I e-mailed Mark Newman about an hour ago regarding injury recovery for Steve Garrison, Austin Romine and Graham Stoneburner. Here's what he said.

Austin Romine - "to play tonight"

Steve Garrison - "to start tomorrow in Trenton"

Graham Stoneburner - "is in Tampa and will have rehab starts in the GCL"

Romine has been out since June 2 with a mild concussion he suffered on a play at the plate against Altoona. He was named to the Futures Game roster yesterday (his second trip). Before the injury, he was hitting .298/.362/.421 with four homers and 31 RBIs.

Garrison, a native of Trenton, had been out since a hamstring injury forced him out of his May 3 start after just one inning. He made a rehab start with Staten Island on June 21, going five shutout innings against the Hudson Valley Renegades. He allowed four hits, a walk and struck out four.

Stoneburner last pitched for the Thunder on April 21. Neck problems made him a late scratch from his next scheduled start, which would have come in his hometown of Richmond, Va. He threw two innings in the GCL today, striking out four. His only baserunner came on a hit by pitch.

Additionally, David Adams has been rehabbing with the GCL Yankees. In three contests, he is 6-for-9 with a double and three runs scored. He has been removed around the sixth inning in each game, usually replaced by Taylor Anderson.

Someone with knowledge of the situation said that he expected Adams' rehab to be on the longer side. I would imagine that the next step is to play full games.

TRENTON -- The Thunder received a bad break yesterday when it was announced that starting pitcher Graham Stoneburner was placed on the 7-day disabled list.

According to reports, Stoneburner has a stiff neck. There is no word as to the severity of the injury.

In three starts so far this season, the right-hander was 1-1 with a 1.69 ERA and seven strikeouts against four walks.

The move is retroactive to April 22.

Thunder starter Graham Stoneburner. Trentonian Photo/GREGG SLABODA

By JORDAN HALL
For The Trentonian

TRENTON — Coming into last night’s clash with the Senator’s, the Thunder had not been playing crisp baseball. Lack of offensive production, miscues on the defensive side and multiple injuries resulted in a 2-5 start for Trenton, but the Thunder bats came to life early as Trenton put together a complete effort to earn an 8-1 win over visiting Harrisburg.

“I thought the guys played really relaxed tonight,” said Trenton manager Tony Franklin. “It’s very early in the season. Young players have a tendency to start pressing. I just made it a point to walk around during batting practice and tell them to just relax, play your normal game and things will fall into place.”

On a chilly evening at Waterfront Park, the Thunder offense heated up. Thanks to a crooked number in the second inning from the Trenton bats and Graham Stoneburner’s solid start, the Thunder cruised to its first victory at home this season, taking game two of a four-game set.

“We were in a little bit of a spell,” Franklin said. “You start to wonder how long is this going to last. We just keep after it and things are going to turn around.”

Unlike recent games, the Thunder offense delivered big numbers. Trenton hit for a four-run second inning, and Stoneburner became more effective with the lead.

Designated hitter Cody Johnson shot a single up the middle to jump start the inning, Corban Joseph walked and eight-hitter, Addison Maruszak capitalized. The first basemen laced a double to left field, plating two runs, but that wasn’t all from Trenton. Following a bunt single from Ray Kruml, leadoff man Austin Krum brought home two more with a single up the middle, giving Stoneburner a quick 4-0 cushion.

Stoneburner, the 17th ranked prospect in the Yankees farm system, squandered leadoff doubles in both the first and second innings, but after receiving the lead, he was sharp, picking up his first win of 2011, and surprisingly, the Thunder’s first victory from a starting pitcher this year.

“He’s done a great job his two starts for us,” Franklin said. “He pitches to contact. He gets guys to put the ball in play and we made plays for him tonight.”

The 6-foot-1 product out of Clemson retired six straight after the four-run outburst, mixing in a pair of punch outs and four groundballs to sit down the Senators.

The Thunder tacked on to Thunder advantage with a soft two-RBI double from catcher Austin Romine that barely reached the outfield grass down the right field line. An RBI single from Johnson stretched Trenton’s lead to 7-0 in the fourth inning, exiting Harrisburg starter Ryan Tatusko.

The Thunder’s struggling offense that sported a .177 average entering last night, worst in the Eastern League, notched season highs in hits (11), runs in an inning (4) and runs scored (8), despite leaving the bases loaded twice.

The lone blemish in Stoneburner’s outing was a rocky top fifth in which the Senator’s loaded the bases with one out, and the righty allowed only one run on a sac fly.

Stoneburner surrendered one run in his first start, but took the loss because of little offensive support. Tonight was a different story. Stoneburner threw six impressive innings and his friends posted eight runs on the scoreboard.

Southpaw Kei Igawa worked three scoreless innings in relief for the save, putting on the finishing touches of an all-around performance from the Thunder.

“Tonight it was a clean game,” Franklin said. “Hopefully we can continue to build on our performance.”

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Graham Stoneburner spread nine hits over five innings of one-run ball, but the Thunder’s offense wasn’t able to back him.

Trenton managed just three hits off of old foe B.J. LaMura and a combination of two relievers in a 4-1 loss, the team’s second in three games.

After Stoneburner exited, Naoya Okamoto made his Eastern League debut, and it wasn’t very good.

The 27-year-old native of Japan whom the Yankees plucked from the Mexican League allowed two runs on two hits and two walks in just 1 2/3 innings. He handed the ball to Cory Arbiso with runners on second and third.

Arbiso stranded both runners, though by coaxing a flyout on the first pitch he threw.

Offensively, there obviously wasn’t much to report.

Ray Kruml had two of the Thunder’s three hits, and catcher Austin Romine had the other. Austin Krum, Brad Suttle, Cody Johnson Jack Rye and Kruml each drew walks in the loss.

Dellin Betances, one of the Yankees’ ballyhooed Killer B’s, makes his 2011 debut tomorrow in Trenton’s attempt to take a split in its first series.

Against Dunedin last year, the Blue Jays’ High-A affiliate and where most of the current Fisher Cats squad played last season, Betances was dominant.

In two starts spanning 12 innings, he blanked the D-Jays on just three hits. He also notched 15 punchouts over that time, and walked just two.

1. Dellin Betances

Added to the 40-man roster in the offseason, Betances is a coin-flip to start Opening Day in New Hampshire. After injuries nearly but the brakes on his career, the $1 million eighth-rounder put it all together in 2010.

Between Tampa and Trenton, Betances finished with a dazzling 8-1 record, a 2.11 ERA, and 53 hits and 108 strikeouts in 85 1/3 innings. To put it another way, in 12 of his 14 starts with the T-Yanks, Betances had more strikeouts than hits allowed.

The Yankees have already gone on record as saying that Betances will begin 2010 with Trenton, so this one's a lock.



2. Manny Banuelos

Banuelos came to Trenton with -- and delivered on -- an equally lofty pedigree. The diminutive left-hander's velocity had been building all year, and peaked at 97 miles per hour in his playoff start against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats.

To go with the heater, Banuelos also showcased an impressive change-up and an (at times) excellent curveball.

The problem with last year, however, was the emergency appendectomy he had right before the season began. He missed most of the first half recovering, and -- counting his work in the Arizona Fall League -- pitched just 89 2/3 innings as a result.

The Yankees have also made it clear that Banuelos will start 2011 back in Double-A, where will get a chance to prove himself over the course of a full-season workload.



3. Graham Stoneburner

A strong-armed power right-hander out of Clemson, Stoneburner exceeded all expectations in his first professional season, which was split between Charleston and Tampa. He finished with a 2.41 ERA, second in the organization among qualifiers. (Mikey O'Brien, who should be with Charleston this year, finished first).

Because of its sink, Yankees farm boss Mark Newman likened Stoneburner's fastball to MLB-vet Jake Westbrook. He couples the fastball with a slider that flashes above average at times. That combo could lead him to the bullpen down the line, but he's a starter for now.

He threw 103 stellar innings in Tampa in 2010, which leads me to believe he's all but a lock for the Trenton rotation come April.

4. Shaeffer Hall

Like Stoneburner, Hall counted last year as his first full professional season. Also like Stoneburner, Hall - a finesse lefty from the University of Kansas --flew through the South Atlantic League with the Charleston RiverDogs.

Things started out swimmingly after Hall made the jump to High-A Tampa. Over his first 10 outings (including one relief appearance), he was 9-1 and allowed 13 earned runs over 48 1/3 innings. Six of those earned runs came in one horror show of an outing, on July 8 against Daytona.

After that, things plummeted. He finished with losses in four of his final five starts, and gave up 17 earned runs, including five of the seven longballs he allowed in his time with Tampa.

Despite that bad patch, I think Hall is an excellent contender -- but not a lock -- to begin 2011 at Waterfront Park.

