Introducing Your 2012 Charleston River Dogs. Part 2/3: The Relief Pitchers

It would stand to reason that the segment of this three part series that everyone is most looking forward to would be the hitters. In the interest of keeping everyone on the edge of their seat, in eager anticipation of the hitters post, I have decided to save the best for last. That said, the relief corps at Charleston this year will be very impressive and each significant piece of that bullpen deserves some ink. This is the list of relievers I believe will be pitching in Charleston this year, with a little bit of information on each. The official rosters haven't been submitted yet, so this is only a projection. A common theme for most of the players in this post is that they are all capable of becoming fast movers.This is for two reasons. First of all, the relievers the Yankees draft are often older, necessitating quicker movement through the system to get full value. Secondly, the Yankees tend to be less cautious with relievers. If they have the stuff, they will move up.

      Looks Happy!      

1. Branden Pinder, RH, CP: This is the most obvious choice. He's 23 years old. There's a strong possibility he's ready for Tampa, but the Yankees generally move their prospects one level at a time, with few exceptions. One advantage of this for Pinder is he will likely get to close for the River Dogs, where he might have to fight for saves with Mark Montgomery in Tampa. Look for Pinder to have a big year in Charleston, given that the level of competition isn't all that different from Staten Island. He's not huge but he's a big guy, at 6'3, 210 lbs. He owned batters over 31.0 IP in Staten Island this year with 38 strikeouts and a miniscule 1.16 ERA. Teams had to face him in the 9th inning, where he accrued 14 saves in his first season. He throws a fastball with an average velocity of 93 with a knockout slider that serves as his major strikeout pitch. His fastball can get up to 97 mph, and he has a sneaky delivery with great extension, much like David Robertson. He's working on a change up as well. Pinder's control of his fastball and slider are excellent, which is represented by his 5 walks in 31 IP. He may not last too long in Charleston, and I'd be surprised if we didn't see him pitching in Tampa before the end of the season.

  Smiling not allowed!

2. Philip Wetherell, RHP: Phil Wetherell is a very large man. He is very much in the mold of other recent draftees Kahnle and Burawa. He's 6'5, 225 lbs. His fastball ranges from 91-95 (reaching 96 mph), and he came to Staten Island already armed with a "fall off the table" splitter to complement his fastball. Drafted in the 8th round out of college, he will be 22 years old this season. He is also in the process of developing a slider. It's not a plus pitch yet, but it could become a pitch he uses to keep hitters honest. He is a true power pitcher, with all three of his pitches coming at you at above 87 mph. This year he used those tools to throw 30.0 IP with 41 K's. He did walk 15 batters though, and struggled with control at times. Overall his ERA was 2.40, and he had a successful first year in the minors. Wetherell, at his size, doesn't need a sneaky delivery to have a heavy fastball. He does need to work on his control though. He currently projects as a late inning reliever because of that "Philthy" splitter. If that slider develops into something more than a fringe pitch, we could be looking at a setup man, or even a closer in the future. He's another potential fast mover, especially if he can gain some control and make some progress with that slider.

Teeth show weakness

3. Zach Arneson, RHP: Another 23 year old, he's 6'2 and 190 lbs. He's a 9th round draft pick out of college, and sits at about 94 mph with the fastball that can get up to 97 mph. Arneson also throws a power slider in the upper 80's that generates a lot of swings and misses. Much like Pinder, he is working on a change up to keep batters honest. He's actually a very similar pitcher to Pinder, except he's a little bit smaller, and needs to work on his control. He walked 8 batters in 17.1 IP for Staten Island last year, while pitching to a 3.57 ERA and striking out 17 batters. The scouting report is better than the results so far, so if he puts it all together this year, he's going to move quickly. I can't imagine teams are going to be too thrilled about facing these three at the end of the game when Charleston is winning, and it speaks to the great job the Yankees have done drafting college pitchers who end up making excellent relievers. The funny thing is, these three don't even begin to demonstrate the depth of relief pitching at this level.

4. Robert "Ben" Paullus, RHP: This 22 year old, 6'1 190 lb hurler was a 19th round draft pick last year. His statistics were great, but he fell off towards the end of the season, but that was due in part to a 5 run outing late in the season. He finished the season with a 3.86 ERA and 41 strikeouts over 30.1 IP. He walked 12 batters in that span, and held hitters to a .186 average. When he was drafted, he was throwing a low 90's fastball that could hit the mid 90's, and an 80 mph curveball, as well as an 82 mph change up. Paullus had some good success with that repertoire year one, but he still needs significant work on his mechanics and his control. It may take Paullus a bit longer to develop than the guys above him on this list, but he's still a potential fast mover and he has great stuff that could allow him to really mow down hitters in Charleston and Tampa this year.

