Heredia’s big day pushes Tampa to win

June 5, 2011 by Mike Axisa 64 Comments

Carlos Silva was scratched from today’s start with shoulder stiffness, though Triple-A Scranton manager Dave Miley said he’s just being “pushed back.” Good news for Ivan Nova, I supposed. Austin Romine, meanwhile, has a sore back and neck following a collision at the plate the other day, and he might have a concussion. He’s already seen the team doctor, though there’s no timetable for his return to the lineup.

Triple-A Scranton (3-2 win over Toledo)
Greg Golson, CF: 1 for 4, 1 R, 1 K
Ramiro Pena, SS: 2 for 4, 2 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI – 12 for his last 31 (.387) with three doubles and two homers
Jesus Montero, C: 0 for 4, 1 K
Jorge Vazquez, 1B: 1 for 4, 1 K
Brandon Laird, 3B: 2 for 3, 1 RBI – 13 for his last 28 (.464) with four doubles and a homer
Jordan Parraz, DH, Kevin Russo, 2B & Dan Brewer, RF: all 0 for 3 – Parraz struck out
Austin Krum, LF: 1 for 3, 1 SB – threw a runner out at second
Buddy Carlyle, RHP: 4 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 3-1 GB/FB – 35 of 51 pitches were strikes (68.6%) … solid job in the spot start for Silva
Ryan Pope, RHP: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 1-3 GB/FB – 13 of 18 pitches were strikes (72.2%)
George Kontos, RHP: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 1-2 GB/FB – 15 of 25 pitches were strikes
Kevin Whelan, RHP: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K – 12 pitches, ten strikes … he’s been every bit as good as Jon Albaladejo was closing games last year, which is pretty crazy

Double-A Trenton (5-2 win over New Hampshire)
Ray Kruml, CF & Addison Maruszak, 1B: both 1 for 4, 1 R – Kruml stole a base and struck out
Corban Joseph, 2B: 2 for 3, 2 R, 2 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB – 11 for his last 33 (.333) with five doubles, seven walks, and four strikeouts
Bradley Suttle, 3B: 0 for 3, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 E (fielding)
Cody Johnson, DH: 3 for 4, 2 RBI, 1 K – 14 for his last 30 (.467) with two doubles and two homers
Jose Pirela, SS & DeAngelo Mack, LF: both 0 for 4, 1 K – Pirela drove in a run
Yadil Mujica, RF: 1 for 3, 1 R, 1 K
R.J. Baker, C: 0 for 2, 1 RBI, 1 K – season debut
Craig Heyer, RHP: 6.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 6-5 GB/FB – 59 of 89 pitches were strikes (66.3%) … 1.47 BB/9 this year after 0.59 BB/9 last year … bust!
Josh Schmidt, RHP: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, 1-0 GB/FB
Tim Norton, RHP: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 0-1 GB/FB – 44-8 K/BB in 29 IP

High-A Tampa (3-1 win over Lakeland)
Walt Ibarra, SS & Rob Lyerly, 3B: both 0 for 4 – Lyerly whiffed
Kelvin Castro, 2B: 3 for 4, 1 R, 1 2B
Zoilo Almonte, LF, Luke Murton, 1B & Kyle Higashioka, C: both 1 for 3 – Almonte got hit by a pitch and scored a run … Murton drove in a row and struck out twice … Higgy doubled and whiffed
Jason Place, DH: 1 for 4, 1 2B, 1 RBI
Taylor Grote, RF: 1 for 2, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K
Neil Medchill, CF: 0 for 3, 2 K
Jairo Heredia, RHP: 7 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 10 K, 6-3 GB/FB – picked a runner off first … very very nice, he’s starting to get some of that prospect stench back … plus he’s got an 80 profile pic
Chase Whitley, RHP: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 3-2 GB/FB

Low-A Charleston (4-2 loss to Augusta) bah, ruined the whole “a win at every level” thing
Slade Heathcott, DH: 3 for 4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI – DH’ing after three days off, so he’s probably just a little banged up
Anderson Feliz, 2B, Rob Segedin, 3B & Eduardo Sosa, CF: all 0 for 4 – Feliz and Sosa struck out
Kyle Roller, 1B & Ramon Flores, LF: both 0 for 3, 1 BB, 1 K
Gary Sanchez, C: 0 for 3, 1 R, 1 BB
Kelvin DeLeon, RF: 1 for 4, 1 RBI, 2 K
Jose Mojica, SS: 2 for 4, 1 2B, 1 K
Nik Turley, LHP: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 3-4 GB/FB – ballin’ … 65-19 K/BB in 67.1 IP
Kramer Sneed, LHP: 2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 1 WP, 1-3 GB/FB – had just six walks all year coming into this game
Michael Recchia, RHP: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 1-2 GB/FB

AnthonyD

Is it worth following the DSL Y1 and 2? Not really?
- http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike Axisa
  
  I don’t bother. 90% of those kids will never even make it to the U.S.
  - http://n/a Steven’s Yankees
    
    That’s not true, if that were true the Yankees or any team for that matter wouldn’t bother siging players from the Dominican.
    - Andrew518
      
      The Yankees and other MLB teams, sign loads of Domminican players for really cheap, all in hopes in finding diamonds in the rough, For every star, or even servicable Major Leaguer there are litterly dozens of players who’s careers end before even getting off the island.
      
      It’s kind of a dark side of the industry, as these players are completely dispensable requiring little investment by MLB clubs (look at how much it took to sign Strausburg or Harper, then compare how much Mariano got like $7,500 ) Of course the downside is that with little else in their home countries these kids devote their lives from a very young age to becoming ball players developing little other skills to fall back on when their careers don’t pan out as is the case with as Mike said originally 90% or more will be out of the game by their 20th birthdays.
      - Andrew518
        
        note: yeah, Mariano is from Panama but the example holds true pretty much all through Latin America, with the exception of Puerto Rico (subject to the draft) and Cuba (technically the same as Dominicans but they’re realative scarcity drive up their prices).
        
        -making a real habbit of replying to my own replys tonight sorry.
http://twitter.com/TylerWilkinson T-Dubs

Daaaamn Nik Turley!
- JohnnyC
  
  Not bad for the 3rd from last pick of the 2008 draft.
Xstar7

Another ugly game at the plate for Montero. At least Slade came back and mashed the ball.
- Monteroisdinero
  
  Ah but maybe he called a good game and handled the pitching staff well and we won as a…
  
  team.
  - Xstar7
    
    I should’ve remembered that there’s no “I” in team. Or in Jesus Montero.
  - http://youcantpredictbaseball.wordpress.com bexarama
    
    He can have a bad game without needing you to white knight him ya know
    - Monteroisdinero
      
      Like Cervelli?
boogie down

What sort of potential does Heredia have and what are his main obstacles to reaching it?
- mbonzo
  
  He used to have a huge ceiling but I don’t think he ever gained the velocity he was expected to gain. He’s still only 21, so he could put a few more mph on his fastball. With his downward movement and command he probably projects to be a mid rotation starter. He’s high risk though, very inconsistent.
http://www.yankeeanalysts.com Eric

Jairo’s been rocking those braces for years. I wonder which will happen first: his major league debut or the removal of the braces.
CMP

Mike needed to add a “Free Norton from AA” t-shirt to the RAB store.
- CMP
  
  Needs
- nycsportzfan
  
  i agree.. Tim Norton was my sleeper coming into this yr, because of his size and what i’ve seen outta him to this point, if not for injury, he’d be in TRIP A all ready.. Hes gonna help the ML team, or antoher team, hes really good…
- Cy Pettitte
  
  13.5 K/9, 2.5 BB/9, .124 BAA
  
  damn, that’s some serious domination
Jericho Spade

I don’t think Silva has much to do with Nova, I think if he is good enough to come up he is the long man either way. Hopefully send Noesi to AAA to actually pitch.
- http://twitter.com/TylerWilkinson T-Dubs
  
  This is the scenario I prefer too.
  - M-Three
    
    Noesi would get to pitch more if Girardi would just stop wasting our time with Luis Ayala. We don’t need to see a guy that has been nothing more than a journeyman scrub over his entire career. Its would be much better for Girardi to use Noesi in the spots that for some reason he keep insisting to use Ayala. Noesi has a much bigger upside than Ayala and is better option to use in close game over him.
    - pat
      
      Ayala has pitched in what, one non-blowout game so far? This entire road trip has pretty much been close ganmes. No need to experiment with putting a rookie starter in as a one inning guy in a tough game. Plus, if the idea is to keep him stretched out you shouldn’t have him coming in and doing one inning stints throwing as hard as he can.
      - Ed
        
        I can see how you might want to avoid pitching him in 1 inning situations. But we’re into June already and he’s pitched 30 innings so far this season.
        
