What's Happening In Scranton

Freddy Garcia was sent to Triple-A last weekend due to the 6 man rotation issue as well as the cut to his pitching finger.  He pitched this past Monday in Scranton for 4 innings, allowing 2 runs on 8 hits.  It wasn’t Freddy’s best game as he didn’t strike out a batter but he was able to throw about a dozen splitters which indicate his finger has healed.  Garcia will pitch Saturday (assuming there is a game in the midst of this hurricane) against Baltimore as part of the doubleheader.

Dellin Betances is coming off a rough start this past week lasting only 3 innings but allowing 2 earned runs.  The runs were the result of issuing 9 walks within 3 innings, as he only allowed 1 hit.  It was somewhat of a bizarre outing for the young righty as he still managed to strike out 4 even though he only threw 41 of 84 pitches for strikes.  He now has a 5.00 ERA in two starts for the Triple-A Yankees but has a strikeout ratio of 12K/9IP.  He’s certainly not ready for the big leagues just yet, but if he can work on his high walk rate of 9BB/9IP we could see him pitching as early as next season.

Manny Banuelos got his first Triple-A win of the year this week.  He allowed only 3 runs over 5 innings allowing 6 hits while striking out 3.  It wasn’t his best game but he kept the Scranton Yankees in the game for the win.  So far with Triple-A, Banuelos is 1-2 with a 3.86 ERA over 5 games (25IP).  His strikeout ratio has continued to be a strong point at 8.4K/9IP, but similar to Betances he needs to work on his control as his walk ratio is too high at 4.2BB/9IP.  I still don’t know whether the Yankees will make him a September call up with the expanded rosters starting next week.  I would assume they would like to continue stretching him out into as many starts as possible in Triple-A as he didn’t pitch as many innings as expected this season but the Scranton Yankees aren’t going to make the playoffs and their season will end somewhat soon.  I would give him a 50-50 chance of getting called up by the Yankees and used in the bullpen.  Either way, he needs to pitch as many innings as possible this season before they run into a situation next season where they need to limit his innings.

Andrew Brackman had some serious early season struggles and was assigned to the bullpen.  In July he retooled his delivery similar to his college years and it has been successful.  Since July 29 Brackman has pitched 11.2 innings out of the pen, allowing only 5 hits and 3 earned runs.  More importantly for a reliever, he has struck out 12 and only walked 2. 

Since we are talking about the pitchers in Triple-A, I can’t go and ignore Scott Proctor who just pitched another inning of relief this week allowing no hits and striking out 2.  I still can’t believe they signed him… maybe they just feel bad that Torre destroyed his arm. Proctor pitched against last night for a scoreless inning.

Jesus Montero is ready to join the big leagues at this point especially after last nights performance with 2 home runs and 4 RBI’s.  Over his last four games he is 7 - 18 with 4 homers and 11 RBI’s. He is hitting .285 on the season with a .345 on base percentage and a .449 slugging percentage.  This guy is a power hitter as he has 20 doubles, 17 home runs and an OPS of .794.  I think he will get called up next week by the Yankees during the roster expansion and I have a funny feeling they will use him against lefties either as DH or even catcher since his power numbers against lefties are strong with an OPS of .982.

Update On the Killer B's

Dellin Betances

The big news coming out of Double-A Trenton yesterday was Dellin Betances has been called up to Triple-A.  This was an expected call-up, especially after Bentances’ most recent game this past weekend.  In Betances most recent start he pitched 7 full innings, allowing only 5 hits and 1 run.  By all accounts, this was his best game yet as he struck out 6 and allowed no walks.  Betances threw 97 pitches over 7 innings and 60 were strikes.  It was also great to see that Betances held 2010’s #1 Draft Pick, Bryce Harper hitless in his 3 at bats including a strikeout to the slugger.  Ultimately, Harper did win the game with a walk off home run in the 9^th.

Betances has now started in 21 games for the Double-A Trenton Thunder, yet has only pitched 105 innings.  His ERA is 3.42 and his WHIP is 1.33.  In those 105 innings, Betances has now struck out 115 which brings his strikeout ratio up to 9.8K/9IP.

BETANCES UPDATE 8/19: Betances had his first Triple-A start on Thursday night and impressed. He threw 6 full innings allowing 3 runs on 7 hits.  I was surprised to see him pulled after only 91 pitches when he was still throwing heat in the 6th inning (94 mph), but I guess they wanted him to finish on a high note.  He finished on a high note indeed, as he had 8 strikeouts in his Triple-A Debut.
 

