TRENTON – Before every game, Thunder manager Tony Franklin oversees his infielders as they work on their craft. Jose Pirela and Corban Joseph in particular can be seen taking ground balls and working on perfecting the double-play turn. Rob Lyerly works on getting better at the corners.

This is all in addition to the day’s regularly scheduled pregame practice session.

After the infield’s display in the fifth inning of the team’s 9-3 loss to the Binghamton Mets last night, it’s clear that there’s a lot of work left to be done.









In that frame, Shaeffer Hall, who had the misfortune of being a control artist who can get hitters to beat the ball into the dirt, watched as Lyerly, Pirela and Addison Maruszak each misplayed grounders behind him.

The final error of the inning, Lyerly’s, would have ended the frame with just four runs on the board and the Thunder staring at a 6-2 hole. Instead, Niuman Romero, activated from Binghamton’s disabled list to replace the promoted Jordany Valdespin, reached, and the B-Mets tacked on three more.

When asked about it before the game, Franklin agreed that his team’s defense, particularly on the infield, has been one of the major contributing factors in its current tailspin.

“It’s a defensive game. I’ve said this for five years and I’ve said this for a long time in my career. … We’ve made a lot of errors, and errors have contributed to big innings (and) runs, and that makes playing the game a little more difficult.”

To wit, through the first 116 games, Trenton has committed 130 errors. Four players (Pirela, Joseph, Lyerly, Brad Suttle) have more than 10, something that hadn’t been accomplished since 2006.

Allowing seven runs in an inning is never good, but facing a former first-rounder throwing high-90s gas only compounds the situation.

That was the case with Matt Harvey last night, the seventh overall selection in last June’s draft, who, although he didn’t have lockdown stuff, was able to quiet the Thunder’s bats over five innings.

In all, Harvey allowed three runs on six hits, walked nobody and fanned six.

Before the disastrous fifth, things were actually looking up for the Thunder, who were able to briefly time Harvey’s fastball. Melky Mesa and Zoilo Almonte strung together consecutive singles in the second, and Damon Sublett sent home the first run with a ringing double into the left-center field alleyway.

A groundout from Jose Gil – who also erred in the fifth – brought home a second run, which tied the game at the time.

NOTES: Joseph was not initially in the lineup. He was scheduled to visit the doctor to have a stye over his eye lanced. Plans changed, however, and he was reinserted into day’s starting nine. … Ray Kruml took batting practice yesterday, and could be activated in time for this weekend’s set in Harrisburg. … Austin Romine (lower back) is still day to day.

TRENTON – When the black SUV rolled through the back gates at Waterfront Park yesterday afternoon, it was clear that the star of the show had arrived.

The car was carrying Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, who, after a successful workout yesterday in Trenton, will play the next two games in a Thunder uniform before being sent back to New York to continue his quest for 3,000 hits.











Because it rained at the Yankees complex in Tampa yesterday, Jeter came up a day early to proceed with his scheduled activities.

With Thunder shortstop Jose Pirela as his training partner for the day, Jeter took batting practice, played catch, fielded grounders and ran from home to first and home to second before calling it quits.

As far as in-game action goes, Jeter will hit leadoff and play shortstop, just like he does with the Yankees. For his part, Pirela had a little fun with his manager when he found out Jeter would be displacing him for the weekend.

“(Thunder manager) Tony Franklin asked me ‘Where are you going to play now,” he explained. “I said, ‘I don’t know. Jeter’s going to have to play second base. I’m the shortstop here.’”

Jokes aside, Pirela did realize the gravitas his time on the field with Jeter carried. Other than Brad Suttle, who played first base for the infield drills, Pirela was the only other player who helped the Yankees legend prepare for his rehab games.

“It was kind of like an unbelievable feeling,” he said through Dellin Betances, who interpreted. “It was pretty much surreal, I didn’t believe it was real. It was great to be hitting with The Captain.

Corban Joseph, who will more than likely be Jeter’s double play partner in at least one of the games, had to give up his traditional number 2 for the weekend. Unlike in the big leagues, when the only way to swap numbers comes via a trade or outright purchase from another player, Joseph didn’t have much of a say.

