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

Less than a week away from the beginning of games at the minor league camp, the Yankees sent their first group of youngsters across the street to the Himes Complex. Among the first cuts are four-fifths of the projected Scranton rotation, including:

- Adam Warren
- D.J. Mitchell
- David Phelps
- Hector Noesi
- Andy Sisco
- Buddy Carlyle
- Brian Anderson

I expect all of those pitchers, if they stick with the organization, to spend the year in Scranton. Andrew Brackman, who is scheduled to pitch today, appears to be the only Triple-A starter left in big league camp.

The two kids who will start the season in Trenton - Dellin Betances (pitching today) and Manny Banuelos (pitching tomorrow) - are still with the Yankees, but will most likely be among the next round of cuts. Banuelos, by the way, turns 20 today. He's the youngest player in camp.

An omission: When I did my latest round of Thunder roster predictions the other I day, I complete forgot about outfielder Damon Sublett, who's pretty much a lock to get a second crack at a full season in Double-A.

With Sublett's addition, I imagine either Phil Bartleski or Noel Castillo will be bumped down to the Tampa roster. My instinct is Castillo, who continually dominates High-A but gets thrashed in Double-A, will be the one leaving Florida on April 3.

Calling all fans: After yours truly and the rest of the media are done interviewing the team, the public will have the opportunity to meet and greet the players at Waterfront Park. Below is the day's schedule of events, courtesy of the team.

Waterfront Park Gates Open For Fans: 3:00 p.m.
Stadium Tours: 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Team Practice Ends: 5:15 p.m.
Player Autograph Session: 5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Players visit 90% Club In Yankee Club (private): 6:30 p.m. – 7:15 p.m.
Ballpark Closes: 7:30 p.m.

Self promotion: It's just two weeks until I leave for spring training, and there are already big plans for The Trentonian's coverage this time around. Here are some things I have on the slate to help get out the word on the Thunder and other Yankees prospects.

- UStream video of game action and (some) player interviews. You can find my Ustream channel here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/jnorris427

- Web chats via CoverItLive. I don't know how many there will be. Nightly seems like overkill, but every other day seems about right.

- Many, many Twitter updates. For those of you who (somehow) don't know, I'm on Twitter under the name jnorris427. I tweet darn near constantly, and that won't change while cooking my woefully bare scalp in Tampa. There will be updates, plus pics and short videos coming through via the Twitter, so be on the lookout.

- And the usual blog posts, print stories, pictures and videos on this blog and at The Trentonian's Website, which will eventually have a separate page for my journey. Said page is under construction right now.

Contests: A quick reminder, there are several in-season mini contests for you to participate in before the season starts on April 7. The link to those contests is here. I won't announce all the prizes just yet, but the grand prize is a pair of Andy Pettitte bobbleheads. You know you want them.

Here's the press release from the team, but it announces the signings of: Ronnie Belliard, Eric Chavez, Luis Ayala, Warner Madrigal, Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia.

It also announces the Non-Roster Invitees, which are: Manny Banuelos, Dan Brewer, Jose Gil, Kyle Higashioka, Austin Krum, D.J. Mitchell, Jesus Montero, Jordan Parraz, David Phelps, Austin Romine, Bradley Suttle, Jorge Vazquez, Adam Warren and Eric Wordekemper.

Spring Training Invites-Additional

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. 3a Adam Warren
No. 3b D.J. Mitchell





Why they're here: Simply, they were two of the team's most reliable starters. Mitchell, who was part of the team's opening day rotation, settled down after a nasty start to the year.

Mitchell, promoted to Scranton when Dellin Betances and Manny Banuelos were bumped up from Tampa, finished with a team-high 11 wins, a 4.06 ERA, 96 strikeouts and a better than 2-to-1 groundout-to-flyout ratio.

In fact, in his 19 appearances with the Thunder after April 29, Mitchell allowed more than three earned runs just twice. His 3.63 ERA during that span was 11th best in the Eastern League.

Warren didn't arrive until July 16, but he made quite an impact in his 10 regular-season starts. Most memorably, he broke a team record when fanned 15 Bowie Baysox hitters on August 18 at Waterfront Park.

Overall, Warren finished 4-2 with a 3.15 ERA and 59 strikeouts in 54 1/3 innings. During his tenure with the team, he established himself as its likely ace.

Outlook for 2011: Mitchell will likely begin 2011 in the Triple-A Scranton rotation. If Lance Pendleton stays with Houston, which selected him in the Rule 5 Draft in December, Warren will probably join Mitchell in Pennsylvania.

If Pendleton comes back, Warren may return to Double-A for a short while.

