05/24: Quick Hits
Posted by: James
Just wanted to throw some things out there and don't have nearly enough time to make a more coherent post, so here goes.
First, John Sickels over at MinorLeagueBall.com posted a Prospect Smackdown recently comparing two of the best pitching prospects in the minors, Mike Pelfrey of the Mets vs. Phillip Hughes of the Yankees. No new information but it's interesting to see that John's got them very evenly matched even though Hughes is 2 years younger. Both pitchers have dominated A ball this year and have scuffled a little bit in AA (Pelfrey more than Hughes so far). Still, a Mets-Yankees arms race would certainly be fun to watch (probably would have been even more interesting had a certain power lefty not been traded...not to address old wounds but OUCH).
John has also posted a prospect retrospective on Mr. Bernabe Williams Figueroa. I thought it was worth a read just to go back and remember where our borderline HOFer came from. It was certainly interesting to read how much he progressed and how long it was before he finally broke out (at the age of 26 in 1995).
Peter Abraham over at the LoHud Yankees Blog mentioned the following:
First off, Amen to the waving bye-bye to Terrence Long. Secondly, the Post is speculating that Matt Smith will be called up rather than Mendoza. Honestly, I don't mind either of the two at this point. I like Smith - he's young (27 in a couple of weeks), he's a lefty, this is his second year of performing well and he can get the K every now and again. With Mendoza, it's not just the nostalgia talking - he's been very good in the minors so far and has even started the last two games (12 IP, 10 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 10 Ks). I'd love to see what he can do back in the majors again. If he can still pitch, great. If not, what have you really wasted other than innings that would have gone to Scott Erickson or Aaron Small. Heck, it'd be great to see Erickson sent down and Ramiro take that role and if Small continues to struggle, there looks to be a young (25) and seemingly more than serviceable option in AAA just waiting for a shot.
When these moves are made, someone in the Yankees front office needs to promote T.J. Beam and J. Brent Cox. They have dominated to the point where it's just becoming ridiculous. Beam still hasn't given up another run yet and Cox has his ERA down to 1.78 (2 ER in his last 24.2 IP!).
Finally, for you Yankee prospect hounds out there who haven't noticed it yet, a couple of the bigger names were demoted last week, Marcos Vechionacci (who is starting to hit a little bit now that he's at Charleston) and Tim Battle.
First, John Sickels over at MinorLeagueBall.com posted a Prospect Smackdown recently comparing two of the best pitching prospects in the minors, Mike Pelfrey of the Mets vs. Phillip Hughes of the Yankees. No new information but it's interesting to see that John's got them very evenly matched even though Hughes is 2 years younger. Both pitchers have dominated A ball this year and have scuffled a little bit in AA (Pelfrey more than Hughes so far). Still, a Mets-Yankees arms race would certainly be fun to watch (probably would have been even more interesting had a certain power lefty not been traded...not to address old wounds but OUCH).
John has also posted a prospect retrospective on Mr. Bernabe Williams Figueroa. I thought it was worth a read just to go back and remember where our borderline HOFer came from. It was certainly interesting to read how much he progressed and how long it was before he finally broke out (at the age of 26 in 1995).
Peter Abraham over at the LoHud Yankees Blog mentioned the following:
Joe Torre said they would bring up a pitcher for the last game of the series. I suspect it will be Ramiro Mendoza, who has pitched well for Columbus. Best of luck, Kevin Reese. They should dump Terrence Long (0 for 8, two balls out of the infield), however.
First off, Amen to the waving bye-bye to Terrence Long. Secondly, the Post is speculating that Matt Smith will be called up rather than Mendoza. Honestly, I don't mind either of the two at this point. I like Smith - he's young (27 in a couple of weeks), he's a lefty, this is his second year of performing well and he can get the K every now and again. With Mendoza, it's not just the nostalgia talking - he's been very good in the minors so far and has even started the last two games (12 IP, 10 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 10 Ks). I'd love to see what he can do back in the majors again. If he can still pitch, great. If not, what have you really wasted other than innings that would have gone to Scott Erickson or Aaron Small. Heck, it'd be great to see Erickson sent down and Ramiro take that role and if Small continues to struggle, there looks to be a young (25) and seemingly more than serviceable option in AAA just waiting for a shot.
When these moves are made, someone in the Yankees front office needs to promote T.J. Beam and J. Brent Cox. They have dominated to the point where it's just becoming ridiculous. Beam still hasn't given up another run yet and Cox has his ERA down to 1.78 (2 ER in his last 24.2 IP!).
Finally, for you Yankee prospect hounds out there who haven't noticed it yet, a couple of the bigger names were demoted last week, Marcos Vechionacci (who is starting to hit a little bit now that he's at Charleston) and Tim Battle.
Patrick wrote: