Minor League Monday 4/7/08

Pitcher of the Week - Kei Igawa, LHP, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (Triple A):

There were some fine pitching performances this week in Scranton, but only one of them could be described as perfect. The much maligned Kei Igawa did not allow a single member of the Lehigh Valley Ironpigs to reach base in the first six innings of the Yankees' opening game. Unfortunately, Igawa was on a strict pitch count, and the Scranton coaching staff decided to pull him after the sixth rather than allow him to chase perfection. Still, six innings of perfect baseball is impressive, and is probably enough to push him to the top of the list of potential replacements should something happen one of the major league starters. Even more impressively, it may be enough to keep me from cringing if that happens.

Hitter of the Week - Brett Gardner, CF, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (Triple A):

I'll be the first to admit that these "awards" aren't always given to the week's best players. This week's best hitter, for example, was probably either Jason Lane or Brad Suttle. However, since I'm forced to write about whoever gets the award, I'm inclined to give it to the best story, and this week that's Brett Gardner. I wrote about Gardner back in my first Minor League Monday when he hit his first home run in two years. Thankfully it's taken a lot less time for him to hit another, as he went deep off of the Ironpigs' Brian Mazone in Saturday's win. Even more surprising was that this home run didn't sneak over the wall, but instead soared over the "371 feet" sign in right center by a healthy margin. Whether this is a sign that Gardner is adding the one missing element to his game remains to be seen, but you can rest assured that if he is it's not at the expense of his formidable speed. Gardner remains so fast that, even though he was in his home run trot, he nearly made it to third base before the ball landed.

A few extra notes:

• Those of you who check the box scores might have been worried by Mark Melancon's appearance for the Tampa Yankees on Thursday, which said that he left the game without facing the batter. If so, then you can put your mind at ease, as it had nothing to do with the oft-injured Melancon's health. It turns out that when he took the mound someone noticed that his name had been accidentally left off the lineup card by manager Luis Sojo, making him ineligible to pitch. Since then, Melancon has pitched 3.2 mediocre, but completely healthy, innings.
  
  
• Those of you who like to worry should feel free to do so for Trenton Thunder infielder Kevin Russo, who left the team and headed back to Tampa after doctors found abnormalities in his blood work. Here's hoping that it's nothing more than a little scare for the 23 year-old.