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

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 hitters in the system:

MELKY MESA

He's got a lot of tools. He's a very good athlete with a lot of holes in his swing. The percentage of him making the big leagues is slim, but if he does, it will be as a starter. He's not going to be a fourth or fifth outfielder.

He's got the rare combination of power and speed. He swings and misses a lot and needs to cut down on his swing. He's susceptible to the breaking ball and gets himself out. If he can get pitchers to get him out, he has a chance to be good.

BRAD SUTTLE

He's a polished player, but not that good of an athlete. He's a slow-twitch muscle guy who knows how to play. His range is below average. He's not a Suttle guy.

CORBAN JOSEPH

He's going to hit. He makes good contact, and is going to play in the big leagues. Adequate defender. Just like Utley, his ticket to the MLB is going to be his bat. This is not to say he's as good a hitter as Utley.

AUSTIN ROMINE

He has real defensive abilities. He has the chance to be a plus defensive catcher in the MLB. Compared to Brad Ausmus who can hit.

Another scout said: Defensively, he still has to improve. When he saw him (late season), he looked worn out. Did a good job with higher velocity kids. Got a good report from the Arizona Fall League.

JESUS MONTERO

He's a gifted hitter, but is going to need to find a different position. Offense is so far ahead of the bat. If he were to be in the big leagues this year, he could survive, but you wouldn't see the real potential until the second year.

BRANDON LAIRD

Questionable defense. He'll make the big leagues, but he won't be anything special. He hits bad pitching, good pitching can get him.

A different scout said: Bat is ahead of his defense, where he seems to be limited to the corners. Not much in the run game. The bat is real. Threw out a Jeff Conine comp. His swing has strength and leverage. He takes good at-bats and is aggressive.

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. 1 - Brandon Laird




















Why he's here: Put simply, Laird had the most dominant season of any player in the Tony Franklin era. Before leaving after August 1, he put up the following numbers: .291/.355/.878, 22 2Bs, 23 HRs, 90 RBIs. Those 23 bombs came in just 409 at-bats, meaning he left the yard once every 17.8 ABs, which is pretty darn impressive.

He also earned the Thunder's first Player of the Month honor since 1999, when David Eckstein took home the award. Laird was also a Player of the Week, a mid-season All-Star, a postseason All-Star, the league's MVP and Rookie of the Year, and was named to the Arizona Fall League's Rising Stars game. He also was the starting third baseman at Metro Bank Park for the EL All-Star Game.

Laird also put together two of the more memorable afternoons this year. One came when he had seven RBIs in the span of two innings against the Binghamton Mets. The other, which I said was the fifth-best game of year, saw Laird hit a walk-off home run to complete the cycle, something that, at that point, hadn't been done in the MLB in 26 years.

Outlook for 2011: Laird has switched to left field for now, to make his bat more attractive and to make him a more viable option in the Bronx. There seems to be a rather expensive roadblock standing in his way at the hot corner. He'll polish up in Triple-A in 2011.

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. 5 - Brandon Laird's walkoff cycle




















RECAP: Question: What does Brandon Laird have in common with Cubs prospect Brett Jackson and Rockies dynamo Carlos Gonzalez? All three men completed the cycle this past season with a walk-off longball.

Laird turned his trick on May 26, when the Thunder needed all the help they could get against the Erie Seawolves, who got three home runs from Wilkin Ramirez, the powerful outfielder who just doesn't seem to make enough contact.

The Thunder's third baseman collected the single in the second inning, his triple in the fifth, and his double in seventh inning, setting the table for ninth-inning drama against Erie closer Luis Marte.

Down 6-5 in the final frame, and with Austin Krum on first after a one-out single, Laird sent Marte's offering up and over the left-field wall, giving his team a dramatic 7-6 win. The blast was his ninth, and the RBIs were the 42nd and 43rd of the young year.

