Minor League Players of the Week, The Dethroning of Jesus edition
Monday, August 16, 2010 at 11:53 pm by Gary Wallace
Jesus Montero has been dethroned in the latest edition of MLPW. Find out who Judas’d him.
Minor League Players of the Week (v18):
Pitcher:
Manuel Banuelos, 19, LHP, A+
5 IP, 7 K, 2 BB, 2 H, 0 ER
NoMaas Ranking - Pre-Season Top 10: #3, Mid-Season Top 20: #3
Previous Wins - Week(s): 13 – Month(s): July
After a dominant July, in which he won NoMaas’ Pitcher of the Month, Banuelos hasn’t slowed one bit in August. With three starts this month (one being a rain-abbreviated, 1.0 inning affair), Manuel has yet to surrender a run, earned or unearned. It’s only been twelve innings, but it remains impressive nonetheless.
Banuelos’ 2010 campaign has held one huge development for the young southpaw: an increase in velocity. A year ago on any given night, he would sit in the upper 80s/low 90s with his fastball, touching 92. This season, Manny has seen a huge uptick on the radar guns, which now have him running his heater up to 95. For a left-handed hurler who already has a great feel for pitching and strong secondary pitches, this could be huge. While it remains to be seen whether this change will stick, the potential to turn his biggest weakness (besides height/frame) into a plus tool… it suffices to say that it would be awesome.
This velocity jump has lead to some similarly increasing peripherals, both for the better and for the worse. Manny’s walk rate has gone from exceptional in 2009 (6.3 BB%) to merely acceptable in 2010 (8.9 BB%). It’s certainly not the direction you want to see a pitcher move in, but you’ll take it when it’s coupled with a ballooning propensity for the strikeout. Banuelos’ K-rate last year was good (23.8%); this year it’s great (35.0 K%). That’s a crazy number and is (probably) in no way sustainable, but it’s fun to look at and at least tells us that his ability to strike people out isn’t waning as he progresses up the minors. Hopefully, as Manny begins to understand and get a better feel for his newfound fastball, we see his free passes come back down to some more comfortable levels.
Position Player:
J.R. Murphy, 20, RHB C, A
.458/.458/.875 in 24 PAs
NoMaas Ranking – Pre-Season Top 10: #7, Mid-Season Top 20: #10
Previous Wins - Week(s): 16
There certainly seemed to be an adjustment period to pro-baseball for Mr. Murphy, who started out with a lackluster May that saw him post a .574 OPS. Since then, it’s been all uphill for the Bradenton, Florida native as his numbers have gone up every month, (OPS - June: .654, July: .741) culminating in an August offensive explosion (1.011). His 3-6 game on the 13th is the crowning jewel of his run (so far) and included two home runs with nine RBIs. I don’t put a lot of stock in that last statistic, but it’s a staggering number for a player at any level and I can’t imagine he’s had many games like that in his life, so congratulations to him.
Murphy’s power was certainly apparent in that game and it’s been a constant since the start of July (.184 isoP). His numbers on the season display a solid amount of pop (.131), an impressive tool for a catcher. If you take that into account with the fact that he’s among the youngest players in the Sally League and facing pitchers 2-3 years older than him on average, his season thus far can only be considered a success and he seems to be getting better. Murphy is smack dab in the middle of a monster streak and if he keeps it rolling, he could improve upon his already strong numbers.
Honorable Mentions:
Slade Heathcott, 19, LHB CF, A
.333/.467/.500 in 30 PAs
Excellent patience at the plate (12.6 BB%), but strikes out a bunch (27.1 K%).
Jesus Montero, 20, RHB C, AAA
.409/.435/.773 in 23 PAs
Barely, barely missed winning for another straight week. Ridiculous recovery from a slow start.
Dellin Betances, 22, RHP, A+
5 IP, 9 K, 0 BB, 5 H, 1 ER
Serious firepower in the Tampa rotation with Banuelos, Betances and Stoneburner.
Ivan Nova, 23, RHP, AAA
7 IP, 8 K, 1 BB, 1 H, 1 ER
For a guy who struggled to put his tools together for so long, they sure came together quickly.
Tags: farm system, mlpw
Bring Jesus up. Cervelli is god awful
If he does come up, which I highly doubt he will, it won’t be in place of a catcher.
Chad Moeller would be better than Cervelli right now. Anyone would.
I don’t like to knock professional ballplayers but right now Cervelli stinks worse than yesterday’s diapers. If he can’t get the job done then get someone in there who can. He’s become an automatic out at this point.
Hey Gary – how did Banuelos win this week’s award over Betances? 9:0 K/BB vs. 7:2 K/BB
JR Murphy is in AAA? Who shot Jesus?
“Hey Gary – how did Banuelos win this week’s award over Betances? 9:0 K/BB vs. 7:2 K/BB”
Four total baserunners for Banuelos versus five for Betances coupled with the fact that Manny is three years younger at the same level. It wasn’t an easy decision and there’s definitely a case for Betances.
Ah, fixed it. Much better.
Gary – you’re one of the few opinions I respect, on all things Yankees. Any chance you could give some level predictions for next year?
Could the AA rotation seriously be Betances, Banuelos, Brackman, Bleich, Stoneburner?
How about all the young CF’s? Slade Heathcott and Eduardo Sosa, along with newcomers Angelo Gumbs, Mason Williams and Tyler Austin, etc?
“Could the AA rotation seriously be Betances, Banuelos, Brackman, Bleich, Stoneburner?”
Probably not. Here are my educated guesses (they could change by the end of the year):
Banuelos/Betances: A+
I imagine they’re not going to get enough innings the rest of the year to justify starting them at Trenton in 2011. Betances elbow injury and lack of innings will probably make the Yankees take it slow with him. They could afford to be more aggressive with Banuelos since his DL stint wasn’t throwing arm related, but he’s so young there’s no need to rush.
Brackman: AAA
The results might not completely warrant it, but he’s on the 40-man and the Yankees have already shown that they’re not afraid of pushing him when he shows improvement.
Stoneburner: AA
Without question. No reason to start him at Tampa with the way he’s dominated.
Bleich: A+?
The injury is scary. They’ll probably want him to stick around the Tampa complex to make sure they can keep an eye on him. Doesn’t hurt to have him stay around warm weather. If he shows them everything seems alright I imagine he’d get the bump to Trenton at some point.
I’ll get to the CF’s later today.
This is the best feature NoMaas added this season.
Interesting. Thanks for the views.
I thought the Yankees had a chance to sport the most exciting AA rotation in history lol. If Brackman does begin 2011 in AAA, it will be interesting to see him battle Nova, McAllister, and I guess even Phelps for that first call-up.
I really wish Nova got an opportunity when Pettitte went down. I think that’s the way to find out what you have, instead of recycling (not meant as an insult) guys like Mitre and Moseley.
“If Brackman does begin 2011 in AAA, it will be interesting to see him battle Nova, McAllister, and I guess even Phelps for that first call-up.”
Nova definitely has the best shot considering he’s on the 40-man and is basically a finished product. Brackman could probably use more time in the minors. McAllister has to prove he can be effective at AAA and Phelps really needs a secondary pitch.
“I really wish Nova got an opportunity when Pettitte went down.”
As did I, but I understand that the Yankees didn’t. I don’t think they wanted to put him in the rotation only to take him out in a month (though they didn’t know at the time exactly how long Pettitte would be out). Once he’s in there they want to give him ample opportunity to get acclimated to the MLB hitter and a real chance to prove he can stick.
Too bad all of these kids will be dealt in the future.
I have to admit the Yankees have done a good job raiding the international free agent market with Banuelos, Nova, and Montero. I’m more interested in seeing how their draft picks progress through the system. Brackman and Betances have huge upsides. Phelps and Warren might not have the stuff that translates into MLB effectiveness. Remember how Ian Kennedy dominated in AAA and AA, but his stuff wasn’t immediately gratifying in the majors. I guess it’s always possible to pull a Greg Maddux, however control pitchers are generally not immediately effective in the majors.
What’s this day of rest shit? What’s this bullshit? I don’t fuckin’ care! It don’t matter to Jesus. But you’re not foolin’ me, man. You might fool the fucks in the league office, but you don’t fool Jesus. This bush league psyche-out stuff. Laughable, man – ha ha! I would have fucked you in the ass Saturday. I fuck you in the ass next Wednesday instead. Wooo! You got a date Wednesday, baby!