5. Caleb "Gotham City" Cotham, RHP: 24 year old Cotham saw his first action since shoulder surgery in 2011. Shoulder surgeries are tricky, but it would be easier to come back from that as a reliever than as a starter, and so far he has impressed. When he first came up, he was sitting at 90-93 mph, topping out at 95 mph. He also threw a change up and a curve ball. Surprisingly, he seems to have maintained his velocity in 2011, hitting 90-91 regularly. There's a chance that number will increase even more as he is let loose this year. He throws a sinker with late movement as well. He throws an 85 mph power slider that he had trouble commanding this year, but that command may come with time. His results were excellent in 2011, with 32 K's in 23 innings and a 1.96 ERA. He'll be one of the older guys in Charleston, and he's still got a lot to prove. He may be the biggest sleeper in this crop of bullpen players.

Some of the other players worth noting who may appear in Charleston this year or may not include the following: Brett Gerritse is a big, softer throwing RHP who is still young enough at 21 to add some MPH's to his fastball. Cory Cowsert was an independent league signing who saw some success last season in the GCL. Corey Maines is another guy who could see some significant innings for this team. Michael Recchia and John Brebbia also looked sharp in 2011 for Staten Island, although I don't know much about their scouting reports except that they will be 23 and 21 respectively this season. Both struck out greater than or equal to one batter per inning last season. Never sleep on a young prospect, that's what I always say.

Overall, we are looking at a very solid bullpen in Charleston this upcoming season. The one thing that is missing is a left handed pitcher, but who needs that when you have 5 relievers as good as the guys above with some others who have had plenty of success filling out the rest of the innings.

Up next, the ever-exciting hitters of Charleston. It's crazy to think that this team has a potential all star at every position in the field, except maybe catcher.

Analyzing the Yankees Draft Signings

This was a light year in terms of the number of guys we signed (21). Usually about 25-30 will get signed. We did manage to sign a lot of high ceiling talent. The way I see it, we signed 6 potential starting pitchers, a host of relievers (7), and a full infield and outfield worth of position players (8). Hopefully we can do a good job supplementing this with some international free agent signings.



Just so you don't think I'm overly optimistic, here are the problems I see with this year's crop. First of all, most of the higher ceiling hitters are corner infield and corner outfield types. These are the types of guys who have to really mash to ever get to the major leagues, and also the types of players that are always available on the free agent market. The other problem I see is that all of the starting pitchers we got seem like projects. They are high ceiling types who have great tools but lack refinement. It's always good to have high ceiling guys, but I also love to see an Adam Warren, David Phelps, or Mikey O'Brien type, who is already refined at draft time but doesn't have that same high ceiling.

I do think there are a ton of positives you can take away from this draft class as well though. First of all, the first round pick has so far been a great success in the GCL, hitting for power and average. Secondly, I think we did a great job supplementing what we already have at the lower levels. We have a ton of high ceiling outfield prospects and up the middle players currently. Now we have power corner bat types as well. The third thing we did well was to pick up effective relievers who could move through the system very quickly. There isn't a single reliever who hasn't has some degree of success so far, and some have been pretty impressive, especially Montgomery. Finally, although I'm not happy with the fact that all of the starting pitchers we drafted are high ceiling project types, I do think there is a good chance that one or two of them pan out.

Here's a list of all of the guys we drafted and their draft position.

3B Dante Bichette Jr. (Comp. A)
RHP Jordan Cote (3rd)
INF Matt Duran (4th)
C Gregory Bird (5th)
OF Jake Cave (6th)
1B Austin Jones (7th)
RHP Philip Wetherell (8th)
RHP Zachary Arneson (9th)
RHP Mark Montgomery (11th)
OF Cody Grice (12th)
OF Justin James (13th)
RHP William Davis (14th)
RHP Branden Pinder (16th)
RHP Hayden Sharp (18th)
RHP Robert Paullus (19th)
LHP Daniel Camarena (20th)
INF Zach Wilson (21st)
RHP Corey Maines (23rd)
LHP Matthew Tracy (24th)
LHP Chaz Hebert (27th)
RHP Joseph Maher (38th)



Starting with Bichette, we will discuss.