Link to Original Story

REACTION: “I wasn’t going up there looking for a homer, just trying to get something in the gap so Austin (Krum) could score and tie it because he has good speed. The cycle was on my mind, but believe me, I wasn’t going up there looking for a homer to get it.”
-- Brandon Laird

“I was going up there looking for my pitch and he threw me two curves to start me off,” Laird said. “Then he threw me a fastball and I just kept my approach and got the barrel on it."
-- Brandon Laird

AFTERWARD: Laird was easily the team's most valuable position player all year, and was named the league's MVP after the season. He started hot after a promotion to Triple in August, but fizzled the rest of the way. He showed power in the Arizona Fall League, but compiled a lousy .236/.282/.718 slash line. He struck out 27 times and drew just six walks.

Each Friday, Minor Matters will publish the Top Ten numbers from the season. These can be stats, players' numbers, whatever. As long as it's a number, it counts. The Thunder were just two wins from the Eastern League championship, so there's no shortage of material for this section.

No. 10 ...













What it means: Number 23, other than being Don Mattingly's number, was Brandon Laird's home run total with the Thunder last season.

Why it's significant: To say Brandon Laird had a killer stint in the Eastern League is to the sun has had a good run as a star. The Thunder's third baseman, in addition to those 23 bombs, hit 22 doubles, drove in 90 runs and walked 38 times.

He also won (deep breath) the league's Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player, Player of the Week and Player of the Month awards, and was named to both Mid-Season and Postseason All-Star teams.

Pretty damn good for a guy who played 107 games with the Thunder before moving to Scranton.

Other meanings: Jose Gil's strikeouts, the number of games D.J. Mitchell and Lance Pendleton each started for the Thunder, the number of walks David Phelps issued in 88 1/3 innings, the number of games in which Eric Wordekemper appeared and J.B. Cox's strikeout total.

There's been a little bit of news from around Yankee prospectdom today, so I'm going to make the bits short and sweet.

The biggest news is that Melky Mesa was added to the 40-man roster. Chad Gaudin and Royce Ring were taken off the roster to make space. Gaudin is a free agent now.

After posting the third-most home runs and stolen bases in the system, Mesa, 22, is poised to start 2010 in Trenton's outfield. He's an absolute lottery ticket of a guy, with power, speed and a plus arm.

One scout I spoke to had this to say about him:

He's got a lot of tools. He's a very good athlete with a lot of holes in his swing. The percentage of him making the big leagues is slim, but if he does, it will be as a starter. He's not going to be a fourth or fifth outfielder.

He's got the rare combination of power and speed. He swings and misses a lot and needs to cut down on his swing. He's susceptible to the breaking ball and gets himself out. If he can get pitchers to get him out, he has a chance to be good.

Additionally, Brandon Laird, Austin Romine and Manny Banuelos were named to the Arizona Fall League's Eastern Division roster for the Rising Stars Game. This year's game comes Saturday, and will be televised on the MLB Network.

Mesa and Laird were also named by the Topps baseball card company as the Players of the Year, respectively in High-A and Double-A.

Arizona Fall League

Austin Romine: 1-for-4, Passed Ball
Brandon Laird: 1-for-4, R, reached on error
Jose Pirela: 1-for-4, R, SB
George Kontos: 1 1/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO

Venezuelan League

Marcos Vechionacci: 0-for-1, BB
Jose Gil: 4-for-6, 2 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI

Mexican League

Walter Ibarra: 2-for-5, 2B, R

Yes, yes, the Yankees have advanced to the American League Championship Series. That's fine. Over here at Minor Matters, however, we care naught for things that concern the big club.

That means today, even with the Bombers off until Friday, big things are going on. The Arizona Fall League begins at 12:35 p.m., when the Phoenix Desert Dogs (which houses the Yankees players) meet the Mesa Solar Sox.

As I mentioned earlier on the blog, the Yankees on the Desert Dogs roster are:

C - Austin Romine
2B - Jose Pirela
OF - Brandon Laird
P - George Kontos
P - Craig Heyer
P - Ryan Pope
P - Manny Banuelos

In today's matchup, Romine, the Thunder's catcher, will face his brother Andrew, an infielder in the Angels system. Without looking it up, I am fairly certain this is the first time the two have met in a professional setting.

