JESUS MONTERO

- He can really hit, despite his unconventional style

- He's a little bit of a weight-shift hitter, has a little hand-hitch in his load

- Tremendous bat speed, power to all fields

- "It's not the prettiest swing in the world, but he can hit"

- "I'm convinced that he can't catch."

- He's going be a DH, but he's going to be a very productive major league hitter

- I think there's a chance that he can be a very productive five-hole hitter in the big leagues

- Lot of balls to the backstop, strong arm, doesn't coordinate his release, arm action is a little bit long. He stabs at balls and doesn't move to block really well.

Is he still the Yankees' most valuable trade chip: "I think, from their perspective, he would be. If I was another team looking for a player, he wouldn't be my first choice. I'd be more interested in some of the young arms, because in the long run I think some of those young arms might have a bigger impact."

ADAM WARREN

- Liked the way he battles, even without his good stuff

- Four average to solid-average major league pitches

- He could pitch in the MLB right now with the stuff

- Solid No. 4 starter

- A bulldog on the mound

ANDREW BRACKMAN

- An enigma: "He'll flash you really good stuff, but he can't repeat his delivery at all."

- Clear that he's lost his confidence and has no confidence in what he's doing

- Long levers make it tough to find a consistent release point, but stuff is there

- Bullpen guy in the long run, 7th/8th-inning guy if everything turns around

D.J. MITCHELL

- Live, loose arm

- Comped to Ramiro Mendoza in that he could be a versatile pen arm

- Loved the change-up -- "That's his weapon now."

- His niche is his versatility

BRANDON LAIRD

- He's got big juice, big power, big raw juice, but style/bat path don't allow him to get to it at game time

- Getting himself out a lot. Swings at a lot of bad pitches.

- When he squares it, it sounds really good coming off his bat

- Too many holes in the swing

- Slower, not real athletic body

- Range at third base is not good; hands are OK

Mike Ashmore and I conducted this interview with Yankees player development guru Mark Newman on Tuesday. His questions indicated with "MA," whereas mine are indicated with "JN." Mark's answers are indicated with a simple "A" for answer. Enjoy.

JN: Where is Adams in terms of coming back to this team?

A: Adams is farther way. Adams will not come directly here anyway. He’ll probably go play in the Florida State League before he comes here.

JN: Will that be a rehab, or will that be officially on Tampa’s roster?

A: They don’t do minor league rehabs there, so he has to go on their roster.

JN: Has the fact that he’s taken so long to come back been frustrating for you?

A: It’s been frustrating for him. I empathize with him. One, he is a very good player and prospect. Two, he works beyond diligently at his craft defensively and offensively, and throughout this process at the rehab work that he faces. So he’s frustrated, but when you get down to it, what good does that do you?

What he needs to do, and what he does do, is work at it every day. Humanness dictates that there’s some frustration, but he’s a smart enough guy to know that if you spend too much time on those feelings and emotions, it’s going to make your task even more difficult.

JN: As for Stoneburner?

A: Stoneburner’s pitching in games on a rehab assignment in the GCL. He’s got some more hoops to jump through. He had two innings in his last start.

MA: And Bleich?

A: Bleich is a long way away. He’s not imminent. There’s no reason to worry about him.

JN: I assume you were made aware of Slade Heathcott’s incident this year in Charleston. Was there any talk of possible internal discipline for his actions?

A: There wasn’t any internal discipline.

JN: When you see a kid who has Heathcott’s background, and this happens, does it worry you a little?

A: He’s doing well at what he’s doing. I was no more worried about him than I would have been anyone else. He’s been great. We’ve had zero problems with him.

MA: Betances and Banuelos are obviously the talk of the organization. How would you compare those two in terms of where they’re at right now?

A: Very close. They’re both pitching well here. They could both pitch better here. They could both improve the control and command of their fastball, so they’re very close in my mind.

MA: Is one ahead of the other?

A: I don’t really think so. If there were, I wouldn’t say.

JN: That third B, Brackman, are his issues mostly between the ears?

A: He’s not doing well. He’s scuffling. I think it’s a confidence thing. More than anything else, it’s that.

JN: What do you do to treat something like that?

A: He’s working at it, and he’s got to work through the problems. When athletes struggle, the good ones, what they do is call on past successes and they run that video through their brain. Brack’s got to do that sort of thing.

He’s got to remember how good a pitcher he is. At the end of the year last year, he was a good as anyone here. In the playoffs, a lot of our guys said he was our best pitcher in the playoffs.

He can do that again. It’s been a tough year for him, but he’s certainly good enough and he’s certainly working at it.

JN: Do you have a sports psychologist on staff to deal with such problems if need be?

