutely blowing batters away.

Kyle Higashioka moved in the wrong direction, going from High A to Charleston. The funny thing is, people have been talking about how good this kid is for about 3 years now, and I've never been impressed since he has proven over and over that he can't hit. Each year, however, he is promoted. Here's the funny part, he recently had really started to swing the bat well at High A Tampa, hitting a couple of HR in the week before the demotion, and hitting so well to the point that I actually feel he didn't deserve the demotion. Either way, he's in Charleston now, and has continued to hit better than he ever has before in his career (.279, 1 HR, 5 RBI). I actually feel bad for this kid, but the bottom line is that if he continues to hit, he will change minds. Just look at JR Murphy.

Now for the snubs. Who should have been promoted that wasn't? Or at least should be promoted soon. First of all, Dellin Betances should be promoted soon. He's very close. His main issue is control, but with the way that he has dominated AA batters, it hasn't mattered. There's no reason he can't work on that control in AAA. As for Austin Romine, I'm not saying he should be promoted, but he would be in AAA in any other system right now. I'm okay with it because Montero is a stud, but this kid has got to be getting bored there even though his playing quite well still. I still maintain that Raymond Kruml should have been promoted instead of Austin Krum to AAA. He's got better speed, and he's a better hitter. He has 29 SB already. If nothing else, he'd probably be great to have in the majors as a pinch runner in September. 

You might say that Zoilo Almonte should have been promoted to AA. I think we should give him time. He struggled a bit when he was promoted to High A in the middle of last season, decreasing his prospect stock. I say let him improve his stock in High A, this way he could be used as trade fodder this off-season or if nothing else build up some confidence. Increased prospect stock is never a bad thing. Jairo Heredia has been phenomenal, but only recently. He's another I'm glad they kept down because he has traditionally struggled with promotions. Let him get a true grasp on High A before giving him a new challenge. Ryan Flannery is the one snub at this level I disagree with. The guy has slowly moved up one level a year, each year dominating the level he's at. He's not getting any younger and yet there doesn't seem to be any sense of urgency in promoting him. Based on his picture he looks a bit obese, but hell, if you drafted him, then you thought he had something at some point. All he's done is prove that he can get guys out since he came here, I say give him a mid-season promotion for once in his career. Finally, I am not seeing any obvious snubs in Charleston, but please correct me if I'm wrong.

Overall, I think the Yankees did a good job evaluating who deserved a promotion and who didn't. I think there were a couple of mistakes as far as guys who didn't deserve a promotion, and a few where they probably should be promoted soon or should have already received that recognition. In the end, they will get their chance eventually.

Other Prospect News

  Image: Sam Stafford, 2nd round pick, signed today. Picture courtesy of Frathousesports.com

jnorris427 Josh Norris

Heard through the grapevine that Dan Burawa will be joining Kramer Sneed in moving up to Tampa. #yankees

@jnorris427 Josh Norris

Sounds like Kramer Sneed has been promoted to High-A Tampa. #Yankees

 River Ave. Blues: "Fourth rounder Matt Duran was at Yankee Stadium working out with the team today. They’ve done this a number of times through the years, and it usually leads to the player signing shortly thereafter."

Also according to RAB, we signed Justin James, the 13th rounder, and 2nd rounder Sam Stafford. Good news! See my post about rounds 10-50 to find more info about Justin James.

YEEP Nightly Summary

Image: Nik Turley, tonights Evil EM Vee P. Picture thanks to gothambaseball.com
AAA SWB
Jesus Montero: 1/4 with 1 k. Montero's whole season has been a big 1/4 with 1 k so far. Doing just enough to get by but nothing to impress.
Brandon Laird: 1/4 with 1k. It feels like he's cooled off, but he's still 11 for his last 37 with 2 HR, good for a .297 average.
DJ Mitchell: 6 IP 2 ER 4 k, 1 BB. Another quality start, I hope he gets a September call-up. He deserves it for what he's done this year. All he has to do now is finish strong like he did last season.
George Kontos: 1 IP, 2 k, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB. Making a strong bid for that open relief spot.
R Flores: 1.2 IP 1 BB 1 k, 0 H, 0 ER. Making a strong bid for that LOOGY spot.

