Written by Sean P | 26 April 2010

Scranton beat Leigh Valley 5-4 thanks to a 2 out rally that was started with a walk. Eduardo Nunez has been the early story with Scranton.

Trenton fell to Portland 9-5. The bullpen imploded in the 8th. Noel Castillo may have tantalizing stuff, but he's been terrible this year so far. The bullpen sullied another decent starting pitching performance. Christian Garcia underwent Tommy John surgery yet again. Lars Anderson has gotten it back so far this year.

Tampa defeated Lakeland 5-3 last night and rebounded nicely from a terrible Saturday performance. Lakeland's 9th inning rally came up a little short.

Charleston beat Rome 3-2 last night. It was a fine performance from Sean Black that led Charleston. Rome is on the slide.

Written by Greg Fertel | 25 April 2010

Josh Norris of The Trentonian is reporting that Christian Garcia underwent Tommy John surgery on April 20th. Garcia also underwent Tommy John surgery in 2007, so he'll now attempt to come back from it for the second time.

We saw this coming when it was first reported that Garcia would miss the year due to a torn elbow ligament, but it still hurts. You have to feel for a guy who has all the talent in the world and just wants to stay on the mound, but physically cannot do it.

I wish Garcia luck on his second stint of Tommy John rehab. Hopefully he can come back strong and stick around for a bit this time, but I wouldn't get my hopes up.

Photo Credit: Mike Ashmore

Written by Greg Fertel | 24 April 2010

Last night, the Yankees trailed by two runs to start the ninth inning. The Angels' left-handed closer Brian Fuentes entered the game with Nick Johnson due up. Joe Girardi decided to take Johnson out of the game in favor of Marcus Thames.

This is a clear OBP for power swap. But in this case, that was a very questionable decision. While Thames hits lefties with a ton of power, his career on-base percentage against them is just .332. Nick Johnson, a lefty, holds a career OBP of .423 against LHPs. Now, there are times in a game where the swap of OBP for power could be made, but this is not one of them.

Down two runs in the ninth inning, a walk and a home run do not differ very much in value. Using this win expectancy calculator, we can see just how much they differ. Entering the inning, the Angels win expectancy was 94.5 percent.

In this instance, a walk brings their win expectancy down to 87.7 percent. A home run is worth only a tiny bit more, and lowers it to 86.6 percent. This makes it an indefensible position. There is no reasonable need or possible explanation on why you substitute on-base ability for power in that situation. A walk and a home run are nearly identical in value here.

As an individual play, it may not be the biggest deal in the world, but it is a bit worrisome to me. The decision to bring in Thames in this situation shows that Girardi is willing to pinch hit for the third best hitter in the Yankees lineup. Not only that, but Johnson also happens to be extremely adept at getting on base, which is just what the Yankees needed to start the ninth inning off last night.

Photo Credit: AP

Written by Sean P | 24 April 2010

Scranton cruised past Leigh Valley 6-3 thanks in part to a big game from Colin Curtis. Ivan Nova wasn't bad either, but Curtis's 3 doubles stole the show. Here's a 5 question item with Kevin Russo, the utility prospect for the Yankees.

Trenton beat the Sea Dogs 9-1. The Casey Kelly/DJ Mitchell match up didn't materialize exactly as planned. The offense really showed up for Trenton. Casey Kelly is constricted by innings limits. Austin Romine is part of the good catching corp the Yankees have stockpiled.

Video Credit of Mike Ashmore

Tampa crushed Daytona 11-3. Brooks Raley, a touted Cubs prospect allowed 8 earned runs. The offense was impressive for Tampa last night.

The Riverdogs beat Hickory 6-3 last night. Shaeffer Hall got his first win, finally. The 5 game losing streak is finally over.

Written by Greg Fertel | 23 April 2010

Player A: .308/.375/.431 with a 3.1 UZR and .8 WAR

Player B: .283/.356/.509 with a 1.4 UZR and .7 WAR

In case you hadn't guessed, Player A is Austin Jackson and Player B is Curtis Granderson.

Jackson has gotten off to a phenomenal start for the Detroit Tigers, one that no one really could have predicted. However, Jackson's flaws from last season have not gone away at all. His ISO is just .123(.105 in 2009), and he has struck out in a whopping 36.9 percent(24.4 in 2009) of his plate appearances. In fact, he has struck out in every game that he has started this season.

I am not going to check this, but I can pretty much guarantee that no hitter has ever maintained a batting average over .300 while striking out so frequently. Jackson's 2009 Triple-A BABIP was lofty, sitting at .384 for the season. This was one of the reasons I frequently said he was a bit overrated and not major league ready.

If you thought his BABIP in 2009 was a bit flukey, what about his current 2010 rate? On the season, his batting average on balls in play is .488! That is just nowhere near sustainable. To be fair, Jackson has been tearing the cover off the ball, he has hit line drives in 32.5 percent of his balls in play. Both his BABIP and line drive rate are sure to drop, and when they do, his batting line will not look anywhere near as nice as it does now.

For the rest of the season, ZiPS projects Jackson to hit .252/.305/.350 and I would be surprised if he did much better than that. Jackson is a good prospect, but I don't think he should be playing every day for a major league team, and given his hot start, he's likely to be a letdown for Tigers fans as the season progresses.

On the defensive side of the ball, Jackson's numbers are impressive. John Dewan's +/- says he has saved four runs already, and his UZR is 3.1. The sample size here is so small it has no predictive value, so I'm still not sure Jackson is much more than an average defensive center fielder.

Looking at the base statistics, Jackson has been comparable to Granderson. This may lead some to believe the Granderson acquisition was unnecessary, but I would definitely disagree. Granderson is a far superior player to Jackson, and hits for more power than Jackson ever will. Jackson can go on to make the Yankees miss him, but trust me, it won't be this season.