“I didn’t have a choice in the matter,” he said. “They just came in and took it.” He’ll wear number 3 while Jeter is here.

Jeter has been on the disabled list since June 14 with a strained right calf, which has kept him six hits away from becoming the first Yankee to reach the 3,000-hit plateau. He was eligible to come off the shelf on June 29, but was still experiencing soreness.

This marks the second time Jeter has come to the capital city to work his way back from an injury. The first time was in 2003, when he played five games while recovering from a bum shoulder.

He went 8-for-18 during that stretch, including a double, a triple, two runs scored and five RBIs against the Binghamton Mets and the New Haven Ravens, the latter of which no longer exists.

During that series, the Thunder drew 41,093 fans to Waterfront Park, including 8,729 for the second game.

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.

DeAngelo Mack doubles home the go-ahead runs



Damon Sublett singles home the game-tying score



Rob Lyerly's first Double-A at-bat at home



Jose Pirela singles off of Henderson Alvarez



Adeiny Hechavarria robs Austin Romine of a knock

TRENTON — As is often the case with Latino players experiencing the cold reality of early spring in the Northeast, Jose Pirela had a devil of a time in his first month as the Thunder’s shortstop.

His offensive production over 19 games in April amounted to just a dozen singles and six walks. It took him until April 29 to drive in a run, and he didn’t collect his first extra-base hit (a triple) until May 4 against Portland.

When the weather warmed up in May, however, Pirela’s play did not. His numbers at the plate continued to hover around the Mendoza line, and his fielding was no better. He managed to clank 13 balls over the first two months, including six over the season’s first week.

This month, though, something seems to have clicked for Pirela, who has spent the last three weeks tearing the cover off the ball. Since June 1, the 21-year-old is hitting a sparkling .329/.368/.543 with seven doubles, a triple, three longballs and 13 RBIs.

“He’s doing a great job,” Yankees roving hitting instructor James Rowson said. “He started off the season a little tough and battled through it, and here, as of late, he’s really starting to see the rewards from hard work.”

Pirela freely admits that the frigid April temperatures affected his game. As a young man plucked from the balmy climates of Venezuela, and just a year removed from a season in Tampa, it’s safe to say there was very little the Yankees could do to prepare him for a league that frequently sees snow in the first month of its season.

“This is my first time starting the year in the cold weather,” he said with the help of Dellin Betances, who acted as interpreter. “I try to not use that as an excuse, and I’m just trying to use that to get better and better during the season.”

The hard work Rowson referenced is evident at around 2 p.m. before every game, when he and second baseman Corban Joseph practice their footwork around the bag and double-play exchanges. The two have been a keystone combination since 2009, when both were members of the Charleston RiverDogs, the Yankees’ South Atlantic League affiliate.

That early work has helped Joseph and Pirela combine on 31 of Trenton’s 130 double plays, and Joseph says that he’s become a better defender because of the hours he’s put in with his up-the-middle partner.

“The Yankees really stress about having that common ground and being able to know pretty much what each of us are thinking,” Joseph said. “Just being around him working and seeing how he turns double plays, getting used to his pivots, his throws, where he likes the ball, I think that’s a big factor. … When he plays the game hard, it’s a virus. It travels around and everyone wants to play as hard as he does.”

It was Joseph’s injured wrist late last year that opened a spot for Pirela in the Arizona Fall League, where he hit just .180 with a homer and five RBIs with the Phoenix Desert Dogs. The point of the trip, however, was to get a few more games under his belt before thrusting him into the upper levels. That the league houses some of the sport’s top young talent also didn’t hurt.

“It was a great experience, and it’s definitely something that I think is going to help me through my career,” he said. “Some of those guys have big league time, and most of them are top prospects, so I felt like it definitely helped me a lot in both part of my game.”

The Thunder lost to Harrisburg, 3-2, in the process falling to second in the Eastern League East, behind the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. As it stands, it looks like those two clubs will battle for the division's top spot all summer long.