I just got done confirming through a source that Manny Banuelos and Dellin Betances, two of the system's top pitching prospects, are coming to Trenton.

No word yet on who is leaving the rotation, but my source hinted at D.J. Mitchell, which would make sense, seeing as he is the only starter who hasn't already been promoted once this season, save for Cory Arbiso.

Here's how that rotation would shake down, it would seem, if my predictions are correct:

1. Manny Banuelos
2. Dellin Betances
3. Hector Noesi
4. Andrew Brackman
5. Adam Warren

In this plan, Cory Arbiso heads back to the bullpen, despite the strong outing yesterday.

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.

The Thunder topped Harrisburg tonight, 4-1, and there were two obvious shining stars: Dan Brewer and D.J. Mitchell. Brewer's three-run shot gave Trenton the edge it needed, and Mitchell continued his excellent work since the All-Star break.

Brewer credited a lot of his recent success -- he's now 16 of his last 34 (.471/.537/1.184) with 10 RBIs in his last 10 games --to a change hitting coach Frank Menechino made in his stance.

“Ever since the break, Frank and I have kind of evaluated my first half and where my swing was at, We made an adjustment with my stance, and it’s really helping me out, it’s helping me stay shorter."

"My approach mentally, especially, has been a big key. I’ve hit open my entire life, to be honest, and I closed it off and shortened my stride. It felt like I was facing right field (at first). But now, it feels pretty comfortable to me. It’s really helping me stay inside the ball and let my hands work a lot more.”

After Alfredo Aceves, in Trenton for the first of (as he tells it) at least two rehab starts, left, Mitchell entered. The Clemson alum tossed six innings of stellar baseball, and allowed just one unearned run in the process. He got 10 groundouts, six strikeouts, one pickoff and a flyout during his appearance. In summation, that's a 10:1 groundout-to-airout ratio, and it's pretty damn sick.

Here's Mitchell talking about his night:



As referred to earlier, Alfredo Aceves made a rehab appearance. Here's video footage to prove it.





Also, former Yankees hero Orlando Hernandez is now a reliever with Harrisburg. Here's video footage of him facing Brewer and Austin Romine.

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.”

Mitchell, who was shaky at best to begin the season, no-hit the Binghamton Mets for 6 2/3 innings before finally allowing a single to Eric Campbell. He was greeted with an appropriate ovation for his feat, a lengthy ovation from some very aware fans at Waterfront Park.

Here's the interesting -- if slightly obvious -- part: Were Mitchell to have set the B-Mets without allowing a hit in the seventh, he still would not have come out for the eighth. Manager Tony Franklin said after the game that there was no chance. He finished with 106 pitches, thus reaching his limit for the evening.

Here's what Franklin had to say afterward:

"Very good performance by D.J. He was extremely good. That's probably the best he's been this year. Balance, rhythm, command of strike zone and pitches. Probably the best he's been, and he's been pretty good off and on. Very efficient with his pitches and getting guys out."

On whether he would leave Mitchell in for the eighth:

"No. He was racking up some pitches late in the game, so no. We were talking about it there, simply because we've got to look at what we've got here (and) is that important. It's probably important to him, but to the organization and to his future, probably not. So, no, he wasn't going to come back out there."

And here's what Mitchell himself had to say:



Also, it was announced after the game that first/third baseman Jorge Vazquez has been promoted to Triple-A. Oddly enough, the move came after the only game in which Vazquez went hitless. I suspect Kevin Smith will be activated from the DL to replace him, but a promotion of Addison Maruszak is also a possibility.

This win was a total team effort. Every starter but Marcos Vechionacci had at least one hit or RBI, and, aside from a little hiccup from Cory Arbiso with the bases loaded, the pitching was stellar throughout. The Thunder also played error-free baseball and turned two double plays.

Here's a reminder that tomorrow's starter is Jeremy Bleich, not the originally scheduled Ryan Pope. Pope will be moving to the bullpen for the remainder of the series to help give the team a needed lift. They've been down a man since Josh Schmidt was sent to Scranton.

The combination of team on a hot streak, the Mets' minor leaguers in town, postgame fireworks and the best weather all year brought in the biggest crowd of the season, 7,853. Afterward, PR extraordinaire Bill Cook noted that last night's crowd was the biggest walk-up in two years. Impressive stuff.

Here are the postgame sessions with (from top) D.J. Mitchell, Austin Romine and Tony Franklin.

The Thunder used a 15-4 beatdown to punctuate a three-game sweep of the Bowie Baysox yesterday at Waterfront Park. Here's the game story.