A: We’ve got a department of four people that deal with those issues specifically, but all of our coaches do too. It’s an ongoing conversation. What can we do to help our players max out their performance potential? Coaches and sports performance experts – I mean, coaches are performance experts – our coaches understand these things, our sports performance department understands these things. We try to educate players about how to think and feel during competition, during preparation for competition. It’s constant.

We gameplan for three aspects with our athletes:

∙ Fundamental – how you catch, throw and hit

∙ Physical – How you get stronger, faster, quicker, bigger

∙ Mental emotionally – How you think and how you feel

All those things are intertwined. They don’t exist independently of each other. We understand that we need a program in those three areas for all of our players.

Depending on the individual and depending on where you are in this guy’s career, one of those things may be predominant. Brack right now is working on confidence. It’s what he’s got to do. It’s taken a couple of hits, his confidence has, but this is a game for tough people.

When I say tough people, it’s not just run over catchers, or break up double plays or run into walls to catch fly balls. A lot of the toughness required in this business is mental. It’s the ability to fight through junk. That’s where he’s at. He’s in a tough spot, we’ve got other players who have been in tough spots too.

MA: Wanted to ask you about the hitting coach situation. Ever since Matos left, I guess things have been in flux a little bit. When the situation happened, what was your reaction?

A: My initial reaction was just to find out went on. After that, you gather facts and you make judgments. As a result of that, we decided that it wasn’t going to work to have him here for the remainder of the season. We’re lucky we’ve got James Rowson, who’s going to spend a ton of his time here. James is an excellent hitting coach, and Pat Roessler’s our farm director. He’s a former major league hitting coach and hitting coordinator, and he’s exceptional too. So these guys will be in good hands.

MA: What is Matos’ status in the organization right now?

A: He’s still a member of the organization, he’s just not here right now.

JN: What was behind the decision to keep Cito Culver at Staten Island this year rather than move him to Charleston with Gary Sanchez?

A: Different player, different needs. Sanchez was probably the premier performer in the Gulf Coast League a year ago. Cito did a solid job. That’s all it is.

MA: Is there anybody here knocking on the door of Scranton?

A: Not right at the moment. Everybody expects Manny and Dellin to go, and they’ll go when they’re consistent, when they put together the kinds of performances we’re looking for. That doesn’t necessarily mean shutouts. It means when they continue to execute.

Austin Romine could play at any Triple-A field in the country and be at home, but that’s just a matter of he and Montero need to catch.

JN: With Montero, the word complacency has been thrown around. Is that something you’ve seen?

A: No. I see him work every day. I see his defense improve. I think his defense has improved significantly over a year ago, and I think he continues to take steps in the right direction. He’s not putting up the offensive numbers he did last year, but last year his offense came in the last two months, two and a half months, and that’s where we are now.

JN: Are you surprised it took him that long to turn it on in Triple-A last year?

A: He’s 21 years old. He’d be a college senior. I’m surprised he’s in Triple-A, and that he’s working on his second year in Triple-A.

MA: People talk a lot about the Hughes Rules, the Joba Rules, all that kind of stuff. When you see some of your younger guys break down a little bit like they have, not that I’m at all suggesting anything wrong is going on, do you second guess the way you’re progressing these guys along in terms of pitch counts, innings, stuff like that?

A: Second guess how? Should have pitched them more, should have pitched them less?

MA: In any sort of sense.

A: No. I’ve done this too long and seen too many injuries. When we go through last year and have basically no injuries, and I tell our young guys -- they think, for a fleeting moment characterized by a lack of humility, that we’ve figured out how to keep pitchers healthy – you’re always going to deal with pitchers injuries.

There are three things that you can control: Mechanics, conditioning and workload. You cannot control DNA, and you cannot control the fact that the human body is not designed to do this. So, our pitching coaches try to help guys develop deliveries that are going to help them sustain. Our strength and conditioning coaches get involved in arm exercise, cardio, core, flexibility exercises designed to help these guys sustain.

The programs are designed in conjunction with the best doctors and physical therapists in the country, the Andrewses and the extraordinary orthopedic surgeons who do so many of these things. That’s a lot of information, and no one’s got answers.

Every once in a while, some club will start talking about this or that program they have – tread lightly. As soon as you think you’ve got the answer – as they say in golf, as soon as you think you’ve got the key they change the lock. I’ve done this long enough – as a lot of us have here – to have a healthy amount of humility about how hard this stuff is.

We monitor pitches, innings, increases, workloads, times a year, long-throwing programs, core exercises, when they do their arm exercises, how many times during the week, how many reps … no detail is beyond our concern. Having said that, we don’t control the whole environment.

JN: You mentioned DNA. While you obviously can’t look at DNA itself, can you go back and look at a guy’s family history to see if there’s anything there?

