Yankees Minor League Report 8/2/14: Zoilo Almonte Hits #17; Greg Bird Debuts in Trenton; Ian Clarkin Tosses Five Shutout Innings

Playoff update:  Pretty much, none of the full-season teams are going to the playoffs in all likelihood.  To be exact, they all have similar records:
Scranton:  56-58
Trenton:  56-59  (Defending Champions)

Tampa:  54-58

Charleston:  54-57

Tampa and Charleston play "split" seasons.  There is a first half champion, then a second half champion.  Neither one figures to win the second-half title.

Does any of this ultimately matter?  Not really.  It isn't like the Trenton squad that produced a title in 2013 sent a lot of players straight up the big league ladder (Shane Greene was a big part of that team, though).

Scranton (Destroyed Syracuse, 13-0)

OF Zoilo Almonte:  2-for-5, HR (17), 3 RBI, RS, 3 K
UTIL Zelous Wheeler:  1-for-4, HR (8), 4 RBI, RS, BB
Always nice to see recently demoted players having nice games instantly - it can't be easy to get a taste of MLB life, only to be placed back down here a few weeks later.

2B Robert Refsnyder:  2-for-5, RBI, 2 RS

C John Ryan Murphy:  1-for-5, HR (4), RBI, RS, K

15-for-49 since ASB

UTIL Jose Pirela:  2-for-4, RS, BB, CS (6)

Been solidly above .300 most of the season - at .314 now.

1B Kyle Roller:  3-for-4, 2 2B (16), RBI, 2 RS

UTIL Adonis Garcia:  3-for-5, 2B (18), RBI, 3 RS

OF Antoan Richardson:  3-for-3, 3B (3), 2 RBI, RS, BB

RHP Chris Leroux (W, 4-2):  6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K

LHP Ty Webb:  1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K

Since joining level:  8 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 HR, 3 BB, 12 K

LHP Rich Hill:  1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K

RHP Matt Daley:  1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K
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Trenton (Defeated Portland, 5-2)

1B Greg Bird:  0-for-4, K

Double-A debut proves one thing:  He's already done.

CF Jake Cave:  1-for-5, RS, K

22-for-65

C Gary Sanchez:  1-for-4, K

18 XBH in first 46 games; 11 XBH in last 43 games

CF Mason Williams:  1-for-4, RS, K

RF Tyler Austin:  1-for-4, 2B (15), RS, K

.393/.441/.623 in 17 games since ASB

OF Ben Gamel:  2-for-4, 2B (28), RBI, K

UTIL Dan Fiorito:  2-for-4, 3B (2), 2 RBI, RS

RHP Joel De La Cruz:  4 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K

Spent all of May, June, and July in Scranton.   In the end, doesn't really matter as he is not a future impact major league pitcher.

RHP Phil Wetherell (S, 1):  3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
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Tampa (Lost to Jupiter, 7-2)

RF Aaron Judge:  0-for-3, RS, BB, 2 K

3B Eric Jagielo:  1-for-3, BB, K

Modest 7-game hitting streak

3B Dante Bichette:  0-for-4, K

1-for-13 in last three games

2B Angelo Gumbs:  2-for-4, RS, K

Sometimes, one can look forever and not find anything to spin positively.

SS Cito Culver:  0-for-5, 2 K

No need to even attempt to spin anything positively.  Down to .213 with 114 K in 106 games

UTIL Danny Oh:  2-for-4, 2B (5), 2 RBI, BB

Nothing much to see here - but figured I would give him a mention as he drove in the only two runs.  He has shown decent OBP tendencies in his brief career, but that is about it.

RHP Jhon Morban (L, 0-2):  3 IP, 5 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 3 K

Does the overmatched 22-year old get a trophy for trying?

LHP Ramon Benjamin:  2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K

RHP Philip Walby:  1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K

34 walks in 38.2 IP this season (53 Ks)
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Charleston (Lost to Hagerstown, 1-0)

SS Tyler Wade:  1-for-4, K

9-game hitting streak (14-for-38)

3B Miguel Andujar:  1-for-4

14-for-44 in last ten games, though he hasn't drawn a walk in any of them

OF Dustin Fowler:  1-for-4, K

SS Abiatal Avelino:  0-for-4
Continues to struggle since his return

2B Gosuke Katoh:  0-for-2, BB, 2 K, CS (9)

.232/.335/.353 in 306 AB; only 15-for-24 attempting to steal

OF Michael O'Neill:  0-for-3

LHP Ian Clarkin:  5 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K

3.21 ERA; 70 IP, 64 H, 28 R, 25 ER, 6 HR, 22 BB, 71 K
Obviously, the K's didn't come today - but a solid performance overall.

RHP Giovanny Gallegos:  3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K

5.19 ERA; 69.1 IP, 84 H, 49 R, 40 ER, 5 HR, 16 BB, 73 K
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Staten Island (Defeated Auburn, 5-2)

SS Vincent Conde:  2-for-4, RBI, RS, K

15-for-65 with one XBH

1B Connor Spencer:  2-for-4, 3B (1), RS, K

Not many dispute that he will hit for a good average - it is whether or not there is any power at all in his bat that will determine his prospect status.

2B/3B Ty McFarland:  0-for-3, BB, K

1B/LF Chris Breen:  0-for-3, BB, K

OF Austin Aune:  1-for-4, 2B (14), RS, K

14 doubles in 39 games is impressive.  That's about the extent of it.

OF Devyn Bolasky:  1-for-4, BB, SB (8)

31st round pick is going to have to rely on speed/defense to get himself up the ladder

C/CF Collin Slaybaugh:  1-for-5, RBI

16 games played:  10 in center, 5 at catcher, 1 in left field

OF Nathan Mikolas:  1-for-2, RBI, RS, 2 BB

RHP Jonathan Holder:  4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K

3.32 ERA; 19 IP, 24 H, 11 R, 7 ER, 0 HR, 5 BB, 14 K.  6th round pick in this year's draft out of Mississippi State

RHP Jordan Cote (W, 2-3):  1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

RHP Joe Harvey:  2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K

RHP Conor Mullee (S, 2):  2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K

2.01 ERA; 22.1 IP, 15 H, 9 R, 5 ER, 0 HR, 8 BB, 28 K