Prospects Gone Wild: Montero, Slade ejected

May 13, 2011 by Mike Axisa 56 Comments

Double-A Trenton manager Tony Franklin is resting comfortably at home after being taken to the hospital with chest pains prior to yesterday’s game. He was in critical care for a while, but doctors eventually game him a clean bill of health. He’s going to take a few days off an rejoin the team shortly. Glad he’s doing well, Franklin’s beloved by pretty much everyone.

In much happier news, Carlos Silva was added to the Trenton roster and will start tomorrow as he tries to get back into the big leagues.

Triple-A Scranton (2-1 win over Pawtucket)
Chris Dickerson, CF: 1 for 4, 1 R, 1 2B, 3 K – 11 K in his last 20 at-bats
Kevin Russo, 2B: 1 for 3, 1 R, 1 SB, 1 HBP
Jesus Montero, C: 0 for 1, 1 BB, 1 K – got ejected after arguing a called strike three, apparently he put his hand up to his collar to show the ump where the pitch was … good way to get tossed right there
Gus Molina, C: 0 for 2, 1 K
Jorge Vazquez, 1B: 1 for 1, 2 RBI, 1 BB
Justin Maxwell, DH: 0 for 4, 3 K
Brandon Laird, 3B, Jordan Parraz, RF, Dan Brewer, LF & Doug Bernier, SS: all 0 for 3 – Parraz and Brewer each whiffed
Lance Pendleton, RHP: 3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 1 HB, 2-2 GB/FB – 39 of 50 pitches were strikes (78%) … Hector Noesi was supposed to start tonight, but Pendleton’s a fine fill-in
Ryan Pope, RHP: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 2-2 GB/FB – 26 of 33 pitches were strikes (78.8%) … very nice outing, he should be up before long
Eric Wordekemper, RHP: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER0 BB, 1 K, 4-1 GB/FB – 11 of 15 pitches were strikes (73.3%)
Kevin Whelan, RHP: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 1-1 GB/FB - ten of 11 pitches were strikes

Double-A Trenton (5-3 win over Binghamton)
Austin Krum, LF: 0 for 3, 1 BB
Corban Joseph, 2B: 2 for 4, 1 2B
Austin Romine, C & Jose Pirela, SS: both 0 for 4 – Pirela struck out
Bradley Suttle, 3B: 0 for 3, 1 R, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 SB, 2 E (fielding, throwing) - just two hits in his last 27 at-bats (.074)
Cody Johnson, DH: 1 for 3, 2 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 SB
Melky Mesa, CF: 2 for 4, 1 R, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 1 K – ten for his last 21 (.476) with four doubles and a homer
Ray Kruml, RF & Addison Maruszak, 1B: 0 for 2, 1 BB – Krum scored and drove in a run
The Ghost of Kei Igawa, LHP: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 6-2 GB/FB – you know, he hasn’t been half bad this year
Wilkins Arias, LHP: 2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 4-0 GB/FB
Fernando Hernandez, RHP: 1 IP, zeroes, 1 K, 1-1 GB/FB

High-A Tampa (5-3 win over Bradenton)
Abe Almonte, CF, Kyle Higashioka, C, DeAngelo Mack, LF & Hector Rabago, 3B: all 0 for 2 – Almonte walked twice and scored twice … Higgy walked, scored, and committed a throwing error … Mack got hit by a pitch and scored
Kelvin Castro, SS: 2 for 3, 1 R, 1 3B, 1 RBI – went from Charleston to Scranton to Tampa this week
Rob Lyerly, DH: 3 for 4, 1 2B, 3 RBI, 1 SB – seven for his last 12 (.583) with two doubles and a triple
Luke Murton, 1B: 1 for 4, 1 K – got picked off second
Taylor Grote, RF: 0 for 4, 3 K
Emerson Landoni, 2B: 0 for 3, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 E (throwing)
Brett Marshall, RHP: 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 8-3 GB/FB – very nice, that’s what we want to see
Michael Solbach, RHP: 2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 1 HB, 4-2 GB/FB