A: If they had a mother and a father who were pitchers that pitched 300 innings a year for 20 years like Nolan Ryan, you’d probably say: Well, there’s a shot. Beyond that, you look for bigger and stronger, but jeez, who’s bigger and stronger than Grant Duff? Tim Norton, who’s bigger and stronger than him?

They work very hard. Stuff happens. If we used them four days in a row, if the starter went 160 (pitches) because we were trying to win a playoff game, then we should be rightly scrutinized. Our primary objective is to produce and get these guys ready to play, and sometimes they get hurt. This year, we’ve had more than our share, as has our big league staff.

JN: Staying on medical for a little bit, Alan Horne had platelet-rich plasma therapy. Was he the first in the organization to have that procedure done?

A: No. We’ve used it for knees, hamstrings … it’s kind of en vogue now. We’ll know in a couple of years how good it is.

JN: Which gets to the point of the question: What is the organization’s approach to newer medical procedures?

A: Our doctors are doing it. I’m not doing it. Casey Stengel once said about a player “his limits are limitless.” My limits in the medical field are limitless. I don’t know, but our Dr. Ahmad, in New York, (and others like him), they have the current research. We defer.

JN: Corban Joseph has really done well this year. What are your guys in the organization saying about the returns on him this season?

A: Well. We love his bat. He works very hard at defense. He had a really great double play turn the other day in New Britain. First and third, one out – it was a heck of a play. He’s done well.

JN: Same kind of question with Jose Pirela. First two months were bad, but now he’s turned it on. What do you think caused that turnaround?

A: Look at his month to months last year – same thing. He told me it was weather. First two months, he’s never played in cold weather, he’s from Venezuela. I said, well what happened the first two months of last year, in Tampa? It was the same thing.

Not sure he could play in the league? I don’t know. That’s rank amateur psychology. He hit a long home run to left-center in New Britain, I mean it was a bomb.

Per Marc Carig of the Star-Ledger, Andrew Brackman, one of the famed Killer B's, has been shut down with tightness in his groin. He won't throw again until Tuesday.

"It's not going to hurt me," Brackman told the Ledger, "but it couldn't be a worse time."

Between Tampa and Trenton last year, Brackman finished 10-11 with a 3.90 ERA and struck out 126 men in 140 2/3 innings. He walked just 39, less than half of his total from 2009.

Brackman also was the winner in the Thunder's final victory of the season, a 3-2 victory over Altoona in Game 1 of the Eastern League Championship Series. He relieved Andy Pettitte that day, and tossed five innings of one-hit ball with four strikeouts.

Baseball America, considered by many to be the bible of the minor league baseball world, released its annual Top 100 Prospects list today, and the Yankees were well represented. The following six Bombers farmhands made the list:

No. 3 - Jesus Montero - C ... Top Tool: Power - 70-grade
No. 30 - Gary Sanchez - C ... Top Tool: Power - 70-grade
No. 41 - Manny Banuelos - SP ... Top Tool: Command - 60-grade
No. 43 - Dellin Betances - SP ... Top Tool: Fastball - 70-grade
No. 78 - Andrew Brackman - SP ... Top Tool: Curveball - 70-grade
No. 98 - Austin Romine - C ... Top Tool: Arm - 60-grade

The other minor league must-read, Baseball Prospectus, released its Top 101 prospects in the back of its annual book. Kevin Goldstein put four Yankees on his list, and they are:

No. 3 - Jesus Montero - C
Key quote: "Montero presumably has everything it takes to be a middle-of-the-order force on a championship-level team."

No. 27 - Manny Banuelos - SP
Key quote: "His stuff and polish makes it easy for scouts not to hold his lack of size against him, and he should reach Yankee Stadium before he's legal to drink ... "

No. 29 - Gary Sanchez - C
Key quote: "Despite being just 17 years old, Sanchez looked like a man among boys in his Gulf Coast League debut, already bringing his plus-plus power into game situations."

No. 32 - Dellin Betances - SP
Key quote: "When he returned from Tommy John Surgery in 2010, everything about his game took a big step in the right direction; he maintained his mid-90s fastball while showing much-improved command and control to go with a curveball that was nearly unhittable when it was on."

Toward the beginning of the offseason, I spoke to a couple of scouts about some of the Yankees prospects at Scranton, Trenton and Tampa. I'm no talent evaluator, so I like to talk with scouts as often as possible to get a more professional opinion about what I'm seeing. Here are what a couple of them had to say about some of the pitchers in the system:

GRAHAM STONEBURNER

Arm strength. He can throw strikes with all his pitches, and can get ahead in the count. He lacks deception, and will have to really command his 90-94 (ed note: I've seen 95) mph fastball, which is really straight. Sees him as a back-end starter or a 6/7 inning reliever.

