Prospect Stock Up And Stock Down: July 2013

(Not a fun year so far for Mr. Williams.  USATSI)

It's been a while since I've done of these.  I said I was going to do a monthly MiL wrap-up this season back in May and then it didn't happen.  That one's on me, guys.  But I can't get too jazzed up talking about potential trade partners and targets just yet, so let's use this afternoon to catch up on who's been hot and who's been not in the last 2 months in the Minors.  It's going to be a rapid-fire round to make up for lost time.

Any Concern About D-Rob's Workload?

(Should the Yanks be worried about making it rain on The Fireman?)

With the Yankees standing to lose a few of their recent top homegrown players to free agency this offseason, Andrew Mearns of Pinstriped Bible looked ahead to the future free agency of 2 more players who fit that mold yesterday.  Both David Robertson and Brett Gardner are due to become free agents after the 2014 season and Mearns brought up the idea of re-signing them to team-friendly deals before they hit the open market, questioning how risky a move it would be on the Yankees' part to do so.

Gardner is a risk for obvious reasons, but D-Rob has never struck me as much of one.  He's still just 28 and will be at the start of next season.  He's never had much of a problem with arm injuries.  And he's been as reliable a reliever in front of Mo as there's been in the setup pool in baseball for the last few seasons.  But what about his workload? D-Rob was unavailable last night after pitching in 5 of the last 7 days, and he's on pace to reach new career highs in appearances and innings pitched.  Is there anything in D-Rob's seasonal workload totals to be concerned about moving forward?

Game 89 Wrap-Up: KC 5 NYY 1

(Courtesy of the AP)

It was strange to think that the Yankee lineup would be worse with the newly acquired Travis Ishikawa included, but that was the case heading into last night's game.  With Joe deciding to give a handful of guys the night off, the lineup took on another strange, pathetic appearance with Zoilo Almonte batting 2nd, Vernon Wells 5th against a righty, and a 7-9 of Cruz, Gonzalez, and Romine.  There wasn't a lot of support on paper for Phil Hughes, and there wasn't much for him on the field for the short amount of time he spent on it.

Game Notes:

-Not a good 2nd inning for Hughes.  He grooved a fastball to Billy Butler for a solo HR to lead off the inning and served up 2 doubles to score another.  3 XBH in 1 inning is never a good thing.

- It ended up being a short night for him thanks to the weather.  An hour plus rain delay was too long to bring Phil back and Joe went to Adam Warren in the 5th.  Tough break too.  Phil looked like he was starting to find it in the 3rd and 4th.

- It wouldn't have helped him because the lineup did nothing at all.  Like just 3 singles from Vernon Wells and Robinson Cano through 6 innings type of nothing.  Jeremy Guthrie, and the hour plus he waited before returning to the mound in the bottom of the 4th, shut them the hell out.

- It was a tough night for Travis Ishikawa, who went 0-2 for 2 strikeouts in his first 2 Yankee plate appearances and then had to watch Lyle Overbay hit a pinch hit HR in his place in the 7th.  But hey, it got the Yanks on the board.

- They couldn't capitalize on another good scoring chance in the 8th, and then the game got out of hand for Preston Claiborne as the sacrificial bullpen lamb in the 9th.  The Yankees' bottom half rally was perfectly representative of their offensive strength all night: bases loaded, no outs, no runs.