New York Yankees Minor League Recap: August 2-8

I’m going to attempt to make this a weekly post.

Every Sunday I’ll try to give up a recap of what happened in the minors that week. I'll award a hitter of the week and a pitcher of the week. I won't go over every single player in the minors, but I'll try to cover the ones who I feel are worth monitoring.

AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre:

Hitters

Kevin Russo, 2B: 11 AB, 2 H, 3 BB, 2 K, .182/.357/.182—He missed a few games with a sore knee, but is back in the lineup now.

Reggie Corona, SS: 20 AB, 3 H, 2 2B, 4 BB, 1 SB, 4 K, .150/.292/.250—Was called up to AAA on Aug. 7 to replace Ramiro Pena, as he was called up to the Yankees.

Austin Jackson, CF: 26 AB, 7 H, 1 3B, 0 BB, 5 K, .269/.269/.346—Been in quite a slump for over a month, and I really don’t like that 5:0 strikeout to walk ratio for the week.

Shelley Duncan, OF: 19 AB, 6 H, 1 2B, 6 BB, 3 K, .316/.480/.368

Juan Miranda, 1B: 21 AB, 6 H, 2 2B, 1 HR, 4 BB, 6 K, .286/.400/.524—Been a good season for Miranda, who has finally started to hit lefties this year. Really don’t see a future with the Yankees for him, though.

Pitchers

Russ Ortiz, SP: 1 GS, 6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 3 K, 3 BB—Picked up off the scrapheap after struggling with the Astros; he had a 5.57 ERA and 4.59 FIP in 85.2 innings.

Ivan Nova, SP: 1 GS, 5 IP, 1 HR, 3 ER, 0 K, 3 BB—Started off with three strong starts in AAA, but has struggled in his past four. He is currently on the DL, but it appears that is just to give him some extra rest.

Zachary Kroenke, SP/RP: 1 GS, 5 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 1 HR, 3 K, 1 BB—Been making spot starts since the AAA rotation has been so thin, and has performed admirably

Romulo Sanchez, SP/RP: 1 GS, 5.2 IP, 2 ER, 4 K, 4 BB—See above.

Edwar Ramirez, RP: 2 G, 2.2 IP, 2 H, 4 K, 0 BB—Continues to dominate the minors with a FIP of 2.17 this season.

Jonathan Albaladejo, RP: 2 G, 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 K, 1 BB

Kevin Whelan, RP: 2 G, 1.2 IP, 1 ER, 0 H, 1 K, 3 BB

Michael Dunn, RP: 2 G, 3.1 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 3 K, 1 BB

News and Notes

Damaso Marte, RP: 2 G, 1.1 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 3 K, 2 BB—He has pitched very pedestrian rehabbing in AAA, and I’m sure the Yankees are nowhere near trusting him in big spots again.

Francisco Cervelli, C: He has missed about a week with a left hand injury. It’s not serious and he should return to game action soon.

Ian Kennedy, SP: Threw off a mini-mound. He probably won’t get into a game during the regular season, but he plans to be ready for Winter Ball in Puerto Rico in the offseason. The Yankees could really have used him right now.

Alan Horne, SP (in GCL): 2 GS, 10 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 4 BB, 4 K—Not very encouraging, but I’m glad to see that he’s pitching again.

AA Trenton

Hitters

Austin Krum, OF: 24 AB, 8 H, 3 2B, 3 BB, 9 K, .333/.429/.458

Eduardo Nunez, SS: 24 AB, 8 H, 1 2B, 2 HR, 2 BB, 5 K, .333/.385/.625—He has really improved his offense this season.

Pitchers

Zach McAllister, SP: 1 GS 4 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K—First start since July 11. He had been on the DL with a phantom injury to get him some rest and keep his innings down.

Ryan Pope, SP: 2 GS, 12 IP, 3 ER, 10 H, 1 HR, 14 K, 3 BB—Pitched a gem on Aug. 7 with eight shutout innings fanning 11 and walking none. This makes him my pitcher of the week.

Wilkin De La Rosa, SP: 1 GS, 7 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 7 K, 1 BB—Since switching to pitching, this hard throwing lefty has done nothing but impress. Great start from him this week.

