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.

I spoke with Yankees pitching coordinator Nardi Contreras earlier today about a variety of topics. Part one of that interview, with highlights about Pat Venditte, Manny Banuelos, Dellin Betances and the Arizona Fall League, is here. Enjoy.

JN:Do you have any idea which guys in the system are going to be in the Arizona Fall League?

NC: We’ve got a group of about eight guys, and that call will come from Mr. Mark Newman. I gave him eight names. I’m sure Pat Roessler’s given him some names. And if Mark Newman’s seen these guys, I’m sure he’s got his own names. Then I think from there we will have four, three relievers and a starter. I’m sure it will come down to innings, who’s healthy and who’s not.

JN: When you send people down there, is it just to work on things, like a particular pitch or what have you?

NC: Some need innings. They need that because they couldn’t get enough innings. Usually that’s what it is. We’ll take the guys that we’re working with sometimes to instructional league. We might take somebody that needs the work to get that in an area, and then send them to Arizona after that as that name, hoping that the work we do in the instructional league prior to going to Arizona will get them on the right foot and then let them compete out there.

JN: Would guys down there like Banuelos and Betances, who haven’t had that many innings this year, qualify?

NC: Betances will end up with more than 100 innings, and he didn’t have many last year. He’s only going about 80 pitches, so he’ll pitch five innings, four innings, six innings, and he’s hitting his start every fifth day. He won’t be part of that Arizona thing, because he’s made that jump from the very few innings of last year to (what he’s thrown now). He’s been pretty good.

JN: And Banuelos?

NC: Banuelos will probably come to instructional leagues. I’m not sure if he’s allowed to go to the AFL, because he probably is owned by a team in Mexico for the winter. … If he’s able to, it’d be great, because he started late because of (the appendectomy).

JN: Pat Venditte, do you expect him to come up here toward the end, or is he in Tampa for the long haul?

NC: It’s all about movement (through the system). You’ve got Kontos and Whelan here who could be pitching in Triple-A. Schmitty could to Triple-A. It’s all about movement. Who’s going to go to the big leagues? Do we lose guys in trades? If there’s openings, then there’s movement. If there’s no openings, there’s no movement. Tampa’s in first place. (Trenton’s) in first place. Triple-A is in first place. Where we can move guys from is Charleston, who’s not in first place. In September, I would think Nova’s going to the big leagues. I would think Albaladejo’s going to the big leagues. When that happens, there’s two openings. I would say if there’s movement from here (to Scranton) and then from Tampa to here and then from Charleston to Tampa.

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 first half of that conversation. Enjoy.

MA: So, which teams have you seen so far this season?
NC: I've seen Tampa, I've seen Charleston and I've seen Scranton. This is the last stop.

MA: In those stops, who have you seen that you're excited about that we might be seeing here sometime soon?
NC: (Hector) Noesi has pitched well. (Adam) Warren has pitched well. ... Noesi and Warren would be the only two that have a chance right now, that are pitching well.

MA: What about those two makes them stand out?
NC: Being able to command the fastball and throw the offspeed pitches for strikes.

JN: How close a call was it to start Noesi in Trenton rather than Tampa?
NC: None at all. He just needed more time at Tampa to pitch.

JN: What about (Pat) Venditte? Is there a chance we seem here this year?
NC: There's always a chance to see anybody. Right now, no, unless someone gets hurt. Then I'd have to look in the bullpen to see who's pitching well and who's not.

Right now, anybody can come. Ortiz has pitched well closing. (Craig) Heyer has pitched well. (Brandon) Braboy is back, but he'll have to pitch a little bit more. (Dan) Kapala, we've stuck him in as a starter, and he's pitched well as a starter, but he's a reliever. Trenton Lare has pitched well at times, too.

JN: What is the situation right now with Banuelos? Was it an appendectomy?
NC: Yeah, he's still back in Mexico. We haven't seen him. It'll be a while.

JN: What is the typical recovery time for an appendectomy?
NC: I have no idea. My granddaughter, which happened just last year. The difference is: She was 5 years old. They don't take out the appendix when hers burst, because of all the infection. Adults, they go ahead and take it out.

So, I wouldn't know (about how long Banuelos might still be out of action). She (the granddaughter) was in the hospital for 32 days, in the hospital, with all the infection that was there. ... It was ugly. Hopefully that doesn't happen to us.

The first baseman/third baseman who was here last year (Jorge Vazquez). He's now back in the states, he's now hitting and working out. (He also had an appendectomy). His happened a week or two weeks before Banuelos. The time frame, I don't know, but he's back now.

I'm guessing, hoping -- hoping --that Banuelos will be coming back soon, because he's going to be a star.

MA: You've got some guys rehabbing now down in Tampa as well. Is (George) Kontos making any progress?
NC: They're all making progress. (Dellin) Betances has a chance to start at Tampa within a week or 10 days. Paul Bush will pitch tomorrow (in extended spring training) for the second time. So, I would say, one more week for him.

Kontos and (Brett) Marshall and (Andy) Shive are further away. They are doing bullpens now. They haven't started batting practices. Betances and Bush are close.

JN: What is (Andrew) Brackman working on down in Tampa?
NC: Brackman's working on, well, he's throwing strikes. That's the positive he's doing. ... His last game, numbers-wise, it looks ugly. He got two hard-hit balls against him. They day I saw him pitch was they day that -- and we weren't aware of it -- his finger was hurting him. He cut his finger during spring training. ... He had some infection and tried pitching. He gave up six, seven, eight runs the day I saw him, but everything but one ball was all groundballs in the infield or through the infield.

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

Spoke with Yankees pitching coordinator Nardi Contreras before today's game, and he gave us more than a few exciting bits of news about some of the guys around the system. Here they are in bullet form, with a full transcript to follow.

- Dellin Betances, once one of the system's top prospects, is about a week to 10 days away from coming off the DL. He's been on the shelf since last season after having ligament reinforcement surgery.

- Manny Banuelos, whom Contreras called "the Mexican Whitey Ford," is still in Mexico after having an appendectomy before getting into a game. The timetable for his return is unknown.

- Paul Bush, a former Thunder pitcher, is about to start working in extended spring training

- Jorge Vazquez, a former Thunder first baseman, also had an appendectomy and has been on the disabled list since the season started.

- Pitchers Contreras thinks could wind up at Trenton at some point this season: Hector Noesi and Adam Warren. Pat Venditte was not mentioned. Said "there's always a chance to see anybody," but, as for Venditte, "not unless somebody gets hurt."

That's it for now. Much more to come later.