Written by Greg Fertel
|
24 June 2008
Humberto Sanchez, who has been rehabbing for past few months from Tommy John Surgery, finally made his Yankee debut, 2 years after the Gary Sheffield trade brought him into the Yankees' system. He pitched 2/3 of an inning in the GCL, giving up a run on a hit, a hit batsman, and a walk. I have heard that Sanchez will work as a reliever this season, and we'll see what happens with him.
George King of the New York Post has the
news on Christian. He will be replacing Billy Traber, who goes back to AAA. Christian will serve as a 4th outfielder/pinch runner while Hideki Matsui is banged up, and will be starting in left tonight because Johnny Damon is also hurting. Christian has been very successful in Scranton this year, hitting .309 with a .360 OBP and 18 steals (in 21 attempts). He is also slugging .455, so he is not just hitting singles. He will likely get part-time duty and won't see too many at bats, but if the Yankees need a big steal or some defense in the outfield, Christian will be there. Christian was probably promoted over Brett Gardner because Cashman wants Gardner to play every day, and the older Christian (who is less of a prospect), would fill the role of a bench player just as well. Christian is the 3rd indy league signing to make the majors from the Yankees' system in the last 2 seasons, joining Edwar Ramirez and Scott Patterson. Kudos to the Yankees' scouts for finding some diamonds in the rough.
