Minor League Prospect Wrap-Up

(Stone Cold Tyler Austin.  Courtesy of Brian Bissell/Future Star Photos)

Since yesterday was a travel day for the Yankees and there's no game to recap, what better time than now to catch up on the goings on in the Yankee farm system?

Team Notes:

- The Triple- A rotation was struggling early and it's still struggling now.  Manny Banuelos had a couple of great starts but is now back on the DL, Adam Warren is still not pitching well (4.98 ERA/5.00 FIP), and Dellin Betances' numbers look even rougher (5.24/5.89, 7.66 BB/9).

- There have been a couple of good offensive performances, but not from anybody you'd see popping up on a Top Prospects list.  Jack Cust has finally found his stroke, and he's up to 4 HR and 21 RBI on the season, and Ronnier Mustelier has continued his hit parade since being called up earlier in the month.

- With some players ahead of him moving on, Brett Marshall is poised to break into a lot of Yankee Top 10 lists this year, and on the surface he's been very good (2.98 ERA, 2.65 BB/9, .227 BA Against).  But his strikeouts have dipped dramatically this season (just 27 in 54.1 IP) and it'd be nice to see him start flashing his swing-and-miss stuff again.

- Their lineup has been ravaged by injuries, but Double-A Trenton has got both Corban Joseph and David Adams back as they both try to work all the way back from health issues.  And after missing a significant chunk of time, Zoilo Almonte made his return to the lineup last night.

- There's been some shuffling in the High-A Tampa rotation, as Nik Turley and Jose Ramirez have both hit the DL.  Zach Nuding continues to pitch well, and with Matt Tracy returning and Caleb Cotham and Evan DeLuca being promoted, there's plenty of guys to keep an eye on until Turley returns.

- Offensively, Rob Segedin continues to get it done (.301/.369/.489, .396 wOBA) and he's starting to get some help from Ramon Flores, who is up to .272/.338/.348 on the season and has hit the ball much better in May.

- Down in Charleston, the Tyler Austin train just keeps rolling on.  He had 4 hits last night, including the game-tying and game-winning ones, and currently sports a .443 wOBA with 30 XBH.  There's really no reason NOT to promote him to Tampa; he's got nothing left to learn at this level.

- Jose Campos is still on the DL with elbow inflammation, but Bryan Mitchell has stepped up in his absence with a 2.53/3.11 ERA/FIP split and a MiL career high 9.07 K/9.  Evan Rutckyj has joined the rotation to help cover for the loss of Campos as well.

F*ck Yeahs:

- Steve Pearce: .329/.418/.576, .438 wOBA, 180 wRC+, 9 HR, 25 RBI.  I know he's too old to be a prospect, but part of me secretly wishes that the Yanks would have put Teix on the DL with his coughing thing just to see what Pearce could have done at the Major League level.  Dude has raked all year and really helped cover for the lack of high-level hitting talent on the Triple-A roster.

- Cody Johnson: .296/.368/.612, .422 wOBA, 166 wRC+, 12 HR, 30 RBI.  He's definitely not too old and has also been a consistent offensive force this year.  He still strikes out a ton (29.3%) but he also draws walks (10.8%) and he doesn't turn 24 until August.  With some improvements to his approach and pitch recognition, he could become a solid prospect.

- Mark Montgomery: 22 IP, 1.25 ERA, 1.17 FIP, 14.32 K/9, 2.91 BB/9.  Montgomery dominated Low-A last year and he's dominating High-A this year.  He's struck out 35 of the 83 batters he's faced this season, and the D-Rob comparisons continue to grow.  He's in desperate need of a promotion; nothing more to prove here.

- Gary Sanchez: .309/.360/.443, .371 wOBA, 124 wRC+, 16 XBH, 18 RBI.  It would be easy to put Austin here, but Sanchez is really putting together a great all-around season.  He continues to display great natural hitting ability, his power is finally starting to come around, and he's improved defensively behind the plate.  And he's just 19 years old! 

Oh Nos:

- Austin Romine: It's not that he's playing poorly.  It's that he's not playing at all.  Romine has been out since suffering his back injury in ST, and isn't expected back until July at the earliest.  Coming off a down year last year, this extended layoff is really going to hurt Romine's prospect status.

- Graham Stoneburner: Like Romine, Stoneburner's issues are more health-related than performance-related.  When he's been on the field, he's been pretty good this season (2 ER allowed, 10 K in 12.1 IP), but he hasn't been on the field much and is currently on the DL again.  Last season was a lost season for Stoneburner.  2012 looks like it's turning into another one.

- J.R. Murphy: J.R. impressed a lot of people with his 2011 campaign, and made his way onto many Top 10 Yankee prospects lists, but he hasn't built on that at all in 2012.  His .209/.287/.270 line is horrific, as is his .266 wOBA and .061 ISO.  If it weren't for the walks he draws, he'd be contributing nothing offensively.  Hmmmm, what other catcher does that remind me of?

- Dante Bichette, Jr.: He came out with a bang last year in the short season league, but I wasn't ready to annoint him A-Rod's replacement like some other people.  Bichette's first experience in a full-season league has been a trying one.  He's dealt with injuries, lack of power (0 HR, .039 ISO) and defensive issues at third (8 E).  His .245/.348/.289 line isn't good, but hopefully he can pick it up.

Next Up:

We'll be jumping right back into prospect talk around this same time next week, when the second installment of the "Monthly Minor League Report" rolls out for the month of May.