YEEP 7/19/11: Soriano and Chavez rehab starts, Morton impresses

Evil Em VP of the day: Taylor Morton: 4.2 IP, 0 ER, 6 K. Image thanks to ebay.com, thanks ebay.

Hey guys, sorry for the absence. I took my boards yesterday, slept a lot last night, and so I'm back in action today.  It was a 9 hour exam so I was completely beat afterwards, although I did go out and party last night to celebrate. Hope you didn't miss me too much.Yankees lost a tough one today, and it wasn't the best day on the farm.
AAA SWB: L 1-6 vs. Columbus. L: Nova.
Kevin Russo: 1/4, BB.
Austin Krum. 1/3, R. He's been much much better lately, but I see his ceiling as a Colin Curtis type player.
Jorge Vazquez (JoVa): 1/4, 3 K.
Nova: 1.1 IP, 3 H, ER, BB, 3 K, HR. Left the game in the second inning. He hurt himself trying to field a ball. Apparently it was a leg injury but he walked off on his own power. That sucks.
Kontos: 2.2 IP, 2 H, BB, 4 K. Nice relief work.
Kevin Whelan: 2 IP, H, ER, BB, 3 K, HR. Hasn't been the same since he got back from that injury. C'mon Kev-Bo.

AA Trenton: W 9-2 v Erie. W: Hall.
Kruml: 1/5, R. Still batting .300
CoJo: 2/4, 2 R, 3B, 2 RBI, BB, K. Nice game from him. Looks like he's finding his feel for hitting again.
Austin BRomine: 1/4, R, K.
R-Ly Lyerly: 3/5, 2 2B, 2 R, RBI. He's a hitter, and his average is only gonna continue going up at this level. He had 4 errors the other day though, so the fielding has got to improve.
Melky Mesa: 3/5, R, RBI. 11 for his last 37 (.297). Let's hope he continues this little streak he's on. I'm thirsty, and the only way to quench that thirst is with a new melkman.
Boilin Zoilo Almonte: 3/5, R, 2B, 2 RBI. He was mentioned in an interview with Ashmore and Cashman recently. Just like that he has a respectable average in AA. Hopefully this helps him with the nerves at this level.
Shaeffer Hall: 8 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K. A Much needed good start for him.
Sideshow Venditte: 1 IP, 2 K. Nice.


High A Tampa: L 0-11 to Jupiter. L: Soriano.
Abe Almonte: 1/4, 3B, 3 K.
Eric Chavez: 0/3, BB, K. 1st game back, he'll be back with the major league team soon.
Mustelier: 0/4. First bad game in a while, he's been awesome since he was signed.
Rob Seggy Segedin: 0/3.
K-Roll Roller: 1/3.
JR Murph: 1/3.
Kelvin Castrol GTX Castro: 0/3, K.
Rafael Soriano: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, K, HR. Just a rehab start.
Graham Cracker Stoneburner: 5.2 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, BB, 5 K, 2 HR. At least he struck some guys out. Not very good though.
I don't have much to say about this game because they got WALLOPED.

Short Season Staten Island.  Double Header. Game 1: W 3-2. W: Nuno.
Mad Mase Williams: 0/3, 2 K.
Cheeto Culver: 1/2, BB. His performance so far kind of reminds me of Heathcott's when he was at this level. Holding his head over water. Hopefully in a year or so he breaks out like Slade did.
Angelo Bubba Gumbs: 0/3, 2 K.
Ty Austin: 2/3, R, 2B. Nice job Ty. He'll be all over the pitching in this league. I give it a few more games before he really catches fire.
Shane Brown: 0/2, R, BB. Finally has a not so good game. Even here there are positives.
Ben Gamel: 2/3, 2 RBI. There's a good game which I've been waiting for for quite a while.
Bryan Mitchell: 4.2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. That's better, but he's still not there. I'm thinking more and more short season was a good destination for this kid this season.
Vidal Nuno: 2.1 IP, H, 5 K. He's 5-0, that's hard to believe. He's been really good, but he's mighty old for his level (24 in like 7 days).

