AAA Game Thread: The Bricktown Showdown
By
It all comes down to this. After a grueling 144-game regular seaspn and all sorts of playoff craziness, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees face the Sacramento River Cats in tonight’s Bricktown Showdown to crown the undisputed champion of Triple-A baseball. Sacramento won the whole schabang last year, so the path to victory is not going to be an easy one for the Yanks.
On the mound for the good guys is Ian Kennedy, who drew the assignment after asking Dave Miley for the ball. You gotta love a guy who wants the ball in the biggest game of the year, I suspect we may see some great things out of Mr. Kennedy tonight. Kevin Russo & Ramiro Pena have joined the team as reserve infielders, and Chase Wright will be available out of the bullpen. Once IPK does his thing, we’ll probably get a peak at Mark Melancon.
Chad Jennings broke down the matchup position-by-position, and will bring you the same great coverage from Oklahama that he does from Scranton. The game is being broadcast on ESPN2, so if you’re sick of watching meaningless Yankees’ games, check out one that matters.
98 Comments»
RAB Info
The Founders
Mike Axisa, Ben Kabak, Joe Pawlikowski
Editor-In-Chief
Mike Axisa Archives | Email
Managing Editors
Ben Kabak Archives | E-mail
Joe Pawlikowski Archives | E-mail
Contributing Editors
Larry Koestler (Archives)
Moshe Mandel (Archives)
Stephen Rhoads (Archives)
Weekend Writers
Hannah Ehrlich (Archives)
Matthew Warden (Archives)
Special Contributor
J.R. O'Grady (Archives)
Subscribe to RAB by RSS and Twitter
Follow @RiverAveBlues Search RAB
Spring Training Countdown
Just 5 days 'til pitchers and catchers report.Banner Design By
Looks like Pena worked his way into the line up.
Kevin Russo should have played over pena, thats for sure. He led trenton in batting average, even with two stints on DL. This kid will be up soon for the Yankees, playing infield or outfield. He gets the job done at every level
[...] « AAA Game Thread: The Bricktown Showdown 16 09 2008 [...]
What time does the game start cuz college football live is on right now
8pm est
8pm EST I think.
is the opposing pitcher a solid prospect
no
Get yo popcorn ready!
Why are the stands so empty?
I feel you. Its not like the Marlins are playing.
It’s the top two AAA teams in a once a year matchup. Doesn’t make sense to me why nobody’s there.
Nice double down the line by Miranda.
Knox would have an excellent hook if he could through it for strikes.
If he could throw strikes, he could be a 6th middle reliever. The thing is, he can’t, and that’s big.
Matt Carson is such a tease.
i watched this game for 5 minutes and heard the announcer say kennedy was a lefty, and just now he said the yanks catchers name instead of the other teams.
Time for some IPK.
Is anyone else bugged by that humana sign behind the plate? I keep losing the ball in it and it’s pissing me off.
I didn’t think white or bright colored signs were allowed back there.
IPK struggling with his command.
the scranton yankees’ uniforms look just like the white sox’s away uniforms.
IPK is not looking good right now.
IPK looks like the same shit to me.
i just turned the game on for five minutes, and i was reminded why i hate ipk
If it’s any consolation, he probably hates you.
And your mother.
Kennedy will never be able to perform in the clutch.
Gavin Floyd was the number 4 pick in the 2001 draft and was the “next big thing” as a 22 year old in 2005. He had a 10.04 ERA in 10 games that season. Tonight, as a 26 year old in 2008, he’s beating the Yankees, has a 3.75 ERA and is pitching meaningful games for a team in playoff position. I’m not telling you IPK will pan out, but it’s unreasonable to say he “will never be able to perform in the clutch.” He may, he may not. You have no idea.
Correction, he’s now 25. My bad. Doesn’t affect my point.
Have u seen Floyd pitch tonight and the stuff he has compared to what IPK throws???? Floyd is a much better example for someone like Hughes, not IPK.
IPK is about having 4 pitches and commanding all of them well.
He’s a pitcher, not a thrower. I know some people think you need to throw 95 MPH to be successful in the bigs, buts its simply not true.
