O’Brien homers again in Charleston loss

June 10, 2013 by Mike Axisa 42 Comments

I’m a few days late on this, but for those of you who frequent Double-A Trenton games, Chase the Bat Dog is retiring next month. They’re having a whole big on-field ceremony, which is pretty awesome. Here are the details.

Triple-A Scranton was rained out. They’re going to play two tomorrow. Double-A Trenton, meanwhile, had a scheduled off-day.

High-A Tampa (6-3 loss to Charlotte)

CF Ben Gamel: 2-4, 1 R
2B Rob Refsnyder: 1-4, 1 R, 1 K
C Gary Sanchez: 1-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K — six hits in his last 22 at-bats (.273), but four of them are doubles
RF Yeral Sanchez: 1-4, 1 RBI, 2 K — 27-year-old Cuban outfielder joined the team last week after signing for $400k last summer
DH Angelo Gumbs: 0-4, 1 K
RHP Corey Black: 4 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 BB, 2 K, 1 WP, 3/3 GB/FB — first game off the DL and the control obviously wasn’t there
RHP Diego Moreno: 0.2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 2/0 GB/FB
RHP Branden Pinder: 2 IP, zeroes, 2 K, 1 HB, 2/3 GB/FB

Low-A Charleston Game One (7-3 loss to Greenville) completion of last Wednesday’s game, which was suspended due to rain with two outs in the top of the third

CF Jake Cave: 0-4, 1 BB, 1 K — the second time through the league has not been pretty for him
SS Cito Culver: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 K
1B Greg Bird: 2-4, 1 R, 1 2B
C Peter O’Brien: 2-3, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K — that’s five homers in his last eight games
3B Dante Bichette Jr.: 0-4, 3 K
RHP Cesar Vargas: 2.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 1/1 GB/FB — 34 of 49 pitches were strikes (69%) … he started the original game last week

Low-A Charleston Game Two (1-0 loss to Greenville in seven innings)

SS Cito Culver: 0-3, 3 K
DH Greg Bird: 0-3, 2 K
CF Jake Cave: 0-3
RHP Brett Gerritse: 4 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 3/1 GB/FB — 47 of 70 pitches were strikes (67%) … 42/15 K/BB in 38 innings after the spot start

Larch

Do they ever move someone up two levels?

I ask because Peter O’Brien is already a little old for that level, and it does not seem like it’s worth holding back the bat to pretend he will catch in MLB.
Jacob the OG

A new cuban guy eh? FUTURE HALL OF FAMER!
Robinson Tilapia

FREE YERAL SANCHEZ! He’s clearly being blocked. What are they waiting for.

Cashman failed.
- Pat D
  
  LEAVE CASHMAN ALONE!!!!
  
  LEAVE HIM ALONE!!!!
  - Rick
    
    The problem was that we confused Yeral Sanchez with Yasiel Puig. We’re not used to people with first names that start with “Y.”
Mickey Scheister

Don’t be sleeping on Peter O’Brien he’s not that old. He’ll get his promotion if he keeps knocking the snot outta the ball. The kid has a cannon and can all a good game he’s just gotta get his receiving under control. He has high upside, sounds like his ceiling is Mike Napoli and floor would be Chris Stewart.
- https://twitter.com/AngeloInNY Angelo Roldan
  
  He’s 22 years old in Low-A. He will turn 23 later this year.
  
  He’s old for his level. There are a decent amount of MLB players that are younger than O’Brien. And saying he has the ceiling of Napoli is just unfair to O’Brien.
  - Scout
    
    My ceiling is Napoli, too. I’m just never going to touch it, any more than I can touch my ceiling at home.
Brandon

So Yanks sign Y.Sanchez but pass on Puig? I know there’s a big money money difference but I bet there’s a large talent difference as well. Seems like Yanks are still afraid of foreign market after Igawa and Contreras failures.
- Nick
  
  Didn’t the dodgers bid blow everyone out of the water for Puig??
  - JohnnyC
    
    Their winning bid was $30 million more than the next bid. And this wasn’t blind bidding like the Japanese posting system.
  - Pat D
    
    Yep.
    
    But these are the Yankees. They can literally throw any money they want at any player they want. And yet they didn’t.
    
    Clearly, as Robinson Tilapia already said, Cashman failed.
- dan
  
  Seriously? Puig signed for $42 million. Literally 100x more than Sanchez.
  - Brandon
    
    Main thing holding this site back is the sarcastic comments that are always made. My comment still stands, anyone want to have an actual conversation instead of just trying to be a jerk?I like this site because of Mikes excellent insight and the breaking news. Could do without the childish games.
    - Pat D
      
      Serious question. How long have you been posting on this site?
    - https://twitter.com/AngeloInNY Angelo
      
      Okay, so you’re complaining because the Yankees didn’t commit over 40 million dollars to a player with no background in MLB?
      
      Of course, there was still a good chance that Puig would have little to no success in the majors. In fact, there’s still a chance this will be case, but since he’s one of the hottest hitters in baseball, the Yankees made a mistake in not signing him.
      
      Honestly, no one expected Puig to get as much money as he did.
      
