May
12

Wang goes six strong in rehab start

By Mike Axisa

Three years ago today on DotF, Jimmy Conroy & Rolando Japa combined for a near perfect game in game two of Low-A Charleston’s doubleheader with Rome, allowing just a single to the first batter of the game.

Meet the Stephen Strasburg of Division II, courtesy of longtime RABer Eric Sanlnocencio.

Triple-A Scranton (1-0 loss to Charlotte) they’ll get to face Jose Contreras tomorrow
Doug Bernier, Eric Duncan & Justin Leone: all 0 for 4 – Bernier K’ed once, Leone twice … Leone also committed a throwing error… E-Dunc is 1 for May and has a .051 OPS this month … yes, OPS
Todd Linden & Luis Nunez: both 1 for 3 – Linden drew a free pass & swiped a bag
Juan Miranda & Austin Jackson: both 1 for 4 – Ajax K’ed
Chris Malec: 0 for 3, 1 BB
Chris Stewart: 0 for 2, 2 BB
Chien-Ming Wang: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 7-4 GB/FB – 49 of 82 pitches were strikes (59.8%) … check out Chad Jennings’ site for a breakdown on how he looked
Anthony Claggett: 3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 3-3 GB/FB – 28 of 46 pitches were strikes (60.9%)

Double-A Trenton (6-1 loss to Portland)
Reegie Corona: 1 for 2, 2 BB
Jorge Vazquez: 1 for 4, 1 K
James Cooper: 1 for 3, 1 R
Everyone else: combined 0 for 22, 1 BB, 7 K – Kyle Anson drew a walk, K’ed twice & allowed a passed ball
Alan Horne: 3 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 5-2 GB/FB
Kevin Whelan: 2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 1 WP, 1-1 GB/FB
Josh Schmidt: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 6-0 GB/FB – that’s some damn fine relief work right there
Noel Castillo: 0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 0 K, 2 WP- hate to say it, but he’s completely overmatched at this level
Carlos Mendoza: 1 IP, zeroes, 3-0 GB/FB – stranded all three inherited runners … yep, the bullpen was so stretched tonight that they had to bring the utility infielder on to the pitch

High-A Tampa (6-5 loss to Daytona, walk-off style) Andy in Sunny Daytona was at the game and took some pics … he also got a ball from Matt Cusick
Austin Krum, Damon Sublett & Brian Baisley: both 0 for 4 – Krum drew a walk, scored a run & K’ed twice … Sublett K’ed three times … Baisley K’ed once
Eric Fryer: 1 for 3, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K – picked off first
Jesus Montero: 2 for 4, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 K – two-run single
Brandon Laird: 2 for 3, 2 RBI
Austin Romine: 1 for 4, 1 RBI – singled off a guy named Al Alburquerque
Wady Rufino: 2 for 4, 1 2B, 2 K
Jeremy Bleich: 5.2 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 2 WP, 7-6 GB/FB – 11 ER & 24 baserunners in his last 3 starts (17.1 IP)
Tim Norton: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 2-2 GB/FB
Jon Ortiz: 0.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 1-0 GB/FB – he’s already more than halfway to last year’s ER total of 14

Low-A Charleston (3-2 win over Lexington)
Dan Brewer: 2 for 5, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 K
Carmen Angelini: 0 for 3, 1 K - lifted from the game in the bottom of the 5th for no apparent reason
Addison Maruszak: 1 for 1, 1 BB
David Adams & Mike Lyon: both 0 for 4 – Adams drew a walk & K’ed
Taylor Grote: 1 for 3, 1 2B, 1 BB
Corban Joseph, Melky Mesa & Chase Weems: all 1 for 4 – Joseph committed a fielding error … Mesa doubled, drove in a run & K’ed … Weems scored a run & K’ed twice
Abe Almonte: 3 for 4, 1 R, 1 SB
Brett Marshall: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 7 K, 1 WP, 9-2 GB/FB – easily the best outing of his young career
Brandon Braboy: 2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 5-1 GB/FB
Pat Venditte: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 2-0 GB/FB

Posted on Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 at 10:26 pm in Down on the Farm.

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111 Comments »

And now Coke’s hurt too? what the heck is going on with this team?

And notice the Angelini error/Yankees loss correlate =P

Wang’s stats by far the most important.

I feel like Frank Vitchard after the bear rips his arm off.

THIS IS GETTIN’ RE-GOD-DAMN-DICULOUS!!!

 
 

Only 82 pitches for wang? with only 49 strikes. I bet he makes another start in the minors

At least one more. He’s got 30 days for a rehab assignment, and the Yanks aren’t going to rush him.

The question the Yanks have to answer: Who pitches this weekend — Hughes or Aceves?

Lanny says:

I agree.

(OMM, I’ve been doing this “agreeing” with you a lot lately. Feels weird.)

 
 
 
Bryan says:

I think they have to give Phil another bite at the apple. But I imagine the leash will be pretty tight. He even starts to get roughed up and the Gangster goes in.

Jim says:

You know, I find it incredibly offensive that many people on this site casually refer to Aceves as the “Mexican gangster.” I’m sure he wouldn’t like it, nor would you if a group of people on a public site started flinging ethnic slurs at you, no matter how seemingly “innocent.” You’re just reinforcing the image of sports fans as ignorant, bigoted, low class louts. Stop it. P.S. I’m not Mexican; I’m just human.

Eh, if it was said maliciously or pejoratively, I’d agree with you.

If it was said in any way to imply there’s an actual link between Mexicans or gangsters, I’d agree with you.

I find this one innocuous.

 
andrew says:

I’m all for political correctness, but sometimes it’s over the top. I don’t really think calling him the Mexican Gangster has many negative connotations.

Accent Shallow says:

How about the Mexican Darrell Rasner?

That’s certainly who he reminds me of. Of course, I’m not a scout.

Joey says:

That is much more insulting

(Comments wont nest below this level)
 
 
 
Bryan says:

I am half mexican and I wasn’t offended when I first heard it.

Is the other half… gangster?

BOOM, THAT JUST HAPPENED.

Joey says:

Hey, you can ask him why it’s taking so long for your burrito to cook!

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There’s a reason why one of my law school buddies from Stanford thinks the Yanks completely overreached by taking Bleich in the second round…

I think we all did at the time. With Melville, Lobstein and others still available, it left us all confused. Last year’s draft is starting to look bad, and the hope of quick rising Bleich was supposed to be one of the strong points. We’ll see.

Lanny says:

Starting to look bad? It was a disaster. Not having Cole in this system is going to hurt for a long time.

Bryan says:

can you imagine if Cole gets bored as school and decides to enter the draft again in a year or two? It would be like a double slap in the face!

pat says:

He can only leave after his jr year.

Bryan says:

Anyone know if he is pitching for his College team this year and if so…how is the brat doing?

 
 
 
 
pat says:

All these kids are in A ball and you’re calling it a disaster?

That’s not ridiculous at all.

 

Starting to look bad? It was may end up being a disaster after we’ve had enough time to look back on it in retrospect.

Not having Cole in this system is going to hurt for a long time could end up being a big fish that got away. It all hinges on whom we draft with the 29th pick this coming June to see if it’s a win, a loss, or a draw.

Fixed, that feels better.

 
 
 
pat says:

22 years old,33 Ip, 2.70 era, 1.24 whip. Not too shabby.

 
Andy In Sunny Daytona says:

Bleich pitched great. No hitter through 4. Shotty defense. He wouldn’t sign an autograph for me in the 7th (pulled the “rules ” card on me). Im going tomorrow for the 10:36 am game, should be interesting.

He wouldn’t sign an autograph for me in the 7th… I’m going tomorrow for the 10:36 am game, should be interesting.

This is going to end badly.

Andy In Sunny Daytona says:

I felt like such a tool, I was asking for a buddy of mines kid. He told me, “i will sign after the game”, but when they lost, I left. Screw it, I was a bit drunk.

Andy: “Can you make it out to my kid sister?”
Bleich: “Sure, what’s her name?”
Andy: “It’s, um, ‘Andy in Sunny Daytona’.”
Bleich: …
Andy: “… It’s short for Andrea?”

… aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand, SCENE!

Andy In Sunny Daytona says:

I am neither confirming or denying.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Thanks for the link Mike, hope you guys enjoy the story.

Is it sad that I don’t even bother to look at the Double-A team? Unless I know ZMac is starting, I just scroll right by it.

Glad to see CoJo get his feet wet in full-season ball, just to see how his bat responds. Considering the upside of a Joseph, Angelini and Lassiter infield, if just one makes it, that’s not bad.

Hey Eric: I’ve got a correction for you in your article.

“A two-sport star at Magnolia High School (Ark.), his smaller statute (6-0, 170) kept many of the bigger schools out of the recruiting picture.”

I think you mean his smaller stature. A statute is a rule or law.

Good call. I’ll fix it. T is right next to R on the damn keyboard.

 
 
Dave M says:

I took my kids to see the AA team. They wanted to know which autographs to get. I told them just get ZMac, which the older son did. The younger one also go Ivan Nova and Pope.

 
 
Bryan says:

Horne does NOT look good. Any word on his velocity? Is he pitching his full compliment of pitches? Definately not the same guy who was Eastern League Pitcher O/T Year

He’s working his way back from a pretty bad injury. Give him some time to get his legs back.

Plus, his ceiling isn’t all that high either.

steve says:

He left this game with an injury too…

Figures.

We’re the New York Yankees Injuries, after all.

Pride. Power. Hamstrings.

dan says:

Just LMAO. It’s always just LMAO.

Laugh My Ass Off
Laughing My Ass Off
Laughed My Ass Off

Like RBI. The Plural and past tense of RBI is just RBI.

(Comments wont nest below this level)

No no no. The problem with this position is that “the argument that initialisms should have no different plural form (for example, ‘If D can stand for disc, it can also stand for discs’) is generally disregarded because of the practicality in distinguishing singulars and plurals.” (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A.....ossessives ) Beyond the “practicality in distinguishing singulars and plurals,” another reason to use “RBIs” as the plural of RBI is because the acronym “RBI” denotes a SINGULAR item, the singular run batted in (think of it as one unit), and, thus, the acronym itself represents a singular unit that must be expressed as a plural, “RBIs,” in order to represent multiple RBI units.

Another similar argument is the argument that the plural of RBI should be RsBI, but this approach can be dismissed because it is dated and is not the modern, common rule.

It should be noted that an argument COULD be made that either of the usages cited above are technically correct, but neither of those usages is commonly accepted, modern practice. The important distinction here is that the use of “RBIs” as the plural of the acronym “RBI” is also technically correct, AND IS ALSO the ONLY approach of the three that is the modern and common usage.

 
Doug says:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
pat says:
 
 
Bryan says:

I have always heard that Trenton plays in a Pitchers park because the wind coming in off the Delaware River keeps the ball in the park. Is this correct? If so, I always assumed it resulted in some of the extra gaudy numbers our pitchers at AA have had…and if so…what does that say about the decidedly NON-gaudy numbers of our current AA staff?

That’s true. Make sure you look at home road splits.

 
Accent Shallow says:

Phil Hughes only allowed 1 HR in Trenton in 2006.

(Then again, he killed everyone, everywhere that year. Seriously, check the splits. He even held lefties in check)

 
Usty says:

Ha, if you want to see how ridiculous the wind is there, go on a fireworks night. I went 2 weeks ago and my friend and I were talking about it. We stayed to watch the fireworks, hey, we were drunk, it was $1 beer night…and fireworks are cool. We then watched in amazement how all the smoke from the fireworks behind CF billowed directly toward homeplate and into the stands. The wind just whips directly into the batters face there. I can probably count on 1 hand the number of HR’s I’ve seen hit at a Thunder game and I’ve been to a bunch since I work just outside Trenton.

 
 

Linden drew a free pass & swiped a bag.

WE-WANT LIN-DEN!!!
(clap clap clap-clap-clap)
WE-WANT LIN-DEN!!!
(clap clap clap-clap-clap)

Come on. I, for one, enjoy watching a master of pop-ups come off the bench and sometimes play center field. It’s hard to hit a pop-up every time up and somehow Brett does it.

Doug says:

MASTER OF POP-UPS

yeah bro, F’IN ‘TALLICA!

 
 
 
Bryan says:

The other day I read that DJ Mitchel was getting sent to Staten Island becuase of an Innings limit? He only has 37 innings…what kind of limit are we talking about here? Under a hundred innings? Is that normal at his stage of development? So far…he looks like tha only breakout from the current crop

Accent Shallow says:

POOMA, but:

Per the Baseball Cube, he threw 98 2/3 innings his last year of college, and he has 37 already this year. Maybe just want to give him a break?

 
RPimpsner says:

Yes he threw 37 pitches already for Charleston. You forget to add the 70 or more innings he could pitch for Staten Island this year and add in his limited work for Tampa and you would have a solid amount of innings for a guys first professional season.

 
 

Austin Romine: 1 for 4, 1 RBI – singled off a guy named Al Alburquerque

That’s gotta be a pseudonym. Hmm, if I could only think of somebody who currently has both the freetime and the general athletic ability necessary to play in relatively unimportant minor league baseball games and also has a penchant for pseudonyms involving nondescript, short first names and geographic placename surnames– WAIT A MINUTE…

Are you thinking what I’m thinking?

http://bit.ly/alalberquerque

Please just call me Karl Aruba from now on.

