Written by Greg Fertel
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15 April 2007
Heres the first weekly recap. If you have any feedback on the format, please mention them in the comments section (or email me at
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). Things are very open to change.
Who's Hot:
Jose Tabata: Jose Tabata might be the hottest hitter in the minors right now. He spent the week and a half hitting .389/.465/.556 for Tampa. Those numbers would be mind-blowing if he were a 23 year old playing his first full-season ball outside of college in a hitters league, but Tabata doesn't turn 19 until August and is playing in the toughest hitting enviroment in the minors.
Chase Wright: Did anyone expect Wright to be called up to the major leagues in 2007? Ok, did anyone expect him to be called up in April of 2007? I certainly did not. Chase Wright did a Felix Hernandez number on the Eastern League this week, pitching two starts, 14 innings, 19 strikeouts, and allowing just 4 hits and a walk. He's unveiled a new slurve, and mixing it in well with his changeup and fastball. Calling Wright up isn't the right decision, but maybe the Yankees can catch lightning a bottle.
Alberto Gonzalez. He started off slow last season, but hit .329/.395/.409 after June 1st. Now he's hit .333/.375/.433 to start off his AAA career. The slow start last year can be attributed to Gonzalez's skip of High A ball. I don't think that this hot streak is an abberation. Gonzalez is not an all-glove, no-stick defensive wizard.
Who's Cold:
Phil Hughes, Tyler Clippard, and Ross Ohlendorf. The Scranton trio was supposed to take AAA by storm, but so far they've look pretty bad. Hughes was decent in his first start (5 IP, 2 ER, 6 K, 2 BB), but fell apart in the blistering cold of his second start (5 IP, 5 ER, 1 K, 2 BB). Tyler Clippard was also passable in his first start (5 IP, 2 ER, 3 K, 2 BB), but fell apart in similar conditions in his second (4 IP, 7 R, 2 ER, 4 K, 1 BB). Ross Ohlendorf is the coldest of the four, combining two bad starts for a 9 IP, 5 ER, 10 BB, 4 K season line. It's too early to worry about any of them, especially considering the weather, but they need to get themselves on track.
Tim Battle - Battle spent most of the last season trying to keep his strikeouts down. He struck out 195 times in 2005, so it was a struggle all year. By the end of the year, his newfound short swing seemed to be paying dividends, but this week he has regress. Battle struck out 18 times in 10 games this week, hitting a pathetic .154/.214/.179.
Eduardo Nunez - The Yankees wisely sent returned Nunez to Charleston again, wanting to slow him down and hopefully kick start his development. Unfortunately, Nunez has hit .182/.243/.182 for Charleston so far.
Peripherals good, results bad:
Eric Duncan. Duncan hit 2 home runs in his first three games with Scranton, but has gone 2-19 since. He has drawn 5 walks in his last 4 games though, so there are positive signs. Duncan needs to get his base-hit swing back, because he doesn't have health or inexperience to blame this season. His raw .172/.306/.414 line is impressive considering the low batting average, but 9 strikeouts in 9 games isn't. If Duncan were to raise that batting average to .250 with a few singles and keep the same raw power and patience, he'd hit .250/.384/.492.
Under the Radar:
Ian Kennedy's 11 IP, 2 ER, 12 K, 4 BB start has largely been overshadowed by other news stories, but he's looking like his old self at USC. If the Yankees wanted, to, they could get him to the majors by spring training next year. He's got as much polish as prospects come.
My Spotlight:
I'm very interested to see if
Wilmer Pino and
Francisco Cervelli continue their hot performances in to next week. Pino is hitting .333/.395/.495 out of second base for Charleston, a season after being named the NY-Penn League's
#19 prospect by BA, where he hit .326/.363/.410. Cervelli hit .309/.397/.426 in the same league, and skipped a level to Tampa, where he hit .333/.429/.458 this week. Both were unknowns heading in to 2006, so I was naturally skeptical of numbers from the funky Staten Island park.
