As mentioned earlier on the blog, Yankees pitching coordinator Nardi Contreras was in Trenton yesterday. Mike Ashmore and I sat down with him for about 10 minutes in the Thunder dugout before the game. What follows is the second half of that conversation. Enjoy.

MA: Romulo Sanchez got called up to the big leagues (yesterday). Did you get a chance to see him in Scranton?
NC: Yes, I saw him (pitch) really well. He topped out at 99, averaged 95, threw strikes, pitched seven innings. Might've given up two runs, one walk, seven-eight strikeouts. (He) stayed within his delivery. Great change-up. He has a real good curve and slider, and of course he has that power fastball.

JN: Did you get a chance to see Graham Stoneburner pitch?
NC: Yes, he pitched well. Pat Roessler saw him a few days ago, and he pitched really well. He's coming along. His arm strength is really coming. He's starting to throw the ball real well, real hard, commanding his fastball. His slider was much better for Pat Roessler than it was for me, and the change-up was there. So he looked really nice.

JN: Where do you see that slider on a 20-80 scale?
NC: It's not major-league average yet, so below 50.

MA: Are there a lot of guys in Scranton who come through Trenton, guys like McAllister, who you are pleased with their development since they've been here?
NC: Yeah, I think Pittsburgh's really happy that we develop our pitchers, because they take 'em all it seems like. Things have gone well, and I think we've lost 15 pitchers within the last two years.

Hacker, I understand, is 4- or 5-0 in Triple-A with the Giants. Chase Wright, too. They're just all over. (Kanekoa) Texeira is doing well in Seattle. I guess you could say we're happy with how they've developed for other organizations.

If we can get quality big-league players and pitchers for our guys, that's what this is about. That's what development is, and hopefully they're with us, but if we can get someone that's going to help us. I mean, Sanchez -- how many arms do you get like Sanchez?

He's (Sanchez) in the program developing, learning what we try to teach there, and hopefully it works out. We've got a power arm that can hit 100 miles per hour with a power change-up that can that can strike anybody out and a slider that can get people out.

That's our job, to develop, and we're very happy, very proud that we do that with our pitching.

JN: I'm going to ask about one more Charleston guy, and that's Jose Ramirez. What kind of future do you see for him?

NC: Jose Ramirez has got a great future. He's pitching where he's supposed to pitch right now. He's learning to throw the breaking ball right now. He's got an exciting fastball. He's got a power change-up, and he's learning the breaking ball. He's right where he should be right now.