Minor League Monday 5/5/08

I'm a little late with this week's Minor League Monday, but I decided to add a new award. I realized that relievers rarely play enough in aek to really merit recognition as the pitcher of the week, so I've added a Relief Pitcher of the Month award:

Relief Pitcher of the Month - Wilkins De La Rosa, LHP, Charleston Riverdogs (Single A):

It probably seems a little strange for me to be giving this to a guy who walked 11 batters in just 15.3 April innings but, as I've mentioned before, these awards aren't just for performance; they're for newsworthiness as well. De La Rosa has done a good job working around those walks, striking out an exceptional 26 and holding hitters to a .154 batting average, resulting in a very nice 1.15 ERA. What makes him stand out from the other dominating relievers in the Yankee organization, however, is that he does it by throwing a high 90's fastball with his left hand.

The Yankees have a lot of power pitchers in their system, and a few left handed ones, but very few that are both. There's no doubt De La Rosa is raw. A converted outfielder, this is only his second season on the mound and he's still learning how to throw the slider and changeup, but that electric fastball makes him a guy well worth keeping an eye on.

Hitter of the Week - Eric Duncan, 1B, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (Triple-A):

Duncan's name might be familiar to many of you. A first round pick in 2003, he was hyped the way only a Yankee prospect can be, by being mentioned in possible trades for a future Hall of Famer. Even though the Yankees did end up landing Randy Johnson without him, the drive to raise his trade value pushed him up the minors and set him up for a series of disappointing seasons which have destroyed his status as a prospect in the minds of many. However, he's quietly been putting together a solid season in Scranton, and went 6 for 19 this week with a double and a home run to bring his season line up to .270/.382/.429 line thus far. It's possible that, at 23, Duncan has finally learned the lessons he missed when he was rushed up the minors.

Pitcher of the Week - Zachary McAllister, RHP, Charleston Riverdogs (Single A):

I've written about McAllister before, and most of what I wrote still applies. He's still a pitcher with unusually good command of four solid pitches; two and four seam fastballs, a slider and a changeup. This week that command brought him two wins and only one earned run in fifteen innings. Even more impressive is that he walked only one batter while striking out ten. For the season he's struck out 29 while walking just 5 in 39 innings, and has amassed a miniscule 0.92 ERA.

SI Yankee All-Stars

I was going to write a post about Clemens and Torre being suspended, but I realized that there's nothing really interesting to say. Torre will likely take tomorrow off, and Clemens will appeal his suspension and either get it reduced or serve it at a point in the schedule where the team can just skip his turn in the rotation.

Instead, I thought I might shift a bit of the spotlight closer to home, specifically Dutchess Stadium, home of the 2007 New York-Penn League All-Star game. The Yankees will be represented by two players from the Staten Island team; Justin Snyder (or, as the official Minor League Baseball site likes to call him, Justin, Snyder) and Zach McAllister.

Snyder was drafted out of the University of San Diego in the 21st round of this year's draft, a very low pick for someone Baseball America ranked as one of the top 200 prospects in the draft. I haven't heard a reason for why he fell so far, and he certainly hasn't played like a 664th pick. In fact, he's probably the NYPL MVP, hitting .385/.488/.569 (that's AVG/OBP/SLG). Those first two numbers lead the league, and the third only trails Mahoning Valley's Todd Martin. All the more impressive is that he's maintained this performance while bouncing around from second to short to third to center field, as the Yankees seem intent on turning him into a sort of super utility player. Obviously you can't get too excited about a partial season in the low minors, but Snyder's the kind of smart, scrappy player that can be very useful to a team. Think Chuck Knoblauch before he started throwing balls into the stands.

Zach McAllister, the Yankees' third round pick in the '06 draft, is a righthanded pitcher with a low 90s fastball, a good slider and a developing changeup. Now, it may seem that the Yankee farm system is filled with guys who fill that description, but thats only because it is. Damon Oppenheimer, the man in charge of the Yankees' scouting, seems to be a firm believer in the idea that it takes three pitching prospects to make one major leaguer. What makes McAllister stand out is his youth (he's only 19), and the fact that he shows remarkable command of his breaking ball and good feel for the changeup for someone so young.

Anyway, I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to make it to the game, but if you do, keep an eye on these guys and let me know what you think.