Thursday, May 15, 2008

McCutchen To Join AAA Stay At AA

UPDATE: Apparently George King of the Post was wrong about McCutchen's rumored promotion as Mark Newman told Chad Jennings of the SWB Yanks Blog that no such promotion is imminent. Shocking that King would get something 100% wrong.

The NY Post reports 25 year-old Trenton starter Dan McCutchen will be promoted to AAA Scranton Wilkes-Barre.

I've met McCutchen multiple times and have heard nothing but good things about him off the field. On the field the Oklahoma product is a bulldog who has enjoyed great success since the beginning of last season.

This year has been no different. Cutch has dominated all season by throwing 50 innings to 38 hits, 46 strikeouts to 15 walks as well as a 2.50 ERA and .209 opponents batting average. His fastball is generally 91-93 and is complimented by a hard curveball and a potentially strong changeup.

Yankees organizational heads love McCutchen's versatility in that he could toss six solid innings but his stuff also plays well in a bullpen role. [His fastball may gain a few ticks on the radar gun if he comes out of the bullpen] His advanced age - 25 years old - also allows the Yankees to be a bit less calculated as they would be with guys like Phil Hughes.

Chad Jennings believes Alan Horne is very close to returning to the Scranton rotation. Horne had been working his way back from an arm injury suffered in early April. Horne's father said Alan threw to live hitters on Tuesday and his arm continues to respond well to the rehab. According to father Horne, his son will again toss to live batters tomorrow and "go in a game next Monday."

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