5. Cory Arbiso

Although he started the season on the disabled list, Arbiso made his mark on the 2010 Thunder by being available whenever and for whatever role manager Tony Franklin needed. In fact, before a rainout pushed the proceedings back a day, Arbiso was on track to pitch in a possible Game 5 of the Eastern League Championship Series.

In all, out of his 32 appearances, Arbiso made 11 starts for the Thunder. With 77 hits over 49 1/3 innings, the role didn't seem to suit him. That said, however, he may have to split the fifth starter's role with Craig Heyer until Brett Marshall is ready to make his way up from Tampa.

LAKEWOOD — Sure, he’s got mid-90s heat, a tight slider that made great strides in his first professional season and an injury history only an insurance provider could love, but that’s not the most interesting thing about Graham Stoneburner.

It’s that name — Stoneburner, and where the hurler says it comes from.

“My ancestors used to heat up rocks and put them under people’s beds, and that’s how we got our name,” he explains.

Those days are long gone, but during his first full year as a Yankees prospect, the young right-hander did all he could to live up to his fiery family name.

Along with the hard fastball – which Yankees head of player development Mark Newman has compared to that of major league veteran Jake Westbrook — Stoneburner sports a maturing a slider and a nascent change-up.

The fastball and slider combo helped him sail through his first full season as a starter, though there’s internal debate as to whether he’ll eventually have more success out of the bullpen.

Whatever the future may hold, Stoneburner looked very much like a long-term starter last May, when the RiverDogs entered the Garden State for a set with the Lakewood BlueClaws, the Phillies’ Sally League squad.

From the jump that afternoon, Stoneburner took quick advantage of a free-swinging line-up. He fanned two of the first three hitters he faced, including top Phillies prospect Jiwan James.

Then, in the second inning, he got to show off his considerable mettle.

A three-base error by Jimmy Paredes put the speedy Anthony Hewitt on third with nobody out against Lakewood’s 5-6-7 hitters, a tall task for any pitcher, let alone one making just his sixth professional start.

Stoneburner stood tall, turning the next three hitters into his third, fourth and fifth strikeouts of the day. He rang up the last man, the 17-year-old Domingo Santana, on two sliders — one in the zone, one in the dirt — and a final fastball on the inner half.

He finished the afternoon with 11 punchouts, including a stretch of seven in a row, and earned his first his first win in the minors after two early losses during which he allowed a combined four earned runs.

He left after seven shutout innings and 95 pitches, the last of which was a fastball at 95 miles per hour. The ability to carry that kind of velocity deep into games should aid him over the next couple of seasons as he vies for a spot in the Yankees’ rotation.

It’s also something he’s had to work since high school to maintain.

“When I was younger, I used to throw harder in the fourth inning than in the first, for some reason,” Stoneburner said. “They have us in pretty good shape, and that allows us to maintain our velocity throughout the game. I knew right there that that guy was a good fastball hitter, so I had to put a little extra on it."

Promoted before midseason, Stoneburner finished the year with a 9-8 record, a 2.41 ERA, 137 strikeouts in 142 innings and a sub-1.00 WHIP. He’s almost certain to spend the season in what should be another prospect-stocked Thunder rotation.

No matter his role down the line, Greg Colbrunn, his manager last year with the Charleston RiverDogs, the Yankees’ Low-A affiliate, has no problem seeing the big-time in Stoneburner’s future a few years down the line.

“He’s got a chance to move through the ranks pretty quickly. It’s hard to project where he’s going to be four years from now, but he’s spotting his fastball. If he can continue to progress like he has, we’ll see how he does.”

With the start of spring training mere weeks away, teams’ rosters are just about set for the coming campaign. Sure, there could be a few tweak here and there but for the most part, it’s done. The same isn’t true for the minor league levels.

The players are all there, but figuring out which players should be at which levels can be a tricky proposition.

With that in mind, The Trentonian spoke to Yankees head of player development Mark Newman to see if he could clear up a few of those issues, as well as a few other questions about the team’s system as a whole.

JN: I think the most pressing issue, as far as Trenton is concerned, is how the situation at second base is going to shake out. How are Corban Joseph, David Adams and Jose Pirela all going to fit into that mix?

MN: Pirela (will be) at shortstop, and we’re still working on the other two and how that’s going to play out there. There’s Triple-A possibilities. They both played together at Charleston a couple of years ago, and we moved them around.

JN: Is there a possibility that either of them could play at third base?

MN: Yes. We’ve got Suttle there, too, so there’s a bit of a logjam. We’re still working on how that’s going to play out.

JN: With the rotation, it seems pretty fair to say that Betances and Banuelos are going to be there, correct?