1. Dante Bichette Jr.: Known on this blog as "Bichette Happens," this high school draft pick got off to a very slow start to his major league career. Up until a couple of weeks ago, he was hitting well under .200. Then he went on an absolute tear, and he hasn't slowed down since. This situation reeks of "adjustment time" changes to his swing, which occur after about 1 month of play in the GCL. Either way, he has since brought his average all the way up to .344 and he is OPSing at .976 in 167 at bats. This pick was criticized, but I don't think there is much bad you could say about it at this point, except that he's a corner player.

2. Jordan Cote: A 6'6, 215 lb RHP with a lot of projectibility. Apparently he has a frame that could allow him to fill out to 240. He's another high school kid. Damon Oppenheimer described him as "He's a classic projection guy, who's already got some 'now' stuff" to an MLB.com reporter. His fastball currently sits at 88-92, but many scouts are saying he could add some velocity as he fills out. Apparently his off-speed stuff is fringy, but he has great physical tools.

3. Matt Duran: He can play 1B or 3B. Known on this blog as Matt Duran Duran, this 6'1, 208 lb right handed first baseman is known for his power hitting. Another high school kid, he has been described as a tireless worker who has adjusted to the GCL through hard work. Duran has hit .265 with 2 HR and is OPSing at .808 so far for the GCL Yankees in 49 at bats. In 138 plate appearances, he has a .269 average with 9 SB, 1 HR, and 18 RBI.

4. Gregory Bird: This 6'3, 205 lb catcher out of Colorado projects as either a catcher or a first baseman. He's a big, strong kid, and he hits left handed. He has a lot of lift in his swing, and has a ton of power. He had 39 HR in three seasons of high school.

5. Jake Cave: 6'1, 180 lb left handed thrower and hitter drafted as a CF. This kid actually throws a 94 MPH fastball as a pitcher. He's slim, and has good power potential, with quick hands and good lift in the swing. He's an inside out hitter, and an outstanding overall athlete. Unsurprisingly, he has a cannon from the outfield, and he also has good bat speed.

6. Austin Jones: 6'1 left handed hitter who throws righty. He is another potential power bat, and his nickname is Bubba. He's hitting .269 in the GCL in 26 at bats. So far, he hasn't had any extra base hits, but he's still just 18 years old (19 in 4 days), and has a lot of potential.

7. Phillip Wetherell: A 6'5, 225 lb RHP from Western Kentucky. He's 22 years old, but has dominated for the Staten Island Yankees this season. He has an 11.32 K/9 and a 1.79 ERA in 20.2 IP. He has done a great job in relief at this level, although he is old for the level.

8. Zachary Arneson: Another 22 year old, he's 6'2, 190 and has done a good job in limited action for the SI Yankees. In 10 IP, he has 10 K, and he has a 3.6 ERA. He, Wetherell, and Montgomery represent guys who will be used as relievers in the minor leagues for the Yankees. All have done a nice job.

9. Mark Montgomery: 5'11, 205 lb RHP reliever. Known on this website as Monte Python, he has been just that, a python. Still 20, his K/9 at Charleston has been 15.22. He had 5 K in one inning this season. His ERA has been 2.45. A lot of people are excited about him, but he'll have to duplicate this success at the higher levels to be a major league reliever.

10. Cody Grice: CF 6' 220 Righty. Grice is out of his junior year at Grand Valley State University in Michigan. He had a great freshman year at Grand Valley. In 55 games he hit .411 with 5 HRs, 34 RBIs, and 45 runs. During his sophomore year he continued his dominance. He hit .455 with 6 HRs, 49 RBIs, and 18 stolen bases. 2011- He hit .381 with 4 HR, 59 RBIs, and 59 runs. He was second in RBIs and first in runs on his team. He also had 23 stolen bases. They placed him directly in Staten Island probably because of his advanced age (21) and his cool name.

11. Justin James: 20 years old, OF, Sacramento City College. The son of Dion James, Sacramento CC outfielder Justin James is making a name for himself on the diamond. Skipped senior year, and is clearly raw but shows five-tool potential. James is 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds and is an above-average runner. hits lefty, and he shows raw power in batting practice, even to the opposite field. Because of his frame, speed and raw power potential, James could go as high as the third round. During the 2011 season Justin hit .309 with 20 RBIs, 46 runs, and 19 stolen bases. Projectable with power, but hasn't shown it yet. So far in the GCL, he has a .278 average with 4 doubles and a .403 OBP.

12. William "Rookie" Davis: 14th Round - William Davis RHP 6'3" 235 HS. Comitted to ECU. He has a nickname of "rookie." Yankees drafted him as a pitcher and this season he went 9-0 with a 1.02 ERA. He also struck out 136 in only 61.1 innings. Over his four seasons in high school Davis was 25-4 with a 1.67 ERA and 415 strikeouts in 209.1 innings. 89-92 mph FB can sit 90-91. His CB has some shape cen be avg pitch at times.

