Minors Report for 6/26/10 (Jesus Montero; David Phelps; Zolio Almonte; Melky Mesa; Slade Heathcott; JR Murphy; Cito Culver Milestone)

Scranton:

Quite the marathon in Scranton tonight.

Jesus Montero went 3-for-6 with a solo home run as Scranton outlasted Rochester, 2-1, in a 13-inning affair. It was Montero’s second consecutive three-hit night and his average is now approaching .250 (.249). Eduardo Nunez went 2-for-5 with a triple in the victory. Nunez is hitting .317 on the season in 300 at-bats. He has 18 doubles, three triples, and two home runs to go along with 15 steals in 18 tries.

Ivan Nova wasn’t dominant, but he was good enough. He went 6.2 innings, allowing just that one run. But he did give up six hits and four walks while striking out four. The big thing he did was generate a ton of ground balls. Nova is 5-2 with a 3.00 ERA in 14 starts this season (84 IP, 84 H, 30 BB, 64 K, 5 HR).

Marc Melancon went two more scoreless innings, allowing two hits. He walked nobody and struck out two. Melancon is on a bit of a roll now, and it may not be a bad idea for the Yankees to see if he can ride that streak in the big leagues.

Eric Wordekemper (26) pitched 1.1 scoreless innings and now has six scoreless innings since his promotion to Scranton. Not someone I am high on, but all he has done in his minor league career with the Yankees is generate outs. He has a 2.48 ERA in 319 minor league innings for the Yankees. Nothing about him is flashy, but who knows – maybe he’ll be in the middle of somebody’s bullpen at some point, even if it is not with the Yankees.

Jonathan Albaladejo contributed two scoreless innings of his own, allowing one hit while striking out two. His ERA is now 1.21 (37.1 IP, 21 H, 12 BB, 48 K). Unlike Melancon, Albie doesn’t have the big ground ball rate…though the strikeout rate is very strong. Both probably deserve a shot to see if the can help stabilize the big league bullpen. —————————————————————————————————— Trenton:

David Phelps pitched six scoreless innings to lead Trenton to a 2-0 victory. Phelps is still undefeated in 2010 (6-0). He allowed six hits, walked two and struck out seven. The 23-year old has made 14 starts and now has a 2.04 ERA on the season (88.1 IP, 63 H, 23 BB, 84 K, 2 HR). One thing that stands out is his very strong strikeout rate. I didn’t think Phelps would be able to miantain a good one once he reached the upper minors, but he has. A 14th round pick out of Notre Dame in 2008, I can’t recall one stretch of poor pitching since he entered the organization. He cruised through Staten Island in 2008, mowed down everybody in Charleston & Tampa in 2009, and has been brilliant for Trenton in 2010.

Daniel Brewer went 0-for-3 but with a stolen base (20), two walks, and a run scored in the victory. Austin Romine went 1-for-3 with a walk. The thing that stands out about Brewer is that he is a right-handed hitter…who hits righties but not lefties. He is hitting .237 overall, but .267/.347/.412 vs. righties; vs. lefties, he is only at .152/.266/.333. ——————————————————————————————————- Tampa:

I think Zolio Almonte is enjoying life in Florida. Almonte went 2-for-4 with an RBI, walk, and a stolen base as Tampa scored a run in the ninth to take a 4-3 victory. Almonte is 5-for-8 in three games with five walks and two stolen bases since his promotion from Charleston.

Melky Mesa continued his recent surge, going 2-for-3 with a triple, two walks, two RBI, two stolen bases, and a run scored. Mesa is now up to .247/.336/.403 with 20 steals in 25 attempts. In his last 10 games, his line is .294/.400/.500 and in 68 June at-bats, he has registered a .309/.413/.559 line.

Corban Joseph went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, a double, and a walk. He is hitting .303/.371/.427. He’s been fairly steady most of the season.

Pat Venditte pitched 3.2 scoreless innings in relief. He allowed one hit, no walks, and struck out three (0-0, 1.98 ERA, 41 IP, 28 H, 1 HR, 9 BB, 51 K) ——————————————————————————————————————- Charleston:

You just can’t help but be impressed with the two teenagers on this squad at the moment.

Slade Heathcott and JR Murphy both put up 2-for-4 nights, though it wasn’t enough for Charleston as they fell, 9-5.

Heathcott scored a run, drove in a run, and drew a walk. He is now hitting .288/.363/.350 with three doubles, one triple and six steals in eight tries.

Murphy hit a double and a triple and drove in a run. He is now hitting .257/.304/.346. He has seven doubles, one triple, and a home run. He is on a six game hitting streak and is hitting .341/.378/.463 in his last 10 games.

Jimmy Paredes can sometimes get lost in the shuffle, but really shouldn’t. He also went 2-for-4 with a home run. He is hitting .278/.307/.377 with 26 steals in 32 attempts. The 21-year old shortstop is hitting .317/.349/.537 in his last 10 games and has been a steady contributer since his .567 OPS showing in April.

20-year old right-hander Jose Ramirez continued his recent struggles, lasting five innings tonight, giving up four runs (three earned) on seven hits. He walked two and struck out two. His overall season is very promising for a 20-year old at this level (14 starts, 2-4, 3.57 ERA, 75.2 IP, 68 H, 25 BB, 67 K, 0 HR), but his ERA in June is 6.41 in four starts. The main culprit has been the walks; after walking 13 in his first 56 innings, he has walked 12 in his last 19.2 innings. —————————————————————————————————————————— GCL Yankees:

Hard-throwing right-hander Brett Marshall pitched five impressive innings in his second rehab start. He allowed one run on three hits while walking one and striking out five. It may not be long before he finds himself on the Charleston roster (he may also end up in Tampa, but I think Charleston would be a good landing spot – he did struggle a bit there in 2009).