Jeremy Bleich, SP: 1 GS, 5 IP, 5 ER, 11 H, 2 HR, 6 K, 1 BB

Lance Pendleton, SP: 1 GS, 5.1 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 8 K, 1 BB (intentional)—Put together a 2.84 FIP in Tampa, but has struggled in both starts since his promotion to AA

Humberto Sanchez, RP: 1 G, 2 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 3 K, 0 BB—Hasn’t given up any runs over his last three appearances, spanning 6.1 innings.

Kanekoa Texeira, RP: 2 G, 5 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 4 K, 3 BB—Jhonny Nunez recently made his debut with the White Sox against the Yankees, so it looks like Texeira was the lesser reliever swapped in the Swisher deal.

News and Notes

Jesus Montero, C: Fractured a finger and will miss the remainder of the season. He still had a remarkable year and this isn’t a huge deal. Sure makes the Trenton box score more boring though. He will most likely play in winter ball to make up for the time he missed.

A+ Tampa

Hitters

Daniel Brewer, OF: 26 AB, 16 H, 1 3B, 2 HR, 1 BB, 3 K, .615/.630/.923—Brewer has yet to slow down and is my hitter of the week, no other prospect came close to having a week like this.

Matthew Cusick, 2B/3B/DH: 10 AB, 5 H, 1 2B, 1 BB, .500/.545/.600—The player the Yankees acquired for LaTroy Hawkins can hit. The 23-year-old sports a career minor league line of .295/.379/.436

David Adams, 2B: 25 AB, 6 H, 2 2B, 1 BB, 3 K, .240/.259/.320

Damon Sublett, 2B/CF: 21 AB, 3 H, 1 3B, 5 BB, 6 K, .143/.321/.238

Brandon Laird, 3B/DH: 23 AB, 6 H, 2 BB, 4 K, .261/.346/.261—He really hasn’t done anything to build upon his big 2008 season, posting an ISO of .126 after posting a .222 ISO last season.

Austin Romine, C: 17 AB, 5 H, 2 BB, 3 K, .294/.368/.295—Officially the catcher to watch the rest of the season with Montero now out.

Pitchers

D.J. Mitchell, SP: 1 GS, 6 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 8 K, 0 BB—Has been great in his first professional year. At this point, he looks like the prize of the 2008 draft.

David Phelps, SP: 1 GS, 6 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 8 K, 1 BB—Through three starts since being promoted to Tampa, he has pitched 19 innings, allowing one run, and has struck out 18 while walking only three.

Pat Venditte, RP: 2 G, 3.2 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 8 K, 0 BB—Ridiculous

A Charleston

Hitters

Corban Joseph, 2B/3B: 28 AB, 7 H, 3 K, .250/.276/.250—He's probably the most impressive hitter in Charleston right now (that says more about the Charleston team than it does about Joseph).

Addison Maruszak, SS: 18 AB, 7 H, 1 BB, 2 K, .389/.450/.389

Garrison Lassiter, 3B: 21 AB, 5 H, 1 HR, 1 BB, 5 K, .238/.304/.381—First home run of the season and of his career.

Pitchers

Andrew Brackman, SP/RP: 2 G, 4 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 7 K—I like those strikeouts and I wonder if the move to the bullpen has helped him regain some of his stuff. He has pitched over 90 innings this year and stayed healthy, that’s about the only bright side to his season.

Manny Banuelos, SP/RP: 2 G(1 GS), 4.2 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, 4 BB, 5 K—The 18-year-old was probably tiring a little bit, and is getting towards 100 innings pitched. At that age, it’s rare for teams to let pitchers throw too many more innings than that.

Jairo Heredia, SP: 1 GS, 5.2 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 7 K—The 2008 breakout has been injured for most of the year, but has pitched very well since returning. He has thrown 13 innings and struck out 13 without issuing a single walk.

Rookie Staten Island

Kyle Higashioka, C: 27 AB, 7 H, 2 2B, 1 HR, 3 BB, 5 K, .259/.333/.444—The best position player prospect in Staten Island.

Arodys Vizcaino, SP: 2 GS, 5.2 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 7 K—He left his start yesterday with a back injury, that’s all I know about that. Hopefully it’s not too severe, because he was quickly becoming the best pitching prospect in the farm system.