First of all, I agree with Steve. It would be nice if IPK could throw 95, but his lack of mid-90s heat doesn’t mean he can’t be a successful MLB pitcher. As far as the reference to Floyd, I just brought him up because he’s pitching tonight against the Yankees and he’s a guy who a lot of people, including the Phillies organization, gave up on a few years ago. In that comparison obviously I was referring to results as opposed to stuff. Kennedy is a guy who has had success at every level short of MLB. It is absolutely impossible for anyone to say, on September 16, 2008, that Ian Kennedy will never see success in MLB. I’m not saying he’s destined for greatness, but he’s a 23 year old guy who has been very successful at every level but MLB. My only point was that you can’t write him off right now, at this point in time, and I don’t really see how that’s an arguable point.
Im not writing him off. I just dont see why we should be excited to watch him pitch in AAA. Thats my point. Why should I get excited to watch this guy pitch as if he will be an ace in the future. He isnt Hughes or obviously Joba. He is no different to me than someone like Aceves, or Karstens was.
He’s shown me tonight he’s not gonna be a clutch performer. I think he can be a good 5th starter but no better than a 4th. Today he gives up 3 runs in the first inning of a championship game that’s a terrible sign.
Has kennedy scrapped his mike mussina bow when there are runners on base or is ESPN2 just not showing it?
Honestly, I think the problem is, at least for me, is this site has continually stuffed IPK down our throats even though what I see tells me he is a borderline 4/5th starter at best. I mean Aceves has better stuff than IPK from what Ive seen yet he is considered a 6th starter/long man. Which is probably correct. To me IPK is the same thing, a Darrel Rasner type, yet we are supposed to hold on to him and have patience. For what?? Pitchers like IPK you can find all over the place. If he wasnt a 1st rounder, nobody would give a crap about him.
Maybe you’ve been part of more rancorous conversations regarding IPK than what I remember, but I don’t think IPK’s advocates were “shoving him down your throat” as much as they were reminding people that he has great promise and that many good pitchers struggled mightily early on.
Many good pitchers looked like 6th-starters or long men at the beginning of their careers. You call it “stuffing”, other people call it historical perspective.
I call it as seeing a 23 yo who barely throws in the upper-80′s. Or Darrel Rasner.
And the people who have the opposite opinion that you do would like to point out that millions and millions of people have “called it as they see it” on hundreds and hundreds of other 23 year olds before Ian Kennedy and been wrong.
So fine, you “call it as you see it.” Just know that there’s still a good chance that you’re wrong and IPK becomes something, much to your chagrin.
“So fine, you “call it as you see it.” Just know that there’s still a good chance that you’re wrong and IPK becomes something, much to your chagrin.”
The worst position I can ever be in as a fan of a team is rooting against my own guys. I try to avoid it as much as possible, it ruins my enjoyment of the game.
Not if it means giving a pitcher starts when he doesnt deserve it. Why should he get a chance over someone like Aceves????
Because his secondary pitches are better than Aceves. He is therefore a more complete pitcher, with more weapons to go to if one of them isn’t working. I like what I’ve seen from Aceves, but until the league adjusts to him and he adjusts back we really don’t know what we have in him.
To be fair, I will give Aceves big points over Ian in one area. He is totally fearless. That could be decisive for him, especially in the fishbowl of the Bronx. But IPK pitched in HUGE games at USC, so I don’t think he’s a shriveling coward, either.
Fair enough. That said, I dont think Aceves is anything great either. Just making a point thats all.
I am finally beginning to agree with this point of view
These announcers are horrible. And I never realized how scrawny Miranda is. I always thought he was a much broader guy.
lol definitely, I feel as though I’m listening to John Madden do baseball. It’s not ESPN’s A team for sure.
Any of the IPK bashers want to give him credit for bouncing back beautifully in the past 2 innings? Or the 2.35 ERA he posted in AAA this year?
He has a bad first inning and he “will never perform in the clutch” and he’s “shit”. Amazing.
These announcers are clueless.
Did the announcer just say that baby was “hot” and then say “they can never be too young”? Creepy!
youtube link?
Is it me or is Eric Duncan way too skinny?
IPK’s been flat out dealin’ since the first.
Oh please, spare us. I saw that first inning and this guy is never going to be any good. He should retire.
So the first inning means more than the 4 that followed it?
No need to convince me… Look a few inches up the page. Sorry, should have added some “!!11!!1!” for effect.
My bad yo.
No worries, just hurt my feelings a bit. Comment was a little too dry, especially since there are people here tonight making similar comments and meaning them.