Manny Banuelos

Manny Banuelos pitched again in Triple-A making his third start with the Scranton Yanks since being called up.  Banuelos allowed 6 hits and 3 runs over 5.2 Innings Pitched to take the loss.  He was better than the numbers indicate though as he ran into trouble during the first inning allowing 4 of his 6 hits and 2 of the 3 runs. Following the troublesome 1^st inning, Banuelos settled down and pitched into the 6^th inning allowing only 2 more hits and 1 run while striking out 3.  55 of his 96 pitches were strikes although he did allow 4 walks.

Banuelos since joining Triple-A has started 3 games, pitching a total of 16.2 innings. His ERA is 3.24 and his WHIP is 1.62.  Although he only struck out 3 in the last game, his strikeout ratio is still, 8.6K/9IP.  Overall, the Yankees seem to be pleased with Banuelos’ progress this season.  No word on whether he will be called up by the Yankees this season.

Andrew Brackman

"Killer B" is not really an accurate description of Andrew Brackman as this season has been very disappointing.  Brackman started this season as a starter but about halfway through the season was assigned to the bullpen.  As a starter, Brackman went 2-5 with a 6.75 ERA which prompted the move to the bullpen.  The cause for the struggles seems to be in his mechanics, which is no surprise as Brackman is nearly 7 feet tall. It seems that his mechanics issues have manifested a problem with his control.  Equally as problematic is the drop in his velocity from last season. Brackmans velocity has dropped from the mid 90’s to the low 90’s.  At one point last season, Brackman was hitting 97 mph, but this year he is topping out around 92mph.

Overall he has pitched a total of 81 innings and has an ERA of 6.86 and a WHIP of 1.77.  His peripherals aren’t much better as his walk ratio is higher than his strikeout ratio – 7.7BB/9IP to 7.1K/9IP.  This was supposed to be a big year for Brackman as this would be his second full season fully recovered from Tommy John Surgery, but he has been unable to produce.  I’m not sure where this leaves Brackman as his 4 year deal expires after this season.



The Killer B's

It’s March 1^st and Spring Training is in full effect.  Yankees have already played three games and another game is being played today.  The most fascinating thing about spring training is the opportunities the young players have to debut themselves to the major league players, scouts and their teammates.

This year, the Yankees have three young pitchers who are receiving major hype.  For the past year or so they have been referred to as “The Killer B’s”.  Most Yankee fans have at least heard of Andrew Brackman already since he has pitched at the major league level in a few spots for the yanks, but not everyone has heard of Manny Banuelos and Dellin Betances.  These three young pitchers make up “The Killer B’s”.  All three received very high praise coming into spring training.  The Killer B’s seem to have the same hype that Joba, Hughes and Kennedy had when they were trying to make their Yankees debut.  Hopefully the Yankees will have the same result…. minus Joba’s obvious weight and drinking issues.

Unfortunately for Brackman he injured himself during the first week of spring training.  The Yankees shut him down and hopefully he will begin pitching again this week.  I believe Brackman will make a good addition to the starting rotation at some point.  He is nearly 7 feet tall, so it makes it difficult for opposing batters to see where the ball is coming from since the ball leaves his hand much farther away from him than other pitchers.  Even if the batters eventually catch up to his mechanics, he has some great stuff so he should be able to compete at the major league level.

Banuelos and Betances have both pitched an inning in back to back games.  Both have done exceptionally well.  Each had a 1-2-3 inning and both had two strikeouts in the process!  These are the guys we need to keep an eye on throughout spring training and the start of the season.  Girardi and Cashman have already said neither of these two guys would make the team, and both would start out in Double-A, but there is no reason to think they will stay there if they continue pitching like this. 

My prediction for all three is Brackman may be called up during the early part of the Yankees season, since they don’t really have a #4 or #5 starter.  He may not be used every fifth day but he will be used to fill the void when an injury arises.  Banuelos and Betances on the other hand will not be called up until mid season so long as their Double-A numbers and presumably Triple-A numbers are consistent.  Even if my predictions are not correct, these are the guys to keep an eye on over the next few years as we could likely see them in the Yankees rotation.  We could possibly be looking at the new rotation of the Yankees with these three.