        He pitched 4, 3, and 2.1 innings on 4 days rest. Now he’s up to about 8 days rest since he last pitched. At this point I think having him go 5 innings is pushing it.
    - Andrew518
      
      I don’t think the point of the MLB club is to develop players.
    - Ted Nelson
      
      You are wrong about Ayala’s career. Look him up on baseball-reference or fangraphs before you waste everyone’s time with an ignorant comment. He was a strong reliever who got injured.
    - MikeD
      
      Ayala has been much more than a scrub during his career. I’m not saying he can be what he was before his injury, but it does seem as if you’re not too familiar with him. He had an ERA+ of 155 his first four years as a major leaguer.
http://www.simdynasty.com/index.jsp?refer=Jeety Jeety

Any word on stuff for Heredia and Turley…?
http://hardballtimes.com Dan Novick

Strange that Heredia is still just 21…seems like he’s been around forever. His last 6 starts: 35/4 K/BB ratio.
dennis

Turley’s velocity must be up he has been striking out a lot more than he has any previous years.
http://goldenshowers.com Russelling

The Yanks need Noesi now. There is no long man. W out him, we lose that game to Baltimore.
- RRRRRRandy
  
  I recommend changing your link thing. Nobody wants to see that.
  - Gonzo
    
    And then I clicked on it.
    - Crime Dog
      
      Annnnnd so did I. Also sorry bout the double post.
      - Xstar7
        
        I did too.
        
        (just as a warning to anybody that hasn’t clicked on it yet: It’s porn. So don’t click on Russelling’s handle unless you’re into that kind of thing)
        
        http://danielslifka.wordpress.com Jerome S.
        
        alright!!!!
        
        Xstar7
        
        lol
      - Dela G
        
        Ze goggles, they do nothing!
    - MikeD
      
      Just run your cursor over the name and you can see the link BEFORE you click on it.
      - Dave M
        
        I second that. Good thing I did since I’m at work and we get blocked. Then a log gets sent to my boss for that stuff.
Official Member of the Bartolo Colon Fan Club

PROMOTE TIM NORTON!!!! WHAT ELSE DOES HE HAVE TO DO??
Crime Dog

Annnd so did I
Jones

How long does each time have to pick in R1 in MLB draft?
- http://www.twitter.com/ngoral Jake LaMotta’s Left Hook
  
  I believe 5 minutes, not that it should take that long because there is no trading picks/etc in baseball.
T-Long

Mike, how come you didn’t include Nik Turley on your latest top 30 prospects? Also, do you have a scouting report on Turley?
Mickey Scheister

You know who would be talked about more if we didn’t all see his noodle bat the last two years: Ramiro Pena. This is his fourth or fifth homerun, good glove, hitting for average and decent speed. If seeing ML pitching for quite a few PAs could have possibly helped Pena imagine what it could do for someone like Montero.

I’d rather have Montero than Cervelli, period. And Pena’s Glove over Nunez’s five or six errors.
- pat
  
  Unfortunately, Montero for Cervelli isn’t ever going to happen. Neither front office management nor player management has the balls to dump Posada yet. Cerelli plays like once a week, if that. I would think it preferable he plays every day in Scranton.
- Xstar7
  
  I want to see Montero called up just as much as the next guy. But I believe he needs a little more seasoning in AAA. Let’s wait until he goes on one of those hot tears like he did last season before we call him up (The guy is only 21. There’s no rush.) And for the Nunez vs Pena debate, it’s tough to pick one over the other. Pena is obviously the better defender (it’s not even close) but didn’t hit as well at the major league level. Nunez has had more success at the plate, but hasn’t exactly made us want to compare him to Ozzie Smith with his defense. I’m not really sure which one I’d rather have. Probably Pena because while we don’t expect much offense out of either of them, at least Pena can play his position exceptionally well. If only we could combine them into Eduarmiro Penunez, THE ULTIMATE UTILITY INFIELDER.
  - Andrew518
    
    On Montero: I don’t think you can make the argument that Martin is underperforming, which puts the orginization in a great position, allowing Jesus to get more work at AAA while still getting decent production at the catching position.
    
    You can make the assumption that MLB AB’s helped Pena or you can make the connection that he is a year older (a bit stronger) and he’s getting increased production against Minor League pitchers.
    
    I don’t think many are worried about Montero’s bat, it’s his ability to catch, which he’s getting to work on everyday at AAA would not be the case (nor should he given Martin’s year so far) as a back up to Rusell Martin.
    - Xstar7
      
      Pena should get called up and replace Nunez at some point this season (I don’t know what Cashman sees in him.) And Montero’s future behind the plate is definitely a bigger concern than his bat. First base is occupied, the DH spot should be saved for the guys like A-Rod who won’t be able to play at their position everyday anymore but can still rake offensively. Either he improves his catching or, I don’t know, right field?
      - Andrew518
        
        Probably not viable for next season, but any chance that Montero could learn to play third? He’s certainly young enough to make a switch. Obvious road block but A Rod will eventually be full time DH. Clearly there would be a mini (major) controversy about A Rod moving from field, perhaps Montero could start as DH/backup 3B and procede from there, or perhaps more of a Biggio career path.
        