Low-A Charleston (6-2 win over Greenville)
Slade Heathcott, CF: 0 for 0, 1 HBP – hit by the second pitch of the game, then he turned around and punched the catcher in the face and started a bench-clearing brawl according to two reports … obviously a suspension is coming, but at least he didn’t point a shotgun at the guy
Eduardo Sosa, CF: 0 for 3, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 SB
Jose Mojica, SS: 3 for 5, 1 R, 2 2B, 1 RBI – got a nice little nine game hitting streak
J.R. Murphy, C and Kelvin DeLeon, RF: both 0 for 5, 3 K – sadface … DeLeon threw a runner out at second
Rob Segedin, 3B: 2 for 4, 1 BB, 2 K
Ramon Flores, LF: 2 for 4, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K – two hits in each of his last three games after a little slump
Gary Sanchez, DH: 2 for 3, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB – second jack of the year … he needed a game like this, he’s been strugglin’
Kyle Roller, 1B: 1 for 4, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI – make it three straight with a homer, plus four homers in his last six games
Anderson Feliz, 2B: 0 for 4, 1 K
Zach Nuding, RHP: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, 6-5 GB/FB – last few starts were a little rocky, good to see him rebound
Dan Burawa, RHP: 3 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 2 HB, 3-2 GB/FB – wild, or payback for Heathcott?

Mickey Scheister

Normally you’d crack the pitcher in the grill, Slade…I ain’t mad acha bro. I’m sure he asked for it. Also if the ball that Jesus was called out on was shoulder high, I don’t mind him getting tossed! It’s good to see some players exhibit heart, passion and stupidity.
ultimate913

I’m told montero hit a bomb last nite off parnell that’s still traveling. scout: montero awesomely talented but bored in aaa

Heyman via Twitter

He needs to replace Po-*sighs as he realizes Posada isn’t going anywhere*
- http://www.simdynasty.com/index.jsp?refer=Jeety Jeety
  
  yea man, don’t we all wish we could make that call
- Xstar7
  
  We’re about as bored with Montero in AAA as he is, if not more. I cannot wait until he gets the call. This offense could use a fresh new bat.
  - The Big City of Dreams
    
    Let’s hope he doesn’t feel the need to come in an save the offense.
Charles

That’s a bit disturbing from Heathcott, hopefully that attitude doesn’t continue…
- Jobu The Voodoo Troll
  
  Doesn’t really bother me that much. Just hope that he was smart enough to hit the catcher with his mask off.
  - batman
    
    I wont lie, I read the Heathcott line and legit laughed out loud. yea we hope that attitude does not continue but lets be realistic, that catcher was most definitely talking sh*t, no one just turns around and punches some one. the dude was chewing slades ear off and as we know, slade doesnt mess around. something mr Vazquez just found out the hard way. slade, now its time to chill out and focus on baseball, stop beating ass.
    - pat
      
      Yup 100%. No doubt in my mind that catcher was talking shit. Calling him an alky and talking shit about his famly. It is waaaaaaay too much of a coincidence that a story drops about his intimate past and he flips his shit and knocks some dude out. Seeing as though this is probably all over the league now it will be interesting to see if he can keep his shit together.
dennis

good to see marshall having his 3rd good start in a row. thought he would have a monster year and be top 10 yankees prospect. he seems to have a similar stuff as britton from the orioles.
JobaWockeeZ

Jesus to MLB please.
Reggie C.

Slade’s punch might be the big story of the night, but Marshall’s impressive showing is the eye-opener. I guess that’s his best start of 2011. Though its not Marshall’s best K effort, the fact he went 7 innings shows he was in control all the way.
Reggie C.

Oh yeah .. COJO … he’s doing good. Another 2 hits, one being a double. This kid is just … STEADY.
NC Saint

Slade could not possibly have chosen a worse day to do this and raise questions. On the other hand, he’s hardly the first person to realize that if the pitcher really deserves to get got, you need to take out the catcher first:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJvL1dI1Eyc
- http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside the Elder
  
  Izzy, baby. My favorite thing about the Boston Red Sox organization’s history, by far.
- http://www.twitter.com/deanezag Zack
  
  Seriously. Get ready for the overflow of articles.
Mariano’s Pimp Hand

The link for the shotgun story doesn’t work.
NC Saint

But really, how about that terrible timing?

If I were Slade Heathcott’s life coach, I probably would have pulled him aside earlier today and said: “Amazing job. You got the details of your past out there extremely tastefully and artfully. You did such a great job that you told the world about pulling a shotgun on your father and going on repeated violent drunken rampages, and yet somehow made yourself much more sympathetic in the process. Really, man, A+.