13. Branden Pinder: Another reliever who has had some success in the minors in his brief career. He's a 21 year old, 6'3 210 lb right handed guy who has done a great job saving games for Staten Island. He has 27 K in 21 IP with a .86 ERA and 10 saves for SI this year. Scouts have been impressed with him, and the results speak for themselves.

14. Hayden Sharp: 6-6, 200, RHP HS, He is signed to play at Central Oklahoma. Nothing on his other pitches though, or his command. As a senior he was used mostly as a reliever and had 82 strikeouts. Keith Law on Twitter: Pop-up guy for the draft this year - Hayden Sharp from Morris, OK. Hit 98 just before the draft, lots of 93-96, quarterback was committed to Central Oklahoma. His first appearance in the minors was rough, but he has plenty of time to adjust. He's just 18 years old.

15. Robert Benson Paullus: 21 year old out of Memphis, another college guy turned reliever. He's 6'1 , 190, throws right handed, and has been okay for Staten Island this season. He has a 4.29 ERA, and 31 K in 21 IP. He has a very low .195 average against, but has a high walk rate that has hurt him. He has 10 BB in 21 IP.

16. Daniel Camarena:LHP, HS, CA. 6 walks in 49 innings this spring while striking out 76, illustrating his superb feel for pitching and ability to carve up the strike zone. worked hard to add strength and his velocity jumped a tick this spring, ranging from 87-91. his 6-foot-1, 205-pound frame lacks projection. He makes up for it with his polish and command. CU- scouts rate as an average pitch. already flashes a big league CB sometimes. Most scouts see Camarena's future on the mound, but he could be a standout two-way player in college. Strong mature build. Top level 2-way prospect. Has been primary LHP but may have higher ceiling as a hitter. varies FB velocity/movement/location, tops at 91 sinks it at 83-84 as well, big CB, nice CU. San Diego committed. Selected for the Aflac All-American team.

17. Zach Wilson: 6'1 205 lb, 3B out of ASU. He's 21, and he started at Staten Island, where he's struggled. He has hit .222 in 171 at bats, although he does have 6 HR.

18. Corey Maines: 6'0, 195 lb kid out of Illinois St. Throw right handed, another reliever out of college. Overall, between GCL and SI, he has sported a 3.95 ERA with 13 K in 13.2 IP. He hasn't been bad, but he's 23. This was probably more of an organizational filler type pick.

19. Matt Tracy: 22 year older who's 6'3, 212 and throws lefty. He's done a great job for Staten Island this year, throwing 32.1 IP and striking out 29 with a 2.78 ERA. Doesn't have the most upside, but as they say in baseball, he's lefty, and he does in fact have a pulse. He has held opposing batters to a .203 average this season.

20. Chaz Hebert: LHP high school kid out of Louisiana, probably a starter for our minor league teams. 6'2, 180 lbs, hits low 90's with his fastball. He supplements that with a slow curveball, but hopefully he can develop some other pitches or improve that curveball.

21. Joseph Maher: RHP 6'5, 185 lb. Mid to high 80's fastball with a sinker, and a breaking ball.

I'll go through the international free agent signings another time.

YEEP 6/28/11 - Ravenous Ravel

Evil Em Vee P of the night, Ravel Santana. In two games, he was 5/9 with 1 HR, 1 2B, and 2 RBI. Photo courtesy of PinstripesPlus.com


AAA Scranton 9-2 Shallacking by Norfolk.
Lazus Montero (because he's LAZY) 0/3 with 1 BB. Not showing why he should be called up, nor is he proving any recent reports wrong.
Brandon Laird 1/4, 1 R, 2 K. Not like him to strike out twice.
Greg Smith: took the loss. He is in fact mortal. 6 IP 7 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 6 BB, 2 K, 2 HR

AA Trenton 3-1 Win over New Hampshire Venditte gets the win, Horne the save.
CoJo (Corban Joseph)- 3/4, 2 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI. Got his average up to .293, 13 for his last 35 (.371) and 12 BB in his last 10 g.
BRomine: 0/4... he's entitled. Yeah that's right walk away.
R-Ly:1/3, 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K. Keeps proving people wrong!
DeeMack: 0/3 1 K
ManBan (Manny Banuelos): 5.0 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K 1 HR. That's what we like to see, now no more hiccups, okay gangster?
Pat "Sideshow" Venditte: 2 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K. Keeps beating the odds. Tim Norton singled him out as an incredibly hard worker he wouldn't bet against before Norton went down with his season, possibly career ending injury.
BRomance-ski (Josh Romanski): 1 IP, 2 H. Good work out of the pen. I like his LOOGY potential. Sidenote, if Bromance-ski is a LOOGY, does that make Venditte a SWOOGY? I say YES!
Alan Horne, the closer: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K. Hey, not so bad kid.

