Players begin the climb to the top of the Mount Olympus that is the Player of the Month, starting right here in the first MLPW of June.
Minor League Players of the Week:
Pitcher:
Hector Noesi, 23, RHP, AA
13 IP, 14 K, 3 BB, 9 H, 2 ER
Previous wins: Week(s): 1, 5 – Month(s): May
As you can see from his figurative trophy case above, Florida State League hitters are happy that they won’t be seeing Hector Noesi anymore. In his first start in AA, back on May 22nd, Noesi got knocked around for five runs. It was reasonable to assume that Noesi might need a little bit of time to adjust to the hitters at the AA level. We can safely say that period lasted all of one start. In his second game at Trenton, Noesi gave up exactly zero earned runs, then, in only his third official start, Noesi struck out ten batters over seven frames while surrendering two runs. His performance this year has done a lot to assuage the loss of Arodys Vizcaino, while giving us something to talk about while Manny Banuelos recovers from appendicitis. Noesi is already making his case for taking his second Pitcher of the Month award.
Position Player:
Jorge Vasquez, 28, RHB 1B, AA
.440/.462/.520 in 26 PAs
For those who are unfamiliar with Jorge Vasquez, the Yankees signed him in December of 2008 out of the Mexican League, in which he played in for nine years, starting when he was only 18. Last year at Trenton he mashed to the tune of .329/.357/.578 with 13 HRs, leading the Thunder in OPS largely by way of the power that has long been his calling card (.249 isoP in 2009, .269 career). His debut this season was delayed by an injury, but it didn’t keep him from starting strong as you can see.
Given his performance last season, AAA wasn’t out of the question for Vasquez, but the injury coupled with lack of room at Scranton made a repeat at Trenton inevitable. The Thunder lineup is ridiculous with Jorge’s return, sporting a 3-4-5 of Austin Romine (.830 OPS), Brandon Laird (.873) and Vasquez (.982 in 6 games). When David Adams (.900) returns from his own health issues, the Yankee’s AA affiliate is going to have some serious firepower.
Honorable Mentions:
Andrew Brackman 24, RHP, A+
5 IP, 7 K, 1 BB, 3H, 0 ER
Continued control from Brackman.
Corban Joseph, 21, RHB 2B, A+
.333/.579/.417 in 19 PAs
7 walks in 4 games = plate discipline.
David Phelps, 23, RHP, AA
7 IP, 7 K, 1 BB, 4 H, 0 ER
Unheralded hurler has been great (2.21 ERA since 2009).
Jose Pirela, 20, RHB SS, A+
.353/.421/.588 in 25 PAs
Brutal start to the season for Pirela (.568 OPS).
13 Comments
B Rabbit June 8, 2010 12:14
can’t say it enough. I love this weekly feature.
Anderson Cooper June 8, 2010 12:27
Like seeing Brackman pop up on this list a couple times. Like the K/BB ratio too.
Jim Leyritz's Cellmate June 8, 2010 12:36
I love this feature… how’s Colin Curtis doing now that his injury has healed up?
Gary Wallace June 8, 2010 12:44
Meh. Curtis is nothing to get excited about. He’s a guy whose ceiling is probably that of a 4th outfielder. Not a whole lot of room for him at the major league level.
What the? June 8, 2010 12:46
Since I got chastised on an unrelated post…. Can you guys provide some insight as to why Venditte hasnt been promoted to Trenton yet?
29.1 IP 22H 8 BB to the tune of a 1.02 WHIP, 4.50 K/BB and 11 K/9 with only 1 Homer allowed.
Whats keeping him in High A at this point?
Jim Leyritz's Cellmate June 8, 2010 12:50
Ooh… ugly since healing up. Too bad, I liked him in Spring Training (you know, hitting line-drives off of late-inning AA call-ups).
What the? June 8, 2010 13:00
BTW – I hope you guys have seen this… classic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MbCj_MEaoA&feature=player_embedded
Anderson Cooper June 8, 2010 13:34
I’d be interested in hearing the nomaas outlook on Venditte too. He’s putting up great numbers.
And Jorge Vasquez is 28 years old. Is he any more than a Juan Miranda type callup if the Yankees have some injuries?
Gary Wallace June 8, 2010 14:15
Venditte is unlike any player in the majors, so the approach to his development is going to similarly unique. I don’t think its fruitful to say “Well, normally a guy pitches like this and he gets promoted,” because he’s not any normal prospect.
That being said, let’s have a bit of a reality check: but he’s a former college pitcher who is only in A+ where he’s 2 years older than most of his competition. He’s putting up good numbers, but a lot of similar relievers would be in the same situation. It’s nice to dream of the possibilities, but his stuff from the right is fringy at best and his pitching from the left relies on sidearm deception to play up his low 80s velocity.
I’m not sure that an average and a below average arm makes an average reliever.
Kevin S. June 8, 2010 14:31
It’s funny you say that, because one could say the same thing about Jorge Vazquez. Dude’s 28 – that more or less makes him a non-prospect.
Gary Wallace June 8, 2010 14:40
I don’t believe I ever said Jorge Vasquez was a prospect. He had a damn good week and is an interesting story, plus I got to mention Romine, Laird and Adams.
Kevin S. June 8, 2010 15:16
Fair enough. I guess I’m just tired of people going nuts over him while ignoring his age – I guess that’s what I get for posting on LoHud.
Fusilli Jerry June 8, 2010 16:10
Love this feature. Clean and concise. Easy to follow. NoMaas kicks my ass.