Written by Greg Fertel
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27 February 2007
37 days 'til MiLB opening day!
Spring Training is usually a talented minor leaguer's chance to impress the big guys. If they perform well during ST, they're more likely to get a call if a major league player gets hit on the head with a two headed duck during the regular season. With 27 minor league invitees at Yankee Camp, it would be pointless for me to go through and talk about all of them, so here are some stats on nine Yankee homebreds that you may see in the not-so-distant future.
1. We've already been over Phil Hughes, but with Pavano possibly hurt (shocker, really.), the young hurler may see some big league action early in his career.
2. Tyler Clippard gained some attention last year from his no-hitter with the Trenton Thunder, but that isn't all this kid has done. In September, he threw a seven inning, two-hit shutout against the Reading Phillies to finish off his impressive second half. In his last ten games, he went 8-0 with a 2.08 ERA, despite giving up three runs in two of those starts. Clippard has more experience than Hughes, and depending on how he rocks Tampa, the Yankees may keep him on hand while Hughes plays a bit at triple A.
3. Matt DeSalvo had one heck of a 2006. From headlilnes proclaiming "Yankee youngster may become fifth starter" at last year's Spring Training to a lousy 6-10 record and a 6.4o ERA in 27 minor league games last year, it looked like DeSalvo had taken a huge fall. There were rumors of personal issues that might've led to some early season dissapointment, and DeSalvo admitted to messing himself up after that. Much like Mike Mussina, DeSalvo is a thinking pitcher. While he isn't writing (finished but unpublished) novels, DeSalvo uses tricky and smart pitching to strike out opponents. He doesn't have the kind of stuff that can bowl people over. Once he got into a rut last year, he spent much of the rest of the season trying to mentally correct himself, often overpitching and getting himself into jam. By the end of the season, he seemed to have worked through it enough to keep his ERA below 2 in his last three games, so I'm interested in seeing how his 2007 starts off.
4. While it looks like Wil Nieves will be playing backup for Jorge Posada as the year begins, if one of them should be injured, Omir Santos will step up behind the plate. He's not much of a power hitter, but then again, how many back up catchers are? With a .269 average last season, though, Santos isn't exactly scum. Over the last stretch of the season, when the Thunder were in the middle of a pennat race, Santos started up on a hot streak that didn't end until the Thunder did.
5. While it looks like the Yankees have no shoratge of major league infielders, Andy Cannizaro will be waiting for another call to the Bronx. Last year, in just 8 at bats, Andy came up with 2 hits, scored 5 runs, and hit his first ever Major League homerun. Fun fact: though Cannizaro is a short, skinny white boy, his at-bat music has been (for at least two years), P Diddy's "Bad Boys for Life".
6. Eric Duncan was once the Yankees' top third base prospect, but he's since been moved to the other side of the diamond. He's a power hitter with a temper like Paul O'Neill and a lot of friends who came to Thunder games to cheer him on. Maybe the pressure was a little much for him, though, because after a stellar 2005 tenure in the Arizona Fall League, he started off 2006 rather slowly. If he gets himself together, this year may be his breakout year, because he has major league talent.
7. Lots of people are talking about Jose Tabata. He's possibly the best outfielder in the Yankees system, but he's still very young. He played in class A Charlestown last year, and should show up in AA to start off the season. The Yankees have high hopes for him, but I would hope that they've learned from their mistakes and will not rush him through to AAA. He ended last season with a .289 average and five homeruns,. While those may not be the greatest numbers for a minor leaguer, they're very good for an 18 year old starting off his career.
8. Kevin Thompson could be called "Mr. Almost". When Melky Cabrera got called up from Trenton to Columbus, Thompson had to watch. He was leading the Eastern League in eight of eleven offensive categories and had shown himself to be one of the quickest and strongest outfielders around, but the Yankees overpassed the 26 year old in favor of the younger Cabrera. If Melky had struggled in AAA, Thompson would likely have been called up next, and if he had performed well, then maybe he would have been the one to take Matsui's place last year. Now, on the Yankees ST Roster, he has his chance. Keep an eye on him.
9. The Yankees called up Kevin Reese the day after he got engaged to his long-time girlfriend. Talk about a heck of a weekend! In 12 at-bats for the Yankees, he had five singles, an RBI, a walk and a stolen base. For him, that all added up to a .417 average and a trip back to Columbus to make room for Melky Cabrera. If the likeable Reese puts on a good show in Spring Training, he may be the outfielder called up if one is needed.
So, there you go. Nine different players trying to stand out from the crowd in Spring Training. All of them have loads of potential, so lets see how they can shine.
