Minors Report for 6/27/10 (Jesus Montero; Brandon Laird; Dellin Betances; Corban Joseph)

Minor Leagues Report — By Tom K on June 27, 2010 8:30 pm

Scranton:

It’s not too late to hop aboard the Jesus Montero bandwagon. Montero went 2-for-3 with a home run, two RBI, three runs scored, and two walks while Eduardo Nunez went 1-for-3 with three runs scored and two walks as Scranton pounded out 11 hits to take a 8-4 victory. Montero improved his line to .254/.317/.422 on the season. He has eight hits in his last three games. In 244 at-bats, he has 17 doubles, three triples, six home runs and 31 RBI. He is 26-for-87 in the month of June (.299). Overall on the season, he has walked 23 times and struck out 49 times and has put up a .422 slugging percentage. When you consider where Montero was at the end of May (.229 with an OPS in the .660 range), you begin to appreciate just how far he has come recently.

Zach McAllister started slow but ended up giving Scranton seven innings. He allowed the four runs on five hits while walking one and striking out five. McAllister is now 6-5 with a 4.55 ERA in 15 starts (85 IP, 93 H, 20 BB, 52 K, 8 HR).

Trenton:

Brandon Laird went 2-for-5 with a double and a run scored, while Marcos Vechionacci went 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI…but it wasn’t enough as Grant Duff gave up four big runs in the ninth inning to blow the game, 8-6. Laird is up to .295/.352/.565 on the season. He has improved his June line to .275/.359/.648. After a bit of a slump a few weeks back, Laird has turned it around and June has become his most productive month of the season.

An interesting little tidbit: Laird is hitting .211/.250/.390 with nobody on base but .386/.453/.750 with runners on base. With runners in scoring position, he is at .416/.486/.854 in 89 at-bats. This is how you lead the entire baseball universe in runs batted in.

Vechionacci has yet to stop hitting. His slash line improved to .304/.379/.464 on the season in 181 at-bats. He is hitting .397/.494/.559 in the month of June.

Austin Romine contributed a hit, run scored, and a walk to the losing effort. ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Tampa:

Can you imagine how well Dellin Betances would be pitching if he didn’t get hurt?

Betances threw five scoreless innings today, allowing just two hits while walking one and striking out six. However, he did not factor in the decision as it took Tampa 14 innings to pull out a 6-5 victory.

In four starts, Betances is 2-0 with a 0.39 ERA (23 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 27 K, 1.21 GB/FB, .104 BAA). Right-handed hitters are hitting .049 against him right now.

Corban Joseph went 4-for-6 with four doubles, a walk, two runs scored, and two RBI in the victory. Joseph is up to .311 on the season with 23 doubles, 1 triple, 4 home runs, and 40 RBI in 273 at-bats.

The other Almonte (Abraham) returned to the lineup today and went 2-for-7 with his sixth stolen base. This was Almonte’s first game since April 23rd. Today was his 21st birthday.

Juan Marcano, a 19-year old left-hander signed as a free agent in October of 2006, went two scoreless innings to get the victory. He didn’t allow a hit, walked two and struck out two. I don’t know too much about him other than the fact that he did strike out 70 hitters for the DSL Yankees last year….in 45 innings. From what I have read, he threw about 82 MPH when the Yankees first signed him and he has that up to the high 80s/low 90s now with a good curveball. ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————– Charleston: Slade Heathcott went 1-for-2 with two walks and two runs scored but it wasn’t enough as Charleston fell, 5-4. Heathcott is now hitting .293 and has 10 walks in 20 games. Not bad. He has also struck out 17 times and is 6-for-8 stealing bases. He’s been quite good as Charleston’s lead off hitter.

Jimmy Paredes went 2-for-4 with a double, RBI, run scored, and his 27th stolen base in the loss. ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Lower Minors:

Kelvin DeLeon, a 19-year old outfielder, went 2-for-4 with two home runs, six RBI, and two runs scored in Staten Island’s victory today. DeLeon is a right-handed hitter who put up a .269/.330/.438 line for the GCL Yankees last year….15th round draft pick Chase Whitley earned the win in relief. Since signing, he has pitched six perfect innings over four games for Staten Island, striking out seven….11th round pick Zachary Varce started the game, throwing four scoreless innings while walking nobody and striking out five. This was his first professional start. He has also made one relief appearance (1 IP, 3 R)…..

Tags: Austin Romine, Brandon Laird, Chase Whitley, Eduardo Nunez, Grant Duff, Jimmy Paredes, Juan Marcano, Kelvin DeLeon, Marcos Vechionacci, Phil Hughes, Zachary Varce