YEEP 8/11/11: Lower Level OF Show their Mettle

Evil Em VP: Lance Pendleton. The ultimate Yankees underdog.

By the way, some old friends have been promoted to the majors recently. Congratulations are in order for Arodys Vizcaino and Jimmy Paredes, yes Jimmy Paredes, who are former members of the Yankees farm recently called up for the Braves and the Astros respectively. I don't think Paredes would have ever seen action for the Yankees, but I wish we never parted ways with Vizcaino for the likes of, you guessed it, Javier Vazquez.

AAA SWB: L 0-1 to Gwinnett. L: Pendleton
Russo: 0/4, 2 K (.282)
Jesus Montero: 1/4, K (.282)
JoVa: 1/3, 2B, K (.253)
Laird: 0/3, 2 K (.264) He's in an 0/17 skid after his hot streak coming off his first big league experience. I guess the adrenaline rush has officially worn off.
Pendleton: 5 IP, 6 H, ER, BB, 2 K, HR (3.02 ERA). I'd venture to guess that on most other teams he would be a part of the major league bullpen right now, whatever his role might be.
Brack Attack: 3 IP, H, 2 K (6.86 ERA)

AA Trenton: W 8-5 vs Binghamton. W: Halsey. S: Pope
Krum: 1/3, HR, 2 RBI, BB, K (.246). 1st homer of the year.
CoJo: 0/5, 2 K. 6 for 40 rut (.150)
R-Ly Lyerly: 3/5, 2 R, SB (1) (.258). Nice game
Melkman Mesa: 1/3, 2 R, BB, 2 K (.235). That average is slowly climbing, but I think it's safe to say he took a large step back this season no matter what he does to finish it off.
Boilin Zoilo Almonte: 1/4, 2B, 2 RBI, K (.273). Opposite of what I said about Melkman.
Pope: 1 IP, BB, 2 K (1.32 ERA)

High A Tampa: W 4-0 vs Clearwater. W: Brett Marshall
Honest Abe Almonte: 1/3, K (.251). Continues his hot play.
Walt Ibarra: 0/3 (.294)
K-Roll Roller: 1/2, R, 2 BB, SB (1), BB (.255)
Luke Murton: 2/4, RBI, 2 K (.288). With Mujica still playing third base for Trenton and not getting the job done, I can't imagine a promotion is far off for the red hot Murton.
Dee Mack: 1/3, 2 R, RBI, BB, K, SB (1) (.317). I'm glad he at least found his stroke at this level.
Castrol GTX Castro: 1/4, K, CS (3) (.303). He's been managing to stay just over .300 on the season for a while now.
Brett Fire Marshall: 5 IP, H, 2 BB, 4 K (3.88 ERA). Good to see him bounce back after two not so great outings in a row. It's been a long season but he's finishing strong and hopefully he can bring some of this momentum to AA next season.
Kramer Sneed: 1.2 IP, 3 H, 2 K (3.62 ERA). Lefty with a pulse alert.
Rudolf the red nosed Reinier Casanova: 2.1 IP, H, BB, 4 K (4.05 ERA). Keeps bouncing back and forth between GCL and Tampa. I guess their close vicinity has allowed him to do this without having to move.

Low A Charleston: L 0-4 to West Virginia. L: Ramirez
Eddy Sosa: 0/4, K (.260). The way he started the season, I thought he had promise, but given his lack of power and lack of use of his speed tool this season, I'm gonna have to say that I expect him to finish the season as not much more than future organizational filler.
Sanchize: 0/1 (.256). Was pinch hit for in his 2nd at bat. No news on why.
J-Ram Ramirez: 6 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 2 ER, BB, 4 K, HR (4.9 ERA). He's had worse.

