Minors Report for 7/28/10 (DJ Mitchell; Austin Romine; Dellin Betances; Sean Black; Slade Heathcott)

Minor Leagues Report — By Tom K on July 28, 2010 9:30 pm

A good night for some of the organization’s pitching prospects overall.

Scranton:

But that didn’t hold true in Scranton, where David Phelps had one of his worst starts of the season in a 8-6 loss.
Phelps went only three innings, allowing five runs on seven hits.  He walked two, struck out two, and allowed two home runs.
In five starts for Scranton, he is 1-2 with a 3.86 ERA (25.2 IP, 35 H, 5 BB, 24 K, 2 HR).      He has thrown 114 innings this season, and may be tiring a bit as he was a bit off in his last start as well.  Last season, he threw 151 innings though – so he should be conditioned to finish the year strongly.

Eduardo Nunez went 0-for-5, while Jesus Montero went 0-for-4 with a walk and run scored.

Kevin Russo went 3-for-5 with two runs batted in and a run scored in the loss.    Reegie Corona contributed two hits and his 13th steal (in 14 tries).     Chad Huffman had three hits, an RBI, and a run scored.
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Trenton:

DJ Mitchell pitched seven impressive innings, while Trenton’s offense scored three runs in the bottom of the 9th to take a 3-2 victory.
Mitchell allowed two runs (none earned) on six hits.  He walked one and struck out six.
In 19 starts, the 23-year old righty is 8-4 with a 4.31 ERA (108.2 IP, 109 H, 49 BB, 76 K, 8 HR, 2.01 GO/AO).
He has allowed three earned runs or less in his past six starts and nine times in his last ten starts.

At the plate, Austin Romine went 2-for-4 with a run scored (.276/.347/.411; 5-for-12 in his last three games).     Meanwhile, Marcos Vechionacci went 2-for-3 with a double, walk, RBI, and run scored.     So far, he refuses to fall apart at the plate, as his line on the season now reads .298/.373/.440.   He is on an eight-game hitting streak.
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Tampa:

Not to be outdone by Mitchell, Dellin Betances went six scoreless innings, allowing four hits while Tampa used a three-run eighth inning to pull out a 3-0 victory.

Betances walked two and struck out five.   In 10 starts, he is 5-1 with a 1.41 ERA (51 IP, 30 H, 14 BB, 57 K, 1 HR).   He has not allowed more than two earned runs in any of his ten starts (to  be fair, he had a few short outings recently where he gave up four runs in each game – but only two were earned in each game).       In half of his starts this season, he has thrown shutout ball, going six innings four times and five innings one time.

Pat Venditte pitched two scoreless innings of relief to earn his second victory of the season (2-0).   He allowed one hit and no walks while striking out four.   On the season, Venditte has a 1.67 ERA (54 IP, 35 H, 10 BB, 66 K, 2 HR).    Heading into this game, his splits looked like this:
vs. righties:   .188 BAA; 6 BB/33 K in 28.2 IP
vs. lefties:     .176 BAA; 4 BB/29 K in 23.1 IP

Zolio Almonte went 1-for-3 with a triple and a run scored.
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Charleston:

Sean Black cruised into the seventh with a shutout, but tired out and gave up three runs in that inning.   It caused no harm, however, as Charleston won, 10-6.
Black allowed those three runs on four hits while walking two and striking out seven.   In 20 games (19 starts), he is 5-7 with a 4.30 ERA (98.1 IP, 99 H, 37 BB, 78 K).     He has been impressive in July:   In five starts, he is 1-1 with a 3.07 ERA.  In 29.1 IP, he has allowed 23 hits while walking eight and striking out 27.     The 22-year old right-hander was selected in the 7th round of the 2009 draft.

Slade Heathcott continued his solid hitting, going 2-for-4 with a double and three runs batted in.    He has raised his average up to .287 and is 23-for-74 (.311) in July.
JR Murphy contributed two hits and an RBI of his own to raise his average to .243.     Although Heathcott has had more success than Murphy this year, it is very encouraging to see two 19-year olds who were in high school in 2009 contributing in a full-season league.  They both were not supposed to stick here.

Deangelo Mack went 2-for-4 with a double, triple, three RBI, and two runs scored.   He is at .253 with 19 doubles, five triples, 10 home runs, and 41 RBI.
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Lower Minors:

Mikey O’Brien went six shutout innings for Staten Island tonight in a 1-0 win.   O’Brien allowed four hits, walked two, and struck out three.   He is now 6-1 with a 1.99 ERA in eight starts (45.1 IP, 35 H, 16 BB, 28 K, 1 HR, 1.81 GO/AO)….Chase Whitley earned his ninth save, striking out the side in the ninth.  He has put up an impressive line in his first taste of professional ball:  17 games, 3-1, 0.83 ERA, 9 saves, 21.2 IP, 11 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 9 BB, 30 K.   He is a 21-year old reliever drafted in the 2010 draft….Preston Claiborne also struck out the side in his inning of work and has this line in his first taste of professional ball:  13 games, 1-1, 1.08 ERA, 16.2 IP, 9 H, 5 BB, 22 K, 0.53 GO/AO……The only run on the game scored on Casey Stevenson’s second home run of the season.   It “improved” his line to .195/.261/.305.   He was a 25th rounder in this year’s draft….18-year old outfielder Ramon Flores had a four-hit game for the GCL squad today.  He had two singles, a double, and a triple.    He is now at .356/.448/.533 in 90 at-bats….Anderson Felix contributed a hit, a run scored, and two walks….The win went to 2009 draftee Brett Gerritse, who pitched five scoreless innings of relief.   He allowed three hits and issue no walks while striking out four.   He is 2-1 with a 3.72 ERA in seven games (one start).  In 29 IP, he has allowed 31 hits while walking nine and striking out 23.     He is a big kid (6’4″/220) who throws multiple pitches, including a low-90s fastball, a big curve, and a splitter/forkball that he uses as a change.     He has a lot to learn, but he definitely has some talent with room to grow….