ADAM WARREN

Similar to Stoneburner in that he commands his fastball, which sits in the 90-94 mph range. Has good command of his fastball, which also has sneakiness. Someone else who has a sneaky fastball: David Robertson. His curve and slider are average major league pitches. Has the ability to go up the ladder to get the strikeout.

ANDREW BRACKMAN

Very good stuff. Starter in the big leagues with front-end stuff. Topped at 96 with cutting and tailing action. Big-time breaking stuff.

MANNY BANUELOS

He has a bright future. Sneaky fastball (topped at 94). Plus curve, plus change. Showed big ability. "Whitey Ford didn't have this kid's stuff." No concerns about size. Throw out size when you're talking about a left-hander.

DELLIN BETANCES

He made big strides, topping at 97 with the fastball. Two plus-plus pitches -- FB and CB. Delivery has gotten a lot better, but he still falls off to the first-base side. Top-of-the-rotation stuff.

DAVID PHELPS

Middle-of-the-rotation starter. Good life on his fastball. Pitches with moxie. The kid can pitch. Pitches at 89-94, sitting at 91-92. A lot of confidence.

Every Tuesday, Minor Matters will run down the top 10 players from the Thunder's 2010 season. In a year that saw eight of Baseball America's 16 pitchers (excluding Mike Dunn
and Arodys Vizcaino, who were out of the organization) in their top 30, not to mention Austin Romine and Brandon Laird, there were plenty of good choices to go around.

No. 2 - Andrew Brackman




















Why he's here: He only joined the team in June, but by the end of the season he was the team's longest tenured starter. And after August, he was the team's ace. From his first start in August until the season ended, Brackman went his final seven starts without allowing more than three earned runs.

He matured greatly throughout his tenure, from a guy who seemed to rattle easily and appeared to not trust his excellent stuff, to an absolutely dominant force who earned a call-up to the big leagues at the end of the year.

This season, just his third full year as a pro, remember, could be the divining rod for his career. If he succeeds, he may wear the pinstripes for a long time. If he struggles with Triple-A hitters, however, there's a pretty good chance he's a very expensive bust.

Outlook for 2011: More than likely, he'll join D.J. Mitchell, Hector Noesi, David Phelps, and perhaps Lance Pendleton or Ivan Nova in the Scranton rotation. There's probably an outside shot of him making the big league bullpen if he blows up the spot in Tampa.

Every Monday, Minor Matters will run down the top 10 games of the Thunder's 2010 season. In a year that saw eight of Baseball America's 16 pitchers (excluding Mike Dunn and Arodys Vizcaino, who were out of the organization) in their top 30, not to mention Austin Romine and Brandon Laird, there are plenty of good choices to go around.

No. 6 - After Pettitte exits, Brackman mows down Curve




















RECAP: The opening game of the Eastern League Championship Series was supposed to be about Andy Pettitte making his second rehab tune-up. And while the left-hander did his job over five innings of two-run ball, the 6-foot-10 Brackman, in his first appearance of the postseason, quickly showed everyone why the Yankees spent a first-round pick on him three years ago.

Showcasing a moving fastball that topped out at 98 miles per hour and a hard-biting curveball, Brackman held the Curve to just a hit and a walk over five shutout innings. The Thunder won it in the tenth, thanks in large part to Brackman's yeoman effort.

More impressive than just the numbers, however, was the poise he showed while accomplishing them.

The key moment for Brackman was the eighth inning, when an error and hit batsman put runners at first and second with nobody down. One out later, the bases were jacked, spelling what seemed like certain doom.

But Brackman got Miles Durham to bounce the first pitch, a moving heater, to shortstop Luis Nunez, who started an inning-ending twin-killing that sent Trenton to its only victory of the ELCS.

Link to Original Story

REACTION: “I still don’t feel like I was in college, but I’ve got to deal with that and just go out and try to compete with what I have that day. … I definitely think there’s more in the tank.” -- Andrew Brackman

“They did it again in this series. They pitched out of key situations. I expect Pettitte to do that, but for these young guys — our entire pitching staff is bearing down, and I’m loving it back there catching. I’m seeing these guys evolving into guys that can bear down and make the pitches they need to make.” -- Austin Romine

AFTERWARD: That was the last bright spot for the Thunder in 2010. Dellin Betances, Adam Warren and Manny Banuelos couldn't outduel the Curve's trio of Jeff Locke, Justin Wilson and Tony Watson -- all left-handers -- and Altoona brought the city its first championship.

Every Monday, Minor Matters will run down the top 10 games of the Thunder's 2010 season. In a year that saw eight of Baseball America's 16 pitchers (excluding Mike Dunn and Arodys Vizcaino, who were out of the organization) in their top 30, not to mention Austin Romine and Brandon Laird, there are plenty of good choices to go around.