Hey Karl, can I borrow your copy of Swank?

Sincerely,
Miguel Iran

Dave M says:

Very funny!!

Sincerely,
Heywood Jablowme

 
 
Jack says:

Jean-Claude Mali

Top that, bitches.

Raul Mondesi’s Ron Mexico name:

Victor Tonga.

FTW.

Marc says:

Stark Sri Lanka

I’ll dig it

Joey says:

Håkan Montenegro

Good enough

 
 
 
 
 
 
NC Saint says:

Will hitters have to start surrendering outs voluntarily to Venditte for him to get called up? I think it’s time he got to pick on someone his own age.

Bryan says:

At higher levels, he will run into guys who are not fooled by his off speed stuff and are not made uncomfortable with the switch pitching. When that time comes, he will need better arm strength or else some better out pitches. Maybe they should focus on him developing new pitches instead of trying to make saves.

 
 
Will says:

How was Wang’s velocity compared to last year’s?

 
VO says:

This is a minor league thread so it’s somewhat related I guess. I always wondered say Wang gets injured and we call up Hughes to take his spot in the big leagues, do they call someone up to AAA to make up for Hughes, then call someone up to AA to make up for that player, all the way down to Charleston? Wouldn’t this cause us to sign a player? If anyone would like to clarify.

Arman Tamzarian says:

Not when Josh Towers is available

andrew says:

Or Casey Fossum. When there are guys they’d like to call up, they sometimes use it as an opportunity to do so, but they rather not hurt the growth of any of the prospects when they can just sign a filler.

VO says:

Ok thanks guys, simple answer I’m still wondering how I didn’t know that.

A.D. says:

Else they’ll stretch & piggy back relievers, so go into a game planning on throwing 3-4 relievers to piece it together.

 
 
 
 
 
A.D. says:

Looks like Marshall isn’t a bust yet.

dan says:

yet. There’s still time, don’t worry.

 
 
A.D. says:

And here I thought Carlos Mendoza was looking to be a a good relief prospect.

 
Accent Shallow says:

Wow, that is a nice line from Marshall.

Tim Norton seems to have come back strong from injury, no?

Good to see Brewer and Grote continue to hit (yep, grasping at straws here)

 
Yankees Brawl says:

I had a long night today. I went to see my yanks at rogers center and it was an amazing time, got to see AROD and Texeira up close. With that being said, on my way home (in toronto) I got into a huge argument with a jays fan. I am a really passive and quite person, I was wearing a A-Rod jersey all day and dodged a lot of heckling and name calling quite calmly. When I was on the train home after the game, a young man kept asking me why I’m wearing his jersey and how much he and I suck. So i kept calm for a while and realized he isnt a baseball fan because I refuse to believe anyone that starts a sentence off with “____ sux” understands the game of baseball. After a couple of more jabs at me I flipped and we got into a huge argument on the train to the point were people moved away. I definitely feel like I won the argument by pointing out all his fallacies and countering them with facts. After more heckling and unnecessary comments by him, i threw a jab at him because I just coudn’t tolerate it anymore. My friends quickly grabbed me and took me away but I felt so irritated at the fact that people don’t reason truly understand something before they make a statement on it ( in this case the sport of baseball). I am still upset and feel like my day has been ruined but the way the yanks have been doing I hope my argument was justified. But does anyone else agree with the fact that some people need to really understand the game before taking personal and uninformed jabs at people they dont know?

You should have socked him.

What did the five fingers say to the face?

Andy In Sunny Daytona says:

SLAP!

I never knew that Canada was so violent. Note to self: Never go to Toronto, it’s worse than Detroit.

 
 
 
dan says:

From 3 years ago:

Wilkins DeLaRossa: 1 for 2, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

hahahhaha

 

Any chance montero finsihes off the year at AAA?

I feel he should be brought up to AA, id rather him have a challenge than rake A pitching.

dan says:

AAA: <1%
AA: I’d say maybe 15%

 

I’d say there’s less than a 1% chance that any of our big dogs (Brackman, Betances, Montero, or Romine) move up more than one level during this year.

Joey says:

I’d like to see Brackman go to Tampa (mainly because it’s relatively close to me and I really want to see him pitch)

 
 
V says:

AAA? No chance.

AA? If they give up on him being a catcher.

His bat’s fine – it’s his defense we’re worried about. The Yankees don’t have room for a DH.

