YEEP 8/12/11: Betances and Nuno solid, GCL rolls again

Evil Em VP: Dellin Betances

AAA SWB: L 4-7 to Syracuse. L: Banuelos
Russo: 0/5, RBI, 4 K (.278)
Montero: 2/5, R, HR, RBI, 2 K (.283): #13 on the season. That's 3 in 10 games.
JoVa: 1/3, BB, K (.253)
Banuelos: 5.2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 3 K. The walks are back, but not a terrible outing.
Whelan: .2 IP, H, ER, BB (2.3 ERA)

AA Trenton: L 2-3 to Harrisburg. L: Pope
Krum: 0/4, RBI, 2 K (.241)
Kruml: 0/3, BB, K, CS (.288): Good to see him back. Probably just needs a couple of days to shake the rust.
R-Ly Lyerly: 1/4, 3B, K (.258)
Melkman Mesa: 2/4, 2B, K (.239).
Boilin Zoilo Almonte: 0/4, 2 K (.262). He's done okay, but he does seem a little bit overmatched at this level. I'll give him some time though, since he does seem to take a while to adjust to each level.
Betances: 7 IP, 5 H, ER, BB, 6 K. Great outing. This is exactly what we are looking for from him.
Sideshow Venditte: 1 IP, BB, 2 K (2.79 ERA)
Pope: .1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, HR (2.57 ERA)

High A Tampa: L 4-6 to Dunedin. L: Black
Honest Abe Almonte: 1/4, R, K (.251)
Walt Ibarra: 0/4 (.290)
A-Rod: 2/3, R, 2 2B, HR, 2 RBI. I don't know who this kid is, but he's really old for his level. (Just kidding)
K-Roll Roller: 0/1, K (.253)
Luke Murton: 0/4, 2 K (.285)
Dee Mack: 1/4, K (.315)
Castrol GTX Castro: 1/4, R, 2B, 2 K (.315)
Gipson: 1 IP, H, ER, K, HR (2.95 ERA)

Low A Charleston: W 3-1 vs West Virginia. W: Kahnle. S: Montgomery
Eddy Sosa: 2/5, K (.263)
Shane Brown: 0/3 (.276)
Vidal Nuno: 5 IP, H, ER, 6 K, HR (2.4 ERA). He's been great for Charleston since converting from reliever.
Kahnle: 3 IP, 2 H, 2 K (4.11 ERA). That's his 2nd long outing in a row with 0 ER. Took him from about a 5 ERA to 4.11
Monte Python Montgomery: 1 IP, BB, 2 K (2.6 ERA). That's his 10th save.

Short Season Staten Island: L 3-12 to Auburn. L: DeLuca
Cody Grice: 0/4, BB, 2 K (.278). He led off today, didn't go so well.
Cheeto Culver: 2/3, R, 2 BB, K, SB (5), E (15) (.278). Looks like he's out of that funk he was in for a while. That's 2 multi-hit games in a row. I'd love to see him finish strong this season.
Ben Gamel the Camel: 0/4, R, BB, 2 K (.296)
Casey Stevenson: 2/4, R, BB, K, E (4) (.291)
Ty Austin: 2/4, 2B, 2 RBI, BB, K (.219). He's starting to come around now at this level.
DeLuca: 1.1 IP, 3 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, K (4.37). That's four really bad starts in a row. Not good.
Cotham City: 2 IP, 2 H, R, 0 ER, 2 K (1.35 ERA)
Richardson: 1 IP, ER, 4 BB, 3 K. The rare walking in of a run without any hits. Yucky.

GCL Yankees: W 12-8 vs GCL Tigers
Ravenous Ravel Santana (Rav 4? I'm tryin out the new nick name): 2/4, 3 R, 2B, BB, SB (10) (.297). No strike outs today, a good sign. 17 for his last 35 (.486). No homers in the last 10 games though. Bust?
Janitor Custodio: 3/4, 3 R, RBI, BB, SB (23). .359/.457/.841 in his last 10 games with 7 SB and 1 CS. The only catch? He only has one extra base hit in that time (2B).
Isaias the hata Tejeda: 0/1 (.339). He left in the top of the 3rd innning for some reason.
Hurst: 2/3, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB, E (2) (.667). Replaced Tejeda at catcher.
Bichette Happens: 4/5, 2 R, 2 2B, 4 RBI, E (6) (.344). Beast.
Matt Duran Duran: 1/3, 2B, 2 RBI, BB, K (.267)
Bubba Jones: 1/5, 3 K (.263)
Henry Pena: 0/5, 4 K (.257)
Mark Prior: 1 IP, H, ER, K, 2 HB. Hitting 2 guys is a bad sign. Gotta get that control.
Rutzkrieg Rutckyj: 5 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K (5.2 ERA)
Hayden Sharp: .2 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 0 K. There's your rude awakening Sharp.
Daniel Martinez: 1 IP, 2 H, K (1.29 ERA). He's got 15 K in 14 innings. He's a bit old for the level though (21).

