NYBD MILB Roundup – 5/31/09
By Mike Silva ~ May 31st, 2009. Filed under: Mets Minors, Yanks Minors.
- Shelly Duncan had 2 homers last night against Louisville. He now has 18 on the season and is leading the International League by a wide margin. Last August I caught up with him in Scranton and talked about his time playing for the Yankees and his thoughts on being in AAA again.
- Kei Igawa pitched 7 scoreless innings on Friday night. He is now 5-1 with 3.39 ERA on the season. If not for the $46 million dollar contract I am sure there are teams that could use him in the backend of their rotation. He will obviously, barring a significant rash of injuries, see the light of day in the Bronx
- Javier Valentin is playing 1B in Buffalo since he was signed. In 54 at-bats he has 3 homers, 10 RBI, and .959 OPS.
- Another bad outing for Jonathan Niese this week. Five more runs six innings against Lehigh Valley. That is now 12 runs in just over 9 innings since he returned from his big league starts.
- We haven’t talked about Eddie Kunz very much. Although his ERA (3.13) is solid, he still doesn’t throw enough strikes as he has walked 14 in 23 innings.
- Make it three straight starts of 1 run or less by Trenton’s Zach McAllister after he shut out New Britain in seven innings this past week.
- Could the “wild thing” be learning to pitch? Kevin Whelan’s walk totals aren’t atrocious. After walking 6 in his first 8 innings of work this year he has walked 5 in the last 18 innings. Looking at the Trenton box scores he is pitching multiple innings most outings as well.
- Josh Thole continues to make a case for a AAA call up. He is hitting .457 over his last 10 games and now at .369 on the season.
- Tobi Stoner has had 3 of 4 quality starts since he returned this month. His ERA is at 2.49.
- Tim Bontemps asked Yankees VP of Player Development, Mark Newman, if both Austin Romine and Jesus Montero will get a promotion to Trenton this year. Newman claims it will be only one. Since Montero needs work behind the plate my money is on us seeing him in Trenton very soon. Raise the bar on the kid both offensively and have him work on his defense at a higher level.
- Joe Demayo talked to his league source that said he liked the Mets minor league system from St. Lucie and below. I mentioned Jenrry Mejia in my Adrian Gonzalez trade proposal. The kid has a 2.06 ERA even after a bad outing this week.
- 2008 draft pick Kirk Nieuwenhuis has 7 homers, which is tied for the team lead with first round pick Reese Havens.
- Hector Noesi is one pitcher that we haven’t examined at Charleston. He has split time between the rotation and bullpen. On the year he has a 1.96 ERA and struck out 49 in 46 innings.
- Andrew Brackman walked 10 batters in 3.1 innings during a start this week. Yes you heard me right – 10 batters.
- 2B Jordany Valdespin was disciplined earlier this season for behavior issues. It hasn’t affected his bat as he continues to rake hitting .371 over the last 10 games and .313 on the season.
Check out this, and other prospects, at MILB.com
