Minors Report for 7/16/10 (More Jesus Montero; Adam Warren; Austin Romine; Manny Banuelos; Jimmy Paredes 30-30 Club)

Minor Leagues Report — By Tom K on July 16, 2010 9:47 pm

Looks like Alan Horne was able to avoid surgery and is once again trying to rehab his way back into the organization. It’s a long shot, but you can’t hope but root for the kid.

Scranton:

To say Jesus Montero is on fire is actually a bit of an understatement.

Montero went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored while Jorge Vazquez clubbed his seventh home run of the season as Scranton squeezed by Toledo, 5-4.

Montero, believe it or not, is all the way up to .262 on the season. The double was his 20th of the season. He has raised his slugging percentage up to .434.

April/May combined: .357 slugging percentage June/July combined: .526 slugging percentage

He’s also been drawing more walks as the season has gone along.

When the cream of your organization’s crop is going so well, sometimes you start to overlook guys. Obviously, Eduardo Nunez should not be overlooked. Tonight, he went 1-for-2 with a double, two walks, and a run scored. He is hitting .310/.361/.416. For Vazquez, his seven home runs have come in 115 at-bats and he has a .278/.289/.548 line. Yep, that is the correct OBP – he has two walks for Scranton, both intentional.

Romulo Sanchez got the win in relief to even his record at 7-7 (he has a 0.69 ERA as a reliever) while Jonathan Albaladejo earned his 30th save while dropping his ERA under 1.00 (0.99) ================================= Trenton:

Adam Warren’s debut wasn’t perfect, but he’ll take the win. Warren lasted five innings, giving up two runs (one earned on four hits as Trenton took an 8-6 decision. Warren was wild (four walks, wild pitch), but did manage to strike out five while inducing seven grounders to one flyout.

Austin Romine went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI in the win. He is now hititng .279 with 22 doubles, six home runs, and 46 RBI. After a sparkling start to the season, Romine has only hit .222 in June/July.

Luis Nunez went 3-for-4 with an RBi to raise his average to .282. Brandon Laird, who has also been slumping, contributed his 82nd RBI of the season. It broke a seven-game streak without driving in a run. =================================== Tampa:

Manny Banuelous was brilliant as Tampa won a big pitching duel, 1-0.

Banuelos, who didn’t factor in the decision, pitched six shutout innings, while allowing two hits. He walked one and struck out seven. The 19-year old lefty has made four starts with Tampa and is still 0-0 but with a 1.47 ERA (18.1 IP, 13 H, 5 BB, 23 K, 1 HR).

Pat Venditte recorded his fourth save of the season, throwing the final 1.2 innings. He didn’t allow a baserunner and struck out three. He now has a 1.80 ERA (28 G, 50 IP, 34 H, 10 BB, 61 K, 2 HR) ==================================== Charleston:

I remember yesterday writing up all of that praise for the exciting Jimmy Paredes, who stole his 30th base. Well, one tidbit I forgot to bring up: He’s actually in the 30-30 club! Paredes committed two error tonight, giving up 32 on the season as Charleston took a 8-1 pounding.

Slade Heathcott made his return to the lineup, going 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. JR Murphy added a double and a walk to the effort. Heathcott is hitting .264 with five doubles, a triple, and a home run. He has yet to put one over the fence though, as the home run was an inside-the-park homer.

Brett Marshall took the loss, a victim of his own bad pitching and the Riverdogs’ shoddy defense (four errors overall). Marshall went 5.2 innings, allowing six runs (two earned) on seven hits. He walked three and struck out three. His ERA is now 2.86 in four starts for Charleston. ======================================= Lower Minors: Mikey O’Brien improved to 6-0 in Staten Island’s victory tonight. He went six shutout innings in this one, allowing four hits while walking two and striking out six. In 35.1 IP, he has allowed 28 hits while walking nine and striking out 24. He was a 9th round pick in the 2009 draft….Kyle Roller hit his second home run of the season….The GCL squad only managed six hits (that’s what happens when Gary Sanchez isn’t playing). Ramon Flores had two of them, and the 18-year old outfielder is holding his own. He is at .327/.403/.400 in 15 games. The Yankees gave him a little taste of High-A ball in Tampa this year, and he went 7-for-28 in eight games there….Dustin Hobbs, a right-hander drafted in this year’s drafted, recently signed and made his debut today. He pitched two scoreless innings, walking one and striking out three. The 20-year old out of Las Vegas (he went to Yavapai College, with a letter of intent to go to Utah in 2011) was a 21st round pick.

Tags: Adam Warren, Alan Horne, Austin Romine, Brandon Laird, Brett Marshall, Dustin Hobbs, Eduardo Nunez, Gary Sanchez, Jesus Montero, Jimmy Paredes, Johan Santana, Jonathan Albaladejo, Jorge Vazquez, Kyle Roller, Luis Nunez, Manny Banuelous, Pat Venditte, Phil Hughes, Ramon Flores