Cito Culver collected his first professional hit in this game. He is now 1-for-7 since signing his contract. ———————————————————————————————————————————

Minors Report for 6/22/10 (Zach McAllister; Austin Romine; Dellin Betances; Sally League All-Stars)

Scranton:

Zach McAllister pitched a solid game, but still took the loss as Scranton fell, 3-1. McAllister went seven innings, allowing three runs on five hits. He walked two, struck out one, and allowed a home run. McAllister is now 5-5 on the season with a 4.50 ERA (14 starts, 78 IP, 88 H, 19 BB, 47 K, 8 HR). The not so great home run rate coupled with a bad strikeout rate is concerning.

Marc Melancon pitched two innings of scoreless relief, walking two and striking out four.

At the plate, Jorge Vazquez hit his first AAA home run in the losing effort. Vazquez also doubled and is hitting .273 in 33 at-bats since his promotion.

Reegie Corona contributed three hits, his third consecutive multi-hit effort…raising his average to a still pedestrian .233. ———————————————————————————————————————————— Trenton:

Austin Romine hit his fourth home run of the season in the completion of a suspended game…then went 2-for-4 with a double (19) and run scored in the regularly scheduled game as Trenton earned the split. Romine is now hitting .286 on the season. He had a three-hit game a few days ago, so perhaps he is starting to break out of his slump.

Brandon Laird went 1-for-3 with a double, two runs scored, and two RBI (now up to 67 on the season) in the victory.

Lance Pendleton earned the victory with six innings of three-run, four-hit ball. He walked one and struck out six. He is 6-3 with a 3.72 ERA (77.1 IP, 62 H, 31 BB, 65 K, 5 HR) on the season. As I have stated before, Pendleton is no longer a prospect – but he has done a solid job for Trenton this year.

Tampa:

It probably takes a special kind of talent to do what Dellin Betances is pulling off.

In his third start since coming back from his injury, Betances was dominating, pitching six innings of one-hit baseball to help Tampa to a 3-0 victory in game one of a double-header. Dunedin turned the tables in game 2, winning 4-0. Betances allowed one walk and struck out eight to get the victory. In those three starts, Betances is 2-0 with a 0.50 ERA (18 IP, 6 H, 0 HR, 2 BB, 21 K). It is very obvious want this kid to stay healthy.

A two-run double by 21-year old shortstop Jose Pirela was the big hit in the game. Pirela is at .227/.281/.340 on the season. He has a lot of speed (8 doubles, 8 triples, 9-for-12 stealing bases) and is another interesting middle infield prospect in an organization that suddenly is starting to show life at the two middle infield positions. Pirela put up a .295/.354/.381 seaon in Charleston last year, so he does have some hitting ability.

In the second game, Adam Warren didn’t fare quite as well as Betances. Warren lasted four innings, allowing all four runs on nine hits. He walked nobody and struck out two. He also allowed a home run. Warren (22) is now 6-5 with a 2.86 ERA on the season (63 IP, 60 H, 14 BB, 48 K, 2 HR). Rehabbing right-hander George Kontos pitched an inning of scoreless relief in the loss, as did Pat Venditte.

Corban Joseph was only able to go 1-for-7 in the two games, as his average fell below the .300 mark (.299). Melky Mesa picked up his 18th steal in the second game and had a hit in each game. ————————————————————————————————————————————- Charleston:

Charleston was off as the Sally League played their All-Star Game tonight.

There are quite a few promising prospects on this team right now….but only three guys made the team, one of which couldn’t make it due to injury.

Zolio Almonte is the most intriguting name on the list. The recently-turned-21 year old outfielder is hitting .278/.341/.485 on the season with 13 doubles, two triples, 10 home runs, and 35 RBI. He has stolen seven bases (also caught six times), and has 21 walks to go along with 65 strikeouts in 227 at-bats. Obviously, there is room for growth here; but the 10 home runs jump out at you the most at this stage.

Luke Murton couldn’t make the game due to injury. The 24-year old corner player is hitting .291/.375/.498 on the season with 23 doubles, 8 home runs, and 37 RBI. Drafted in the 19th round of the 2009 draft, he is old for the league in terms of age…not quite so in terms of experience. However, at the age of 24, he’d need to move pretty quickly to get to the majors in his prime. he has a .927 OPS vs. lefties.

Ryan Flannery was the third player chosen. A 24-year old closer, Flannery is 5-2 with a 1.91 ERA and 7 saves for Charleston. In 37.2 innings, he has allowed 27 hits while walking 7 and striking out 27. In April, Flannery had an ERA of 6.75 in 9.1 innings. Since then, he has allowed two runs (one earned) in 28.1 innings. Wow. He has allowed 15 hits during that stretch with four walks and 20 strikeouts.

Charleston would likely have produced more All-Stars, but Graham Stoneburner and Shaeffer Hall were both promoted to Tampa earlier this season. I will assume Jimmy Paredes was on the radar for the team (.279/.309/.368 with 24 steals in 30 attempts for the shortstop), but he is far from an oversight. Third baseman Robert Lyerly (22) may have the biggest beef after a .314/.367/.411 first half.