No. 8 - Andrew Brackman debuts




















Recap: After a truly cringe-worthy season in 2009, this seemed like a make-or-break year for skyscraping former first-rounder Andrew Brackman. When the year began, Brackman's goal seemed to be throwing consistent strikes and letting his plus stuff do its work.

Here's what Nardi Contreras had to say when I asked about him in May:

"What he is doing is throwing strikes. He's learning now, because last year he didn't throw many strikes. He's throwing strikes now, and he's learning how to command. He needs to know how to command. He's throwing his curveball. He's learning the slider and the change-up, too. He's learning some other pitches to go along with his curveball and his fastball."

After a few blips early, he went through a stretch of 39 1/3 innings during which he allowed just nine runs. He walked just six during that span. He had a bit of a blow-up during his last outing High-A (five earned in five innings) , but the decision was made, and Brackman was in Trenton five days later.

Link to Original Game Story

Reaction: “(He did) some good things out there, especially when he got settled. He’ll be fine. It may just take him an outing or two to get really, really settled here. But he’ll be fine.”
-- Tony Franklin

“I didn’t know they had those kind of hitters on that team, I was just kind of thrown into the fire. I just had to go out there and see what I could do. I felt comfortable. The mound here is a whole lot bigger than the one in Tampa, so I had to get used to it. But overall, I was pretty pleased.” -- Andrew Brackman

Afterward: That night didn't go quite as planned, and it took a little while for Brackman to adjust to the more mature hitters in Double-A. Once he did, he looked every bit of the first-round pick and four-year major league contract the Yankees used on him. From August 6 on he went 4-0 with a league-pacing 0.86 ERA. This offseason, New York picked up the first of his three contract options.

Yes, his defense is beyond poor, and will not get him far in the major leagues.

For Jesus Montero, briefly a Thunder catcher and our choice for the Yankees’ top prospect entering the Hot Stove season, the defense is merely a footnote.

It’s his bat that generates the ink — and justifiably so.

Montero recovered from an ice-cold start to dominate the International League at a tender 20 years old.

After May was completed, he looked lost, compiling just three home runs and 21 RBIs. By the time the season finished those totals were at 21 and 75, meaning he’d swatted an incredible 18
bombs and drove home 54 runs in a span of just 79 games.

The finish was so hot, in fact, that some were clamoring for Montero to earn a September call-up. A late infection quashed those talks, but the youngster will almost surely play a role in the Yankees’ catching picture in 2011.

2. Manny Banuelos - LHP
Continuing the trend of youth flourishing at the upper levels, there’s Manny Banuelos, a Mexican southpaw who, at just 19 years old, more than held his own at Double-A over the final few weeks of the season.

Scheduled as High-A Tampa’s Opening Day starter, Banuelos underwent an emergency appendectomy and missed more than two months before debuting in mid-June.
No matter, Banuelos bullied his way north from Florida to join the Thunder in the midst of a hotly contested pennant chase with the Fisher Cats.

The lefty wound up pitching his finest game during the finale of Trenton’s three-game sweep in the Eastern League Division Series, dispatching New Hampshire in dominating fashion.
Expect him to make a return to trip to central New Jersey next April.

3. Andrew Brackman - RHP
After seeming incapable of throwing a strike in 2009, things finally came together for Brackman last season.

After some early struggles, Brackman found his way in Tampa and earned a promotion to Trenton shortly thereafter.

Slowly but surely, control and confidence returned for Brackman, who admittedly was still not at 100 percent after having Tommy John surgery shortly after being drafted in 2007.

By the end of the season, the 6-foot-10 Brackman was the Thunder’s most dominant pitcher. He earned the team’s only win in the EL Championship series, flashing as high as 98 miles per hour and showcasing a devastating spike curveball.

It seems a coin-flip as to whether Brackman returns to Double-A to start next year.

4. Dellin Betances - RHP
Like Banuelos, Betances began the year on the shelf, although his absence was expected.
The 6-foot-8, 240-pounder spent April and May recovering from ligament reenforcement surgery on his throwing elbow.

When he returned, so did his high-90s fastball and wipeout curveball, as well as a revamped change-up and a much-improved sense of command.

New weapons in tow, Betances tore up the Florida State League, allowing a scant 43 hits in 71 innings, while fanning 88 against just 19 walks.

He’ll more than likely return to Trenton in 2011, but could move quickly.

5. Gary Sanchez - C
Another young, slugging catcher from Latin America?

Yep.

Just 17 years old, Sanchez, whom the Yankees signed out of the Dominican Republic for $3 million, was a man above boys in the Gulf Coast League. He slugged six bombs in 31 games before earning the promotion to Short Season Staten Island.

He struggled a bit there, but the dirt on Sanchez remains the same: He’ll hit, and hit a ton.