This wasn't Pat Venditte's night. He allowed the go-ahead two-run double to Josh Johnson in the seventh, but was OK in the eighth and ninth innings. Recent success notwithstanding, Venditte was visibly upset with the way he performed.

Before Johnson hit the double, Venditte was called for a balk for not stepping toward first on a pickoff throw. Steve Lombardozzi followed with an infield single, and Johnson drove both men in a few pitches later.

Venditte said he wasn't particularly unnerved by the call against him, nor did he let it hinder his concentration.

"There was still already one out in the inning, and I knew if I could make a good pitch, make a couple of good pitches, I could get a couple of quick outs and maybe get out of the inning. I got ahead there on (Johnson), 0-1 fastball away, threw the same pitch again and he put a good swing on it to left field. It's just one of those nights where things didn't go my way and I didn't execute."

Even with a few hiccups of late, Venditte has been gangbusters since May 5, when his ERA was a ghastly 6.61. Since then, he's lowered that mark to 3.20, and he credits the success to a cut fastball from the right side.

"That was an awful start to the season. Luckily, Phelpsie stuck with me and was working with me every day in the bullpen. He showed a cutter to me, which I've been throwing a ton from the right side. That's helped me immensely to go out there and get right-on-right hitters out. It's been a big confidence-booster for me. I'm just very fortunate he stuck with me and he keeps going to me."

- Craig Heyer, despite a career high-tying four walks, permitted just one run. It came on Tyler Moore's RBI triple in the first, an inning in which he walked nobody. He wasn't terribly pleased with his stuff or his outing afterward, but was thankful that he escaped relatively unscathed after six innings.

"I just didn't command the ball too well today. My change-up wasn't there. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. ... Allowing five or six hits, plus four walks is over 10 baserunners a game, so to be able to get out of it, that's a positive."

- DeAngelo Mack had two hits tonight, and he's hitting .323/.475/.548 over his last 10 games. He's got a double, two longballs, six RBIs and six walks in that time.

- Cody Johnson also had two hits, one a double just inside the left-field line, and the other a bullet off of starting pitcher Tanner Roark that drove in the Thunder's second run.

- Brad Suttle's RBI double brought home Ray Kruml with Trenton's first run.

- Jose Pirela flashed excellent range in the seventh inning after Venditte's balk. He corralled Lombardozzi's grounder to short and had the presence of mind to fire behind Jonathan Tucker at second. The throw was in plenty of time to nab Tucker, but second baseman Corban Joseph flubbed the tag.

- Not only is Kei Igawa back with the Thunder, he's back in the starting rotation too. He'll take the ball on Saturday in Binghamton.

- Kei Igawa was returned from Scranton and is active this evening. Grant Duff, who had been struggling of late, was placed on the 7-Day Disabled List with a shoulder injury. That keeps the roster at 22 players.

That it wasn't the elbow, on which he had surgery late last season, is a surprise and a bit of a concern. If this is a new injury, it could mean real trouble for the tall righty. He was running in the stands before the game, so that's a good sign.

- Cody Johnson, after two days away with the flu, is back in the lineup.

- Talked to Jose Pirela (through professional interpreter Dellin Betances) before the game about the adjustments he's made to get on his recent hot streak. You should see something in Saturday's paper about what's led him to this point.

- After tonight, the Thunder's next six games are against Binghamton and Portland, which are a combined 42-83. Then they play New Britain, which is 34-29.

With Donnie Collins peering into Scranton's future over at his blog, I figured I'd do the same over here. We'll start today with the infield, which, because a bit of a logjam of up-the-middle talent, has the potential to feature a prospect of some degree at every position.

First base - Brad Suttle: After missing all of 2009 with an injury, Suttle really broke out this season at High-A Tampa, hitting .272/.340/.411 with 10 home runs and 80 RBIs. Problem is, at 25 years old, and with scouts' reviews not terribly pleasing, Suttle's stock is falling.

Second base - Corban Joseph: The wispy middle infielder faltered after making his way to Trenton toward the end of the 2010. He hit just .216/.305/.342 with in 31 games with the Thunder, including just five hits in 42 at-bats against left-handers. Still, the swing is pure, and he'll get another crack at Double-A in 2011.