YEEP 8/9/11- Jesus Homers, the Janitor Cleans Up

Evil Em VP: Claudio Custodio: 3/3, 2 SB.

The Yankees have signed 25th rounder Adam Smith (I guess his parents had never heard of Adam Smith's Trading Company, or maybe they had). They also signed a Czech catcher who played in American high schools for 2 years named Daniel Vavrusa. I doubt if he's any good, European baseball talent rarely is.

AAA SWB: Double Header
Game 1: W 4-3 vs Gwinnett Braves. W: Whelan
Russo: 1/3, R, RBI, BB, K (.285)
Dan Brewski Brewer: 2/4, R, 2 K (.275)
Jesus Montero: 1/3, HR, 2 RBI, BB (.285). That's 12 now and counting.
JoVa: 0/3, BB (.249). No strikeout for once.
Laird: 0/2, BB (.271)
Adam the Warden Warren: 6 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K. Meh outing.
Whelan: 2 IP, H, 2 K. Great job salvaging a win.

Game 2: Probably gonna have to wait until tomorrow for the update on this one.

AA Trenton: L 5-6. L: Stoneburner. They almost came back in the 8th and 9th but fell one run short
Krum: 0/5, RBI, K, SB (17). Not a day you want out of a leadoff guy, although the SB is nice.
CoJo: 1/4, R, L (.269)
R-Ly Lyerly: 1/4, HR, 3 RBI, K (.254). He was a huge part of the 8th inning portion of the comeback. That's his 4th HR since the promotion.
Melkman Mesa: 1/3, 2B (.234)
Boilin Zoilo Almonte: 0/3, BB, K (.272)
Graham Cracker Stoneburner: 5.2 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, HR. Not his best outing, but still has a 2.86 ERA.
Josh Bromance Romanski: 1.1 IP, 3 H, ER, 3 K (2.04 ERA)
Pope: 1 IP, K (1.42 ERA)

Short Season Staten Island: L 0-1 to Williamsport. L: Wetherell.
Mad Mase Williams: 1/4, 2B (.359)
Cheeto Culver: 0/4, (.270), E (13). Not liking the recent errors.
Ben Gamel the Camel: 1/4, 2 K (.295)
Cody Grice: 0/4, K (.284)
Reymond Nunez: 1/4, 2B (.295)
Casey Stevenson: 2/3 (.285)
Tyler Austin: 0/3, BB (.143) Back from injury finally, hopefully he picks up where he left off at GCL.
Bryan Mitchell: 6 IP, H, BB, 2 K (4.82 ERA). We have a Bryan Mitchell sighting. Consistency is the key.
Paullus: 2 IP, H, BB, 2 K (4.74 ERA)
Wetherell: .2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, K (1.93 ERA): Must have been screwed by Cheeto's error.

GCL Yankees: L 3-4 to GCL Blue Jays: L: Polanco
Ravenous Ravel Santana: 3/4, R, 2B, K, SB (7) (.281). His season is within respectability, and he's young with great tools. He's on his way.
Janitor Custodio: 3/3, R, 2B, BB, 2 SB (21) (.308). This kid just continues to exceed expectations, and I will continue to cheer for him. He's 21/22 on the season in SB as well.
Isaias the Hata Tejeda: 0/4, RBI, K (.337)
Junior Bichette: 0/3, 3 K (.329)
Matt Duran Duran: 2/3, HR, 2B, 2 RBI (.278). Second homerun of the season.
Bubba Jones: 0/3, 3 K. He and Bichette were aweful today.
Daniel Lopez: 0/3 (.316)
Justin James: 0/3, K (.319)
Mark Prior: 1 IP, H, BB, 2 K (0.00 ERA)
Reynaldo Polanco: 3.1 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 2 K (5.04 ERA). His first bad one in a while, I'll excuse it.
Checo: 1.2 IP, H, BB, 3 K (2.79 ERA)

YEEP 8/6/11: Wins all around.