6. Slade Heathcott - OF
New York’s first-rounder in 2009, Heathcott spent the year in Low-A Charleston, and put up fine numbers for a 19-year-old getting his feet wet in pro ball.

The numbers tell one story, but here’s another: During one game of his I saw this year, Heathcott collected two hits against the Lakewood BlueClaws.

On the surface, that’s nice, but not exceptional. When you consider he did it while missing a contact lens, it shows some pretty nice determination from the young man.

7. Austin Romine - C
Handling the duties for Trenton all season, Romine didn’t quite flourish, but he didn’t flounder, either.

He hit .268 with 31 doubles, 10 home runs and 69 RBIs. The defense, while drawing some very positive reviews from scouts, didn’t look great on the stat sheet.

Still, his six passed balls marked a career low, and he expertly guided a talented and fluid staff all year long.

His work behind the dish does have flaws — he doesn’t handle velocity as well as he should, and he sometimes rushes himself — but he’ll e 22 next season, so there’s no reason to think he can’t overcome his problems.

8. J.R. Murphy - C
Another in a line of young, talented backstops, Murphy more than held his own in his full-season debut with Charleston — including a two-HR, nine-RBI game in mid-August.

He split time with Kyle Higashioka, and is athletic enough to perhaps move to the outfield down the line.

His .255/.327/.703 line doesn’t jump out at you, but seven bombs and 51 RBIs as a 19-year-old isn’t bad.

Still, he’s extremely polished, and could handle the staff next year at High-A.

9. Hector Noesi - RHP
He tossed the Thunder’s first nine-inning complete game since 2008, and apart from a mid-season struggle with his stride, Noesi was the team’s workhorse until he was moved up to Scranton for the season’s final weeks.

His solid four-pitch mix is enhanced by impeccable control.

He’ll start 2011 in Triple-A, more than likely.

10. David Phelps - RHP
Lost in the hubbub surround Brackman, Banuelos and Betances was Phelps, who quietly carried Trenton’s staff through the first part of the season.

He sports a a low-to-mid-90s fastball that he throws with excellent command and confidence anywhere in the zone.

Phelps was up and down after he was promoted to Scranton, but with a good showing in the early season, he could push for a spot in the 2011 bullpen.

UPDATE: Got this a little earlier, but wanted to hold for confirmation. Brackman will be active, despite what I heard this morning. I assume this was a recent change. Betances and Montero, however, are still inactive.

=================

UPDATE: Just got off the phone with Damon Oppenheimer, who says that Jesus Montero will be joining Betances and Brackman in New York. Like the other two, Montero will be inactive while up there.

===================

Just got off the phone with Mark Newman, and here's the scoop:

Per the New York Post report this morning, Andrew Brackman is headed to New York to get a taste of life in the big leagues. He will do drills with the coaches and experience what it's like to be in a big league pennant race.

What the Post didn't have, however, is that Dellin Betances will be joining his (slightly) taller teammate. Betances told me just before the Thunder's exit from the playoffs that he will be participating in the instructional leagues, but only to work on his defense.

Both made the best of what could have been seen as pivotal seasons, as far as their overall development was concerned. Below are audio clips from both men from just before the season ended. I spoke with them about their seasons, their turnarounds and whether they expected to be in Double-A in 2010.

UPDATE: Per the man himself, Andrew Brackman says he has not been promoted to the Yankees, nor has he heard that it will happen. He is currently at home in Ohio.

On Sept. 14, Andrew Brackman pitched in relief of Andy Pettitte. If you'd told Brackman that night that he'd be sharing a big league clubhouse with Pettitte less than a week later, I'm sure he would have called you every kind of crazy in the book.

And yet, according to Cincinnati.com, it's true.

If so -- and I'm working on confirmation -- then it represents one heck of a turnaround from his horrific 2009 season, during which he went 2-12 with a 5.91 ERA. He was even pushed to the bullpen at one point to get himself straightened out.

This season, however, after a brief blip in the early going, things took a 180 for the 6-foot-10 former first-rounder.

He finished 2010 with an 11-10 mark, a 3.90 ERA and 126 strikeouts over 140 2/3 frames. Moreover, his stuff looked incredible, with the culmination coming in Game 1 of the Eastern League Championship Series. In relief of Pettitte that night, Brackman twirled five one-hit innings and earned what turned out to be the Thunder's last win of the season.

Now, as a member of the 40-man roster, he'll get a chance to pitch in another pennant race. This time, however, the stakes are much higher.

TRENTON — Just when he thought his season was over, the rain dragged Andrew Brackman back in.

Last night’s washout — the first at home all season — means Brackman would be called upon to pitch a potential fifth game, which would be played on Sunday at 1:05 at Waterfront Park.

After he pitched five innings in relief of Andy Pettitte on Tuesday, the team told Brackman he could go ahead and shut it down for the rest of year, with a few days of charting as his only remaining work.

