An Humberto Sighting

Humberto Sanchez pitching in a real live game? Hold the phone.

That's right. The overweight Bronx native with the million dollar arm has finally made it back to the mound and pitched this afternoon for the GCL Yankees.

The results weren't great, but they're also meaningless. For the next month or so, the sole objective for Sanchez [like Cox and Melancon early on this year] is to pile up innings. As the innings increase, so will his velocity, command and strength.

As those factors return to their pre-surgery levels, the results will undoubtedly follow. I still find it hard to believe Sanchez has enough time left in the season to make his way to the bigs.

Dellin Betances pitched in the same GCL game and had a poor showing as well by tossing 2 innings and allowing three runs on four hits. As is the case with any pitcher returning from a shoulder injury, the focus remains on regaining his strength and comfort.

Minors Injury Updates:Cox, Garcia, Betances

JB Cox began throwing again Monday after being shelved with what was labeled as shoulder soreness a week ago. This is excellent news for the Yankees and proves Mark Newman was correct in implying Cox's injury was nothing serious after some miscommunication had Brian Cashman stating Cox would be out "at least three weeks." It seems this tired shoulder and soreness is something expected after such a long layoff from elbow surgery. It does not appear the Yankees are very worried about this injury as Newman's comments were bordering on dismissive.

Apparently Dellin Betances pitched in a simulated game today and is making his way back from a similar shoulder malady to what sidelined Cox. Betances is rumored to have hit the high 90's mph with his fastball and had no discomfort. The flamethrowing righthander may return to the Charleston rotation in the very near future. It may just be the conspiracy theorist in me, but the Yankees may have simply decided to give Betances a breather in an attempt to limit his innings this year. The same type of blueprint was mapped out for Phil Hughes when he was at Charleston.

Chris Garcia has been MIA of late and an injury has been the only possible explanation. Though the Tampa Yankees are about as forthright as the Bush administration, rumor has it Garcia is suffering from the same slight soreness which bothered him while working his way through Extended Spring Training.

That's a lot of tired shoulders. It's important to remember how precautionary the Yankees have become with their minor leaguers, particularly when those players are high ceiling pitching prospects.

Garcia and Betances both have #1 starter type ceilings and will therefore be handled with as much care as professional athletes can be - regardless of what Jim Kaat thinks. Is anyone else completely perplexed by Kitty's inability to put together a coherant written column? I loved the guy in the broadcast booth, but somewhere between the microphone and the keyboard Kaat knocked his head on a toilet bowl and thought pitchers should once again throw 200 pitches per start like he did.

Kennedy, Betances Placed On DL

Ian Kennedy, as expected, will be placed on the disabled list with a strain of the lat muscle located near the shoulder. This is the same injury which pushed him out of the playoff rotation picture last season. Kennedy has been sent back to New York for an MRI and the medical staff will move forward from there.

Another top young arm in the Yankees organization - Dellin Betances - has officially been placed on the DL by the Charleston Riverdogs. Though Betances was shut down last year with elbow inflammation, it has not yet been determined what type of injury the hulking 6'9'' right hander suffered.

Farnsworthless Reappears,McAllister & Betances Dominant

Not the most exciting game I've seen at the stadium, but hey, at least the real Kyle Farnsworth stood up. Two homers, three runs coughed up during a one-run game that Andy Pettitte scratched and clawed through turned a nail-biter into another ugly Yankees loss. Like every baseball fan already knows, Farnsworth can string together a couple weeks of good pitching, but every time he's placed in a pressure spot he'll fold, as today once again proves.

Joba Chamberlain has been going to the curveball with much more regularity. Maybe the Yankees have told him to refine his curve and changeup in preparation for joining the starting rotation. Maybe I'm putting the cart before the horse. Either way, Carlos Delgado won a hard fought battle, resulting in a much needed insurance run as the Mets earned an important 7-4 win.

Mark Melancon and JB Cox continue to move up the ranks. Soon the words Farnsworth and pressure situation will be aliens to a Yankee fan's vocabulary.