Lost in the hubbub of the 15 runs was D.J. Mitchell's recovery from a rocky first inning to turn his best start in weeks. Here's that story.

Also, here's some video from yesterday's game. From top to bottom: Dan Brewer's double play scores a run, Mitchell talks about his outing and Hamilton High and Rider University star Jim Hoey gets Reid Gorecki to pop out.

D.J. MITCHELL:
On what happened overall:

"They hit the ball. I fell behind in the count, they took advantage of it. They hit some good pitches. It's definitely not the outing I'm looking for; my team put up plenty of runs for me. I didn't keep my team in the ballgame, and that's what my job is to do."

On whether any specific pitch wasn't working:

"I'm not going to say my location was perfect with every pitch, but I actually felt pretty comfortable with all my pitches. I tip my hat, they did a good job. If I made a mistake, they hit it and they hit it well. That's just the way it goes. I have to get better from there."

On whether, after a wild first inning, he got a sense the game might deteriorate:

"No, I really didn't think that at the time. I knew after that first inning that I just needed to settle down. I did put up a zero the next inning. My team, they played well and they battled. They put some runs up for me. They had a chance to get me off the hook, but I kept giving up the lead. It was just a bad day altogether."

On whether he's worried about his status in the rotation or on the Thunder in general:

"I'm not going to think about that. I'm just going to take it day by day. I'll keeping doing my sides, my bullpens each day, keep going to the weight room. Same routine for me unless I hear something different, then it'll change."

Good afternoon, the Thunder topped the Sea Dogs last night, 9-1. D.J. Mitchell outpitched Casey Kelly, Reid Gorecki was the offense, and Brandon Laird had his second home run in as many nights. Mike Ashmore was there last night, as he will be today. Here's his game story.

Mike also wrote a sidebar about Cory Arbiso and Justin Snyder, and the struggles they've had after skipping High-A Tampa entirely. Here's that piece.

The Thunder lost yesterday, 3-2, to the Portland Sea Dogs. Late home runs from Ray Chang and Lars Anderson off of reliever Noel Castillo ultimately proved to be difference. Brandon Laird's solo home run in the bottom of the ninth gave Trenton a glimmer of hope, but Damon Sublett's groundout closed the book.

Mike Ashmore covered the game for The Trentonian (as he will tonight, tomorrow and Tuesday. He filed this game story and this sidebar.

As discussed in the sidebar, tonight's pitching matchup features Casey Kelly battling D.J. Mitchell -- a truly wonderful battle. It's supposed to be beautiful tonight, and they're giving away Joba Chamberlain bobbleheads. I see no reason not to go.

Here are few shots from D.J. Mitchell's side session today, including my first time getting a ball mid-flight.

Here's a few videos from yesterday's game. They are: Austin Romine (12) taking batting practice, Brandon Laird (29) taking batting practice and D.J. Mitchell warming up in the bullpen.

Trenton's lineup:

CF - Krum
2B - Adams
C - Romine
3B - Laird
LF - Sublett
DH - Gorecki
1B - Smith
RF - Brewer
SS - Nunez
P - Garcia

Now, Erie's lineup:

Dirks - LF
Iorg - SS
Ramirez - CF
Bertram - 1B
Nicolas - DH
Scram - RF
DeLeon - 3B
St. Pierre - C
Henry - 2B
Kibler - P

Well, after many hours of furious writing, tomorrow's special Thunder section is complete. I wrote features about Austin Romine, Christian Garcia, Damon Sublett, Brandon Laird and D.J. Mitchell. There's one more page in the section, which features the Thunder schedule, dates to get your bobblehead dolls and players to watch in the Eastern League.

All pictures except those of Christian Garcia are taken by yours truly. Both Garcia shots were taken by Trentonian photographer Jackie Schear.

Until that comes out tomorrow, here's the story I wrote about Josh Schmidt coming back to Double-A:

TRENTON — Even after a season as the Thunder’s best pitcher — he posted a 1.61 ERA and was named to the Eastern League All-Star Game — Josh Schmidt is back with Trenton to begin 2010.
He obviously did all he could to prove to the Yankees’ brass that, despite underwhelming stuff, he deserved a chance to move up in the organization. That included trying his hand as a starter in the Venezuelan Winter League, where he was just as dominant as ever.
“I think it shows versatility, obviously,” Schmidt said yesterday at Thunder Media Day. “Starting is different than relieving, and if they need me to step into a different role at any time in the season, I can.”
Schmidt wouldn’t comment much on his feelings about having to return to Trenton, but what he did say spoke volumes.
“Obviously I can count,” Schmidt said. “There’s a lot of guys who can pitch up there in Triple-A right now. I can see why it happened.”
If Schmidt needs any inspiration, he needs only to look back to last year at this time.
The snub last year was George Kontos, who led the organization in strikeouts in 2008, yet lined up as the Thunder’s No. 2 starter when 2009 rolled around.
He didn’t stay in that position for long, though, moving up to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after just four starts.
Still, it seemed hard yesterday for Schmidt to wrap his head around the reality that he was still two steps away from the major leagues.
“Everybody wants to move up,” Schmidt said. “That’s the nature of the beast, it’s what we’re all here trying to do.
Roadblocks aside, Schmidt said, his key to advancement is the same as it was last year: Going out there every time and doing the best he can.
“I’m just here doing the best I can, trying to help them win ballgames. What happens happens, I don’t have a whole lot of control over it. I’ve got to just pitch, and let other people make decisions. That’s not my job, that’s their job.”

With Opening Day mere hours away, the day has come for me to slave away on the Thunder preview section, which will be on newsstands in tomorrow's Trentonian. This means I will be working on features on Austin Romine (he'll be on the cover), D.J. Mitchell, Brandon Laird, as well as previews of each team in the Eastern League.

There may also be stories on Jeremy Bleich, Josh Schmidt's experience in the Venezuelan League, and much more. Check it out tomorrow.

For now, though, take a read of my stories yesterday on Wilkin De La Rosa and Lance Pendleton moving to the bullpen, and Josh Schmidt's reaction to coming back to Trenton to begin 2010. The latter is a newspaper-only story.

Also, former Thunder pitcher Kanekoa Texeira made his major league debut last night. He got his first strikeout, but also picked up the loss.

TRENTON — If you were hoping to see Pat Venditte on Thursday at Waterfront Park, you’re out of luck.

The Thunder’s preliminary roster was released to the media yesterday, and the celebrated switch pitcher’s name was nowhere to be found.

If you’re interested in laying your eyes on some of the top prospects in the organization, however — Austin Romine, D.J. Mitchell, Brandon Laird and David Adams, to name a few — then you’re in for a treat come Opening Day.

Romine, Mitchell, Laird and Adams are the marquee names, to be sure, but there were plenty of interesting players to be found on yesterday’s roster.

Take Damon Sublett, for instance.

He started last season as a second baseman, but was asked by the organization late in the season to take the Craig Biggio route and move into the outfield, where he will play in 2010.
While he’s adapted nicely enough to his new position, he’s been caught a little off guard by its intricacies.

“It’s harder than I thought it would be,” Sublett said. “I always used to think, ‘Oh, outfield, it can’t be that tough.’ It’s pretty tough out there, especially the corner positions. Center’s not too bad, but it’s fun, though. It’s a lot of fun."

Do you find pitchers more interesting than position players? Then Christian Garcia’s your man.
Garcia, already given the Opening Day assignment, is a right-hander with electric stuff who just can’t stay healthy.

To wit, the 24-year-old right-hander has pitched just 140 2/3 innings since 2006, yet still holds a position on the Yankees’ 40-man roster. It’s an honor that Garcia doesn’t take lightly.

“It’s awesome,” Garcia said. “It just shows that they still care and they’ve never forgotten about me. I’m pretty sure if I was with any other team, they would have dropped me already and said enough is enough. It’s amazing how they’ve stayed with me and stuck by my side.”

Sticking with guys on the 40-man roster, left-hander Wilkin De La Rosa will return to the club, but with a new role.

He and righty Lance Pendleton — both in the Thunder’s rotation last season — will move to the bullpen, instantly giving the team what appears to be, on paper at least, a very interesting collection of arms.

Manager Tony Franklin, who returns for his fourth season with Trenton, explained the move on Saturday at the Yankees Minor League Complex.

“In past years, when injuries occur, and at times when we think we need a spot starter, we’ve always had someone down there who was capable of doing that,” Franklin said. “I think either one of those guys are capable of doing that. In that regard, we’re well protected.”

Indeed, whether due to injuries or rain, the Thunder often found themselves in need of an extra arm in 2009. One man who filled that role more than capably was Josh Schmidt, an Eastern League All-Star and easily the Thunder’s best pitcher in 2009.

Astonishingly, after posting a 1.61 ERA and allowing just 57 hits — including just two home runs — in 83 2/3 stellar innings, Schmidt finds himself back in Trenton this April.

He joins Grant Duff, Wilkins Arias, Noel Castillo and Eric Wordekemper in a group of relievers who each spent time with the Thunder last season. The only newcomer to the bullpen is Cory Arbiso, a 23-year-old righty who spent most of last season with Low-A Charleston.