Horne To Rejoin Scranton,Kontos, Melancon Dominate AA

Alan Horne will return to the Scranton rotation and, as a result, one of Karstens, Igawa, Giese, McCutchen or Marquez will be getting demoted or converted to the bullpen. Horne is now officially scheduled to pitch Sunday for Scranton.

Phil Coke's stay at AAA will be an abbreviated one as he is to be sent down to Trenton in order to make room for Horne. Though Dan McCutchen has been struggling during the start to his AAA campaign, the recent big league bullpen problems may call for converting Danimal to the bullpen.

It may have been the plan for McCutchen all along to become a major league bullpen contributor. And, considering someone must be moved to make room for Horne, now might be the opportune time for such a conversion. [This is merely spitballing on my part]

McCutchen's fastball, which regularly hovers above and below 92 mph, could receive a few extra ticks. The compliment of his changeup and curveball as potential outpitches could make him a valuable commodity out of the pen. Maybe most importantly is McCutchen's bulldog mentality on the mound and his eagerness to attack the strikezone.

Meanwhile in Trenton, George Kontos continues to flash dominance over AA hitters by tossing 7 innings of one-run ball, allowing 3 hits, striking out 7 and walking 2. Wednesday night's performance from Kontos lowered his season ERA to 3.01.

It's been a major turnaround for Kontos considering early April saw him pile up more walks than strikeouts. As of today, Kontos now boasts a very respectable 63 strikeouts to 25 walks over 68.2 innings. In his last five starts Kontos tossed 33 innings [going seven innings in four of five starts] with 30 strikeouts, 9 walks and 8 earned runs on just 19 hits.

Joining Kontos in AA dominance is Mark Melancon who tossed another three scoreless innings of work, earning his third victory of the year. Over the three frames Melancon struck out 2, walked zero and allowed one hit, dropping his ERA to 1.53 on the year. Through 17.2 innings at the AA level, Melancon has allowed just 10 hits and 2 walks while striking out 15 and limiting opposing hitters to a .169 batting average.

A promotion to AAA may soon be in order for the dominant Melancon should he continue such a high level of success. I would venture to guess Melancon will find himself pitching to AAA hitters by mid June.

Trenton Report: George Kontos

I made the trip to Trenton last night and was able to see George Kontos pitch for the first time. Kontos had started the year poorly, walking more men than he struck out, but Thursday night was the best start of his AA campaign.

The line: 6.1 innings, four hits, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO.

I had heard his stuff was electric, and though his velocity was a tick or two lower than I had expected, his stuff is certainly overpowering. Kontos showed that last night against a tough New Britain offense. I spent the first four innings in the pressbox, but finally made my way down behind homeplate before the fifth frame. ESPN baseball analyst Keith Law sat a few rows in front of me.

Scouting Report:

Fastball: Topping out at 93 mph but mostly 90-92. Good boring action in on righties and strong late life when thrown belt high or below. At times he commanded it very well on the corners. His velocity may have been better in the earlier innings, very possibly hitting 94 or 95, but it is his tendency to overthrow which has hurt Kontos most.

Slider: Ranged from 83-87 mph with strong movement both downward and laterally. Not Joba's two-plane slidepiece, but it is an electric pitch which at times has a slurve's movement at hard slider velocity. Was especially effective away from right handed hitters.

Changeup: 81-83 mph with average fade. Kontos threw the changeup 10+ times - mostly to lefties - and commanded it decently throughout the start. If Kontos is to move forward as a starter it will be the development of this pitch that gets him there. Konto's admitted as much after the game.

Curveball: Thrown at 72-74 mph. Only threw about 3 or 4 curves, but the pitch has some projection. Probably major league average right now, but may develop into a plus pitch if Kontos is able to use it enough from start to start. Control was average but his command could use some work as one hung in the zone. Consistently good tight spin and downward break.

Thursday's start was Kontos' first major step toward becoming comfortable at the AA level. If last night's performance is any indication, Kontos gives the Yankees another effective power arm on the cusp of the majors.

SWB Blog Revisits Top Prospects List

Chad Jennings revisited Deric McKamey's prospect list with an interview contending Humberto Sanchez is obviously best suited as a reliever, Jose Tabata is currently the superior prospect to Austin Jackson and George Kontos is underrated.

During the first piece, Jennings posted McKamey's top 15 prospects in the Yankees organization. Rankings of note included Dellin Betances at #7, Sanchez at #9, Kevin Whelan at #11 and Kontos at #12.

The rankings of these four prospects - which I agree with - have dropped on the lists of several other prospect outlets like Baseball America and John Sickels.

I chose a few highlights from the lengthy interview:

Is Humberto Sanchez's rating as a starting pitcher? Would it be any different assuming he was going to the bullpen?

Even though the Yankees haven’t made a definitive decision on Sanchez’ role, his rating is based on him becoming a reliever. The TJS not-withstanding, I feel he doesn’t change speeds well and his arm action has some recoil at the finish, which may always present stamina problems.

A move to the bullpen should preserve his arm and since he can focus on his fastball and two solid breaking pitches, he should do very well in that role.

What should we make of the long list of prospect relievers (Melancon, Cox, Whelan, Robertson, and Sanchez)? What role do you see those guys filling in the big leagues?

Sanchez, Whelan, and Melancon are the better arms of this group and all three have the goods to close in the right situation. Sanchez was discussed earlier. Whelan, despite being used as a starter in 2007, projects as a reliever for me. He has a very nasty splitter and exceptional movement to his 88-94 MPH fastball. His command can be erratic at times, but he misses bats easily.

Melancon missed the 2007 season with TJS, but his recovery has gone well and is expected to be ready for spring training. He throws hard (90-95 MPH) and can notch strikeouts too, but relies more on groundball outs than Sanchez and Whelan. He utilizes a curveball as his secondary pitch. He didn’t possess much of a change-up prior to his surgery and being that pitch is a “feel” pitch, I wonder how long it will take for him to get it to the average level, especially if the Yankees alter his mechanics, which was reported.

Cox is coming off of TJS and because he doesn’t have anything to offer LH batters, his upside is that of a setup reliever. Robertson is a short (height-wise) reliever with a deceptively quick fastball and two solid comps (curveball and change-up). Despite his ability to miss bats and command the plate at both Class-A levels, he projects as a setup reliever as well.

Which Yankees prospect do you like more than most analysts and which do you like less?

I like George Kontos better than most, ranking him #12 on my top 15 list. Kontos has shown excellent command, along with the ability to notch strikeouts and keep the ball low at every level he has pitched at. He throws hard (89-94 MPH) with two and four-seam fastballs, has a solid slider, and changes speeds well. He does have a tendency to overthrow which flattens his pitches and can make him hittable at times.

Finally, two pitchers I've been hesitant to get too high on: Jeff Marquez and George Kontos. You obviously like them. Why?

Kontos, I talked about earlier, but what I like about Marquez is his smooth/quick arm action, which gives him excellent pitch movement. He can touch 95 MPH, but hasn’t been able to hold it deep into games. He did pitch 155.1 innings, which alleviated any stamina concerns, but I feel he could add some strength to help him maintain his velocity. Both of his secondary offerings (curveball and change-up) are at least Major League average and he knows how to pitch.

Good stuff on Kontos, but I would have liked to have seen more thoughts on Melancon and Horne. I support the contention that Gardner is a good potential fourth outfielder, but not much more.

And, after seeing Juan Miranda several times last year at Trenton, McKamey is accurate in marginalizing the Cuban defector as a hitter without a glove. He looked more like Pele than Mattingly booting balls around the infield last season.