MN: It’s premature to say that they’re going to be there and not in Triple-A. There’s probably the best chance that they would be in Double-A to start with, but it’s not a done deal.

JN: I’d assume Graham Stoneburner’s going to be right there, too?

MN: Yeah.

JN: What about Adam Warren? It seems he’s ready for Triple-A, but I could also see him being pushed back to Double-A because of numbers.

MN: All that stuff (with the rotation) is still TBA. We have more quality pitching at the Double-A and Triple-A levels than we’ve had in some time, so throughout spring training there’s going to be a lot of consultation among staff before we finally determine who’s going to go where.

JN: Who stood out for you guys at instructs?

MN: Well, a lot of the young guys. It was really a young group. It was (Cito) Culver, Mason Williams, Gary Sanchez, that bunch.

JN: Did you guys like the early returns from Culver, despite the numbers maybe not being the prettiest?

MN: The stats were fine in a rookie league for a first-year player. If you go back and look at Derek Jeter and Robbie Cano the first year, the stat line is not good. At the lower levels early on in their career, it has very little meaning. You look for other things: How they handle the game, how they take pitches, how they use the field. You look at a lot of technical stuff.

JN: With a kid like Culver, who obviously didn’t have the greatest upbringing in the world, do you worry about how he’s going to adjust to basically being on his own for a while?

MN: He’s a quality kid. He has outstanding make-up. We have no concerns about him.

JN: How is Laird looking as a left fielder?

MN: Laird played in the fall league out there and did fine. It’s just to provide a defensive flexibility for the major league club. Third, first, left, right.

JN: So he’ll see time at all those positions in Scranton this year, I assume?

MN: He’ll see time at those spots.

JN: If I remember, Betances went down there to work solely on his fielding. How did that turn out?

MN: We focused on very few things, and he made progress on all those.

JN: Did you figure out what was causing those yips?

MN: It was just that he hadn’t had enough work. He’d been down with the injury for an extended period.

JN: One theory proposed up here was that he just hadn’t had many runners to deal with during his stint with Tampa. Could that have been a contributing factor as well?

MN: Well, he didn’t have many. There are a lot of outstanding young pitchers that go through that for the same reason. They didn’t have many runners on in high school, they didn’t have many on in the low minor leagues. Throw in the fact that he was out for a year with an injury.

JN: Another guy I heard a lot about all season down there was Brett Marshall. What do you see for him in 2011?

MN: Florida State League. Really good arm, really competitive. Very good athlete, great feel for the change-up. He’s got ceiling, he’s got big ceiling. He’ll keep working day by day to improve delivery and improve his secondary pitches, but yeah he’s got good stuff.

JN: I heard a story about him telling you that he was going to throw 100 miles per hour one day. How do you get a kid like that to learn how to dial it back?

MN: The coaches continually counsel him about that, and then you learn from the game. He figures out, with maturity, that the key is to get hitters out and the only stat that matters is how often you get hitters out, not the readings on the radar gun. He’s figured that out.

JN: I mentioned position switches not long ago. Is J.R. Murphy also making a switch from behind the plate to more of third base or outfield?

MN: No, he’s just learning multiple positions. He’s such an outstanding young hitter, we want to maintain some flexibility. When he’s ready to go to the big leagues, we want to have more options than just catch, and so the third base, right field work is going to provide him and us with that kind of option.

JN: With Gary Sanchez, the numbers were obviously there in spades. What kind of other things, aside from the numbers, were you able to take from his first full year?

MN: Adjustment to playing every day, which he handled. Running a pitching staff, managing a game, all that stuff is still a work in progress. He’s a very bright kid, and we think he’ll make those adjustments. He’s really talented.

JN: How much input do you guys get from the pitching staff he handles about how he is able to work back there?

MN: So far he’s caught so many young pitchers. You really don’t go to another 18-year-old and ask him to critique a catcher. They’re so worried about their own performance. If you were pitching to veteran players, it might be more helpful. At this point, all he’s done is that.

JN: I see that Vic Valencia, who was with the Thunder last year, is in Charleston. Being an outstanding defensive catcher during his playing days, is he there to work with Sanchez this season?

MN: He’s done a nice job with the catchers he’s worked with so far. We move staff around to try and match them up with players so we get the biggest bang for our buck from our staff.

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 Wednesday, Minor Matters will unveil its top 10 Thunder players to watch next season. Considering that the Tampa Yankees took home the Florida State League crown in 2010, there's no reason to believe that the upcoming season will have a shortage of talent around the diamond.

