Minor League Monday 9/3

Before we get to this weeks awards, I want to congratulate the Gulf Coast League Yankees for winning that league's championship over the GCL Dodgers on Friday. Also, an extra congratulations goes to shortstop Walter Ibarra, who gets my playoff MVP award for a .571/.600/.643 performance that was highlighted by an eighth inning double that scored the winning runs in the one game playoff against the GCL Twins that got the team into the finals.

Now, onto the last hitter and pitcher of the week of the 2007 regular season.

Hitter of the Week - Austin Jackson, CF, Tampa Yankees (Single-A Advanced):

Jackson has been one of the better stories for the Yankees this season. He was drafted in the eight round of the 2005 draft out of Ryan High School in Denton, TX. An excellent basketball player, the Yankees gave him an $800,000 signing bonus, a record for an eigth round pick, to lure him away from Georgia Tech. A tremendous athelete, his baseball skills were very raw and he hit .260/.337/.346 in his first pro season at Single-A Charleston.

In the first few months of the 2007 season, it didn't look like he had learned a thing putting up a nearly identical .260/.335/.374 in Charleston. In the middle of June, however, the Yankees decided that the best thing to do was to promote him to Tampa. It was a decision that didn't seem to make much sense, but its certainly worked out. Since his promotion, Jackson has torn up the Florida State League, hitting .345/.398/.566 with 10 homeruns, more than he had hit in an entire season and a half at Charleston. He's been even more unstoppable this past week, hitting a ludicrous .632/.667/1.053, with 3 doubles, a triple and a homerun. He had a hit in all five games this week, including a 4 hit game on Friday where he fell one triple short of the cycle. In a system which is lacking in hitting prospects, Jackson has established himself as one of the Yankees' best.

Pitcher of the Week - Ryan Pope, RHP, Staten Island Yankees (Short Season Single-A):

Pope was drafted in the third round of this year's draft out of, of all places, the Savannah College of Art & Design (the Yankee scouting department is nothing if not thorough). Righthanders who throw in the low 90s with average command aren't particularly hard to find, so picking one in the third round was rather puzzling, especially since Pope hadn't even proven himself against the caliber of players you'd find in a Division I program.

So far, however, its looking like a good decision, as Pope has definitely proven himself against professional hitting in the New York-Penn League. in 42.1 innings, he's struck out 45 and allowed only 10 walks, 38 hits, and 14 runs, good enough for a 2.13 ERA. In two starts this week, he pitched 11.2 innings, allowing only 9 hits and 2 earned runs. Even more impressive was his command, as he struck out 15 while walking only 1.

Next week will bring the playoff edition of Minor League Monday, as Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and Double-A Trenton begin their chase for the championship on Wednesday.