10 (Ivan Nova; Bad Night for Hector Noesi; Brandon Laird; Austin Romine; JR Murphy)

Minor Leagues Report — By Tom K on July 30, 2010 11:00 pm

With the trade deadline nearing, I am almost afraid to post this report – will the prospects listed below survive the next 16 hours or so? We’ll see!

Scranton:

One player who I am sure has come up in many trade talks is Ivan Nova, though my guess is that the Yankees would only use him in a big trade. Nova was very impressive tonight, going 7.1 innings, allowing one unearned run on nine hits to help Scranton squeak out a 2-1 victory. Nova walked one and struck out four to improve his record to 10-2 with an ERA of 2.80 (20 starts, 125.1 IP, 121 H, 42 BB, 94 K, 8 HR, 1.67 GO/AO). In three starts since the All-Star break, he is 3-0 with a 0.83 ERA (21.2 IP, 20 H, 2 BB, 16 K). Don’t worry about the workload; Nova is right around where he should be. In 2008, he threw 148.2 innings; in 2009, he threw 139.1 innings. With a month left in the Triple-A season, he’ll probably go over the 150 inning mark. How much over he will go will depend on if/when the Yankees slow him down a bit.

Jonathan Albaladejo was off his game tonight – he actually allowed two baserunners in his scoreless inning. His ERA now sits at 0.89, and he has allowed two runs since June 1st, covering 25.2 innings.

At the plate, the two runs were courtesy of Jorge Vazquez’s two-run home run in the second inning, his 11th since joining Scranton in 168 at-bats. Jesus Montero went 0-for-3 with a run scored. ———————————————————————————————- Trenton:

Hector Noesi may be running into a bit of a brick wall. Noesi went 3.1 innings tonight, allowing seven runs on eight hits. He walked two, struck out two, and allowed a home run. Noesi was on cruise control all season long – but in his last two starts, he has allowed 13 runs in just eight innings. It didn’t sound like the Yankees were all that happy with some of the innings he was racking up earlier in the season; I don’t know if that is just a coincidence, if Noesi is tired, or if he is just showing that he indeed is human. For Trenton, he is now 6-3 with a 3.16 ERA in 13 starts (77 IP, 67 H, 15 BB, 63 K, 8 HR). Overall, he is a 11-5 with a 3.00 ERA (120 IP, 102 H, 21 BB, 116 K, 11 HR). Noesi’s first season of throwing 100 or more innings was last year, when he threw 117 between Charleston & Tampa. So he is now above his highest ever output.

At the plate, Austin Romine had two hits, while Brandon Laird had two more hits of his own, including a double. Laird is at .292/.355/527 and has at least two hits in seven of his last eight games. Romine is at .277/.347/.410 and has a modest five-game hitting streak. ——————————————————————————————– Tampa:

Keeping up with the bad pitching theme, Tampa lost a 9-6 decision to Charlotte. The reduced version of Graham Stoneburner wasn’t too bad, however. Stoneburner went five innings, allowing three runs on seven hits. He walked two and struck out four while allowing a home run. Stoneburner’s innings have definitely been scaled back in the second half; he hasn’t thrown more than 5.1 innings in a start since June 23rd. At two stops this year, he is 6-7 with an ERA of 2.47 in 20 starts (109.1 IP, 75 H, 28 BB, 112 K, 6 HR, 1.73 GO/AO). Stoneburner only threw one professional inning in 2009.

At the plate, Jack Rye went 2-for-4 with a pair of home runs and four runs batted in. The 24-year old is hitting .262/.324/.395 for Tampa.

After his huge night last night, Melky Mesa followed it up with a 2-for-4 effort tonight. —————————————————————————————— Charleston:

JR Murphy connected for his 4th home run of the season in a 6-5 victory. Murphy had two hits overall with a walk to improve his line to .253/.308/.361 in 241 at-bats. He has two hits in three consecutive games.

Slade Heathcott drew a walk and stole his 10th base of the season in the win. He now has a .365 OBP in 43 games and is 10-for-15 stealing bases.

20-year old Jose Ramirez, who may also be on a strict innings count from this point forward, lasted five innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on three hits. He walked one and struck out five. On the season, he is 5-4 with a 3.31 ERA (100.2 IP, 86 H, 34 BB, 91 K, 2 HR). He threw 64 innings last season. —————————————————————————————————- Lower Minors: Ramon Flores went 2-for-5 with two runs scored for the GCL squad. The 18-year old is hitting .347/.439/.510 in 98 at-bats….Outfielder Kelvin Duran went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a steal. Duran is hitting .231/.298/.324 with eight steals in 11 tries. He is 19 years old….