Tampa Yankees

[jacksonianmarch]

3 games in

Hilligoss, Fryer, and Laird start out well

Hilligoss 3/8 with a double

Fryer 4/12 triple, walk

Laird 4/13 and a double

 

Montero has been mediocre. 3/12 a homer and 2 walks

Romine, Maruszak, Sublett and Krum have started slowly

 

As for the pitching...

Dellin Betances continues to show his improved control

6IP 3H 1ER 2BB 7K

Jeremy Bleich had an ok debut for Tampa, but he'll need to improve on it

4.2IP 6H 2ER 2BB 4K

 

Wilkins de la Rosa is due to start either Sunday or Monday. Jairo Heredia is on the DL

[jacksonianmarch]

Montero continues to mash. .371/.421/.614 through 18 games. He has 4 homers and 5 doubles to boot. He cannot stay in A+ ball too long. He is just absolutely dominating.

 

Wilkins de la Rosa has now had 2 starts after his return from the DL without allowing a run. Totalling 9IP 4H 0ER 3BB 10K.

 

Jeremy Bleich has been very impressive. 2-0 1.66ERA 1.11WHIP with a near 3:1 ratio of K's to BB.

 

Dellin Betances has continued his improvement in control. But he has one awful start that really skews the stats. Overall, 21.1IP 22H 10ER 10BB 25K. The one thing that is kinda interesting is that he is a bit more hittable as seen above. We'll see which way he goes.

 

Jairo Heredia is still on the DL.

 

Romine started off in a massive slump, but has improved of late, hitting .371 over the last 10 games

 

Laird and Sublett have started out very slowly.

[jacksonianmarch]

5/11 update

 

Montero has cooled off a bit. After today's game, he's hitting .309/.372/.554 with 21RBI in 29 games. He now has 5 homers as well.

 

Romine continues to rebound from his slow start. He has the average up to .287 and has seen his OPS rise to over .700 for the first time this yr. His power, as was the case last yr, is late to the party, but he has shown some signs.

 

Laird continues to struggle in A+ ball, now with the line of .216/.273/.314. Like Romine, Laird has a monster second half, so we will see which way he goes.

 

Damon Sublett has been pretty bad to start the yr, now hitting .206. The only good that one could take from his early season start is his eye, as his IsoPatience is over .100.

 

Jeremy Bleich continues to impress. His numbers are as follows. 33.1IP 30H 10ER 22K 11BB after skipping a level. His last 2 starts have been unimpressive, though, so that bears watching.

 

Dellin Betances continues his Jekyll and Hyde routine. Tonight was no different. He left the game in the first due to a rain delay, but was tagged for 4ER in 0.1IP. His 6 starts this yr have been solid, ok, terrible, solid, poor, solid, rain shortened. Working on his consistency will be the key here. He's 21 now and is going to need to put it together soon. When he's on, nobody is better.

 

Wilkins de la Rosa was promoted after 3 dazzling starts. 14IP 9H 2ER 4BB 17K. And he promptly threw 6 shutout innings with 9Ks in his first start at Trenton.

 

Overall, Tampa has had a power outage. One of our biggest offensive players scheduled to be on this team is out s/p labrum surgery, in Suttle. Laird and Sublett have been awful. Romine and Montero have been the only consistent offensive forces, and right now, Romine is nothing but a singles hitter (exactly how he started last yr before cracking 10 homers in the second half). The pitching has been up and down. Bleich has been solid and then inconsistent. Betances has been dominant and then terrible. And the best, most consistent pitcher of the bunch was just promoted. It might be a long season in Tampa.

[jacksonianmarch]

Since this post, Montero is 6 for 9 with 3 RBI.

 

DJ Mitchell was promoted and made his debut tonight. The good news? 8K in 4.2IP. The bad news? 6H and 6ER. He'll likely improve his next time out.

[jacksonianmarch]

Montero and Romine are killing the ball today. Montero is 2 for 4 with 2 doubles, a sac fly and 3 ribbies. Romine is 3 for 5 with 2 doubles, a homer and 5 RBI.

[a700hitter]

Montero and Romine are killing the ball today. Montero is 2 for 4 with 2 doubles' date=' a sac fly and 3 ribbies. Romine is 3 for 5 with 2 doubles, a homer and 5 RBI.[/quote']I'm barely interested in the daily stats of Sox prospects. This is just a waste of bandwidth. Post if one of your prospects blows out a knee. Otherwise, who cares!!!

