Yankees Minor League Report 8/6/14: Greg Bird Hits 2 Home Runs While Jacob Lindgren Dazzles in Trenton Debut

3B Dante Bichette received a promotion to Trenton today.   Bichette hit .271/.352/.410 in 460 plate appearances for Tampa this year, after putting together two bad seasons in Charleston.   Bichette has been a surprise this year, and at age 21, he is still young enough to be considered a solid prospect (21 years old and playing in Double-A is a pretty good accomplishment).   He has increased his walk rate (10.9% this year; 8.9% last year) while decreasing his strikeout rate (19.6% this year; 24.5% last year).    With all that said, can I say that Bichette is once again a legitimate prospect?  Not really - but he put himself back on the map.   Last year at this time, he was nothing but a punch line every night in my reports.

Trenton (Defeated Altoona, 7-3)

1B Greg Bird:  4-for-4, 2B (1), 2 HR (3), 2 RBI, 3 RS

And just like that 1-for-11 becomes 5-for-15.    Bird is now hitting .280/.375/.471 between Tampa/Trenton in 289 AB with 23 doubles, 1 triple, 10 home runs, 46 walks, and 73 strikeouts.  

C Gary Sanchez:  1-for-4, 2B (19), RBI, 2 K

.275/.334/.426 in 364 AB.   The power has begun to show up a bit again lately.

CF Jake Cave:  1-for-5, 3B (4), RBI, RS, K

.321/.398/.513 in 78 AB for Trenton; .307/.362/.415 in 463 AB overall. For comparison sake, his triple slash in Charleston last year was .282/.347/.401 in 464 AB

RF Tyler Austin:  0-for-3, BB, K

.272/.333/.409 in 345 AB

OF Ben Gamel:  1-for-4, RBI

.281/.324/.369 in 452 AB for the 22-year old.
Am I bullish on Gamel?  Not really - he hits for a decent average and has good gap power, but it hasn't yet translated into over-the-fence power.   His walk rate is also nearly half of what it was in 2013.   For now, I still see a 4th outfielder ceiling - but many thought that of Brett Gardner as well.

C Francisco Arcia:  1-for-4, RBI

SS Ali Castillo:  0-for-1, RS, 2 BB, SB (12)

.233/.292/.297 in 333 AB.   And you see why trading for a player like Drew may help the team over the next few years if they can resign him - guys like Castillo are much higher on the depth chart than they need to be.

LHP Manny Banuelos:  3.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 2 HR

4.23 ERA; 61.2 IP, 50 H, 32 R, 29 ER, 8 HR, 21 BB, 58 K

Threw 79 pitches today.  You are going to likely see his name pop up as a possible major league candidate for a few reasons:   1.  He still has innings to give this year and (perhaps more importantly) 2.  He is on the 40-man roster.   I still say let him get his innings in down here, but once September comes around, he can definitely be getting a few in the majors.

LHP Francisco Rondon:  2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K
With the emergence of Webb/Lindgren/Pazos, the Yankees won't even bother with Rondon anymore.

LHP Jacob Lindgren (W, 1-0):  1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K

Nice Double-A debut for Lindren, who now has 33 strikeouts in 14.1 innings this season.

RHP Danny Burawa:  1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K

Needs a string of outings like this to close the season.

LHP James Pazos:  1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K

2.50 ERA; 54 IP, 42 H, 17 R, 15 ER, 0 HR, 18 BB, 63 K

Another kid you are hearing mentioned a lot.  The Yankees suddenly have a nice selection of left-handed relievers to choose from, something they have struggled with over the years (while being quite good at developing right-handed relievers)
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Tampa (Split DH with Brevard County, losing 6-5 before winning 3-2)

OF Aaron Judge:  1-for-4, RBI, K

SS Cito Culver:  1-for-5, HR (3), 2 RBI, RS, SAC, BB, 3 K

3B Eric Jagielo:  0-for-6, BB, 3 K
With the promotion of Bichette, Jagielo will now be able to play full-time at third, rather than alternating between 3B/DH.

UTIL Anderson Feliz:  1-for-3, HR (2), 3 RBI, 2 RS

Though not nearly the bust guys like Culver/Gumbs are, Feliz once did flash some potential - but injuries and what not have crushed him.