“That said, people might be the tiniest bit anxious about that homicidal gun toting stuff. So try to keep your nose extra clean for the next few days. Don’t, for instance, punch anyone in the face in front of a huge crowd, especially not for something someone else did. I mean, not that you would, but that’s the sort of thing you really, really shouldn’t do right now.”

Whoops.
Monteroisdinero

Montero put his hand to his neck and said:

“I’ve had it up to here with being in AAA”
- http://twitter.com/steveh_mandaura Steve H
  
  Despite a .398 BABIP Montero still only has a .347 OBP and is under .800 OPS. Why do we all think he’s ready to hit MLB pitching consistently?
  - Jd
    
    Exactly. He is ready like the mediocre pitchers he is hitting against are ready. The metric are not there
  - RichYF
    
    While I agree with you, I pose this question: Who do you have more faith in “hitting MLB pitching consistently” going forward: Montero or Posada?
    
    At this point, I’m not even sure what to think. Posada looks awful. Montero may or may not be bored in AAA. He might not ever hit MLB pitching. But Posada might never hit MLB pitching again, so what’s the call here?
    - RichYF
      
      Also, if Posada had a .398 anything, I think we’d all be hopeful.
      - http://twitter.com/steveh_mandaura Steve H
        
        At this point, I’m not even sure what to think.
        
        Agreed. I don’t think anyone can really say Posada is done, or Montero will mash right away.
        
        RichYF
        
        I don’t think Montero will mash right away. I don’t think he’ll mash for the first two months. I just haven’t decided whether or not he’ll be worse than Jorge Posada is right now. Biggest difference is he has TSJC (that’s upside for all the slackers).
        
        Jorge is a “proven” bat. Right now, there’s nothing that looks proven about his bat at all. Swisher looks dreadful as well. Except he’s, what, 8 years Posada’s junior? At least he has the potential to rebound. Does Jorge?
        
        http://twitter.com/steveh_mandaura Steve H
        
        I wouldn’t want to bring Montero up until he’s truly mashing the ball at AAA, to try and ease the transition. His OPS is 100 points lower than last year at the same level. He will heat up at some point.
        
        RichYF
        
        We assume he’ll heat up. I agree. But wouldn’t you rather him heat up vs. MLB pitching than AAA? I realize there’s a difference, but if his bat is what we think it is, it shouldn’t matter much.
        
        Personally, I don’t think he sees more than 100 innings in New York. He’ll be traded before we get to see him flourish.
        
        Monteroisdinero
        
        He had a 1 week injury and has been the team’s leading hitter (albeit not for power). He will heat up soon enough-we have seen it before.
        
        13M reasons why Sado will get another 2-3 weeks of .160 hitting and .000 from the right side.
        
        JobaWockeeZ
        
        He already did mash AAA…
        
        It’s been what 20 games in 2011? What if he goes 2-5 with a HR, and a 2B? Suddenly his OPS will jump.
        
        http://twitter.com/steveh_mandaura Steve H
        
        I’d rather him go 1-1 with 3 walks.
      - http://twitter.com/buckfunts buckfunts
        
        [in the near future, sees Posada’s OPS @ .398]
        
        :|
        
        [yup]
  - JobaWockeeZ
    
    Right because his 2011 season reflects his abilities. Don’t we preach SSS here?
    
    Numerous scouts have said he’s ready for the bigs and his stats, 2011 be dammed, reflect that.
    
    Eric Hosmer had a .400 BABIP and no power with moderate patience but I saw no one bitch when he was brought up.
    
    And I don’t know where anyone said that he can hit MLB pitching consistently but if you think he doesn’t have a chance to outproduce Jorge then that’s completely laughable.
    - http://twitter.com/steveh_mandaura Steve H
      
      but if you think he doesn’t have a chance to outproduce Jorge
      
      He absolutely has a chance, and if it were a sure thing that he would outproduce him going forward I’d be all for having him up tomorrow. Jorge deserves the benefit of the doubt, and Montero isn’t destroying AAA. He’s not hitting for power and he’s not walking. In no way do I think his status is diminished in anyway, I just think the expectations are a little out of whack if/when he does get called up.
      