Yesterday, however, with the weather forecast looking gloomy, those plans changed abruptly.

“I was told the day after I pitched ‘Shut it down, you’re done,’” he recalled. “Then I was told to show up here at 7:00 (p.m.) to go in the stands and chart. I got a phone call at 3:00 that said to come up here and throw a bullpen just in case they need me in Game 5.”

He looked strong on Tuesday, and has been that for last month or so. In fact, since Aug. 11, Brackman’s ERA of 0.82 is tied for tops in the league.

Who, you ask, has been his equal in that span? Why it’s Altoona’s Rudy Owens, who it just so happens was approved late last night to oppose Brackman should the series go to Game 5.

Knowing the circumstance, it would be fair for one to assume that the deciding game of a championship series would be the biggest pressure point of the big man’s career to date.

Not so.

Brackman points to Game 1 of the 2005 Atlantic Coast Conference, when he struck out five in seven innings against the Miami Hurricanes. This, of course, came just two months after he joined the baseball team.

Of course, Brackman also had some fairly big moments on the basketball court, where he spent a good portion of his college athletic career.

“Oh yeah, the Sweet 16 was probably the biggest,” he said. “I played in front of more people and everything.”

He didn’t perform terribly well against that night, when his N.C. State Wolfpack faced the Wisconsin Badgers. That aside, he still has the utmost confidence in himself should the Thunder need him with a championship on the line.

“I want to be there for Game 5,” he said, before reminding reporters that, no matter how it shakes down, a title is the ultimate goal. “Hopefully my teammates can come through and we can win a championship.”

I spoke with Yankees roving pitching coordinator Nardi Contreras on Saturday, and here's what he had to say about the Thunder's staff, after seeing all but Arbiso one time.

JN: After seeing this rotation once through, what are your thoughts on how it looks late in the season.

NC: I haven’t seen anything I’ve disliked. Everything is good. I saw D.J. (on Friday) was very good. He’s got tremendous sink, a great curveball, a great change-up. He’s just got to get more consistent with the control of his fastball, but he’s got great stuff, so he will succeed.

I saw Brackman the best I’ve ever seen Brackman. He commanded his fastball, threw his curveball. He walked one guy in six innings, gave up three or four hits. He commanded his fastball and curveball and threw some quality sliders, so his slider is coming. He even threw some quality changeups, so that’s coming.

(Hector) Noesi threw a lot of strikes but he was up too much, so he’s just got to get the ball down. He’s got the curveball, and his slider has improved. He’s got the change-up and he throws strikes.

Our kids are not walking anybody. They’re throwing strikes, so they’ve got a chance to get people out.

Warren’s got to improve his curveball. He throws the ball hard and throws strikes with his fastball. He relies on his fastball a little bit too much, so he’s got to spend a little bit of time with the offspeed pitch. At Tampa he probably got away with a lot with his fastball.

The higher you go, you’d better be able to mix in some of your offspeed pitches. I think he’s starting to learn that he’s got to mix in some of his offspeed pitches. I think he’ll be all right. He’s a strike thrower, and he’s not scared to throw strikes.

Here are three videos of Brackman pitching during last night's 6-0 Thunder win, and one of his brief postgame chat with reporters.

From the top, we have a strikeout, a groundout, an error, an RBI single and another groundout.

BOWIE, Md. — It started on Opening Day when Christian Garcia tore a ligament in his elbow. Then, three weeks later, Damon Sublett needed season-ending thumb surgery.

A month passed before the Thunder’s next big blows, labrum surgery for No. 3 starter Jeremy Bleich and a high ankle sprain to David Adams that so far has cost the second baseman nearly two months.

From the last day in June until July 6, center fielder Austin Krum and late-inning relievers Grant Duff and Tim Norton each took their place on the shelf.

Then yesterday came what could wind up being the biggest blow of all, an ankle injury to Brandon Laird, the Thunder’s cleanup man and the circuit’s leader in RBIs.

Still, even with all that star power gone, Trenton finds itself just 1 ½ games behind New Hampshire for first place in the Eastern League’s Eastern Division.

After closing the first half yesterday with a series-salvaging win over the Bowie Baysox, the team believed that in order to retain its postseason, the starting pitching had to right itself.

“We need to pitch well,” Lance Pendleton said. “I think that, really, is the first step, making sure our starters to take of some business and hope (the offense) scores a few runs for us. That really is the thing.

Over their six road losses to close the first half, Thunder starters haven’t exactly given the team a lift. They’ve allowed 23 earned runs on 34 hits and 12 walks over 25 2/3 innings.

For those counting, that’s an ERA of 7.71 and a WHIP of 1.79, ghastly marks both.