Game 2: W 8-6 vs. Hudson Valley. W: Lewis
Cody Grice: 0/4, 3 R, K. Maybe I was wrong about him. Maybe we shouldn't have signed him. It's too early to say though.
Cheeto Culver: 2/3, 2B, 3B, R, 2 BB. 2/4 on the day, not bad, avg up to .277.
Angelo Bubba Gumbs: 1/5, 2 RBI, 2 K.
Ty Austin: 0/4, 2 K
Shane Brown: 2/4. I guess he can have a bad game, but not a bad day.
Ben Gamel: 0/0, PH RBI
Matt Tracy: 2 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, BB, 2 K, HR. Yikes.
Gerritse: 3 IP, 2 H, BB, 3 K. Nice relief work, still 0 earned runs in 13.2 IP at this level. He has 14 K. Time for a promotion?
Phil Wetherell: 1 IP, H, R, 0 ER, BB.

GCL Yankees: W 8-5 vs. GCL Phillies. W: Maines. S: Hinojosa
Janitor Custodio: 2/4, 2 R, 2B, BB, SB. He needed a game like this, as he's been slumping a bit. That 0/8 game killed his average but he's back up to .327. That's 12 SB on the season.
Ravenous Ravel Santana: 1/5, R, RBI, K, SB (3). I'm seeing more and more Kelvin De Leon similarities, hopefully I'm wrong.
DAdams: 2/4, 2 R, 2B, RBI, BB. Played the full game. A promotion is looming. Can't wait.
Junior Bichette: 2/5, 2B, 2 RBI, E. He's really picking it up now. 12 for his last 34 with a HR, 3 BB and a 7 game hit sreak going. (.353 AVG). So this is why we picked him.
Yeicok Calderon: 2/5, R, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI. Ata boy Yeicok. Now over .200 for the season. Needs to take some lessons from Bichette.
Taylor Morton (T-Mo): 4.2 IP, 3 H, 6 K. I've said it before but I really like this kid. He's got a 1.82 ERA so far, with 19 K in 24.2 IP as a 19 year old.
Cowsert: 1 IP, 2 K, 0 everything else. Got the Hold as well (3.09 ERA).
Hinojosa: 1 IP, 0 everything else. Got the save. (0.00 ERA so far, 4/4 in saves).

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 July 14, 2011: The return of Stoneburner

Evil Em VP of the day: Casey Stevenson. 3/4 with a HR. Image from www.allthingsbubba.com

AAA Scranton: L 2-4 to Toledo. L: Nova
Russo: 1/4, RBI, 2 K
JoVa Vazquez: 1/4, 2 K. Typical line for him. If AAA pitchers figured him out in 1/2 a season, I'd imagine it would take about a month for major league pitchers to figure him out. But hell, I'd take that in a second if they were to bring him up now. A-Rod's return is conveniently close to a month away.
Laird: 1/4, R. 12 for his last 37 (.324), 3 HR, 3 2B, 12 RBI over 10 games. Has a hit in all but one of his last 10 games. No walks though.
Nova: 7 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, BB, 5 K, HR. Aside from the 1st inning homerun he pitched well. With the way Colon has pitched his last two starts, he could be back in that 5th starter role pretty soon.
JC Romero: 1 IP, H, R, ER, 2 K. He's not a prospect, but it's news.

AA Trenton: W 9-5 against Reading. W: Hall
Kruml: 3/4, 2 R, 2B, 2 RBI, K, SB (30). He figured something out about 2 months ago and he hasn't looked back ever since. It's almost time to see how many bases he can steal in AAA.
CoJo: 1/5, R, 3B, RBI (.282).
Austin BRomine: 0/4, BB, K. He's excused because he played so well in the futures and all-star games.
Melky Mesa: 1/3, R, K, SB (11).
R-Ly Lyerly: 0/4, K. Really quieting down now.
Shaeffer Hall: 5 IP, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, HR. Pitched well enough to get the win...
Josh Bromance Romanski: 1 IP, H. My Bromance is havin a year.
Whitley: 2 IP, 4 H, ER, 2 K, HR. Still adjusting to the level, not playing horribly considering that fact.
Pope: 1 IP, 2 H, K. Almost time to give him another shot in AAA. Is there such a thing as a AA 1/2 player?

High A Tampa: L 5-3 to Palm Beach. L: Gipson
Honest Abe Almonte: 0/4, BB
Walt Ibarra: 3/5, R. He's hitting so well, but he has to start stealing more bases if he wants to have a real shot at the bigs.
Boilin Zoilo Almonte: 1/3, 2 BB, R, K, SB (14). No homeruns in a while (> 10 g). Zoilo had been spoiling me. Spoiling Zoilo?
Roller: 0/4, 4 K. Golden Sombrero. Been waiting to use that one.
JR Murph: 1/4, RBI, 2 K. 12 for his last 37, .324 AVG. His OBP is lower than his average in that span though (.316, 0 BB). Still OPSing at .856 in that time frame though.
Seggy Segedin: 2/3, RBI, BB, SB. Finally a good night for him!
Kelvin Castro:  0/4, 3 K.
Graham Cracker Stoneburner: 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, BB, 6 K, HR. Nice outing in his return to High A. At this rate he'll be in AA in no time.
Gipson: .2 IP 4 H, 3 ER, BB. Tough outing. Hasn't had a great appearance since returning. It's only his 3rd though.