Also featured on the Mesa roster are:

- Justin Wilson, the Altoona lefty who sent the Thunder from the Eastern League playoffs.

- Brett Jackson, who, along with Laird was the other minor leaguer to complete a cycle with a walk-off home run. Carlos Gonzalez accomplished the feat in the MLB.

- Chris Carpenter, a Cubs farmhand who was drafted by the Yankees in 2007 (18th round).

- Matt Rizzotti, a slugging Phillies first baseman who hit an astonishing .343/.430/.985 with 17 home runs and 76 RBIs split among three levels.

- Brad Holt, Mesa's opening starter and a Mets prospect who struggled mightily with control (79 walks in 95 innings) and saw his stock fall dramatically.

Portland, ME — The Eastern League of Professional Baseball is pleased to announce that Trenton Thunder third baseman Brandon Laird has won the 2010 Eastern League Valuable Player Award and the 2010 Eastern League Rookie of the Year Award.

Laird appeared in 107 games with the Thunder this season and batted .291 (119-for-409) with 22 doubles, two triples, 23 home runs, 90 RBI, 73 runs scored, a .355 on-base percentage and a .523 slugging percentage in his first career season at the Double-A level. The 22-year old was rewarded for his performance as a member of the Thunder with a promotion to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees of the Triple-A International League on August 2nd. At the time of his promotion, the 6’1”, 215 lb. slugger was leading the league in total bases (214) and RBI (90). He was also ranked among the league leaders in home runs (23-2nd), hits (119-2nd), games (107-2nd), extra-base hits (47-tied 2nd), runs scored (73-4th) and slugging percentage (.523-5th). Brandon twice tied the Trenton franchise record for RBI in a game during the season. Laird first tied the mark by driving in seven runs on May 16th in a 13-7 win over Binghamton and later equaled the record with seven RBI in an 11-2 win at Erie on June 24th.

Another highlight for Laird came on May 26th when he became the second player in the history of the Trenton franchise to hit for the cycle, completing his cycle with a two-run walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth inning of a 7-6 win against Erie. That performance helped him take home the Eastern League Player of the Week Award for the week ending May 30th. He also was named the Eastern League Player of the Month for the month of May, was a member of the Eastern Division roster at the 2010 Eastern League All-Star Game and was selected as the third baseman on the recently announced Eastern League All-Star Team.

Laird is the first Thunder player to win the Eastern League MVP and Rookie of the Year awards. Two Thunder pitchers, Carl Pavano (1996) and Alan Horne (2007), have won the Eastern League Pitcher of the Year Award.

Brandon, who is the younger brother of Detroit Tigers catcher Gerald Laird, was selected by the New York Yankees in the 27th round of the 2007 draft after hitting .366 with 33 doubles, 17 home runs and 97 RBI while playing in 106 of a possible 107 games during two seasons at Cypress College in California.

Well, it finally happened. Brandon Laird, the Thunder's dynamic third baseman and the prime piston that kept the team's engine driving over the season's first two months, earned his call-up to Triple-A during yesterday's game with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats.

Laird finished his work with the Thunder sporting a .291/.355/.878 average with 22 doubles, 23 home runs and 90 RBIs. He struck out 84 times and drew 38 walks. He played a solid if not spectacular third base -- although he showed off a top-grade arm on more than one occasion.

He slumped a bit in June and early July, but rebounded big-time over the last two weeks. Since the All-Star break, Laird is hitting .369/.453/1.069 with four doubles, four longballs and nine RBIs.

Tomorrow, even though he's with Triple-A, Laird will get his first taste of major league pitching. Opposing Scranton, with the Syracuse Chiefs, will be Jason Marquis, who won 15 games last season with the Cubs and who sports a 94-86 record in The Show.