Shortstop - Jose Pirela: He hit just .252 with Tampa last season, but impressed Yankees brass enough to earn a spot in the Arizona Fall League when Joseph's late-season wrist injury forced him to shut it down for the year. He didn't hit terribly well in the AFL, but produced a .333/.387/.858 line with Zulia of the Venezuelan Winter League. He also stole 30 bases in 37 tries with Tampa.

Third base - David Adams: I think Adams and Joseph will split time at third and second, but Adams should see the majority of the time at the hot corner. He played 14 games there in 2009 with Charleston, and could move over there this season to get everyday time with Joseph and Pirela in the same locker room. I wouldn't be shocked to see him spend time at designated hitter, either.

Utility - Myron Leslie: This is exactly the kind of player Tony Franklin covets. He plays multiple positions, and will do anything asked of his skipper. In 2010 with Tampa, Leslie played catcher, first base, second base and even pitched a game. He could fill a very similar, Justin Snyder-esque role with the Thunder in 2011.

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.

In an email this morning, Yankees senior vice president of baseball operations confirmed that Thunder second baseman Corban Joseph would miss the Arizona Fall League because of surgery he had on his right wrist toward the end of the regular season.

Joseph, promoted to Trenton on Aug. 3, missed the entirety of the Eastern League playoffs with the injury. Before shutting it down, the 21-year-old was hitting .216/.305/.647 in 31 Double-A games.

Replacing him on the Phoenix Desert Dogs roster is Jose Pirela, a middle infielder who spent the season with High-A Tampa.

Pirela, a 20-year-old out of Venezuela whom the Yankees signed in 2006 for $300,000, really put it together in the second half after starting off very slowly in the Florida State League.

His post-All-Star break batting average was a whopping 56 points better than what he posted over the first couple of months. He also nearly tripled his walk total (15 in the first half, 42 in the second). He also swiped 22 of his 30 bases during the second half.

When the Yankees signed him, they were interested in his bat and his ability to burn up the basepaths. While his offensive numbers won’t blow anyone away, he has delivered on his promise of speed.

In four seasons, he’s succeeded on 58 of his 80 attempts, good for an outstanding 72 percent clip.

Pirela joins pitchers George Kontos, Manny Banuelos and Craig Heyer, outfielder Brandon Laird and catcher Austin Romine on the Desert Dogs roster.

•••

Speaking of second basemen, David Adams, who got just 159 at-bats before a broken foot ended his season, has begun functional drills, Newman said.

Adams’ injury, initially diagnosed as a high ankle sprain, was downgraded around the time he was to be shipped to Seattle in the deal that would have made Cliff Lee a Yankee.

Seattle’s doctors didn’t like what they saw, however, and put the kibosh on the deal.

•••

The Yankees instructional league rosters were released last week, and there are more than a few interesting names on the list.

The team’s first three draft choices, Cito Culver, Angelo Gumbs and postseason Thunder bench player Rob Segedin, all will get a little more work before their offseasons begin.

Joining them will be Thunder pitchers Dellin Betances and Manny Banuelos, as well as Eastern League MVP Brandon Laird, who will continue his transition to the outfield.

Dominican Summer League standouts Yeicok Calderon, Jorge Alcantara, Daniel Lopez, and Rafael Polo will also get some work.

Perhaps the strangest part of that roster, however, is Addison Maruszak being listed as a catcher. He’s played many positions during his brief career, but has never been a backstop.

•••

According to the same email from Newman, catcher Jesus Montero has not decided whether he will play in the Venezuelan Winter League, but he is leaning toward doing so.

•••

Betances, Montero and Andrew Brackman each joined the Yankees last week, but only Brackman, by virtue of his spot on the 40-man roster, was active.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi and general manager Brian Cashman have each hinted that Brackman, in what has been a tremendous bounce-back year, will get some work down the stretch.

Montero and Betances are there strictly to observe and get a taste of life in the big leagues during a playoff race.

As an aside, Cashman referred to Betances in the most recent issue of Baseball America, saying he “might be our best pitching prospect ever.”

Considering the state of the system, that’s very high praise.