Adams & Heathcott continue to hit in Arizona

The above video is a recent feature on the seven Yankees farmhands playing in the Arizona Fall League, including interviews with most of ’em. So check it out. Here are some notes…

• OF Slade Heathcott was your Arizona Fall League Player of the Week last week, when he did the whole “three triples in six at-bats” thing. In other Heathcott news, check out this Don Ketchum feature on all the things he’s overcome in his career.
• The Yankees have re-signed RHP Kelvin Perez to a minor league deal according to Matt Eddy. The 27-year-old had a sneaky good year this season — 1.58 ERA, ~3.05 FIP, 8.5 K/9, and 4.2 BB/9 in 85.2 innings between Double-A and Triple-A — and could make his big league debut next year if he gets the walks under control.
• For all of this year’s available minor league free agents, check out Baseball America’s Tracker. The Yankees need some Triple-A pitching depth this year, so I’ll dig through and find some interesting names at some point.

The AzFL regular season ends on Thursday and the championship game will be played next Saturday. Scottsdale is in second place in the East division and has to make up two games in four games to play in the title game. Here’s the recap of last week…

AzFL Scottsdale (5-4 loss to Mesa) Monday’s game
CF Slade Heathcott: 1-3, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 K, 1 HBP
RHP Dan Burawa: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 0/2 GB/FB — only eight of 18 pitches were strikes (44%)

AzFL Scottsdale (14-12 loss to Salt River) Tuesday’s game
3B David Adams: 3-5, 3 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI — half of his hits have gone for extra bases so far
DH Slade Heathcott: 2-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 SB
RHP Dellin Betances: 0.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 K — 23 of 38 pitches were strikes (61%)

AzFL Scottsdale (4-3 loss to Mesa) Wednesday’s game
2B David Adams: 0-3, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K
C Austin Romine: 1-5, 1 2B, 1 K
RHP Mark Montgomery: 1 IP, zeroes, 2 K, 1/0 GB/FB — all seven pitches were strikes … hard to have a one-inning outing better than that

AzFL Scottsdale (12-4 loss to Peoria) Thursday’s game
DH Austin Romine: 0-3, 1 BB, 2 K

AzFL Scottsdale (4-3 loss to Phoenix) Friday’s game
RF Slade Heathcott: 1-3, 2 R, 1 2B
2B David Adams: 1-3, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB — got picked off first, but he did hit his third homer in three games
C Austin Romine: 0-3, 1 RBI, 1 PB — allowed five steals in five attempts
RHP Zach Nuding: 3 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 2/3 GB/FB — 39 of 67 pitches were strikes (58%) … all five stolen bases came when he was on the mound, so it’s a pretty safe bet that they weren’t all on Romine
RHP Dan Burawa: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, 1/0 GB/FB — only five of 15 pitches were strikes … he’s been really struggling out here after missing the entire season due to injury
RHP Dellin Betances: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 1/1 GB/FB — 20 of 30 pitches were strikes

AzFL Scottsdale (4-3 win over Surprise) Saturday’s game
CF Slade Heathcott: 2-3, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 1 E (fielding) — ran over the catcher again (and was out), second time in 16 games … hitting .333/.457/.526 and has an outside of change of being named league MVP despite not hitting a single homer yet
3B David Adams: 2-5, 1 3B, 1 K — 11 BB and 12 K in 18 games
RHP Mark Montgomery: 1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 0/1 GB/FB — 12 of 25 pitches were strikes (48%) … first time getting rocked out here

Rather than break down the Caribbean winter league performances individually, I’m just going to point you in this direction this week. OF Melky Mesa and UTIL Ronnie Mustelier are still mashing.