Minors Report for 7/20/10 (Montero Goes Deep Twice; Ivan Nova & Hector Noesi Continue to Roll; Melky Mesa)

Minor Leagues Report — By Tom K on July 20, 2010 11:38 pm

Scranton:

Jesus Montero belted two home runs and drove in three, while Ivan Nova pitched eight impressive innings to lead Scranton to a 6-1 victory.
The night improved Montero’s line all the way up to .271/.346/.459.     To put it simply, you won’t find many players putting up a line like this in the International League at the age of 20.    As I said yesterday, he is getting on one of those rolls that could force the Yankees’ hand…or at least make them think about things on the major league level.

Nova allowed five hits and did not walk a batter.  He struck out six.   On the season, he is 8-2 with a 3.06 ERA in 18 starts (111.2 IP, 106 H, 40 BB, 84 K, 1.61 GO/AO).    Not known for being a big power pitcher, he has struck out 20 over 19.2 innings in his last three starts.
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Trenton:

Hector Noesi threw seven impressive innings of his own, only to have the great Kevin Whelan (7.52 ERA) implode in the eighth to allow Richmod to record a comeback, 8-3 victory.

Noesi allowed two runs on four hits.  He walked one and struck out four.    In 11 starts for Trenton, he is 6-1 with a 1.83 ERA (69 IP, 52 H, 12 BB, 59 K, 6 HR).    Whelan should be demoted or released altogether – they have options in Tampa (Jonathan Ortiz, Pat Venditte) who probably deserve promotions.

Brandon Laird went 1-for-2 with two walks in the losing effort.    The slumping slugger is only 12-for-60 in July without a home run.  He’s only driven in three and has struck out 20 times.
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Tampa:

Keeping up with the theme for the night, Craig Heyer threw five strong innings while Melky Mesa pounded a three-run home run to lead Tampa to a 6-2 victory.
Heyer allowed two runs on four hits while walking nobody and striking out one.    In 18 games (4 starts), the 24-year old right-hander is 5-2 with a 1.66 ERA (48.2 IP, 36 H, 0 HR, 1 BB, 35 K, 2.30 GO/AO).   Just reading that statistical line should tell you everything you need to know about what he tries to do on the mound.

Ortiz saved his 16th game, pitching 1.1 innings of shutout ball.  He allowed one hit, no walks, and struck out four.  In 34 games, the 24-year old is 4-1 with a 2.43 ERA (40.2 IP, 27 H, 9 BB, 45 K, 3 HR).    Ortiz does it more with guile than power (which is probably why he has moved slowly through the chain – he started at the very bottom of the Dominican Summer League).     His changeup is his big pitch, and as we know, a few relievers find a way to have a lot of success with that, while many don’t.   Still, I would love to see what he can do at an upper level.

Mesa is having a nice year, hitting .252/.326/.441 with 16 doubles, five triples, 11 home runs, and 46 RBI.  He has also stolen 24 out of 29.  He has five home runs in 63 July at-bats.    I would say he has done more than enough to try out Double-A in 2011.  (He is 23 years old, and will be 24 at the start of 2011…)

Corban Joseph contributed a walk and a run scored to the winning effort.
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Charleston:

Slade Heathcott went 2-for-4 with a run scored while Jimmy Paredes contributed four hits and four RBI as Charleston took a 7-4 victory.
Heathcott improved to .277/.351/.350 on the season with eight steals in 12 attempts.
Paredes is now hitting .293/.322/.425 in 365 at-bats.    He has 32 steals in 42 attempts, and is hitting .348/.384/.609 in 69 at-bats.  If he figures out how to use his tools (and how to get the ball to actually stay in his glove – he has 34 errors), he has a shot to be something interesting in a few years.

Kyle Higashioka remained warm (I won’t go as far as saying “hot” – but he is showing improvement) , going 3-for-5 to improve to .281 in July and .325 in his last ten games.    He is at .216/.290/.328 in 296 at-bats overall.

20-year old Jose Ramirez went six innings of three-hit ball.   He allowed one unearned run while walking three and striking out eight.  The impressive right-hander is 4-4 with a 3.28 ERA in 17 games/16 starts  (90.2 IP, 79 H, 29 BB, 83 K, 0 HR).
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Lower Minors:
Not too much going on down here tonight.   In Staten Island, Matt Jernstad pitched 3.2 scoreless innings of relief in a loss tonight.    He allowed two hits and no walks while striking out four.   The 22-year old lefty is 1-0 with a 2.12 ERA in six games (17 IP, 12 H, 3 BB, 21 K, 1 HR).    Jernstad was signed by the Yankees out of the Independent Leagues….19-year old outfielder Kelvin De Leon hit his fourth home run of the season and is hitting .265/.320/.434 in 113 at-bats….Eduardo Sosa (19, OF) went 2-for-5 with a triple and is hitting .283/.341/.425 in 113 at-bats.

Tags: Brandon Laird, Clay Buchholz, Craig Heyer, Eduardo Sosa, Hector Noesi, Ivan Nova, Jesus Montero, Jimmy Paredes, Jonathan Ortiz, Jose Ramirez, Kelvin De Leon, Kevin Whelan, Kyle Higashioka, Matt Jernstad, Pat Venditte