 
Reggie C. says:

Isn’t Montero coming off a rough two week stretch where his BA dropped more than 70 points? I’d like to see Montero settle into the .300 range for at least another 100 ABs.

If by 70 points, you mean .022 and if by two weeks, you mean 10 days, then yes.

On another note, he’s 6 for his last 13 with 2 doubles, 1 triple and 7 RBI.

 
 
 

How fun is it to look back a previous drafts to see who went where? The 2005 is going to be one of the best ever. I present some of the first rounders taken in that draft.

Justin Upton
Alex Gordon
Jeff Clement
Ryan Zimmerman
Ryan Bruan
Ricky Romero (that pick isn’t as awful as it looked)
Troy Tulowitski
Mike Pelfrey
Cameron Maybin
Andrew McCutchen
Jay Bruce
Chris Volstad
Jacoby Ellsbury
Matt Garza
Colby Rasmus

That’s just the 1st round. The Yanks pick that year, CJ Henry. Eh. Ballin with his first round talent brother at Kansas.

Accent Shallow says:

I can live with them whiffing on CJ Henry, since he became Bobby Abreu.

Although, maybe if they hit on the first round pick, they can trade some other magic beans for Bobby . . .

In fairness to the Yanks, every pick from Volstad up was before they selected. So they only missed out on a few guys.

dan says:

They passed on Tacoby Bellsbury, Garza, Rasmus, Travis Buck, Luke Hochevar (who didn’t sign anyway), Jed Lowrie, Clay Buchholz, and Michael Bowden. The last three, plus ellsbury of course, are the three best prospects to ever walk the face of the earth and will lead the beloved Red Sox to an unprecedented run of dominance.

RollingWave says:

But if they were on the Yankees, then they are pure caucasian suck (ok one of them is pure Native american suck)

 
 

That’s still one killer draft.

 
 
 
Reggie C. says:

Of that whole bunch, I’d want Chris Volstad. Ryan Braun is terrific and all, but corner OFs are easier to get. Volstad is going to be a 1/2 caliber pitcher, and he’s years younger than Garza and Pelfrey.

dan says:

Justin Upton says hello.

dan says:

And so does his .966 OPS at age 21 (yea, I know he’s only played 30 games, but he’s twenty-freaking-one)

 
Accent Shallow says:

That’d be a neat trick, taking the #1 overall pick with pick 17.

 
Reggie C. says:

Okay… I wasn’t aware how good he’s been over the first 100 at-bats in the season. Upton moves Braun aside and takes second place. I was ready to say Upton needed a breakout season first, but his numbers so far indicate that ‘09 is likely it.

I think Volstad and Upton are the best HS talents on the board that have emerged. Since front line pitching makes or breaks a run at the playoffs, i’ll stick with Volstad.

 
 
 

I’d take Braun. He’s only 25 and has over 80 homeruns in the show with a career OPS+ of 143. Plug that in for the next 8 years, I’ll take it.

Braun has a 143 career OPS+, but he’s 25 and a butcher in the field.

Upton’s OPS+ is only 102, but his 2009 OPS+ (SSS) is currently 140, he’s only 21, and he’s a legit centerfielder.

I’ll take Upton over Braun every day of the week and twice on doubleheaders.

I thought he was talking about a choice between Braun or Volstad. I think everyone is in agreement with Upton being the top selection of that draft and of the re-draft happening right now on this thread.

Ah, gotcha.

Meh, yeah, I’d take Braun over Volstad just because pitchers are more injury prone. But it’s razor close.

 
 
 
 
JohnC says:

Volstad was the guy they really wanted that year. Unfortunately, the Marlins loved him also, and took him 1 pick before the Yanks. Still, they could have done alot better than Henry.

 
 
 
Chris says:

I love the classic DotF reports. Keep em coming!

 
RollingWave says:

“Carmen Angelini: 0 for 3, 1 K – lifted from the game in the bottom of the 5th for no apparent reason”

Other than complete epic suckage?

 
JP says:

I hope I’m wrong, but I think the writing is on the wall with Wang. I don’t care how well he pitches in rehab starts. He doesn’t miss enough bats. He’s had his best seasons, he’s not going to be as good as he was 2 years ago, he’ll at best plateau as an average pitcher, or, as maybe we’re seeing, he’s going to implode.

If he has a few good starts, I’d seriously consider trading him for good prospects.

 
JohnC says:

Don’t know if its a misprint, but it appears that DJ Mitchell is starting for Tampa this morning.

 
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