Evil Em VP: Mason Williams

AA Trenton: W 5-3 vs Altoona. W: Whitley, S: Pope. *Claggett got the loss for Altoona.
Krum: 1/5, R, K (.257)
CoJo: 1/4, R, BB, K (.270)
R-Ly Lyerly: 2/4, R, 2B, 2 RBI, BB (.254). Finally broke his 0 for a long time spell.
Melkman Mesa: 3/5, HR, 2 RBI (.236). That's number 6 on the season, his power is slowly returning. 2 games in a row with a homerun.
Boilin Zoilo Almonte: 1/3, BB (.294)
Craig Heyer: 5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, BB, 3 K, HR (3.92 ERA)
Chase Whitley: 3 IP, H, BB, 2 K, 0 ER (3.33 ERA). All the way from Staten Island to Trenton less than 2 seasons with success at every level. Really impressive.
Pope: 1 IP, 0 ER, K (1.54)

High A Tampa: W 8-4 vs Dunedin: W: Marshall
Honest Abe Almonte: 1/5, R, 3B, 2 K (.246)
Walt Ibarra: 2/4, R, 2B, RBI (.301). Pretty solid return.
K-Roll Roller: 2/4, 2 R, 2 2B, 2 RBI (.241). Good job, he needs more games like this.
DAdams: 2/3, 2 R, BB, K (.320). They can't keep him here much longer, but I'd like to see the power come around at some point.
Castrol GTX Castro: 1/4, RBI, K (.318)
Dee Mack: 3/4, R, 2B, RBI (.315). He'll be great at this level.
Brett Fire Marshall: 5 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 K, HR (4.04 ERA). I like the lack of walks, I don't like the 9 hits.
Dan Burawa: 2 IP, R, ER, 3 BB, K (4.09 ERA)

Low A Charleston: W 6-5 vs Savannah. W: Nuno. S: Montgomery
Shane Brown: 1/3, R, RBI, BB (.283)
Sanchize: 2/3, R, HR, RBI, BB (.253). 9 for his last 18. 6 HR in his last 10 games. 15 HR on the season. I'd say he's starting to come around.
Higgy Higashioka: 1/4, R, HR, 2 RBI (.253)
Vidal Sassoon Nuno: 6 IP, 10 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 6 K, HR (2.7 ERA). Lots of hits, but no walks and you've got to like his K/BB rate of 40/3 in 35 innings this year.
Dott: 1.2 IP, 2 H, ER, 2 BB, 2 K (1.83 ERA)
Monte Python Montgomery: 1.1 IP, H, R, ER, 3 BB, 2 K (2.35 ERA). Not his best performance.

Short Season Staten Island Yankees: W 6-4 vs Brooklyn. W: Oliver. S: Pinder
Mad Mase Williams:3/4, 2 R, BB, 2 SB (18) (.370). Leads the league in average and it's not close.
Casey Stevenson: 2/4, R, RBI, BB (.278)
Ben Gamel the Camel: 2/3, 2 R, 2B, 2 BB (.290)
Cody Grice: 2/5, R, 3B, 4 RBI (.286)
Reymond Nunez: 1/5, 2B, RBI, K (.298)
Gerritse: 2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 K, HR (1.33 ERA)
Pinder: 1 IP, H, 2 K, 0 ER. 10 saves on the season (.50 ERA). Pretty dominant.I like his makeup and so do some scouts. He could be a Chase Whitley type by next year.

GCL Yankees: W 14-6 vs GCL Braves
Ravenous Ravel Santana: 1/4, 2 R, BB, SB (6) (.268)
Janitor Custodio: 3/5, 2 R, RBI, K, SB (19) (.291) He needed a game like this badly. Strong work.
Isaias The Hata Tejada: 3/5, 2 R, (.350), CS, PO. A few baserunning misakes, but great game.
Junior Bichette: 2/4, R, 2 RBI, BB, K (.336)
Matt Duran Duran: 2/5, 2 R, 2B, RBI (.242)
Daniel Lopez: 4/5, 3B, RBI, SB (16) (.324) Great game from him.
Justin James: 1/5, R, 2B, 3 RBI, 2 K (.341)
Rutzkrieg Rutckyj: 4 IP, 5 H, R, 0 ER, BB, 5 K. Two great starts in a row. Hopefully he found his control.
Corey Mad Cowsert disease: 1 IP, H, K (2.16)
Hinojosa: 1 IP, 2 H, K (2.31 ERA) Back down to GCL where here currently belongs.
Now this is just the GCL, but when you look at the amont of guys on this team batting .300 right now, it's absurd, not to mention some of the guys who have already been promoted. You have Justin James, Isaias Tejeda, Dante Bichette, Jose Rosario, Daniel Lopez and then a few guys who don't have enough at bats to make it significant.