No. 4 - Graham Stoneburner

Bio: A 6-foot-1, 190-pound right-hander, Stoneburner was the Yankees' 14th-round choice in the 2009 draft. That was the same draft with Sequoyah Stonecipher, awesomely. Also, the Dodgers took a kid named Casio Grider in that round of the draft. Stoneburner pitched collegiately at Clemson, on the same staff as D.J. Mitchell, a big part of the Thunder's staff last year.

2010 season: Stoneburner, whose injury history is extensive, succeeded at both Low-A and High-A this season. He finished with a 9-8 record, a 2.41 ERA, allowed a scant 107 hits over 142 innings, including just six longballs. He struck out 137 against 34 walks.

What's Next: Almost certainly, Stoneburner will begin (and probably finish) the season in Trenton, where his long-term future more than likely be determined.

Here, in no particular order, are a bunch of videos I shot during the two series Charleston played against Lakewood this year. Included are clips of Brett Marshall, Graham Stoneburner, Josh Romanski, Kelvin Perez and Jose Ramirez.

BRETT MARSHALL

JOSE RAMIREZ

JOSH ROMANSKI

GRAHAM STONEBURNER

KELVIN PEREZ

I wrote a feature yesterday about George Kontos' return to the Thunder after undergoing Tommy John surgery and the mental anguish that come with that kind of major procedure. I didn't get to use all the quotes, however, so I figure I may as well give some of them to you guys.

On the young arms he saw in Tampa:

"It's unbelievable. You've got guys down there who are pitching at 92-93, touching 95-96. When I was there, Adam Warren was doing great, Graham Stoneburner was doing great. Shaeffer Hall, who's the soft-tossing lefty, is pitching awesome. I rehabbed quite a bit through this whole process with Dellin (Betances), and Dellin's just, he's a different animal. He came back and his delivery's cleaned up. He looks good. He looks real good. He's touching 98 almost every start, and the kid's going to be unstoppable. ... I think if he keeps pitching the way he's pitching they're going to have to move him (to Trenton). They can't keep leaving him there with a 0.50 ERA."

On the way his arm felt before he was diagnosed with the ligament tear:

"I had no pain. It was a very weird case. My ligament was completely torn. I felt it completely torn while I was pitching, but it wasn't like a pop where the ball goes somewhere and you hear a loud pop. I was starting in Gwinnett, and I threw a pitch in the third inning, and it felt like a string just tore. (It was like) part of a rope and it's starting to break and it just starts fraying. It felt part of the rope had just frayed. It's a little release.

I didn't think anything of it. Nothing hurt. Kept pitching. The same thing happened again in the fifth inning, and when it happened in the fifth inning, it was almost like my arm wouldn't stop. I'd throw a ball, and it just felt like my hand and my wrist would just keep going. There was nothing there to stop it. I didn't hurt, but the ball went from coming out 90-91 to 85-86."

"(After a few weeks of delays because of rain) When it finally came to be my start again, I was pitching in Syracuse, I pitched three innings and gave up few runs, and (pitching coach) Scotty (Aldred) He was like, 'What's going on?' (I said) There's something wrong, I can keep pitching, but something's not right. I was throwing 84-87, and it really only affected me on a fastball. I was still able to throw breaking balls, change-ups, but when I really reared back for a fastball, it just wasn't there."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

From top to bottom: Emerson Landoni collects a hit off of Nick Hernandez, Graham Stoneburner warms up, Stoneburner carves up Domingo Santana. Enjoy.

Charleston began a four-game set with the Lakewood BlueClaws last night, opening what should be an excellent display of the RiverDogs' dynamic pitching staff. Kelvin Perez dazzled last night, tossing eight innings of one-run ball at the Sally League-rival Claws.

I'll be down there taking pictures and video -- and maybe even a blog post or two -- over the next two games. Tonight's matchup is a doozy: League ERA leaders Shaeffer Hall faces off against Phillies rising prospect Jarred Cosart, fresh off the disabled list after a blister issue.

Tomorrow, however, is the pitcher I've been waiting to see: Graham Stoneburner. The Clemson alum -- and college teammate of D.J. Mitchell -- is the Yankees' No. 21 prospect, according to Baseball America, and has 32 strikeouts (tied for the team lead with Jose Ramirez) and sports a WHIP of 1.00.

Aside from the pitchers, Charleston also has prospects like DeAngelo Mack, Zoilo Almonte, Kyle Higashioka and Jimmy Paredes.

Check the blog often for pics and videos!