Per Peter Abraham's blog, big right-hander Humberto Sanchez has been optioned to Trenton. He was there briefly last season, pitching just an inning in the season's final game. He also got two innings in the big leagues in September.



I assume the Yankees will continue to use Sanchez as a reliever, as he seems to have proven himself not durable enough to continue as a starter.



Funny story about Sanchez from last season: During the postseason, myself, a couple of colleagues and Sanchez and few other Thunder pitchers were hanging out in the tunnel outside the clubhouse.



The guys in the media all knew Sanchez would be getting a shot with the Yankees in short order. Sanchez, however, didn't believe it.



One of us piped up and asked, "Hey, Humberto, ready for the bigs in a few weeks?"



Sanchez, who has a young daughter, smiled and replied, "Nah. In a few weeks all I'll be doing is changing diapers."



Lo and behold, September 18 came around and Sanchez was at Yankee Stadium pitching a scoreless inning in relief of Mike Mussina. Once October came around, though, I assume he was indeed changing many a diaper.

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There's another Thunder notebook on The Trentonian Web site, this one detailing Ramiro Pena's success in Tampa, a sweet home run for Austin Jackson and an update on the rest of the gang's ups and downs in spring training.