Minor League Recap 4/15

Written by Greg Fertel | 15 April 2008

Solid day for the Yankees. Scranton beats Charlotte, 6 to 2.

Steve White, a week after allowing 6 runs in 4 innings, pulled out a strong start. He pitched 6 innings with just two unearned runs allowed. He struck out 2 and walked 1, allowing just 3 singles and 1 double to a lineup that includes former major leaguers Jerry Owens and Josh Fields.
Sean Henn, still technically rehabbing for a major league gig, struck out a batter in two perfect innings. Billy Traber can't have a particularly long leash, so a few strong outings could change any already made Yankee decision to expose him to waivers since they lack any remaining options.
Jose Veras pitched a scoreless inning to finish the day, striking out 2.
The Yankee batters were facing former major league knuckle-baller Charlie Haegar. Haegar is notorious for his inconsistency - his knuckleball very often fails to dance. Today, his control was way off. The Yankees managed 7 walks.
Jason Lane had the big night, going 3 for 4 with 2 doubles and a walk.
Brett Gardner, not to be outdone, went 2 for 4 with a walk and his 4th triple of the year. He also stole a base.
Juan Miranda was 1 for 4.
Bam-Bam Duncan was 0 for 4 with a walk. He started in right field.
Eric Duncan was 1 for 3 with a walk and a sacrifice fly. With Duncan in right field, he acted as the team's DH. Eric has not played a game at 1st since Shelley's demotion.

Trenton shuts out Altoona, 4 to 0.

Daniel McCutchen started the shutout, pitching 7 innings with 4 hits, 2 walks, and 4 strikeouts. I'm always amazed that every word that every time the Yankees talk about McCutchen, they mention that he's a potential reliever. He's done nothing but dominate and eat innings as a starter. I feel like they are being misled by their initial observations of McCutchen while he was in the bullpen in college.
David Robertson finished the game with 2 innings, with 1 walk and 1 hit allowed. He struck out 2 batters.
Cody Ehlers led the offense, going 2 for 4 with 2 doubles.
Colin Curtis was 1 for 3 with a walk and a double.
Jose Tabata was 0 for 2 with 2 walks. He's now taken 7 walks in 13 games for an isolated patience well over .100. I wonder if someone talked to him about walking more.
Austin Jackson was 1 for 4.
Ramiro Pena was 2 for 4 with a double.
P.J. Pilittere was 0 for 4.
Reegie Corona was 1 for 3.

After jumping out to an early lead, Tampa blew the game to Dunedin, losing 5 to 4 in 11 innings.

Mike Dunn had his best start of the early season, pitching 6 innings of one-run ball with 8 strikeouts and 1 walk. That's more like it.
J.B. Cox made his second rehab appearance, allowing a run in 1 innings on a double and two singles. Watching Ross Ohlendorf in the majors make me go back and look at Cox's old statistics. That could be his spot. Cox pitched 77 innings at Double-A in 2006 with an ERA of 1.74, 7.0 K per 9 and 2.81 BB/9, getting a ton of ground outs. It'll be interesting to see how well his talent returns from the surgery.
Jon Hovis, last year's unflappable closer in Charleston, blew the game, allowing 2 runs in the 9th inning.
Damon Sublett had the big game, going 4 for 6 with a double and a walk. After a slow start, he's not up to .313/.371/.469.
Kyle Anson kept pace with Sublett, going 4 for 5 with a walk. The Yankees seem to like Anson more than us outsiders, so he's worth keeping an eye on, especially as the Yankees are searching for a catcher.
Toolsy outfielders Seth Fortenberry and Josue Calzado both had 1 hit. Calzado's was a triple.
Mitch Hilligoss and Tim Battle went a combined 0 for 13 with 6 strikeouts.

Charleston had the day off. There was much rejoicing. Good day overall. Damon Sublett's breakout game was the best news of the day. Don't put too much stock in any of the hitting numbers from Scranton today - they were facing a knuckleballer, which means you can throw all precedent out the window.