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)

YEEP 7/31/11. Please, pleeaase don't sweep me.

Evil Em VP of the day. It was slim pickens today, but it goes to Rey Nunez and his 3 doubles at Staten Island.

In other news, Banuelos has been called up to AAA. Exciting, although I'm not sure he's ready. I guess it doesn't matter now because we aren't worried about trading him.Also, according to Josh Norris on twitter, Vidal Nuno has been promoted and will start tomorrow for Charleston.


AAA SWB: L 3-6 vs Rochester. L: DJ Mitchell
Russo: 2/4, R, 2B (.289)
JoVa: 1/4, 2 RBI, 2 K (.248)
Laird: 1/4, 2 K (.274). An uncharacteristic 6 game minor league hit streak dating back to before the call-up. I hope this motivation doesn't wear off.
Krum: 0/3, BB.
DJ Mitchell: 5 IP, 10 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 2 HR. It's just one bad outing.
JC Romero: 1 IP, Zeros across the board.
Wordekemper: 1 IP, H, 0 ER.

AA Trenton: L 0-5 to Richmond. L: Mr. Garrison (back to his old tricks, I guess he left Mr. Hat in the bronx after his demotion.
Kruml: 0/4, K (.291)
CoJo: 0/4 (.275)
Boilin Zoilo Almonte: 1/4 (.288)
R-Ly Lyerly: 0/3, 3 K. No good.
Melkman Mesa: 0/3, K.
Dee Mack: 1/3, 2 K (.246)
Craig Heyer: 5 IP in relief, 5 H, ER, BB, 2 K (3.94 ERA)
Pope: 1 IP, H, ER, BB (.96 ERA at this level)

High A Tampa: L 0-7 to Charlotte. L: Marshall
Honest Abe Almonte: 2/4, 2 2B. I know I'll regret this tomorrow when I jinx his solid performance and he throws another 0/4 at us, but he's been damn good lately.
Castrol GTX Castro: 0/4, K.
K-Roll Roller: 1/3, 2B, BB (.242)
Luke Murton: 1/3 (.281)
Alcantara: 0/3, 2 K. Give it time, there's a huge difference between GCL and Tampa.
Marshall: 5.2 IP, 12 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. Managed to keep his ERA just under 4 after a horrific outing, but he's been much better than that lately, hiccup.

Low A Charleston: L 3-5 to Greenville. L: Ramirez
Eddy Sosa: 1/5, 2 K (.264)
Ray-Flo Flores: 0/4 (.269).  His season has been pretty good for a 19 year old.
Shane Brown: 2/3, R, K (.300).
Sanchize: 04, R, K (.236)
J-Ram Ramirez: 6 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K (4.24 ERA). Had an error also.

Short Season Staten Island: W 11-5. W: Rodriguez. Way to save the system from the sweep.
Mad Mase Williams: 1/4, R, RBI, BB, SB (14), (.335). Seems like he's always doing something productive.
Cheeto Culver: 2/5, RBI (.291)
Ben Gamel the Camel: 1/4, R, 2B, BB, K (.275). Nice to see him at a point where a 1/4 day decreases his average.
Grice: 1/4, R, 3B, RBI, BB (.282). same.
Angelo Bubba Gumbs: 2/4, 2 R, RBI (.273)
Rey Nunez: 4/5, 2 R, 3 2B, 3 RBI (.293). Nice to see this Dominican kid starting to thrive.
Wilton Rodriguez: 5 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 5 K (3.93 ERA on the season). Who am I to judge, if you're young (20), and putting up good stats, I should be following you.
Caleb Cotham: 2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, ER, 3 K (1.26 ERA)
Paullus: 2 IP, 3 H, ER, BB, 4 K (2.7 ERA)

YEEP 7/27/11: Cito Pujols... I mean Culver

Evil Em VP of the day: Cito Culver (2 HR, honorable mention to Jose Rosario 5/6, HR). Image thanks to rocketsports-ent.com

Here are some scouting reports on Mason Williams, Cito Culver, and Brandon Pinder. Enjoy http://www.pennleaguereport.net/2011/07/si-yanks-renegades-scouting-reports-7-21-11.html. Also, Laird was optioned back to AAA, not surprising with the return of Chavez. JR Murphy is on the DL now, I'm not sure why. Also, the Yankees signed 14th rounder Rookie Davis for $550,000, a pitcher who throws a fastball 89-92 mph and a good curveball. I have the full scouting report here... http://evilempireprospects.blogspot.com/2011/06/2011-draft-rounds-10-50-who-should-we.html

AAA SWB: W 3-2 vs Bufallo. W: Kontos. S: Whelan
Krum: 1/4, 2B, 2 K
Montero: 0/4. He's allowed.
JoVa: 1/4, R, K
Lance Pendleton: 6 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, BB, 3 K. Nice start. At some point the team should acknowledge he is a reliever and let him work on that at this level. Right now they need his innings though.
Kontos: 2 IP, H, BB, 2 K, 0 ER. Got the win. 1st time he's had two good outings in a row in a while.
Whelan: 1 IP, H, Zeros. 20th save of the season.