So, who'll be replacing Laird, you ask? That would be Corban Joseph, yet another in the Yankees' vast oasis of middle infield prospects. A Franklin, Tenn., native, he's the brother of Caleb Joseph, a catcher for the Bowie Baysox, also in the Eastern League.

For those interested in such things (read: nerds like me), the Baysox come calling on August 17-19, giving fans a view of both Joseph brothers on the same field. That's right, get excited.

Now to my favorite part, the numbers. With Tampa, Joseph was at .302/.378/.814 with 27 doubles, six HRs and 52 RBIs. He stole five bases -- in 13 attempts. He should probably stop running sometime soon.

The next question, of course, is how Tony Franklin, will shuffle the deck come Tuesday at Reading, where yours truly will be in attendance. If I were in his shoes (they would be too big), this is how I would fill out the lineup card:

LF - Christian
CF - Krum
2B - Joseph
C - Romine
RF - Brewer
1B - Vechionacci
DH - Gonzalez
SS - Nunez
3B - Snyder

Both Justin Snyder and Matt Cusick have spent time at third base this season, albeit a small sample size in each case, but, as their manager says, they're baseball players, and baseball players aren't limited to certain roles. I expect to see both of them spend time at the hot corner for the remainder of the season.

After talking with the Thunder PR this morning, and per a report from John Nalbone at BareBones, Brandon Laird is doing better, and the X-Rays on his left ankle were negative. Nalbone spoke to Mark Newman, who denied reports that Laird has been scratched from the All-Star game.

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.”

BOWIE, Md. — Even though they were able to sneak away with a victory to close the first half — 10-5 over the Bowie Baysox — the Thunder are left with far bigger problems to open the second part of their season.

Cleanup hitter Brandon Laird, who provided a large of portion of the team’s offense from April until June, fouled a ball off of his left ankle in the sixth inning. Upon contact, Laird tried to walk it off, but eventually succumbed to the pain and collapsed near the left-handed batter’s box.

Eventually, trainer Tim Lentych and coach Vic Valencia had to assist Laird from the field to the dugout, where he stayed for a time before being escorted to the clubhouse by Lentych.

The sheer fact that Laird left the game was proof enough to his teammates that something was seriously wrong with their third baseman.

“For him to come out of the game, it’s probably got to be pretty, pretty bad,” Justin Snyder said.

Neither Laird nor Lentych were in the clubhouse afterward, yet another probable indicator of the injury’s severity. He did ride the bus back to Trenton with the team, however he was scratched from the All-Star Game.

Even with Laird gone, there still was business at hand. When he left, the game was tied at 3-3, and that’s where it stayed until the ninth, when the Thunder’s bats exploded in a big way.

Marcos Vechionacci and Jack Rye opened the frame with consecutive walks off of Bob McCrory, who had so effortlessly dispatched with the Thunder a night earlier. Rene Rivera followed with a sacrifice bunt attempt so fundamentally perfect that even the slow-footed catcher was able to easily leg it into an infield single.

That set things up for Snyder, who took the patient approach, even after McCrory was removed after missing the strike zone on the first offering.

“I was going to pretty much take until I got strike, and he threw me a ball and they took him out,” Snyder said. “The guy coming in (Pedro Beato) I had faced prior, so I was pretty much looking for a first-pitch fastball, or anything I could drive when I got 3-1.”

He never got anything to hit, and was happy enough to draw a walk that forced home Rye with the go-ahead run.

Edwar Gonzalez followed with a bases-clearing triple upped the Thunder’s lead to 7-3. A single from Cusick — who replaced Laird in the lineup — and a double from Vechionacci put three more scores on the board and pushed Trenton into double digits for the first time since June 24 against Erie.

Even though they closed the road trip at just 2-6, the win yesterday gave the team a much-needed morale boost before the second half starts on Thursday with a four-game set against the Reading Phillies.

“It was a tough road trip,” Gonzalez said. “We struggled a little bit, but we still kept our positive attitude. … You want to go home for a couple of days, but you want to go home winning the last game.”