        I don’t have evidence that Montero could handle the position but while it could be a downgade on defense, Alex doesn’t exactly sparkle at the positon.
        
        Honestly I think not catching would help Montero’s bat long term anyhow.
        
        And yes…$30 million is too much for a DH but $30 million is too much for a 3Bman so…
        
        Xstar7
        
        Montero at 3B is an interesting idea, but it’s unpractical and probably won’t happen. For the long term catching is his best option. It may not help Montero’s bat, but Mike Piazza seemed to do just fine (and that’s who they’re comparing Montero to.)
      - Dave M
        
        “Pena should get called up and replace Nunez at some point this season (I don’t know what Cashman sees in him.)”
        
        I agree that I’d like to see Pena and Nunez flip flopped. But that’s because I think Nunez can play. He’ll never be Jeter, but I think he should be starting in the minors, if he’s not gonna play more in the majors. Pena to me is strictly a bench guy.
  - X-62
    
    I agree on Montero, I wanted him on the roster as much as the next guy and because it’s likely the super 2 deadline may have already passed people will want him up but I would wait to call him up until he has at the very least a two week straight tear of domination that he hasn’t had yet this year, that way Montero can at least come up and be already locked in and confident at the plate.
    Also as you said the playing time and reps can probaly only help at this point.
- Ted Nelson
  
  Pena’s wOBA is .324 in AAA at 25 years old… he’s not exactly setting his inferior league on fire, let alone MLB. He’s not as bad as he looked last season, but he’s also not a good hitter.
http://twitter.com/JoeRo23 The Honorable Congressman Mondesi

Nothing to get too excited about since he’s just a minor league reliever I suppose, but Kevin Whelan is putting together quite the season in Scranton. I don’t know if I ever expected we’d see the day Whelan would have close to a 2 BB/9 a couple of months into a season.
X-62

Did you guys see the compliment a scout made regarding Norton? I personally feel like the end of it was an overstatement and a bit of a swipe at Joba but whatever here it is.

And then there is 6-3, 230-pound Tim Norton, a 28-year-old righthander whom the Yankees took on the seventh round of that 2006 draft out of the U. of Connecticut.

Norton wasn’t on anyone’s radar this spring, primarily because he missed the last half of last season with a back injury. But he’s completely overmatching Eastern League batters at Trenton (1.67 ERA, 41K, 6 walks in 27 IP as of Friday), prompting another scout to proclaim: “This kid, for me, is the best complete pitching prospect in their organization. He’s a big strong kid who throws 93-95 and can locate. Plus he throws a really ‘hard’ ball. My only question about him is why are they leaving him in Double A? He’s better than Chamberlain right now.”
- Xstar7
  
  I wouldn’t exactly call Norton a “prospect” because he’s 28 years old. This is about as good as he’s going to get.
- MikeD
  
  It’s unlikely he’s better than Joba right now, but if he’s supposed to be that good, and considering his age, they might as well move him him to give him a tase of AAA and have him on the runway to the Bronx. He’s 28 and healthy. No need to wait.
  - Dave M
    
    If he was better than Joba, he’d be in the majors now. I am confused as to why he’s still in AA though.
- Carl
  
  Norton is in the same catagory as Josh Schmidt and Whelan. All have velocity, nasty stuff, age, and past injuries working for and against them. Schmidt actually did get a taste at Scranton this year (5 games) So it appears Norton will get his taste soon, if he remains healthy. If left unprotected, sadly, all 3 will find homes elsewhere.
Monteroisdinero

Montero will not be able to play 3B in the majors. He is simply not quick enough on his feet for the lateral and front to back movement needed for the position. He is a catcher/DH/1B only. See-I am not always biased.

If everyone is so concerned about his defense, how about a post on his defense at Scranton? When we win games with him behind the plate and there are no passed balls and we give up less than 3 runs is he at all to be given credit? Does he call the pitches? What do his pitchers think of him? There is more to defense than SB’s by the opposition considering how poorly many of our pitchers hold runners. I have talked to the coaches at Scranton about him and of course they wouldn’t say he sucked back there but they were thoughtful in their answers and I got the sense that they thought he could catch in the majors without a problem given more experience.
CapitalT

Hopefully Whelan gets a chance to pitch and doesn’t get the Albaladejo plan (pitch 1x every two weeks and expect him to be sharp).

Maybe Girardi is as much at fault for the FA relief signings as non-Cash management. Had Albaladejo been given a legit preview last year and pitched even close to his AAA results (incredible year last year), then somebody else could have given their 1st round pick and 3 guarenteed years to Soriano. We would actually have a draft to watch today.
- Monteroisdinero
  
  Girardi loved his old buddy Kerry Wood from the Cub days and it happened to work out pretty well. This is one reason Albie didn’t get a decent shot.