      If he were called up tomorrow, what do you think his line would look like in his first 100 ab’s?
      - emac2
        
        Who cares what his 100 AB line looks like? He has nothing left to learn in AAA and we have a completely useless bat at DH. You actually have some specific stat that you want to see from Montero before you promote him?
        
        That’s just stupid.
        
        Defending the initial stupid point is even worse.
    - special kid
      
      this front office has no balls. if the boss was alive today you know posada would be DFA’d and montero would be in the majors.
      - http://Facebook.com/andrewjcalagna Drew
        
        And that’s why the Yankees sucked during the 80’s. Because George made shortsided, idiotic moves. Benching Posada is a tough call to make, not to mention if you DFA’d him. It would ruin the clubhouse. Posada is a proud guy, he still wants to catch. He’s already is taking one for the team to be DH when he knows he’s not comfortable doing it. You can’t bench him. Girardi will bench Posada right around he has the balls to bat Jeter in the bottom part of the order.
        
        http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside the Elder
        
        I was going to say that, but I was waiting for “special kid” to respond to his own comment with one of his alternate personalities.
        
        emac2
        
        Wrong!
        
        It wasn’t because of moves like promoting AAA players like Montero it was for trading them in A ball.
  - MikeD
    
    Because scouts say he’s ready, and that’s really I can go by! And, oh yeah, the guy he’d be replacing is hitting .130.
    
    I expect he’ll be up here around June, unless Jorge really turns it around.
http://Facebook.com/andrewjcalagna Drew

Please let there be a video of the brawl somewhere.
- http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike Axisa
  
  Here’s the end of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMAyaxN-kDE
  - MikeD
    
    Two things. I wonder if the catcher said something to him about today’s article.
    
    I also wonder what kind of suspension he’ll get out of that? No matter what the reason, I’m guessing the powers-that-be will frown upon any batter punching the catcher.
    - http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside the Elder
      
      I could be wrong, but I doubt 20 year old Christian Vazquez, catcher of the Greenville Drive read an article about Slade Heathcott in a Charleston, SC newspaper today.
      
      Just probabilities. Not a lot of 20 year olds read newspapers at all anymore (either manually or digitally). Maybe if the article came up in his twitterfeed or something.
      
      It would seem like Vazquez must have said something to him, because I can’t see Heathcott turning his ire towards the catcher and not the pitcher in that situation without that catcher instigating something somehow, but my (worthless) guess is that Vazquez knew nothing about that story by gametime tonight.
      - http://www.twitter.com/deanezag Zack
        
        Not a lot of 20 year olds read the paper – but you don’t think anyone in that clubhouse read it? It’s a story about the other team’s 1stt round pick, word would get around about a story like that.
V

Posada does have a .242/.359/.303 line in May… so… um… yay?

.359 is a solid OBP, but his HRs from April have disappeared.
Sayid J.

Slade.

The article reveals that he lied to the Yankees about his background/scars in order to keep the front office from being too worried about him and improve his draft stock. It also mentions how he missed an exhibition game because he got too drunk and overslept. Then tonight happens. Should we be worried about this? Of course, I’m going to root for him and hope he succeeds, but I’m not quite sure if the guy has turned the corner as the article claims.
http://twitter.com/buckfunts buckfunts

The Brawl.

(h/t Mike Ashmore)
- http://twitter.com/buckfunts buckfunts
  
  http://i51.tinypic.com/25qesjr.gif
  
  Blink and you miss it, but this is easily my favorite moment.
  - bonestock94
    
    Thats epic
- http://Facebook.com/andrewjcalagna Drew
  
  Someone needs to tell Slade that just because he has a half sleeve of tribal tattoos doesn’t mean he allowed to start brawls. Not a good look.
  - Grandy
    
    Heathcott can mash right handed catching.
- bonestock94
  
  Wow, the catcher landed a really good one after Heathcott’s first push.
  - Monteroisdinero
    
    Slade wisely kept his helmet on-big advantage when taking a haymaker to the head.
- Rick in Boston
  
  Only in minor league baseball would you see club staff members (Riverdogs polo shirts) and female team trainers (Sox affiliate) trying to pull players apart.
Rick in Boston

Quick thought:

-This should stop the questions about how soon Slade will get promoted to Tampa. He’s going to get a lengthy suspension from the SAL.
- Kulish
  
  Interesting thought. These leagues are independent of each other right? So, could the Yanks promote him and not have him do any time?