Trenton Thunder: W 5-1. W: Banuelos
Kruml: 1/4, K
CoJo: 1/5, RBI, 2 K. (.273)
Austin BRomine: 1/5, R, 2B, K (.285). Hang in there bro, this is when you really slipped last season
R-Ly Lyerly: 3/5, RBI. (.288) Stand by my major league comparison: Lyle Overbay (maybe it's just because they both have a Ly in their name?)
Melky Mesa: 1/5, R, K, SB (14), CS (11). (.229) A Microcosm of his season so far. He's been much better lately, but I'm skeptical of him.
Boilin Zoilo Almonte: 1/3, R, BB. (.275)
Banuelos: 6.1 IP, 5 H, ER, 3 BB, 5 K, HR. If he hadn't gone out for the 7th, his line would have been 6 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. It was good experience for him though since he has struggled even to make it past the 5th inning recently. His ERA is 3.59 now. Not bad for a 20 year old in AA

High A Tampa: W 6-1 vs Fort Myers. W: O'Brien
DAdams: 1/5, R
Ronnier Mustelier Musketeer: 2/5, 2B, R, RBI, K. I'm interested to see if he's another JoVa, where he destroys the lower level pitching and then freaks out as soon as he has to hit a curveball/change
K-Roll Roller: 0/5, 3 K.
Seggy Segedin: 1/4, R, RBI
Murton: 1/2, 2B, 2 BB. Getting back to his early season successes.
Mikey O'Brien: 5 IP, 4 H, ER, BB, 3 K. 2.57 ERA, the next David Phelps, I'm convinced.
Daniel Burawa: 3 IP, 2 H, BB, 0 ER. After a shaky start, he has been really good here.
Gipson: 1 IP, H, 0 ER. His first three at this level were rough, since then, hasn't let up a run in his last three.

Short Season Staten Island: W 10-1. W: Oliver
Mad Mase Williams: 2/5, 2 R, RBI, K (.345). Yum
Cheeto Culver: 2/4, 3 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 BB. First two homers of the season. Funny how the above scouting report was surprised his pop hadn't showed up, and here it is.
Angelo Bubba Gumbs: 0/4, 2 BB, 3 K. Well there's the walks, I guess.
Cody Grice: 0/4, BB, K. Well there's the walk (singular), I guess.
Ben Gamel: 2/4, R, 2B, RBI, BB.(average up to .242) 11 for his last 30 (.367), 5 2B, 11 RBI, 4 BB. Pretty good. I'd like to call him Gamel the Camel because he was off to a slow start, but he holds water (crickets?).
Gotham City Cotham: 2 IP, 3 H, ER, BB, 5 K. That would be his first run in 12.1 innings of work thus far at this level, good for a .73 ERA. He also has 20 K during that time period. Coming soon to a theatre near you: Gotham City gets promoted to Charleston.
Phil Wetherell: 1 IP, H, 2 K. Lookin good Phil.

GCL Yankees: W 12-5 vs GCL Blue Jays. This team means business. I know it doesn't matter at this level but these guys really don't like to lose (22-11 and in first place).
Jose Rosario: 5/6, 2 R, 2B, HR (4), 3 RBI. (.330) Have a day Jose!
Daniel Lopez: 1/6, R, 2B, 2 K, SB (14). Daniel-son has speed to burn.
Dante Bichette: 2/5, 2 R, BB, 2 K. All the things I said yesterday +1 (7 of last 8 multi-hit games, 13 game hit streak (.336)
Duran: 0/4, 2 K. Rough first game
Henry Pena: 3/3, 2 R, 2B, 3B, 3 RBI, BB. Jeez, if someone is struggling on this team, just put them in the OF for a bit. There is so much talent in this OF it's ridiculous.
Yeicok Calderon: 1/5, R, HR, 2 RBI, BB, 2 K. That's his 5th HR. I thought he had more.
Reynaldo Polanco: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 9 K, HR. 2.45 ERA in his last 5 outings (4.5 ERA total). He has 21 K in that time period, and just 3 BB. He's only 18 years old out of the DR, so this is actually pretty impressive.
Daniel D-Mart Martinez: 1 IP, 1 K, 0 ER. 20 year old out of Venezuela. 1.5 ERA so far in the GCL.