– Covering August 6th – August 12th games —

Special congrats to recent NoMaas interviewee and Staten Island 1B Matt Snyder for making the NY-Penn All Star Team

Pitcher:
Adam Warren, 24, RHP, AAA
14 IP, 14 K, 4 BB, 8 H, 4 ER, 0 HR
Notable: 1.32 Groundouts to Airouts on the season

It’s ironic that Adam Warren wins our MLPW Award on the same weekend that he was passed over for Derek Lowe. According to the illustrious Joel Sherman of the NY Post, the Yankees’ decision makers don’t “trust” the former North Carolina Tarheel to pitch in the bigs during the magical months of August & September (full tweet here). Sherman also stated that they think Warren has regressed (full tweet here).

How he’s regressed, we have no idea. He’s putting up nearly identical numbers as he did last year in AAA:

2011: 152 IP, 6.56 K/9, 3.13 BB/9, 2.09 K/BB, 0.77 HR/9, 3.60 ERA, 4.05 FIP
2012: 130 IP, 6.09 K/9, 2.70 BB/9, 2.26 K/BB, 0.76 HR/9, 3.74 ERA, 3.94 FIP

Where is the regression? That’s looks remarkably consistent to us.

Warren isn’t a top shelf pitching prospect. But, the Joel Sherman comments really make us wonder what the Yankees’ logic is here. Have they written Warren off because of how he did in his big league debut? In one start?

Year Age Tm Lg Lev ERA G GS IP WHIP H/9 HR/9 BB/9 SO/9 SO/BB
2009 21 Staten Island NYPL A- 1.43 12 12 56.2 1.041 7.8 0.2 1.6 7.9 5.00
2010 22 2 Teams 2 Lgs A+-AA 2.59 25 25 135.1 1.138 8.0 0.3 2.2 8.4 3.82
2010 22 Tampa FLOR A+ 2.22 15 15 81.0 1.099 8.0 0.2 1.9 7.4 3.94
2010 22 Trenton EL AA 3.15 10 10 54.1 1.196 8.1 0.3 2.7 9.8 3.69
2011 23 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre IL AAA 3.60 27 27 152.1 1.300 8.6 0.8 3.1 6.6 2.09
2012 24 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre IL AAA 3.74 22 22 130.0 1.385 9.8 0.8 2.7 6.1 2.26
4 Seasons 3.09 86 86 474.1 1.246 8.7 0.6 2.6 7.1 2.78
AAA (2 seasons) AAA 3.67 49 49 282.1 1.339 9.1 0.8 2.9 6.3 2.16
AA (1 season) AA 3.15 10 10 54.1 1.196 8.1 0.3 2.7 9.8 3.69
A- (1 season) A- 1.43 12 12 56.2 1.041 7.8 0.2 1.6 7.9 5.00
A+ (1 season) A+ 2.22 15 15 81.0 1.099 8.0 0.2 1.9 7.4 3.94
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 8/12/2012.


Hitter:
Slade Heathcott, 21, LHB CF, A+
.480/.519/.680 in 27 PAs
Notable: Was out until late-June after his second shoulder surgery

Since being drafted by the Yankees in the first round of 2009 draft, Heathcott has gone under the knife for two left shoulder surgeries, the latest of which kept him out this season until late June. After playing a handful of games in the Gulf Coast, the Yankees sent Heathcott back to where he left off pre-surgery in 2011, High-A Tampa.

In 42 games at Tampa, he’s been excellent, hitting .306/.387/.517 in 172 PAs (.421 wOBA, 163 wRC+), albeit with a .385 BABIP. He’s also flashing the best power of his abbreviated career with a .211 ISO.

On the basepaths, he’s stolen 13 bags in 16 attempts, which is a big improvement on his success rate than his previous stops in the minors. Base-stealing was something he said he was working on when we interviewed him in April 2011.

Pre-surgeries, Slade had all the makings of a solid defender, with good speed and a strong throwing arm. Easing him back, the Yankees have used him primarily as a DH. However, over the past few weeks, they’ve been gradually giving him more time in his preferred position, center field.

Slade is still young and will only be 22 on his next birthday (September). The tools are there. The question is health.

Year Age Tm Lg Lev PA HR SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
2009 18 Yankees GULF Rk 11 0 0 0 1 2 .100 .182 .100 .282
2010 19 Charleston SALL A 351 2 15 10 42 101 .258 .359 .352 .712
2011 20 2 Teams 2 Lgs A-A+ 242 5 6 7 19 58 .279 .347 .437 .784
2011 20 Charleston SALL A 237 4 6 7 19 57 .271 .342 .419 .761
2011 20 Tampa FLOR A+ 5 1 0 0 0 1 .600 .600 1.200 1.800
2012 21 2 Teams 2 Lgs A+-Rk 190 5 15 3 20 43 .299 .389 .500 .889
2012 21 Yankees GULF Rk 22 0 2 0 5 4 .235 .409 .353 .762
2012 21 Tampa FLOR A+ 168 5 13 3 15 39 .306 .387 .517 .904
4 Seasons 794 12 36 20 82 204 .272 .360 .410 .771
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 8/12/2012.


Honorable Mentions:

Chase Whitley, 23, RHP, AAA
9 IP, 9 K, 1 BB, 2 H, 0 ER
Over 3 appearances (two of which were for 4 innings each), 3.96 ERA/3.94 FIP, getting stretched out soak up innings in September??

Vidal Nuno, 25, LHP, AA
6 IP, 8 K, 1 BB, 6 H, 3 ER,
Actually picked up the loss in this start, but you can’t complain about the 2.20 ERA / 3.20 FIP

James Pazos, 21, LHP, Short-Season
4.2 IP, 7 K, 2 BB, 3 H, 0 ER
2012 13th round pick, another NY-Penn All-Star, has made 20 relief appearances, 3.36 Groundout/Airout(!)

Kenedy Agramonte, 21, RHP, Rookie
3.1 IP, 8 K, 1 BB, 2 H, 0 ER,
Signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2010, 17 K / 3 BB in 12.1 IP, 0.73 ERA

Zolio Almonte, 22, SHB OF, AA
.333/.360/.666 in 25 PAs
5 HRs in the month of August, .207 ISO on the season

Gary Sanchez, 19, RHB C, A+
.434/.480/.608 in 25 PAs
Hitting .278/.341/.426 since being promoted to Tampa