Short Season SI: W 7-5 vs Williamsport. W: Gerritse. S: Arneson
Mad Mase Williams: 2/3, R, 3B, 3 RBI, BB, CS (11) (.369). The only flaw in his game right now is the lack of power and the base running. Given his aggressiveness I do think he will eventually work out his basestealing. I think Cito Culver should take a page out of his book. As far as his power goes, he does seem to hit a lot of doubles and triples. Usually this represents gap power which in young players usually translates to real power as they fill out. I am hopeful that Williams will be a bigtime talent in the coming years.
Cheeto Culver: 3/5, 2 R, 2 2B, RBI, SB (4) (.272). He was due for a game like this. Nice job Cheeto.
Ben Gamel the Camel: 2/5, K (.306). Stayin hot.
Cody Grice: 2/5, R, 2B, RBI, K (.288). This trio of outfielders has been great. Including Heathcott, our lower levels are stacked with OF.
Ty Austin: 1/5, 3 K, E (2) (.179). He has had some trouble adjusting between the promotion and the injury.
Reymond Nunez: 1/4 (.288). Seems like he always drops at least one hit. I love that in a player.
Gerritse: 1.1 IP, H, BB, K, 0 ER (1.25 ERA)
Phil Wetherell: 2 IP, 2 K, 0 ER (1.74 ERA)
Arneson: 1 IP, 2 H, ER, BB, K (3.6 ERA)
Not a lot of promising starting pitchers here besides maybe Mitchell, who has disappointed, and DeLuca, but this level is stacked with promising relief pitchers. They've all got a ways to go but I can ring off about 10 guys who have had a lot of success at this level this season. Matt Tracy, Nuno, Gerritse, Pinder, Wetherell, Cotham, Recchia, Arneson, Richardson, Montgomery. That's a lot of guys, and even if one of them makes the majors, then that would be a success. I like our chances that 1/10 could do it.

GCL Yankees: Double Header
Game 1: W 6-4 vs GCL Phillies. W: Encinas
Ravenous Ravel Santana: 1/4, R (.280)
Janitor Custodio: 3/4, R, 2 RBI, SB (22) (.323). Looks like he's gonna end this season the same way he started it... legit
Matt Duran Duran: 0/3, BB (.256)
Junior Bichette: 0/4, 2 K (.319). It's okay, his mini-slump would end later.
Valera (not the gas station): 2/2, 2 BB (.284).
Bubba Jones: 1/3, BB (.286)
Yeicok Calderon: 0/2, R, BB, K (.236). His season started off very exciting but has ended in some disappointment.
Henry Pena: 0/1 (.259), he'll make up for this pinch hit appearance later.
Daniel Lopez: 1/4, 2 R, 3B (.314)
Gabriel Encinas: 5 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, BB, 2 K (5.10 ERA).
Mad Cowsert Disease: 1 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 K (2.04 ERA)
Hinojosa: 1 IP, H, R, 0 ER, 0 K (2.13 ERA)

Game 2: W 7-3 vs GCL Phillies. W: Rodriguez
Ravenous Ravel Santana: 3/4, 2 R, 2B, RBI, 2 SB (9) (.292). Hell yes.
Janitor Custodio: 0/3, R, RBI, BB (.315)
Isaias the hata Tejeda: 2/4, R, 2B, 3 RBI (.343). It really is hard to pick a favorite on this team.
Matt Duran Duran: 1/3, 2 RBI, 2 K (.262).
Bichette Happens: 2/2, 2 BB (.329). After a mini-slump, this was a great game for him (he was 3 for his last 23 before this game)
Henry Pena: 2/3, R, 2B (.300)
Justin James: 0/2, 2 R, BB (.306). He's in a little mini-slump of his own (2 for his last 19)
Tay-Mo Morton: 4 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K (2.16 ERA).
Edwar Rodriguez: 3 IP, H, BB, K (3.23 ERA)

YEEP 8/7/11: Manny and Dellin pitch well, Gipson gets work done in Tampa

Evil Em VP: Mike Gipson. He is the main reason Tampa won this game. He kept them in the game throwing 4 scoreless innings and recording 4 strikeouts. Image thanks to gothamcitybaseball.com

AAA SWB, double header
Game 1: L 4-5 to Lousville. L: Whelan
Russo: 0/4, K (.290)
Montero: 1/4, R, K (.289)
JoVa: 1/4, 2B, RBI, 2 K (.249)
Laird: 1/4, HR, 2 RBI, 3 K (.276). That's number 12 on the season. Continues his hot play.
ManBan: 6 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 5 K (2.45 ERA so far at AAA). ZERO WALKS.  The 5 K are nice too. Good to see him performing well.
Kensing: 1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, K, HR
Whelan: 1 IP, H, ER, BB, K (2.23 ERA). That's his only run in his last 7.2 IP, so he seems to have come back from that injury quite well.