“The last week or so, we haven’t commanded our pitches as well,” pitching coach Tommy Phelps said before yesterday’s game. “We’ve gotten behind in the counts, left some pitches in the zone and we haven’t pitched as well. We went through a stint like this early in the season for about 10 days, but we’ll get back on track after the break.”

Knowing Hector Noesi and Andrew Brackman — the latter of whom is throwing much better than his numbers indicate — will be in the rotation from the jump adds an element of certainty.

Add in the probability of receiving Adam Warren, the Florida State League’s ERA leader shortly after the break to join All-Stars Pendleton and D.J. Mitchell — whose seven wins lead the staff — and the starting five seems like it could be ready to improve quickly.

“We have a lot of younger guys throughout our organization who have stepped up, and come in and filled those guys’ shoes” Phelps said, referring to younger pitchers like Brackman and Noesi who have filled the holes left behind by Garcia, Phelps and Bleich “That’s the whole thing with development and everything — when a guy leaves, we have a lot of depth in our organization.”

The title really says it all.

Here are some photos courtesy of Trentonian freelancer Andreea Rawlings. You should check out her work at arawlingsphotography.com.

BOWIE, Md. – For two innings last night, Andrew Brackman was as good as advertised. He flashed a dazzling array of high-octane fastballs and late-breaking curveballs that left Bowie’s hitters in knots.

Then came the third inning, and the Thunder’s right-hander, massive in both size and expectations, came unraveled.

Brackman allowed four runs on three hits -- with back-to-back walks and a hit batsman thrown in – in the frame, and Trenton never recovered, eventually falling 6-2 to the Baysox at Prince George’s Stadium.

After displaying a heater that sat comfortably in the mid-90s and touched 99 on multiple occasions, Brackman started off the third with a curveball that slipped and caught catcher Bowie catcher Caleb Joseph square in the back.

The problem, he believes, at least last night, was between his ears, not in his arm.

“I got a little bit out of control, maybe, mentally,” Brackman said. “I just got out of myself a little bit and didn’t control it.”

Interim manager Jody Reed agrees that the cause of Brackman’s early Double-A struggles so far has to do in large part with his mental approach.

“If he can stay in the frame of mind the first couple of innings, that’s the guy you’re looking for,” Reed said. “That’s how a major league pitcher has to be. He just has to be a bulldog out there. If a couple of things happen out there, you have to be able to get that ball back and get in the same frame of mind and get right back after it.”

Brackman recovered and fanned the next man, Danny Figueroa, but then surrendered a seeing-eye single through the middle to ninth hitter Carlos Rojas. Leadoff man Greg Miclat, a smallish shortstop, then cashed in both runners on a ringing double just inside the third-base line.

Joe Mahoney, who was a perfect 3-for-3 on Friday in his Double-A debut, drove home the inning’s final run on a line drive to left that gave his team an early four-run edge.

Overall, Brackman gave up five runs – four earned – on five hits and three walks. He struck out an impressive eight hitters as well, but ultimately took his fourth loss in as many starts.

The most troubling part of that line is the three free passes. With Tampa this season, Brackman walked nine over 60 innings. In just 16 frames with Trenton, he’s already at seven.

An advanced plate approach from upper-level hitters may have something to do with that uptick.

“I feel like hitters have an approach here instead of down in the lower levels,” Brackman said. “They’re not going to swing at some of the stuff they might swing at (otherwise).”

Trenton got something going in the fifth when left fielder Jack Rye led off with a long home run to left field, which Rene Rivera followed with a ground-rule double. Edwar Gonzalez’s two-bagger two hitters later brought Rivera home.

Both Trenton runs came off of starter Rick Zagone, who baffled the Thunder otherwise.

Rehabbing Orioles reliever silenced the Thunder in the seventh, and Jose Diaz and Bob McCrory followed suit in the eighth and ninth.

NOTES: Austin Romine and Hector Noesi, who flew to California for the XM Futures Game yesterday morning, were placed in the Temporarily Inactive List. Justin Christian was added to the roster. … The Eastern League announced the lineups yesterday for its Home Run Derby, to be held before the All-Star Game, on July 14. Representing the Eastern Division will be Reading’s Matthew Rizzotti and Tagg Bozied, New Hampshire’s Eric Thames and Binghamton’s Kirk Nieuwenhuis. Harrisburg’s Michael Martinez and Chris Marrero, as well as Altoona catcher Hector Gimenez and Richmond’s Thomas Neal will go to bat for the Western Division.

Below are videos (shot by Mike Ashmore for The Trentonian) of Austin Romine and Andrew Brackman reacting to Brackman's debut on Friday night. Also below is audio from Nardi Contreras (15 minutes), pre- and postgame from Tony Franklin (pregame is in two parts), and David Phelps dissecting last night's start. Enjoy.