(Photo of Laird and Tim Lentych courtesy of Andreea Rawlings)

-- George Kontos was promoted earlier today, and has joined the club in Akron. It's a great step for a guy who two seasons ago led the organization in strikeouts. He's working his way back from Tommy John surgery, and I can't imagine he'll stay in Trenton too long before getting back to Triple-A, where he was before the injury.

Kontos' addition gives the Thunder three long relievers -- Josh Schmidt and Cory Arbiso are the others, not to mention Ryan Pope, who can probably work multiple innings as well. That said, I wouldn't be surprised to see Kontos wind up in the rotation before too long.

Of course, when you add someone to the roster, you usually have to subtract someone. In this case, that someone is Tim Norton, who was placed on the 7-Day Disabled List with an undisclosed injury. This couldn't come at a worse time for the Thunder, who already have Grant Duff, their primary closer, on the shelf. Since joining Trenton, Norton has been pure euthanasia to the opposition.

Since his addition, the UConn alum has allowed four hits and a run over 10 innings. He's struck out 15 and walked just three. In other words, he was dominant. For now, I imagine the closer's role will be filled some combo of Pope and Wilkins Arias.

-- Perhaps it's time to give Brandon Laird a day off. The slugger, whose 81 RBIs leads professional baseball, hasn't been so hot of late. Over the last 30 days, Laird is hitting just .252. Worse, over the last 10 games, he's put up a slash line of .194/.250/.444 with no extra-base hits and just four runs driven in. I don't think it's a coincidence that he's played in every game this season.

-- Don't be terribly surprised to see Ryan Baker added to the Thunder's roster before the All-Star break.

Mark Newman, the Yankees VP of Player Development, was on hand during last weekend's series with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. Because of time constraints, I didn't catch up with him in person. I did, however, fire him a series of questions via e-mail, and he responded this morning.

Here are my questions and his answers:

Q: Obviously Brandon Laird has been hotter this season than just about anyone could have expected. After seeing him this weekend, and looking at his overall season, what do you think he needs to improve to get him to the next level?

A: Brandon needs to continue his growth as a player in a general sense. While there is no specific need, he needs to refine his approach at the plate and on defense. These are the subtleties of the game and involve adapting to various game situations and pitcher hitter match-ups.

Q: What are your overall impressions on the seasons of Phelps and Romine? Have they hit the expectations you and the organization had for them before the season? With Romine, I'm especially curious about how the organization views his defensive season (I've noticed Mosquera at Waterfront quite a bit.)

A: Phelps and Romine are both on track. Romine will be a very good defensive catcher at the ML level. He will also be a force with the bat. A really good looking young player. Phelps has met or exceeded all of our expectations.

Q: Shifting away from Trenton, you guys have to be ecstatic with the way Betances has responded after surgery. I know it's only four starts, but if he keeps performing like this (or anywhere close, frankly), could we see him with the Thunder toward season's end/playoff time?

A: Betances will be in Tampa. He is only 10 months out of surgery. He will go slow for the near future.

Q: Sticking with Tampa, the rotation down there has been outstanding all season long. Particularly intriguing is Graham Stoneburner, whom I got to see with Charleston earlier this year. Obviously the hard fastball is one of his strengths, and slider is improving. How much more work does the slider need before it's up to the standards the organization would like to see?

A: Stoneburner is making very solid progress with the SL. He should be in Trenton next year. This is his first full professional season and he has already been promoted once this year.

Q: I believe you mentioned to my colleague that David Adams' latest setback on his ankle sprain could cost a few more weeks of rehab. If that is the case, is there a promotion for Corban Joseph in the near future?

A: Adams had a tough injury and he will need a few more weeks. He is a tough guy and a great worker. He will be ready as soon as humanly possible.

Q: It seems that Manny Banuelos is close to returning to action after the long recovery from the appendectomy. What plans are there for his workload the rest of the way as far as getting him up to an appropriate innings load is concerned? Might fall/winter ball be an option?

A: Banuelos will get regular work for the remaining portion of the season. His arm is fine. Appendectomy.

