Written by Greg Fertel
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23 January 2008
Last week, I looked at the Yankee position player situation in the low minor leagues. Today, I'd like to take a look at those same team's pitching rotations. I'm not going to talk about bullpens, because that's a too complex a question, but I'll fill in the important figures.
Charleston:
Betances and McAllister will make their full-season debuts. It seems like they've been around forever, but they are both still only 20 years old. Betances should be a concern - he only recorded 38 innings at Staten Island last year due to an elbow injury. Now, he threw on the side before the short-season leagues, but his arm probably won't react well to a 120+ inning workload. He might even be held back at the beginning of the year. McAllister pitched a little more, so he's in better shape. Look for him to break out this year. Chigges, Adam O, Jason Stephens and Ryan Zink provide a steady, veteran presence to the rotation, although I wouldn't expect more than one real prospect to emerge from the three.
Wilkins De La Rosa is really the only significant relief pitcher that I would expect to see at the outset in Charleston. Less than a year after being converted from the outfield, the hard-throwing left hander struck out 32 in 24 innings (12 per 9) for the GCL Yankees next year. He's another guy, like Tejada, who the Yankees will have to protect from the Rule V draft if he goes on a run. For that reason, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the Yankees 'hide' him in Charleston all year. If he gets promoted to Tampa and pitches, say, 30 innings with 40 strikeouts and a couple of 96 mph fastballs, he could attract a lot of attention.
Tampa:
- LHP Mike Dunn
- RHP Ryan Pope
- RHP Grant Duff
- RHP Ivan Nova
- RHP Christian Garcia
- RHRP James Cox
- RHRP Marc Melancon
- RHRP Jesse Hoover
- RHRP Jon Hovis
Ryan Pope is the sole member of the 2007 Staten Island Yankees to start in Tampa. He joins the Grant Duff and Mike Dunn - two pitchers who made names for themselves in Charleston this year. Mike Dunn I think is one of the most interesting names in the Yankee pitching ranks. He'll be fun to watch, and could very well move up mid-season. I might be going out on a limb a little by projecting Ivan Nova to start the season in the Florida State League, but that's my gut feeling considering the fanfare surrounding him this year. Christian Garcia makes his return from Tommy John surgery right back where he left off in 2006.
The relief ranks are primarily a group of recovering Tommy John sufferers. I'm projecting Cox and Melancon down there primarily to get their feet underneath them in the warm weather. They'll surely be in Trenton by the middle of May if nothing goes wrong. Jesse Hoover pitched well enough after missing two years to back injuries for Charleston, and should continue his recovery in Tampa. Finally, Hovis was a dominant closer and could become a real prospect with another great performance.
Each team has parts to draw our interest. Both seem to be rotations which should remain pretty constant throughout the year. Someone like Nick Chigges could do what Eric Hacker did last year and bounce around from level to level, but that's to be expected at these levels.