High A Tampa 3-0 loss to Brevard County. Hero Heredia took the loss
Honest Abe: 0-4 1 SB
Walt Ibarra: 1/4 1 k
K-Roll: 1/4 1 2B
JR Murphy: 0/4 2 k Struggling mightily since the call-up. I'd be willing to bet Higashioka would be batting better than .111 right now, but I'll give him time to adjust.
Seggy: 1/4 1 k
Kelvin Castro: 0/2 1 BB
Jairo "the Hero" Heredia: 6.0 IP, 7 H, 3 ER 3 BB, 3 k, 3 HR. This outing was on the rough side, and he's lucky no one was on base when those HR were hit because he did let up a decent amount of baserunners. I'll cut him a break on this one though because he's been amazing besides this outing, which to be honest wasn't all that bad.

Low A River Dogs - Postponed

Short Season Staten Island Yankees 11-9 Win over Hudson Valley
Cheeto Culver (Cito Culver): 3/5, 2 R, 2 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K. Alright now he's 8 for his last 22 after this game, I think I'll jump on the bandwagon finally. Still not following Bubba Gumbs Shrimp yet though.
Shane the Mane Brown: Gotta keep mentioning him if he keeps doing things worth mentioning, 4/5, 1 HR, 3 R, 1 RBI. Pitchers can only hope to contain him right now.
Bryan Mitchell: 3.2 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 3 BB 4 K. As they say where I come from, he got raped tonight.
Gerritse: 1.1 IP, 3 K. He's done a nice job so far! He got the Double U.
Caleb Cotham: 1.2 IP, 3 H, 2 K. Also has done a nice job.
Zach Arneson: 1.1 IP, 2K. Likewise
Paullus: .2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 K, 1 HR. Rough
Pinder: .1 IP, got the illusive save in this one.

GCL Yankees Game 1 - continuation of yesterday's game 6-5 Win over GCL Tigers
Claudio Custodio (SS): 2/5 1 r, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 k. 20 year old kid, not sure where this production is coming from. Last year he batted just .217 in the DSL in over 200 at bats. We'll see how long this lasts.
DAd (David Adams- old enough to be a lot of these guys' dad): 1/5, 1 r, 1 2B, 2 k. Still didn't leave him in the entire game, but I guess their reaaaally easing him back into it. He's hitting .471 so far so it's certainly not lack of skill keeping him down here.
Tyler Austin: 1/5 1 r, 1 HR, SB (3) 2 RBI. This kid can hit. Batting .400 so far, 19 years old. Tough to make it as a 1B though.
Junior (Dante Bichette will herein be called Junior because I'm convinced that's the only reason we drafted him - 3B): 1/3 1 r, 1 RBI, 2 BB 1 K. Does seem to have a good approach. 7 BB in 6 g so far. He'll have to hit the ball at some point though, .105 BA is not gonna cut it.
Ravenous Ravel Santana: 4/5 1 2B, 1 RBI. And he's off. We've heard about this guy's 80 power 80 speed but it appears that maybe he can hit as well. Very Excite!
Taylor Morton: 1 IP, 1H, game suspended after one inning and then restarted today. I like this kid though, he's been good so far and has legitimate stuff.

Game 2: GCL Yankes 3-2 Win over GCL Tigers
Ravenous Ravel: 1/4 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K. I guess this kid is pretty serious
Tyler Austin: 2/3 2 R. Played 3rd in this game, maybe there's hope for him yet. Hasn't had a single walk yet in 7 g, but obviously he's getting some good pitches to hit so let's not fix what's not broken.
Yeicok Calderon (does he even need a nickname with a name like that?): 1/3 1 K.
Jorge Alcantara (Very bad ass sounding name): 2/4 1 2B, 1 K. Batting .500 in the young season.
Mike Gipson (Gip... Mom's like you choose Gip... chooooooose Gip... sorry): 2 IP 2 K. Rehab start, he'll be in Charleston soon. One of the big 3 relievers there.
Edwin Rodriguez: 3.2 IP 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. 21 year old kid out of the Dominican, he played well there...

That's about it for today, enjoy your night everyone! Nice win for the big boys tonight as well!!!