Q: Moving down the ladder a little bit, what are the plans for Slade Heathcott and J.R. Murphy this season. Will they stay at Charleston all season, or might they wind up in Staten Island?

A: Heathcott and Murphy will stay with Charleston.

Q: Speaking of Staten Island, what kind of progress is the organization looking for from Kelvin De Leon in his first season out of rookie ball?

A: DeLeon needs to make contact and allow the plus power to play.

Q: Last one, are there any thoughts to bringing Christian Garcia back into the fold once he completes his latest rehab?

A: Garcia is no longer with the organization and who knows what the future holds. He has had several tough injuries and it is a shame that we have not gotten a chance to see the ability on a regular basis. A good guy with big ability and some very bad luck. We all hope he gets through this and gets to play again.

From tonight's 9-1 Thunder win, here are four videos, all shot by a combination of Trentonian interns Erin Egan and Lucas Pasch, of Brandon Laird's home run (two videos), an entry interview with new pitcher Tim Norton, and, of course, yesterday's Boomer race.









Also, for your listening pleasure, here are my postgame interviews with (from top) David Phelps, Brandon Laird, Kevin Mahoney and Tony Franklin. Mahoney is being sent to Staten Island. Matt Cusick, who played with Trenton last year, will take his place after coming down from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.









That's it for tonight. Check back tomorrow for game two of the Thunder's series with Altoona.

Today is the first day of the MLB Draft, which begins at 7:00 p.m. on the MLB Network. The first round and the compensation round will be televised. I wrote this story for today's Trentonian about the conflicting strategies of the Yankees and Phillies. Both World Series participants have done well over the last few years of the draft, but their approaches recently couldn't be more different.

Additionally, over the last several days covering the Thunder, I've collected brief interviews with a few players and coaches detailing what they remember from the day they got drafted. Below are clips from those conversations with (from top down) Tommy Phelps, Brandon Laird, Josh Schmidt, Lance Pendleton and Ryan Pope.

Not terribly much to say after this one. Clayton Tanner pitched a gem of a ballgame and held Austin Romine and Brandon Laird hitless, something that hasn't happened since May 14. The left-hander retired 17 Thunder hitters on ground balls, which accounts for all but seven of the outs he recorded. Pretty darn impressive, if you ask me.

Also, Lance Pendleton didn't necessarily pitch poorly, but he threw too many pitches, which ultimately led to him being lifted after the fourth inning. Not exactly what he or the team wanted.

Of course, after watching Laird and Romine tear it up over the past few weeks or so, I decided tonight would be the night I took a bunch of videos of them. Silly me. Still, here are a couple of videos of each guy tonight. You'll notice that both are groundouts. You'll also notice that they are not of the best cinematography. James Cameron, Woody Allen, Steven Spielberg or Robert Zemeckis I am not.

Below the videos is audio of Tony Franklin's postgame with myself and WIMG's David Fenster. I have other audio, but it has some bits I want to save for a draft feature I will release in the June 7 (Draft Day) edition of The Trentonian.

Here are a couple of early shots from today's game between the Thunder and the Richmond Flying Squirrels, aka The Artists Formerly Known as the Connecticut Defenders. There's starter Lance Pendleton, third baseman Brandon Laird and a wheelbarrow full of puppies.

After putting together one of the best offensive shows in recent memory, Thunder third baseman Brandon Laird got some recognition for his accomplishments. The EL media voted him the circuit's Player of the Month for May. As I documented earlier in this post, Laird was among the circuit's top ten in a variety of offensive categories, including:

- 6th in AVG(.339)
- 1st in RBIs (33)
- 8th in HRs (6)
- 6th in OPS (.965)
- 4th in SLG (.591)
- 9th in 2B (9)
- T2nd in XBH (16)
- 3rd in H (39)

He also hit for the cycle on May 26, completing the feat with a walk-off home run against the Erie SeaWolves, a feat that was last accomplished on June 28, 1984 by Dwight Evans.