“None of these kids could play on my 2 time world champion big Red Machine teams of the 70′s.”
Hello, my name is Adam. I became a man today.
Regarding Manny Banuelos’ “height/frame” weakness: Whitey Ford had one of those too.
“Regarding Manny Banuelos’ “height/frame” weakness: Whitey Ford had one of those too.”
If you have to reference a Hall of Famer as a counterpoint, I don’t think you’ve helped your case.
The fact is there aren’t a ton of smaller pitchers. It’s not impossible for an undersized pitcher to succeed in the majors, but the odds are against him.
That’s just group-think, Gary. It’s a miracle that some player development committee hasn’t converted Banuelos into a utility infielder already — because he’s not brawny enough to throw a baseball. Scouting needs to re-focus on THE ARM. If today’s decisionmakers sized up a young Ron Guidry (who in 1978 had a body like Calista Flockhart), they would convert him into a peanut vendor while wasting their time and energy on a stable full of Tanyon Sturtzes.
“That’s just group-think, Gary.”
Thanks for telling me my opinions aren’t my own. I had no idea.
“Scouting needs to re-focus on THE ARM.”
You say that in a vacuum, as if shorter players don’t even get a chance to pitch. I wholeheartedly disagree with the idea that player development now solely focuses on the size of a pitcher.
“…because he’s not brawny enough to throw a baseball.”
This is a pretty gross over simplification. It’s not about “brawn.” A larger, more massive frame allows your body to deal with the forces of pitching with less stress. That helps prevent injury and also allows your body to recover faster. That’s just physics and it is an undeniable advantage.
Considering I ranked Banuelos #3, I don’t have a hard time looking past size especially when you have excellent results. But there are a multitude of things that need to be taken into consideration when evaluating a player, and frame is one of them.
I can’t figure out what gets you more heated: My ignorance of physics or your passion for “larger, more massive” men.
I’m not heated, but if I were you can be damn well sure it’s because of massive men.
“If you have to reference a Hall of Famer as a counterpoint, I don’t think you’ve helped your case.”
Weren’t Maddux and Pedro also considered undersized for pitchers? I really don’t think size matters as much as athleticism. Those are just the HOFs. I bet I can think of many league-average pitchers who are considered “undersized”. Hey how about that guy named Tim Lincecum? Anybody who uses size to evaluate a pitcher is a idiot; some of the best high school, college pitchers I’ve seen weren’t beef-cakes.
“Weren’t Maddux and Pedro also considered undersized for pitchers?”/”Hey how about that guy named Tim Lincecum?”
Two HoFs and a two time Cy Young Award winner. You’re still referencing major outliers to prove a point about the average pitcher (Maddux wasn’t that undersized anyways).
Just look around the league. You’ll see far more pitchers who are taller than 6′ than pitchers under it. That’s not a conspiracy by player development, it’s just the way things work.
Being taller allows you to release the ball closer to homeplate, decreasing the available reaction time of the batter. Being taller allows you to throw the ball on a greater downhill plane, making it tougher for batters to lift the ball. These things help.
Again: no one says it’s impossible for smaller pitchers to be effective. There have been plenty of undersized pitchers who have succeeded through the years.
“Anybody who uses size to evaluate a pitcher is a idiot…”
Then every major league scout is an idiot.
Scouts didn’t decide that being taller helped, history has proven that it does and scouts started taking it into consideration. In no way is it the only component of player evaluation, but it is an aspect organizations consider and it’s not crazy to see why.
“Being taller allows you to release the ball closer to homeplate, decreasing the available reaction time of the batter. Being taller allows you to throw the ball on a greater downhill plane, making it tougher for batters to lift the ball. These things help.”
I never said being tall isn’t important. I thought this discussion was about the “massiveness” of a pitcher. My argument is that pitchers don’t have to be built like Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens, or Andy Pettite for them to achieve major league greatness. Like I said before, I think athleticism is more important than size for a pitcher.
For the record — and despite my blowhard theories that started this — I’d take Randy Johnson in his prime over just about any pitcher in history.
Great feature, by the way.