Low A Charleston: W 3-2. W: Ramirez. S: Montgomery (5)
Eddy Sosa: 0/5, K
Ray-Flo Flores: 0/3, BB, K.
Sanchize: 0/4, R. Man, he just can't string together a few good games in a row.
Higgy Higashioka: 0/4, K.
The run support in this game was provided by Mahoney (2 R) and Mojica (2 RBI)
Jose Ramirez: 5 IP, 3 H, ER, 3 BB, 5 K. Yay.
Dott: 3 IP, 3 H, 4 K.
Monte Python Montgomery: 1 IP, ER, BB, K. 5/5 saves.

Short Season Staten Island. W 6-4 vs. State College. W: Recchia, S: Pinder (7)
Mad Mase Williams: 1/2, R, K, SB (7). Just keeps doin it. Seems like he might be above this level. 20 for his last 45 (.444), 4 SB over 10 games.
Cheetoh Culver: 0/4, K. He's been good lately, but overall he's been rather inconsistent. (.279)
Angelo Bubba Gumbs: 1/4, R, 2 K, 2 SB (6). (.263)
Shane Brown: 2/4, 2 R, 2 2B, RBI, K (.466). He has to be getting promoted soon. At his age he is wasting space/time at this level.
Casey Stevenson: 3/4, R, HR, 4 RBI, SB. That's 2 consecutive games with a HR. He's old for the level though, but earns a mention from me because of his 2 game homerun streak.
Cody Grice: 1/2, BB, K, SB (2). Has been pretty solid in limited action so far.
Bryan Mitchell: 3.1 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 2 K. Everyone raves about this guy but I just haven't been that impressed with him so far. I guess with what scouts say about him and how good his stuff really is, all he needs to do is gain some control and he will be right where he needs to be.
Recchia: 2.2 IP, H, BB, 2 K, 0 ER. (.75 ERA at this level). He was in Charleston earlier in the year, but was disappointing. He's 22 so meh.
Phil Wetherell: 1 IP, 2 K Zeros. Getting the job done. Fast mover I tell ya.
Pinder: 1 IP, 1 K, Zeros. 7 saves. Looks like we might have gotten some good young relievers in this draft class.No runs in his last 8 appearances.

GCL Yankees: W 6-5 vs GCL Braves. W: Cowsert, S: Hinojosa.
Ronnier Mustelier: 5/5, R, 2B, 2 RBI, CS. This Cuban earns a mention with this performance, but this is his first season at the ripe old age of 27. I doubt if there's anything there.
DAdams: 1/3, 2B, RBI. Still being subbed out after 2/3 of a game.
Alcantera: 0/1, K in a pinch hit at bat.
Jose Rosario: 1/4, 2 R, BB, K.
Ty Austin: 1/4, 2B, K.
Junior Bichette: 1/4, 2 K. Two days in a row with a hit. Gotta look at the positives.
Tejeda: 0/4, K.
Yeicok Calderon: 1/4, HR, K.
Rutckyj: 3 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K. His first rough outing of the year. As I have said before, he's a work in progress.
Joel De La Cruz: 3 IP, R, ER, BB, 3 K (2.51 ERA on the season)
Corey Maines: 1 IP, 2 K, 0 ER.
Cowsert: 1 IP, 2 K, 0 ER. Yay for good stories.
Hinojosa: 1 IP, H, R, BB, 0 ER, K. 3/3 in save opportunities.

YEEP 6/29/11 - Welcome back Slade!

 Evil Em Vee P: Slade Heathcott. 3/5, HR. Image courtesy of BronxBaseballDaily.com

AAA SWB Walk-off Loss to Norfolk, 2-1. Josh Schmidt got the loss.
Lazus Montero 1/4
Laird 0/4 1 K
Pendleton 4 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
Kontos: 2 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K, 0 ER. Still going strong. One injury away from a call-up.