Look up the page would be referred to me I assume. Your damn right I aint and never will be convinced. But thats the thing, I dont have that high of an opinion at all about IPK and Im an idiot. Whatever, to each their own.
Dude, chill. I was referring to me, not you. I never called you an idiot or anything of the sort.
Nah dude trust me I aint mad or anything. I love this site and most of the people here, especially the guys who run this site. I just dont like how for some reason IPK has a halo around his head and if you do say you dont think he has a great future you get killed. I am not so loyal to prospects just cause they are Yankees prospects.
I agree that you should be able to say you don’t think IPK has a great future. I’d just caution against writing him off so early in his career. Whether I agree with the person being attacked or not, it drives me nuts when commenters shout down a dissenting opinion (when that dissenting opinion is, at the very least, reasonable). So, yeah, no offense intended by anything in our conversation and I’m glad there’s none taken.
Oh yeah. He clearly had some issues with his command in the first, but its been 5 SO in the past 4 IP. The WP should have been scored a passed ball, it didn’t even bounce in the dirt. It was off the catchers glove.
In any case, his night is probably done at 96 pitches. He had one bad inning, and was great otherwise. Nice to see him be able to gather himself and settle down.
95 pitches in 5 innings in AAA and we should be congratulating him???
Please. He should be dominating these hitters rather easily if he was the type of prospect everyone claimed he was.
Anyone know his pitch count threw 5?
95.
The AAA reliever corp has been hitten hard, it is basically Melancon and decent at best players. Chase Wright for two and Melancon for 1 or 2?
I still think Chase Wright could be a good reliever with that fastball/changeup combo. But no one else seems to agree with me.
By hit hard I mean depleted with injuries/call ups
Kennedy is just a nice #5 starter. Not someone we should have held on dearly to. Cashman couldn’t see that?
Who says Cashman “held on dearly?” What do you mean? Do you know of a concrete trade offer that was made that Cashman turned down because he couldn’t part with IPK?
Of course he doesn’t, he has no idea what he’s talking about. The only trade offer that included IPK that was made public was during the Johan Santana sweepstakes. The deal that included IPK also included Chien-Ming Wang, Melky Cabrera and another low-level prospect.
Yeah, Cashman is a real moron for not pulling the trigger on that deal.
Dude, maybe Lanny has some real inside info for us. Why so cynical!? This might be a coup for RAB. (jk)
Uh oh, H-Rod is in…
Ouch.
Real nice rebound by Ian Kennedy.
Real nice job by the cameraman getting that blond on camera before they shifted back to Wright.
Who is Mark Malancon?
I was just about to ask that myself.
F’ng ESPN broadcasts one MiLB game and can’t get the names right. Good work, worldwide leader.
haha especially considering he’s a legit prospect
Way to go Ramiro.
Duncan excluded, they’ve been booting the ball around the field all night. Is Eric Duncan known for being a good fielder? He’s looked decent tonight.
Nah, he’s pretty bad. He moved to first two years ago, but they moved him back of third because of Miranda.
i was under the impression he was a bad fielder
Guess I just caught him on a good night, then. I remember when they moved him to first – because he was blocked by A-Rod right? That’s just a depressing thing to say, considering how things have turned out for Duncan so far.
Holy crap, that brought back some memories. That was my saying for Mendoza back in the day.
Isn’t it just a tad bit amazing that Mark Melancon has his full velocity back?
steroids
Actually, he had his testicles removed and replaced with those of an angry Bull. So yes, he has elevated testosterone rates, but its completely natural. He also snorts a lot more than he used to.
Whats even more extraordinary you chose to use “tad” and “bit” when either of them would have been sufficient.
Dramatic effect FTW.
Wordy.
Efficiency for the mother fuckin’ win.
That was my first look at MM. You can see why the Yanks love him so much.
No bullshit, goes right after hitters and throws quality strikes. Hitters are half beat the minute they reach the plate.
yup. he works really quickly. now i believe the 19 pitches for his 2-inning stints.
There’s no point in taking pitches, he doesn’t try to get you out with garbage out of the zone. Goes right after you, puts the hitter on the defensive. Here it is, hit it.
Guys like David Wells pitched into their 40′s with that approach with fairly average stuff much of his career. Everyone doesn’t have that kind of control, but those that do can be very effective. MM has plus stuff, he’s a keeper.
Ex-Yankee Brett Prinz in for the 9th.
lets get somethin going