- Meanwhile, in the lower ranks:

Charleston young guns Zach McAllister [20] and Dellin Betances [20] are making real progress. McAllister has been especially dominant: 49 innings, 44 hits, 43 strikeouts, 7 walks, 2.20 ERA. The 6:1 ratio of strikeouts to walks and 2.66 GO/AO are video game numbers and his last outing was extremely impressive.

After the only terrible outing of his 2008 campaign [8 runs on 11 hits over 3 innings], McAllister dominated in his next start by tossing 7 shutout innings, striking out 11 and walking zero. Though he is still a youngan, McAllister has already outclassed the Sally League competition and is deserving of a Tampa promotion.

Betances, in the meantime, has been striking out batters left and right. Unfortunately, he's also been handing out walks like they're going out of style. Over 47 innings Betances has only allowed 27 hits and struck out a ridiculous 57 batters [while walking an equally noticeable 32], with a 3.26 ERA and .167 batting average against. A source in Charleston let me know Betances has been sitting 92-94 mph with his fastball and hitting 96 on occasion.

Like McAllister, Betances had suffered the worst start of his 2008 season a week ago before recovering extremely well yesterday by throwing 6 no-hit innings and striking out 8 batters before being pulled for pitchcount. (Betances is regularly held to 90 pitches and was taken out of the game after throwing 94 last night) According to multiple forums, Betances was sitting at 94 mph all night, hit 95 on the gun 15 times and topped out at 97.

Though Betances has the higher ceiling, McAllister is obviously showing the greater command and maturity. Before the season started, Brian Cashman decreed both elite arms would spend the entire season at Charleston. However, McAllister has already proven to need a higher level of competition and Betances may soon follow suit - if he can ever reduce his current walk rate of 6.80 b/9.

Finally, the much anticipated return of Christian Garcia took place tonight as the oft-injured pitching prospect threw 4.2 innings for Tampa, allowed 6 hits, 1 earned run, struck out 6 and walked 1. Garcia has been making his way back from Tommy John and serious knee surgeries and, when healthy, possesses some of the best stuff in the entire Yankees farm system. Keep an eye on Garcia this year as he is an very intriguing project.

Betances, Garcia Look "Very, Very Good." Over at the SWB Blog by Chad Jennings comes the author's comments regarding two more promising young pitching prospects.

A commenter asked Jennings about pitching prospects Dellin Betances, Christian Garcia and Mark Melancon and this was his answer:

I wasn't at the Class A games because I traveled with the Triple-A team, but I talked to Patrick from Pinstripes Plus before the game and I know he was there. On his site he's saying Betances and Garcia were both outstanding but doesn't mention Melancon. I don't want to go into specifics because he has it as subscriber only content. Since I wasn't there, I don't want to steal his stuff. To give a general idea, though, it sounds like those two were very, very good.

Betances, who has hit 99mph with his fastball as a teen, is coming back from an injury-shortened season, shutdown after less than 30 innings of work. His velocity dipped into the 89-91mph range, but he is apparently back on track, hitting 92-94 on the gun consistently and able to touch 96 at times. The question for Betances is mechanics. As long as he can consistently repeat his delivery and armslot, his stuff should flourish - as well as his health.

Garcia has all the stuff in the world to become an elite major league arm, but has been bitten by the injury bug since being drafted out of high school. He needed Tommy John and serious knee surgeries in successive years, bringing his development to a halt. If he returns to the old Garcia, he features a plus fastball in the mid-90s to go along with a devastating curveball and changeup. His career as a professional ballplayer [at least with the Yankees] may soon become a question mark since he will be eligible for the Rule V draft this year. Should he not make major steps forward, he may be out in the cold considering the bounty of talented arms the Bombers now have injected into their farm system.

WasWatching What?

As any knowledgeable baseball websurfer realizes, WasWatching is a Yankees blog with a flare for creating discussion. Though most of us understand Steve is a "glass half empty" kind of fellow, his outlook on prospects are often times morbid to borderline delusional.

His inability to accept Phil Hughes as a dynamic prospect comes after observing an athlete pitching for a few months after succumbing to major hamstring/ankle injuries. The infinite scouting reports and superlative statistics Hughes collected while dominating the minor league levels seems to escape him.

