Minor League Players of the Week, v2
Monday, April 18, 2011 at 10:52 pm by Gary Wallace
Another week into NoMaas’ Minor League Player of the Week and we’re still looking for a great pitching performance. Luckily, the Yanks’ hitting prospects have picked up the slack.
Minor League Players of the Week (v2):
Pitcher:
Graham Stoneburner, 23, RHP, AA
6 IP, 2 K, 1 BB, 4 H, 1 ER
Notable: 9 GBO, 7 FBO
NoMaas Ranking – #8
Owner of an 80 name tool, Graham Stoneburner is a bit of a strange prospect. His numbers last year (2.41 ERA in 142 innings, 4.03 K/BB, .993 WHIP) and status as a starter would seem to indicate top prospect, but a relatively thin pitch repertoire has many prospect gurus penning him as a reliever. For now, though, Graham is a starter and hasn’t been fazed one bit by his first exposure to the Eastern League (1.64 ERA through two starts). He hasn’t really found his strikeout groove so far (3K), but he’s been generating groundballs in the interim. Once he starts burying his slider, you can expect to see those numbers jump back up to their usual stellar level (8.7 K/9 in 2010).
This should be a telling season for Stoneburner. The results have never been in question; the method has. If he manages to tighten up his slider and get a usable third pitch, the sky is the limit for the former Clemson Tiger.
Hitter:
JR Murphy, 20, RHB C, A
.476/.521/.714 in 23 PAs
Notable: 9 RBIs
NoMaas Ranking – #9
The Yankees' 2009 draft class has been well represented in MLPW so far, with Slade Heathcott taking last week’s hitter honors and now Murphy claiming the title. Notorious at draft time for an advanced plate approach, JR has been seeing the ball extremely well in the early going (1 K in 2011, 2.4 K%) and depositing ones he likes over the fence (3 HR). Not to mention he’s done this while being asked to learn a new position (3B). Still, JR’s greatest value to the Yankees comes when he provides his offense as a catcher and there’s optimism that he can remain there long-term. Teams running against him this year haven’t had much luck (38.5 CS%) and if this is a sign of defensive improvement (and not just some small sample size magic), there’s a lot to be excited about down in Charleston.
Honorable Mentions:
Manny Banuelos, 20, LHP, AA
4 IP, 1 K, 0 BB, 4 H, 0 ER
Personal fave, Banuelos had a blister issue, but apparently all is well and he should make a 4/19 start.
Ramon Flores, 19, LHB LF/1B, A
.429 / .571 / .619 in 28 PAs
On a Charleston team stacked with hitters, Flores might be the best one.
Jesus Montero, 21, RHB C, AAA
.435 / .435 / .565 in 23 PAs
No walks yet, but who cares when you’re batting over .400?
Michael O’Brien, 21, RHP, A
4.2 IP, 7 K, 2 BB, 2 H, 1 ER
Second time in as many weeks we’ve seen Mikey in MLPW.
Bonus Ridiculous Line of the Week:
Tommy Kahnle, 21, RHP, A
4 IP, 9 K, 4 BB, 3 H, 0 ER
Damn. Got to cut down on the walks, but that’s some serious strikeout ability.
Tags: farm system
I read on RAB that Stoneburner is probably only a reliever. Because it was on RAB, it is true.
That was copied from lohud
Do they ever get content not from a mainstream source?
Yea-the three yahoos who run that joke site.
They put themselves out as Yankee experts-but just dump link and rewrite other site content..
They are good at patrolling their commentator board making snarky comments in response to their “trolls” (not on the approved list).
Ben loves to remind everyone a comment is off-topic and should be deleted/moved.
please stop making fun of Ben. Jews stick together
bmg has this thing wrapped up next week
awesome stuff as always, Gary.
Thumbs down, really?
Thanks. I appreciate it.
What? No Jorge Vasquez? Monster is only hitting 6 bombs all ready…
Vasquez has the production, but he’s also 29 years old. That’s ancient for being a “prospect”, which these articles are mainly meant to illuminate. His numbers also weren’t demonstrably better (if I remember correctly, spreadsheets are gone) this past week than the people featured here, so I don’t think it to be a big indiscretion.
That being said, he has had a monster start to 2011, though there are many who believe he’s a classic AAAA masher.
What about me?
I hope I understand this question correctly (Jorge Vasquez non inclusion versus Norton’s appearance last week). Main differences:
1. Norton has a legit chance at being a Major League relief arm. Vasquez has an outside chance to be a platoon first baseman on a second tier team.
2. There were honestly so few good pitching performances on the whole that I had to either put a mediocre line up or something actually impressive. This was probably the biggest factor.
If I’ve just understood the question here incorrectly, I apologize.
GET THIS STUPID MOTHER FUCKER GARDNER OFF THE TEAM!! He can’t even bunt now?
Just USELESS!!!!! All they do is throw fastballs outside and he just can’t hit it…He pops it up(foul or to the 3rd baseman) or looks at at. Can’t even bunt the ball down third when he knows the 3rd baseman has to cover then he gets caught stealing…Why do some of you guys defend this piece of shit A-ball player?
How is it that Gardner cant even bunt the fucking ball?