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 7/10/11: Putting on a Higa-Show

Evil Em Vee P of the day: Kyle Higashioka. Photo courtesy of realgm.com

Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees AAA: L 1-3 to Rochester. L: Pendleton
JoVa (Jorge Vazquez): 1/4, 2 K. The JoVa we have grown accustomed to.
Laird: 0/4, K. A rare bad game as of recent.
Lance Pendleton: 5 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, BB, 3 K, 2 HR. I am a huge Pendleton fan, although not because I think he's good or has potential to be good for that matter. He's just a guy who's fun to root for since he was such an unlikely candidate to do as well as he has. I really hope he carves out a niche for our major league team at some point and becomes good at whatever that niche is.
Kontos: 2 IP, H, 2 K, 0 ER. He was so close to being called up as a reliever. My guess is that he will be sooner or later.
Brack-Attack (Andrew Brackman): 2 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 ER. Very encouraging. The walk is still there, and he didn't strike anyone out, but still reason for cautious optimism. Now it's just a matter of becoming consistent.

AA Trenton. L 5-8 vs Reading. L: Garrison
Kruml: 3/5, 2 R, HR, RBI, CS. That's his 4th HR of the year to go along with all of those steals. It really is unfortunate that he's 25. You can't teach speed though, and he most certainly has it. He might legitimately be able to help the major league team at some point.
CoJo: 1/4, R, 2B, BB, 3 K. Seems like he's striking out a lot lately. In fact he has 14 in his last 10 games. Slumping a bit after a pretty long hot streak.
Melky Mesa: 2/4, R, 2 RBI. He was moved to 4th in the lineup. Maybe the coaches noticed a reason for his recent hot bat.
R-Ly (Lyerly): 0/3, BB, 2 K. Not so hot.
Sideshow Venditte: 2 IP, H, ER, BB, K, HR.
Pope: 1 IP, 1 K.

High A Tampa: L 5-6 to St. Lucie Mets. L: Sneed
Honest Abe Almonte: 1/4, 3B, 2 RBI, BB, K. What, no steal?
Kelvin "Castrol GTX" Castro: 1/5, R, 2B, K.
Boilin Zoilo Almonte: 1/4, RBI, BB
Murton: 1/3, HR, 2 RBI,1 BB, 2 K. (.269 on the year, his 6th HR).
JR Murphy: 0/1 in a pinch hit appearance.
K-Roll Roller: 3/5, 2B, 2K. Everything he made contact with fell for a hit.
Seggy Segedin: 0/3, R, 2 K.
Jose Quintana: 4 IP, 5 H, 2 R, ER, 3 BB, 4 K. Not bad spot start. He's been doing well all year and he's only 22 so I guess I'll start talking about him.
James "Gipper" Gipson: 2 IP, 2 H, ER, 4 K. <3 the 4 K in 2 IP

Low A Charleston: Game 1: W 2-0 vs Delmarva. W: Nuding. S: Montgomery
Eddy Sosa:1/2, R.
Sanchize: 0/3, K. Boo! Include him in a trade for Ubaldo Jimenez! Just kidding. Not really.
Ramon Ray-Flo Flores: 0/3, K
Higashioka: 1/2, BB.
Nuding: 5 IP, H, 2 BB, 5 K. Excellent outing. He needs to put together a string of these to finish the season respectably though.
Mark Monte Montgomery: 1 IP, 2 H, 2 K. Ma boy is a strikeout machine!

Game 2: W 5-4 vs Delmarva. W: Evarts. S: Dott.
Sosa: 0/4, K
Higashioka: 2/3, HR. I'm proud of this kid because he finally seems to be finding his stroke. It's a shame he got demoted right when that happened.
Ray-Flo: 1/2, R.
Dott: 2 IP, BB, 2 K.