AA Trenton 3-2 W over New Hampshire W: Hughes, S: Hall
Kruml: 3/4 1 R, 1 3B, batting .285 this season, 3 HR, 23 SB 8 CS, not bad at all. 25 years old.
CoJo: 0/3 1 BB
BRomine: 2/4 1 K
R-Ly: 2/4 1 HR, 2 RBI. .297 avg so far. The guy is a superb contact hitter. Still waiting on some consistent power though.
DeeMack: 0/3, K
Phil Hughes: 6.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K. Sources had him hitting 92-94 consistently, and getting up to 95.
Shaeffer Hall: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 K, 1 HR. I guess they're manufacturing LOOGYs at this level, unless Hall is going back to the rotation. Hall, Romanski, and debatably Venditte.

High A Tampa- W 10-3, over Daytona, these guys have been hitting the crap out of the ball.
Slade Heathcott: 3/5, 2 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K... Helluva return. Guess he was probably "bored" in Charleston.
Walt Ibarra: 2/5, 2 R, 3B, 2 K
Boilin Zoilo: 3/4, 2 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB. He's at it again, average up to .279
K-Roll: 1/4, 1 BB, 2K meh
JR Murphy (Murph from now on): 1/4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB. Progress
Seggy: 1/5, 1 2B, 1 R, 2 RBI
Kelvin Castro: 1/5
Brett Marshall: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 7 K. Another great outing. 1.97 ERA over his last 10 starts. Down to 3.78 on the season.
Cozmo Kramer Sneed: 1.2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K. Very shaky first outing. Quite honestly I didn't understand this promotion. I guess he's lefty, has a pulse, and strikes guys out. Hope he figures high A out!

Low A River Dogs 2 Games
Game 1: Loss to Augusta, 2-1. L: Nuding
Eduardo Sosa: 0/3
Ray-Flo: 0/3
Sanchize: 1/3, 1 HR, 1 RBI 1 K. Starting to pick it up!
Higgy: 0/2 1 K
Nuding: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. Not a bad outing, but he got the loss. He seems to have a long way to go, but he is only 21.
Dott: 1 H, 2 K, former TB Devil Rays pick, now he's ours. Don't know anything about him, or even how we got him, but go DOTT!

Game 2: W 9-2 W: Barreda
Ray-Flo: 2/5, 1 R, 2B, 1 RBI, 3 K
Sanchize: 1/4 1 R 1 BB, 2 K
Higgy: 2/3, 2 R, 2B, 1 RBI
Kahnle: 2 IP, H, 2 K
Barreda: 1 IP 2 K

Short Season A, Staten Island: W 9-1. W: Oliver, S: Wetherell
Mad Mase: 0/4, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 4 K. Yikes
Cheeto Culver: 0/4, 1 RBI
Bubba Gumbs Shrimp: 3/5, 3 R, 2B, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 2 K. Maybe I should claim I won't follow this whole team, because they seem to start hitting the day after I say that.
Shane Brown: 1/2, 3B, 1 RBI, 2 BB. If he keeps playing this way, I wouldn't be surprised to see him in Charleston soon.
Matt Tracy: 2 IP, 2 BB, 2 K
Phil Wetherell: 1.1 IP, 2 H, BB, K

GCL Yankees: 8-7 W over GCL Pirates. W: Rutckyj S: Cowsert
The Janitor (Claudio Custodio): 1/3, 2 R, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 SB (4). Still looking good.
DAd: 1/2 2B, 2 RBI 1 K. Left earlier today (6th inning), than he has been lately. Flight to catch?
Ty Austin: 1/3, 2B, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K. More and more impressed with this kid each day.
Yeicok: 2/4, 2B, 1 RBI, 2 RBI. Batting an even .300 on the season
Junior: 0/4. Did hit 2 line drives though. He doesn't strike out a lot, and his BABIP has to be exceedingly low right now. I'd be willing to bet his average goes up soon.
Jorge Alcantara: 0/3, 1 K, 2  BB
Isaias Tejeda: 1/2, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 BB. Not bad.
Graham "Cracker" Stoneburner: 3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K. Increased to 3 IP, I guess his next outing will be 4 IP. So far so good though.
Rutckyj: 4.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K. Pretty good job here. 1.00 ERA in 9 IP so far.
Cory Cowsert: 1 IP, 1 BB, 2 K. Nice story with this kid. He went undrafted, and instead played for an independent league team. Throws right handed and is 23 years old. He's a really hard worker who throws hard from what I've read. Not much of a prospect, but hey, good luck kid.