OF Mark Payton:  0-for-4, 3 K

1-for-11 with 4 Ks since promotion

2B Angelo Gumbs:  1-for-6, 2 K

1B Matt Snyder:  0-for-2, RS, BB, 2 K

C Kyle Higashioka:  1-for-3, RS, K

Went 5-for-22 in his GCL rehab.  Once had some promise, but has been hampered by injuries (and ineffectiveness)

OF Ericson Leonora:  0-for-3, K

Tampa debut for the 21-year old, who hit .348/.411/.667 in 66 measly AB for the GCL-2 squad.

LHP Miguel Sulbaran (L, 2-3):  2.2 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

3.05 ERA; 94.1 IP, 85 H, 40 R, 32 ER, 3 HR, 24 BB, 68 K

Has now allowed six runs in each of his last three starts after an extended stretch of brilliance.

LHP Ramon Benjamin:  2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K

3.46 ERA; 26 IP, 25 H, 12 R, 10 ER, 1 HR, 13 BB, 24 K

The 27-year old has suffered all kinds of injuries in his career (this marks the first season he has pitched since 2011).  Yankees pretty much picked him up just to see if he has anything at all to offer.

RHP Taylor Garrison:  3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K

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

Now has a 55/34 K/BB ratio over 40.2 IP this season.

RHP Cesar Vargas (W, 3-0):   3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K

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Charleston (Lost DH to Savannah, 2-0 and 5-3)

SS Abiatal Avelino:  1-for-6, 2 RS, BB, K

3B Miguel Andujar:  1-for-3, K

.258/.315/.390 in 392 AB.   .327/.387/.474 in 156 AB since ASB

SS Tyler Wade:  0-for-6, BB, 2 K

2B Gosuke Katoh:  2-for-6, 3 K, SB (16)

Now has 121 K in 100 games.

OF Dustin Fowler:  0-for-2, BB, K

.246/.283/.450 in 240 AB

OF Michael O'Neill:  1-for-6, RBI, BB, 3 K

1B Mike Ford:  3-for-6, 3B (2), RBI, BB, K

OF Brandon Thomas:  2-for-2, 2B (9), BB, SB (13)

RHP Gabriel Encinas:  3.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K

6.61 ERA; 16.1 IP, 20 H, 13 R, 12 ER, 1 HR, 6 BB, 13 K

2014 is essentially a rehab stint.  We'll see if he can regain prospect status in 2015.

RHP Conor Mullee:  2.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

Charleston debut for the for the oft-injured 26-year old.    St. Peter's graduate was drafted in the 24th round in the 2010 draft, and once featured (doubt he still does, but who knows?) one of the organization's best fastballs.

LHP Chaz Hebert:  5 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, HR

2.86 ERA; 50.1 IP, 43 H, 21 R, 16 ER, 2 HR, 21 BB, 43 K
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Staten Island (Lost to Batavia, 5-3.  Free something to whoever can tell me where Batavia is)

1B Connor Spencer:  3-for-4, 2 2B (8), RS

Hitting .333 (37-for-111) since signing on the dotted line.  As I have said a few time, he is hitting just as expected thus far - good average, not much in the power department.

C Luis Torrens:   0-for-3, SF, RBI

Just 7-for-36 in last ten games after an extended hot streak.  

2B/3B Ty McFarland:  1-for-4, K

.291/.351/.442 in 172 AB.   He'll play in Charleston next year...and perhaps even get himself to Tampa if he plays well enough.

RF Austin Aune:  0-for-4, K

SS Vincent Conde:  0-for-4, 3 K

Hitting .230 (17-for-74) with one XBH

OF Nathan Mikolas:  1-for-3, 2B (4), RS, K

CF Devyn Bolasky:  0-for-4, K

RHP Sean Carley (L, 0-3):  3 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

ERA drops to a pleasant 8.31

RHP Dillon McNamara:  4 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, HR

3.24 ERA; 33.1 IP, 33 H, 15 R, 12 ER, 2 HR, 8 BB, 20 K

LHP Rony Bautista:  1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K

3.70 ERA; 24.1 IP, 15 H, 12 R, 10 ER, HR, 14 BB, 40 K

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