Minor League Monday 4/28/08

I somehow managed to miss Minor League Monday last week, so these awards will cover two weeks.

Pitcher of the Fortnight - Daniel McCutchen, RHP, Trenton Thunder (Double A):

When a pitcher faces a team two times in a row, he often finds himself at a disadvantage, since hitters have a better idea of what to expect. On Friday, however, the New Britain Rock Cats had no idea what to expect, as McCutchen struck out twelve of them over seven one-hit innings in Trenton just five days after he held them to two runs over seven innings in New Britain. As I've mentioned many times before, the Yankee farm system is packed with righthanded pitching prospects, so it can be hard for someone like McCutchen to stand out since he doesn't have the kind of high ceiling of a Dellin Betances or Andrew Brackman. However, McCutchen's polish and excellent curveball could make him a very useful Jon Lieber kind of fifth starter.

Hitter of the Fortnight - Matt Carson, OF, Trenton Thunder (Double A):

The current owner of a 15 game hitting streak, Carson has been absolutely pounding the ball in a stadium that's very pitcher friendly. Over the past two weeks he's hit .407/.458/.833, including four home runs. Still, as good as he's been, it'd be a stretch to call him a prospect. Carson is 26 years old, and it's only after a 186 mediocre games at Double A over the past few years that he's managed to find this success.

A few other notes:

• Darrell Rasner is making a strong argument for taking Ian Kennedy's place in the rotation. In five starts, Rasner has walked more than one batter only once, on April 16th, and has yet to allow more than one earned run in a game.



• Austin Romine, who has been alternating with Jesus Montero between catcher and DH in Charleston, had just started to get into a groove when he strained his groin last week. There's no word on the severity or how long it'll be till he comes back. It's turning out to be a really bad spring for Yankee catchers.

Spring Training - The Catchers

I've been away for a while, but it's February now and that means roses, chocolates and baseball. It's just three days until pitchers and catchers report, with all the other players reporting just five days later. For the Yankees, that'll be a whopping 69 players altogether:

Player	Position
Bobby Abreu	RF
Jonathan Albaladejo	RHRP
Kyle Anson	C
Wilson Betemit	IF
Andrew Brackman	RHSP
Chris Britton	RHRP
Jason Brown	C
Brian Bruney	RHRP
Melky Cabrera	CF
Robinson Cano	2B
Bernie Castro	IF
Francisco Cervelli	C
Joba Chamberlain	RHSP
Justin Christian	OF
Colin Curtis	OF
Johnny Damon	CF
Eric Duncan	1B
Shelly Duncan	1B
Morgan Ensberg	3B
Kyle Farnsworth	RHRP
Brett Gardner	CF
Jason Giambi	DH
Dan Giese	RHRP
Alberto Gonzalez	IF
Nick Green	IF
LaTroy Hawkins	RHRP
Sean Henn	LHRP
Alan Horne	RHSP
Phil Hughes	RHSP
Kei Igawa	LHSP
Austin Jackson	CF
Steven Jackson	RHRP
Derek Jeter	SS
Jeff Karstens	RHRP
Ian Kennedy	RHSP
Jason Lane	OF
Jeffrey Marquez	RHSP
Hideki Matsui	LF
Daniel McCutchen	RHSP
Mark Melancon	RHRP
Juan Miranda	1B
Jose Molina	C
Jesus Montero	C
Mike Mussina	RHSP
Eduardo Nunez	SS
Ross Ohlendorf	RHRP
Scott Patterson	RHRP
Carl Pavano	RHSP
Andy Pettitte	LHSP
Heath Phillips	LHRP
P.J. Pilittere	C
Gregory Porter	OF
Jorge Posada	C
Edwar Ramirez	RHRP
Cody Ransom	IF
Darrell Rasner	RHSP
Mariano Rivera	RHRP
Alex Rodriguez	3B
Austin Romine	C
Humberto Sanchez	RHSP
Scott Strickland	RHRP
Jose Tabata	RF
Billy Traber	LHRP
Marcos Vechionacci	3B
Jose Veras	RHRP
Chien-Ming Wang	RHSP
Steven White	RHSP
Chris Woodward	IF
Chase Wright	LHSP

That's a full 40 man roster, 29 non-roster invitees and a lot of names for anyone to keep straight. So, over the next couple of days I'm going to break it down for you, starting with the catchers:

40-Man Roster Players:

• Francisco Cervelli
• Jose Molina
• Jorge Posada

Non-Roster Invitees:

• Kyle Anson
• Jason Brown
• Jesus Montero
• P.J. Pilittere
• Austin Romine

As usual, the Yankees are bringing nearly every catcher in the organization to camp, for the simple reason that there's a lot of pitchers who need to throw to someone. Obviously, only Posada and Molina will be on the team come April, but keep an eye on Francisco Cervelli. Posada and Molina are both getting old, especially for catchers, and its very possible that the 20 year-old Cervelli would be called up if either was injured.

Among the non-roster invitees, Montero and Romine stand out as the prospects to watch. Both appear on my list of the Yankees' top prospects (which I'll be sharing here over the coming weeks), and both are players with loads of raw talent. I'm especially interested in seeing how Montero handles himself behind the plate, as defense said to be his biggest weakness. As for the other three NRIs, there's not much to say. Anson, Brown and Pilittere are all decent minor league catchers, but it's hard to imagine any of them having an impact on the major league level.

Tomorrow, I'll take a look at the starting pitchers, where there's a lot more players, questions and competition.