[jacksonianmarch]

Montero is on fire again. 3 for 4, 2 homers and 4 ribbies. BA is up to .338, he now has 7 homers and his OPS is in the mid .900s. Might be time for a callup

[CrespoBlows]

I hope Montero doesn't stick behind the plate, because that bat is for real.

[Dipre]

I hope Montero doesn't stick behind the plate' date=' because that bat is for real.[/quote']

 

He might be able to hit ML level pitching now.

[jacksonianmarch]

He might be able to hit ML level pitching now.

 

Yankee scouts think he can. Actually a lot of scouts think his bat is already MLB caliber. Thing is, without a solid position, his ranking will remain in the 30-40 range. My gut says he ends up as a LFer with an eventual move to 1b. Actually, that is my hope. I think Austin Romine is a much better catcher and he is the eventual starting catcher prospect this team has been looking for. But Montero's bat is so good that the grind of catching could shorten his career, something I dont think we should be doing. And the craziest thing is, this kid is playing this entire season as a 19 yr old.

 

The most interesting topic on him is how varied the projections are. The NY Post and the Daily News have said he could be in the bigs by the end of the yr. Well, that is unlikely IMO. PP says he could be in the bigs by 2010. That sounds about right if they call him up and skip AAA. But any callup prior to 2011 means he has been taken out of the catching position. He's pretty raw still.

[jacksonianmarch]

Montero 2 for 2 today. Romine has his 5th homer. Montero's BA is up to .349

[diony]

Expect Montero in Trenton by mid-June.

[jacksonianmarch]

might be as early as next week.

[diony]

Well he allowed 5 SBs, so yeah, he needs to catch everyday.

[jacksonianmarch]

Montero just went deep.

[jacksonianmarch]

Interesting tidbit on Montero. He has about the same amount of extra base hits as he does K's. Think about that. He has 24 extra base hits and 25K's. That is ridiculous.

[jacksonianmarch]

Montero 2 for 3 with an RBI today

[jacksonianmarch]

For the Tampa Yankees, a championship was a good way to end a solid season. For the year in review, two names need to be mentioned. One, is Dellin Betances, whose arm exploded again, and the other is Jesus Montero, who was the best player in the league and was promoted. That didnt stop Tampa on their way to the title, though.

 

First off, the pitchers, and there are a lot of them. But the majority of them came from Charleston or left to go to Trenton. Its amazing that they won it all without having a stable rotation, well, ever

 

D.J. Mitchell came up from Charleston and really stabilized the rotation. His line in Tampa was 103.1IP 93H 33ER 38BB 83K for a 1.27WHIP and a 2.87ERA. His two level season and subsequent solid efforts in High A should put him in the discussion for the rotation in AA next season.

 

Hector Noesi was another promotion from Charleston. In 9 starts, he had a 3.92ERA but a 0.92WHIP and 40Ks in 41.1IP. His solid split season and the fact that he is older than the league likely puts him at the head of the class for promotion to AA in 2010

 

David Phelps was another promotion from Charleston. His numbers and stuff improved significantly since his callup. In 7 starts, he threw 38.1IP with an ERA of 1.17, a WHIP of 1.04, and a K/BB of 5.33. He, along with Noesi and Mitchell will be in the discussion for callup to AA

 

Jairo Heredia, the highest touted pitcher of the group, missed almost the entire yr with shoulder woes. Upon his return, he allowed only 6ER in 36IP before hitting a wall in his last 2 starts (10ER in 2.1IP). He will repeat in High A in 2010.

 

Dellin Betances had another up and down season, except this one was mostly down. After a season mostly spent walking people and seeing doctors, his season finally ended with ligament stabilization surgery (apparently not TJ) and should allow him to return in 2010 in some capacity. To this point, though, he has been a bust and might be in line for a move to the pen.

 

Pat Venditte was another callup from Charleston. The switch pitcher was terrible in his first few starts, but eventually put up a pretty good yr. 47K in 36IP and a 1.25WHIP isnt a bad way to start. He'll probably snake his way to Trenton for 2010

 

Promoted Pitchers

Jeremy Bleich was the highest signed pick from the 2008 class (Round 1-supp) and he pitched well in Tampa. 1.27WHIP and 3.40ERA through 79.1IP was nice, but probably not deserving of the promotion he received. And in Trenton, he was raked.

