Trenton Thunder

[jacksonianmarch]

3 games in

 

Chris Malec starts out on fire, 5/8 3BB

Eduardo Nunez also played well. 6/16 1BB 1SB

Colin Curtis has started slowly. 3/13 a double and 2 walks

Reegie Corona and Francisco Cervelli have started slowly (combined 2/22)

 

Hacker, McCallister and Kontos started strongly

Hacker 5.1IP 6H 1ER 1BB 2K

McCallister 5IP 4H 1ER 2BB 2K

Kontos 5IP 7H 1ER 1BB 8K

Michael Dunn in relief 2IP 4H 1ER 5K

[jacksonianmarch]

5/11 update

 

Chris Malec was promoted to AAA after putting up a .375/.479/.425 line in AA. He reminds me a lot of a Frank Catallanotto type player. Essentially acts as a supersub, gets on base, and can slap the ball. Not much power to speak of. Good guy to have waiting in the wings.

 

Jorge Vazquez is the power hitter the yankees signed out of the Mexican league. At 27, he is significantly older than the league, but the yankees are hoping his success in Mexico can translate into success in the minors. He played in Mexico for 10 yrs and hit over .300 with 15 or more homers in the last 5 yrs. He has started off well with a line of .286/.317/.554 with 5 homers in 19 games.

 

Eduardo Nunez has had a deceiving start to the yr. His average of .297 would certainly be useful. But its an empty average. OBP of .319 and SLG of .315 has his OPS in the low .600 range. Couple that with 8 errors and Nunez has been a bit disappointing. Still, he is very young (21) and has power projection. We'll just have to wait for it to come. If he remains a no power, no eye singles hitter with a shaky glove, then he wont make the bigs.

 

Colin Curtis has tailed off a bit, but still has a respectable line. .305/.360/.457 to go along with 4 stolen bases. He has been quite a surprise this yr after having 2 subpar yrs. The rumors of him having his swing tinkered with might have been true after all.

 

Reegie Corona, the player selected by Seattle in the Rule V draft, has been solid as well. He's only hitting .276, but the OBP of .408 is a nice addition to his game. We'll see if he can keep it up.

 

Ivan Nova, the player selected by SDF in the Rule V draft, has had an up and down yr as well. He was converted to the pen for the Padres, and has since been stretched out to a started with inconsistent results. He has really struggled the last 2 games after starting off with 3 solid ones. And he has inexplicably had trouble with righties. Lefties are hitting only .171 off him, but righties are lighting him up to a tune of .348. His BB totals over the last 2 games (11) have been uncharacteristic as well, since Nova is known more for his control than anything else.

 

Zach McCallister continues to plug along. As a 21 yr old in AA, he is younger than most. But his results continue to be solid. .214BAA and a 1.7GO/AO ratio is nice. As is the sub 3 ERA. The strange thing is his rise in walks. He has walked 11 batter this yr, which is more than half of his 2008 total (21).

 

Regardless, with the injuries and ineffectiveness of the AAA guys, McCallister stands to be the next in line for a promotion.

 

Alan Horne has returned with no success in 2 abbreviated outings. Rumor has it, he was topping out at 91mph. He'll get a long leash due to his prior success, but if he cannot regain that 96mph fastball as a starter, then he might be pen bound.

 

Michael Dunn went from being completely untouchable to being completely embarassed. The hard throwing lefty has given up 9ER, 7BB, and 10 hits over his last 4.2IP. Maybe it's just a rough patch, maybe it isnt. But the one thing it guarantees is that this OFer turned pitcher is not in line for a promotion at all. He is going to remain a one level at a time pitcher until he can consistently locate.

 

Wilkin de la Rosa has been promoted to Trenton and wasted no time fitting in with 6 innings of 9K shutout ball.

 

George Kontos got the call to SWB after being mediocre in 3 starts.

 

Ryan Pope has been more unlucky than anything. He has a 1.29WHIP and has regained control after falling apart last season (6BB in 21IP). But his ERA in the mid 5's is more a factor of luck than anything else. Pope is a fringe prospect anyway as his FB barely touches 90. But he bears watching.

 

Kevin Whelan continues to be an enigma, although his control is improving. Only 7 walks in 14IP after being in the 6BB/9IP range through his minor league career. He is getting hit more (14H in 14IP as well). We'll see which way he declares himself. He is eligible for the Rule V once again, so a good showing could force himself onto the 40 man or into another team's MLB bullpen

 

Overall, Trenton really only has a couple of notable offensive players. Curtis and Nunez are the most promising IMO. On the pitching side, De la Rosa and McCallister will be fun to watch this summer. Nova has shown flashes of being brilliant as well as being terrible. And Whelan and Dunn provide at least a spark of hope for the future in the bullpen, mixed in with some terrible pitching. This is an interesting level for prospect watchers. A lot of guys who could make it in the relief/backup roles with only a couple high ceiling players.

[jacksonianmarch]

Zach McCallister has been lights out and should be ready for a promotion.

 

His ERA sits at 1.84. His WHIP is in the 1.1 range and he just struck out 10 today in 6.2IP. And he's only 21

[Cocos Disciples]

*Not a flame post*

 

I was looking at a 2007 thread and noticed Jacko saying Alan Horne was better than Bard (Bard was pretty awful in 2007). So what happened to Horne? In 15.1 IP: 11.15 ERA, 2.67 WHIP, 16 BB/13 K.

[jacksonianmarch]

Horne blew out his shoulder

[Gom]

Is his career over?

[jacksonianmarch]

He is still trying to come back, but he is following the road of most shoulder surgery casualties. He gets his velocity back close to where it was, then something else hurts and he's shut down. There were a couple times in the EST that he looked vintage per reports, but those seem to be few and far between. I think he really tried to come back too soon due to the yankee needs and his age and that may have set him back. I would assume we give him another shot next season, probably starting in Tampa and if he doesnt show the good heater and curve combo, then yeah, his career would be over. I will say this. 2 yrs ago, he was considered to be our second best pitching prospect behind Hughes due to a 92-96mph deadly sinker and a knee buckling curve. Now, he's buried in our system.