Tonight I was directed to take a look at the most recent post on the blog which discussed the Mets acquisition of Johan Santana. I found myself mildly disturbed after reading Steve declare this:

[The Mets] were not afraid to part with prospects. And, they're not afraid of Santana's salary demands.

Kevin Mulvey and Phil Humber should be decent big league pitchers some day. But, Deolis Guerra is a baby. Anything can happen with him. Carlos Gomez? Yes, he can run and he can field. But, will he hit in the majors? How's his attitude?

To me, this would be as if the Yankees traded Ian Kennedy, Jose Tabata, Alan Horne, and Dellin Betances for Johan Santana.

Considering the Mets trade proposal, had the Yankees offered Kennedy, Tabata, Horne and Betances, they probably could have gotten Johan Santana and Pat Neshek. A package of Horne, Jeffrey Marquez, Zach McCallister and Austin Jackson would comfortably overshadow the winning package by the Mets. Some might even suggest substituting Brett Gardner for A-Jax without losing ground to the Mets' offer.

But I digress. As of today, Ian Kennedy is double the prospect of any of the Mets prospects listed above. Last year Kennedy strolled his way through three minor league levels by pitching to a sub-2.00 ERA and earning himself Minor League Pitcher of the Year honors. All this came before making an impressive three starts at the major league level... at age 22.

Kevin Mulvey is the most projectable piece of the package, but Deolis Guerra may be the top pitching prospect of the three mentioned. An 18 year-old with a ceiling as a #2 starter, he is certainly a strong prospect, but has yet to post any substantial numbers at Port St. Lucie.

Even with an injury-shortened 2007 from Dellin Betances, the native New Yorker and 6'9'' flamethrower has as high a ceiling as any prospect in the Yankees system. During instructs, Betances reportedly made significant strides in correcting his mechanics and has returned to 100% health. The teenager's fastball, which lost velocity last season, typically sits at 94-96 mph and he's touched 98 in years passed. Though only time will tell, Betances - like Kennedy - outclasses Guerra.

Phil Humber was a highly touted prospect 18 months ago, but his arm never fully made it back from Tommy John surgery and his velocity dipped noticeably. Maybe most important, his curveball never developed and his 2007 season saw him post decent - not dominant - peripherals. At AAA Humber compiled a 4.29 ERA, less hits than innings pitched, and a k/9 of 7.77.

By comparison, Alan Horne finally posted the numbers Yankees farmers had expected and took a giant step forward in his development. Horne returned well from Tommy John surgery and saw his velocity and stuff return to pre-op levels. After completely making over his mechanics in 2006, Horne took major advances toward the big leagues in 2007 by compiling 165 strikeouts in 153 innings and earning Eastern League Pitcher of the Year honors. . . all from a prospect two weeks younger than Humber.

Sure Horne spent last year at AA while Humber was in AAA, but Humber only pitched 30+ innings at AA while Horne tossed over 150. Had the Yankees not been as patient, Horne easily could have been promoted to Scranton at some point last season.

As for Jose Tabata, all the native Venezuelan did from ages 16-18 was hit .305/.375 in the GCL, Charleston and Tampa. Last year saw Tabata bat .307 while playing with a hand which needed surgery to remove the hamate bone following the season's conclusion. The only question scouts reserve for Tabata is how much power he will develop moving into his early 20s to accompany great plate discipline, pure hitting ability, a plus corner outfield arm and an average glove. When all is said and done, Tabata will be 19 years old and competing at the AA level next year, and that says a lot.

Certainly Carlos Gomez has the advantage in the outfield, flashing exceptional instincts tracking the ball and throwing out runners. However, last year saw Gomez promote himself as a singles hitter who uses bunting and incomparable speed to get on base. Unfortunately, scouts aren't very optimistic about Gomez ever developing much more of a hitting prowess. Regardless, every prospect list in the industry lists Tabata considerably higher than Gomez.

For all of these reasons, Steve's crackpipe inspired proposed trade of Betances, Tabata, Horne and Kennedy grossly exceeds the one which brought back Santana today. This is not to discredit what the Mets accomplished, only to apply a little reality to a post derived from fantasy land.