 

Grant Duff everybody, keep an eye on this name. Duff played 2009 as a 26 yr old righty who was drafted in 2004. After being drafted, he went to SI and dominated, showing high 90s stuff and a lights out slider. Well, he battled injuries for 2005 and really wasnt the same. This yr was to be his last season under yankee control, until a weird thing happened on promotion to Trenton. The fastball came back. He was throwing high 90s (98, 99mph) ched again. His FB was so lively that he went from being a lock to be a MiLB FA to being a lock to be protected for the Rule V in December and being placed on the 40 man. If he maintains this velocity, he could be an option for the yankee bullpen in 2010. if he doesnt, then expect him to be cut prior to ST.

 

Wilkin de la Rosa- the 24 yr old has been in the yankee system forever. He was signed as an OFer out of the dominican, but sucked and was converted to a pitcher. He is a lefty who throws gas and really is an obvious bullpen projection. But the yankees continue to think he can start. So, he started in Tampa, dominated after 3 starts and made his way to Trenton, where he was good, but not lights out. I expect this kid to be a reliever next season in Trenton and be an option for the yankee pen come mid season.

 

On to the hitters, one thing to remember about this league is that it is the epitome of a pitchers league. The parks are big and the pitchers for the most part are comprised of the top picks from the previous season's drafts. So, the hitters in this league are typically a bit slower to pick up and are typically a bit lighter on their stats

 

Austin Romine played the entire season as a 20 yr old and was actually voted the FSL MVP this season. Romine was 8th in the FSL in homers (13), 4th in RBI (72), and 7th in SLG (.441). Not to mention, he was quite possibly the best defensive catcher in the league and also added on 11 stolen bases. Romine is, IMO, the best yankee catching prospect we have had in a long time. He's a tough out who has power, speed and is a great catcher with a strong arm. And as good as Montero is offensively, Romine balances his talent out which will make him better served as the future starting catcher for NY. He is a lock to start 2010 in Trenton and is on pace to be ready for the bigs after Posada's contract expires in 2011. He will be playing winter ball this yr against some of the minor's best players, so it could be a good barometer for him.

 

Brandon Laird played the entire season as a 21 yr old and played 3b for the FSL champs. He was another driving force in the lineup, tying Romine for 8th in the FSL with 13 homers and leading the league in RBI at 75. He had another season where he started off slow (.619OPS pre AS) and finished strong (.864OPS post AS). He is a developing 3b, but really looks like a 1b in the future. He is a lock to be Trenton's starting 3b next season and with another strong yr under his belt, he could be poised for a power explosion in 2010 (he did hit 23 homers in 2008).

 

Damon Sublett played the season as a 23 yr old and repeating a level after an injury marred 2008, made a smooth transition to CF from 2B. He put together a very solid season and improved significantly as the season went along. His line of .270/.376/.416 was nice in a pitcher's league, but the .857 post ASB OPS was even nicer to see. I expect to see him in the OF for Trenton next yr and is an interesting prospect going forward for the yankees.

 

Promoted Hitters

Jesus Montero- he is the big daddy of all yankee prospects. Montero, 19 for the entirety of 2009, and the consensus #1 prospect in the yankee system, really continued to show why he has that title. Starting out the yr with a .358/.406/.583 line in Tampa, he was promoted to Trenton. In AA, he put up a .909OPS and finished the yr with 17 homers before a broken finger ended his campaign a month early. He should open 2010 platooning with Romine (the other being 1b or DH) in AA, but I assume that his offense will push him to Scranton and maybe into the Bronx as a bench bat come the playoffs in 2010. He also is likely to be in the top 5 in BA's top 100 list for 2010, and he has earned it. The question has to be raised, can he be a big league catcher? While he has shown improvements, he isnt close to where he needs to be. And with both Cervelli and Romine playing well in the system (and with guys like Murphy, Higashioka and Sanchez behind him), there is a good chance he is moved off the position for good early on in his career (DH/LF early on then 1b when Tex's contract expires).

 

Matthew Cusick LaTroy Hawkins got us Cusick who was an intriguing 2b in the Astros system. He didnt disappoint in Tampa, where his .800+ OPS and .313 AVG were both second at the time of his promotion to Montero. Unfortunately, Cusick sucked in AA, so he is looking at a platoon role with Adams and other infielders for 2010.

 

 

Tampa had a good yr in the title run. But the talent currently there should solidify AA for the yankees and the positional prospects moving into the higher levels should make the yankee machine just that much stronger. It will be interesting to see how Romine handles the season in AA, and if he does well, he could be a big piece for NY in terms of the long term catching of the team.