      The Dodgers are on a spending spree. Stop complaining about the Yankees for not taking, what could have been, a very irresponsible move. A 42 million dollar lottery ticket, that’s worked out so far.
    - Jim Is Bored
      
      Annnnd you must be new to the internet.
  - Rick
    
    Your comment wasn’t even sarcastic, it was true. He signed for literally 100x more lol.
Manny’s BanWagon

That’s pretty awesome about Chase the bat dog. I have a 3 year old male golden and they’re the most amazing creatures.
Dillon

O’Brien has an OPS over 1 for the year! Wow!
CONservative governMENt

Maybe O’Brien could be a Leyritz type backup catcher and pinch-hitter.

He could be Pettitte’s personal catcher.
- Scout
  
  Josh Pettitte.
Ghost

Eeeek, somebody give Jake Cave a real bat to swing with cause he’s been using a spaghetti noodle at the plate for the last month.
- trr
  
  I was a caveman, but I’ve evolved
RobertGKramer@AOL.Com

That party is July 5th and I believe Chase Jr. is ready to take over! I go to all of the 10:35 AM and 12:05 PM games during the week (usually seven a year). Let me know if you ever get down to one Mike.
- Joel
  
  Just so we’re clear, Chase’s pup’s name is “Derby”, not “Chase Jr.”. Derby. Like Home Run Derby. Have some respect for the bat-fetching progeny of a bat-fetching dog, for goodness’ sake.
- Tags
  
  Derby is Chase’s son who’s been doing bat duty for a few years now as Chase has gotten older.
forensic

Chase the Bat Dog is retiring next month. They’re having a whole big on-field ceremony, which is pretty awesome.

Guess the dog days of summer are almost here…

(dodges thrown tomatoes)
- Rick
  
  Florence + Machine would do one better and say, “The dog days are overrrrrrrrrr…”
nycsportzfan

I don’t care what O’briens age is, hes flat ot raking like a mother hubbard!

Nice multi hit game for Greg Bird as well. The yanks got some hitters in the minors, with Segedin, Bird, O’brien, Murphy, Adams(wit big team), Judge(eventually), Sanchez, Austin, Mason..etc
nycsportzfan

333 10 40 Beast Mode for O’Brien!! Bring em up to High A ball, please!!!
nycsportzfan

Dang, I didn’t realize that Refsnyder had 15SB without being caught yet. Had 11SB last yr and only caught once. 26SB 1CS in his minor league career so far is pretty freakin good. Is he known as a really good base runner and occasional base stealer?
Robert

Saw O’Brien in Staten Island last year and Charleston (1 Game) this year.Hope he improves his defense, because he showed good leadership traits on the field.
Saw Chase the dog in many Trenton Games and he is the reason a Golden Retriever is sleeping under my desk!!!
KennyH123

O’Brien is 22 yrs old, has less than 100 professional games under his belt, maybe 300+ ABs total, and has 20 HR, 74 RBI, 30 doubles, 74 runs scored, and it trending straight up. The kid flat out rakes. Not a prospect? Ya OK.
- Coolerking101
  
  If I recall correctly, I believe the issue with him is that his defense is poor and it’s unlikely he can be a catcher long term. So he’s either a DH or a 1B. He would need to rake at the upper levels to get a shot.
- Reggie C.
  
  Everybody just wants to see O’Brien carry over similar success at a higher level. He’s played college ball so offensively no one should be surprised that O’Brien is hitting Sally League pitching well.
  
  O’Brien needs to get promoted soon. Then … lets see.
  
  In a season where only Gary Sanchez has handled himself well from the go, we’re all glad O’Brien has stepped up. Now, its time to up the challenge.
  - Cool Lester Smooth
    
    What about JR Murphy?!
    
    Seriously, he’s been pretty great in AA.
    - Preston
      
      The problem is where does he go? Sanchez is better and needs to catch every game, and Murphy is in the same situation at AA. Promoting O’Brien would take away reps from younger higher profile prospects or they’d have to give up on him as a catcher, which is also giving up on his best chance of being a MLB player because it’s much harder to hit enough to be a first baseman.
      - JD
        
        The reality is that neither Sanchez or Murphy are screaming for a promotion. It could occur later in the year but both seem to have stalled a bit.
      - Tremont
        
        I’d imagine all three get promoted in the next couple weeks
shittyshittybangbang

As i recall, catching takes a longer development time. Median age for 1st year mlb catchers is probably higher than most other positions. Either way, lets enjoy that the kid is showing promise and hope that it continues. And on the flip, wtf with bichette and culver ?! On the human side, sad for these high expectations prospects. But on the fan side …., nyy gotta do better with high rounders. Granted, % of prospects that “make it” is low.
RetroRob

Pete O’Brien’s age is not an issue. He is 22. The fact that there are MLB younger than him has zero relevance. There are also MLB players who were 22 in the exact same level league he is right now.

He moved through two levels of low-A last season, and will probably move through two more levels this year when he gets bumped up to A+ some point this season. If he continues to produce, he will be in AA next season at 23. Once again, he is not old for his level considering his lack of experience, which was all of about 200 pro ABs last year where, frankly, he wasn’t all that good.

When he was signed (once again, just last year) it was recognized he had some interesting tools, a nice ceiling if he could put those tools together, but clearly needed coaching on both the batting and defensive side. It looks like the hitting has progressed nicely. Defense much less so. Forcing the kid up two levels just so someone can look at a spreadsheet and feel better about his prospects based on his age missed the point entirely.

Look at his BB and K rates. He is not ready. He may never be ready. He’s interesting, but is totally a work in progress.

Last year was his first in pro ball and i