Short Season Staten Island: L 2-8. L: Rodriguez
Mad Mase Williams: 2/5. Keep hitting Mason.
Cheetoh Culver: 0/2, 2 BB, K.
Bubba Gumbs: 0/4, BB, K
Shane Brown: 2/3, 2 R, 2B. Back at it again.
No pitching prospects to speak of today.

GCL scheduled day off.

Lower Level Outfielders

There isn't much in AAA or AA in the Yankees system as far as OF go. Most are either organizational filler, 4th OF ceilings, or just don't have much of a future. Some may sniff the major leagues as a 4th OF or fill in for an injured player, like Golson, Brewer, but are unlikely to stick on any team. We have about 12 kids I'm excited about in the lower levels (High A to GCL). I'm going to list them in order and say why I'm excited and why I have each of them in this position.

1. Slade Heathcott- He's 20. obvious choice as our 1st round draft pick, but this season he has really performed well when not injured. He has shown some improvement with SB and power, but has struggled to stay healthy. He is definitely an outstanding defender, but the key is going to be keeping that shoulder healthy so he will still have a cannon if/when he reaches the major leagues. The Yankees drafted him as a project, someone who they knew would require a year or so of learning and practice before starting to pay dividends. We are starting to see a return on him, and hopefully he continues to improve.

2. Mason Williams-19 yo only in short season A with SI this year, but he's already making a splash with his speed and power. He was a signability guy in the 5th round last season, so we got him later than we should have, and we got a young player whom we can groove in whatever way we'd like. The speed and power are promising, as is his fielding. He is better sooner than Heathcott was, but Heathcott started his second season in Charleston, so it's a little different.

3. Ravel Santana- 19 yo I don't know much about him, but I know he's an international signing who lead the DSL in HR (10) and SB (22) last season. Apparently scouts say he has 80 power and 80 speed. That's one hell of a prospect if he can put it all together. That's a big if though and we've seen how guys like this can fail with Kelvin De Leon and Melky Mesa. He's in the GCL this season.

4. Ramon Flores- Another 19 yo. In Low A, he has shown an advanced approach at the plate. He has cooled down with his average and power, but continues to draw walks. This advanced approach could get him far, but he's going to need to keep improving his power numbers, and hit for a better average than he has so far this season... .254/.373/.399/.772

5. Zoilo Almonte- 22 yo. He's in high A, probably close to a AA promotion if his current hot streak continues. He had a similar hot streak at the same time last season, but it came to a halt when he was promoted to high A. This season, however, he has almost as many HR in less than 1/2 the games of last season. He also has stolen bases at a higher rate, and has similar OBP and avg tendencies, but is striking out at a lower rate for sure. He's OPSing at .869. 22 yo in High A is a red flag though.

6. Yeicok Calderon- 19 yo.He has solid power (8 HR in DSL last season), and hits for a solid avg, but it remains to be seen if these skills will transfer stateside. So far, so good .278/.350/.666/1.07 in very limited sample size, 2 HR and 2 SB as well.

7. Eduardo Sosa- Venezuela- 20 yo in low A with a lot of speed and an advanced approach at the plate. Strikes out too much but also draws a lot of walks and knows how to get on base. 10 SB in 11 attempts. Not much power.

8. Jorge Alcantara- 19 yo in GCL- showed an advanced approach in the DSL. Has showed some power and a good approach in the GCL so far. He'll likely see a lot of time in the OF since Bichette is the 3B there. Definitely a guy to watch. .433 OBP in the DSL last season.

9. Ben Gamel- 19 yo. have read a lot about his potential, it's not as high as some of the others but some project him as a solid OF. Enough to dream on a bit I suppose. Jury's still out.

10. Angelo Gumbs- still 18. Hasn't had much success so far, and has mostly played SS, but projects as a 2B/OF. We will see what this kid has to offer, he's a 2nd round pick so he could be good. Has shown a good amount of speed so far, hopefully getting some experience under his belt will help.

11. Shane Brown- 23 yo in SI. Realistically he shouldn't be on this list but he has started off really hot this season (1 HR, .375/.464/.542/1.006), so I put him on here as an outside chance, eg. a Neil Medchill/D'eangelo Mack type who are unlikely to pan out.

12. Henry Pena- 20 yo, GCL- almost didn't put him on the list, but I'll wait till he comes back to pass judgment. I've heard good things but haven't seen any come to fruition.

Long shots/honorable mention- Cody Grice (I liked this pick), Abe Almonte (has been hot lately, maybe his found it, doubt it), and Melky Mesa (severe regression this year)