AA Trenton
CoJo: 0/3 2 BB 1 k. Could be worse
BRomine (because he's my bro): 2/5  2b, 1 RBI, 1 k. Really putting his hitting together this season. I love it when my predictions actually come true (rare as that may be). 14 for last 41 with 3 2B and 4 BB (.366/.422/.439/.861)
RLy (Rob Lyerly): 1/4 with 1 r. He's adjusted really nicely and quickly to AA pitching, much like DeeMack did. It's just a 1/4 night, but he's put together some good games already.
DeeMack: 2/4 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 r. Another guy who's made the necessary adjustments. After initial adjustment period, he's 7/13 with 2 HR, nice work Mack Daddy.
Craig Heyer: 7 IP 2 ER, 5 H, 2 k. Let up 2 in the first inning. All of a sudden you blink and Heyer has put together yet another good start. I've said this before, but... this year's Lance Pendleton?
Chase Whitley: 2 ER in 2 IP 2 k, 2 bb, 3 H. Jitters?

High A Tampa
Honest Abe (Almonte): 2/4 3 r. 6 for his last 17. Has Abe finally found his stroke?
Walt Ibarra: 1/5 2 r, 3B, RBI, k, SB. Nice season so far, good to see the SB, he needs more of those if he wants to advance.
Boilin Zoilo (Almonte): 1/4 2 RBI, 2 K. Cooling off a bit. One more hot streak and he might be officially on the prospect map.
K-Roll (Kyle Roller): 2/5 1 HR, 1 k. Nice day for Kyle, he's showing why I think he's a better hitter than Seggy.
Seggy (Rob Segedin): 0/4 2 k. Just .185 since the promotion, but free pass for adjustment purposes.
KeFla (or K-Flann, which is better? Kevin Flannery)- 1 IP, 1 k, zeros, 1.57 ERA. He's the only one I care to follow who pitched today. He deserves a promotion. I like this dude because all he's ever done is produce results. AA will be his big test.

Low A Charleston
Eduardo Sosa: 1/5 3B, 2 k 2 RBI. .306 average in limited action, but this is what he does. The triple reflects his speed, which seems to be his major plus attribute.
Ray-Flo (Ramon Flores): 0/3 1 k. He's ice cold. .143 in last 10 g spanning 35 at bats. 143 means I love you, maybe that means it's time for him to break out of that slump.
Sanchize (Gary Sanchez): 0/3, 1 r, 1 BB. Still .294 with 2 HR in last 10 g.
Higgy (Kyle Higashioka): 2/3, 2B, 1 r, 1 BB, 1k. Continues to hit well despite being demoted. He didn't deserve it this season, but it's tough to justify having him in high A over JR Murphy, because Murphy earned his way there as far as his bat goes, while Higgy earned his way there with defense. Unfortunately, defense can only get you a backup catching job in the majors, so Higgy needs to keep hitting to restore his prospect status. I sure hope he does.
Nik "the slick" Turley: 5 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 7 k. What a performance! Has been even more dominant his last 10 starts (1.77 ERA, .213 BA against than his first 5. Unfortunately, he's already 10 IP over last years total, so a promotion may not be very likely at this point. It's okay, he's still just 21.
DaBraw (Daniel Burawa): 3.0 IP, 1 k, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 ER. He needed an outing like this. The last 10 outings have been rough on him.

SS low a Staten Island
Mad Mase (or Mad Willy, Mason Williams)- 2/3 2 RBI, 1 BB, 2 CS. Spectacular start to his career. Keep it up Mase. I'm not following Culver until he does something deserving of being followed, same goes for Bubba Gumbs Shrimp.
Wetherell: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 k. Not bad.
Monte Python (Montgomery): 1 IP, 3 k. BEAST.