Game 2: W 4-3. W: Romero
Russo: 0/3 (.287)
JoVa: 1/2 (.251)
Laird: 0/3, 2 K (.274)
Brewski Brewer: 1/3, R, 2B, RBI, K (.269)
Lance Pendleton: 3.2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, HR (3.13 ERA)
Brack Attack: 2.2 IP, 2 H, ER, BB, 4 K,  (7.12 ERA). Actually one of his better outings of the year... sad.
JC Romero: .2 IP, K (2.33 ERA)

AA Trenton: L 2-3 to Altoona. L: Venditte
Krum: 0/4, K (.251)
CoJo: 1/4, 2B, K (.270)
R-Ly Lyerly: 1/4, R, H, 2B, RBI, K, (.254)
Melkman Mesa: 0/4, K (.233)
Boilin Zoilo Almonte: 0/4, 2 K, (.281). Had a SB (3).
Dellin Betances: 5 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, BB, 6 K (3.57 ERA). Pretty good outing. I like the fact that he only had one walk. I'm very pleased with the control he and Banuelos displayed today.

High A Tampa: W 8-7 vs Dunedin: W: Casanova
Honest Abe Almonte: 2/5, 2 R, 3B (.248). 15 for his last 45 (.333).
Walt Ibarra: 1/5, R, RBI, 2 K (.299)
K-Roll Roller: 3/4, 2 R, RBI, K (.255). I think he likes batting 3rd. This is his 2nd multi hit game in a row, and he's got 12 hits in his last 39 at bats for a .308 average in that span.
Luke Murton: 3/5, R, 2 RBI, 2 K (.287). Still raging. 15 for his last 36 (.417), 9 game hit streak.
Dee Mack: 4/5, R, 2B, 3B, 3 RBI (.333). Tearing apart pitching at this level.
Castrol GTX Castro: 0/3, 2 K (.314)
Sean Black: 2 IP 7 H, 7 R, 6 ER, BB, 2 K. Officially a disappointment this year. I'm making this observation now but it's probably been "official" for a couple of starts now.
Gipson: 4 IP, 2 H, 4 K, 0 ER. Great appearance. His ERA is just 2.6 so far in Tampa and 2.63 at all levels this season over 27.1 IP, with 21 K. Not bad.
Kramer Sneed: 2 IP, H, 4 K (3.86 ERA at this level). Yankees must have seen something I didn't, he's been great after an initial adjustment period at High A.
Reinier Casanova: 1 IP, K, 0 ER. They must just be sending this guy back and forth between GCL and Tampa. He was in Tampa, then GCL, then Tampa again this week.

Low A Charleston: L 3-7 to Savannah: L: Forer
Shane Brown: 1/4, RBI, BB (.280)
Higgy Higashioka: 1/4 (.253)
Ray-Flo Flores: 0/4, 2 K (.265)
Sanchize: 2/4, K (.256). He's rapidly increasing this average, and I love it.
Recchia: 3.2 IP, 2 ER, BB, HR (2.96 ERA)

Short Season Staten Island: L 2-10. L: DeLuca
Mad Mase Williams: 1/3, R, BB (.369) Stayin hot.
Cheeto Culver: 0/3, RBI BB, K (.266) He's in another one of his cold spells.
Cody Grice: 1/3, RBI, BB (.287)
Reymond Nunez: 1/4, K (.297)
Casey Stevenson: 1/4 (.277)
Ben Gamel: 2/4, R, 2 K, SB (4) (.298)
DeLuca: 3.1 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 4 BB (3.4 ERA) That's three bad starts in a row, 4 bad starts out of his last 5. I hope there isn't something wrong with him.
Matt Richardson: 1 IP, 3 BB, ER, 0 H (3.12 ERA)

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.