Melancon Promoted To AAA

It's about time.

After dominating and piling up 75 innings between Tampa and Trenton, Marky Melancon is finally on his way to Scranton.

By now you know all the stats. If not, click on the "Mark Melancon" label at the bottom of this post. The numbers speak for themselves, to go along with glowing scouting reports on his make-up, work ethic, etc.

One would assume this is where the Yankees begin regulating Melancon's innings a bit more, so that he is only pitching a frame per outing. For Tampa and Trenton Melancon often times pitched three or more innings per appearance - which can be somewhat deceiving due to the extremely low number of pitches-per-inning he was requiring.

Yesterday's NY Post article on Melancon quoted a scout as saying the following:

"Just a year [after the surgery], to have everything back with his kind of stuff . . . that's exceptional," the scout said. "A kid can't come back the way he did without working hard."

"There are some guys who are middle relievers, that don't have the mentality to come in at the end of the game," the AL scout said. "But the way he goes about his business and gets the job done . . . once you see him, you'll know."

The article also cited the scout as saying Melancon's plus fastball currently sits 92-94 mph and his filthy power curveball is between 81-84 mph. When I saw Melancon at Trenton his fastball topped out at 95, so that sounds about right.

With the hearty workload Melancon's tasted so far this year coming back from Tommy John surgery, it's not certain whether he will enjoy a September call-up. However, he may receive the same treatment which prospects like a teenage Phil Hughes received before breaking into the majors by visiting the Yankees clubhouse when the team's at home - though he would not be allowed to sit in the dugout.

Also, Brian Cashman called buzz that Phil Coke had a torn labrum "completely false." As was the plan all along, Coke has been moved to the bullpen to limit his innings.