Today: RHP Graham Stoneburner (1-1, 1.86) vs. RHP Collin McHugh (4-2, 3.75)
Tomorrow: LHP Shaeffer Hall (10-5, 4.23) vs. RHP Matt Harvey (3-8, 6.33)
Thursday: LHP Steve Garrison (3-8, 6.33) vs. RHP Brandon Moore (9-7, 3.93)

Pregame stuff: On the way in Trenton was hit with quite possibly the biggest storm since I've been here (four years). The streets were flash-flooding to a degree I've never witnessed. That said, it seems to have slowed, and the tarp was on, so I wouldn't bank on a postponement just yet.

Austin Romine is still on the shelf with what his agent called "inflammation in a couple of disks in his back." Jose Gil and Ryan Baker will be the catching duo in his stead, with Addison Maruszak filling the role of emergency catcher.

Dellin Betances is scheduled to spin on Friday in Harrisburg, where he'll face one Bryce Harper, a prospect of note and enthusiast of terrible mustaches.

Good news for the Thunder on a couple of fronts. They are facing the B-Mets, who are a league-worst 47-68, and who are underwhelming against southpaws as a whole. On the season, Binghamton hits just .248/.328/.386 against lefties, which is good news for both Shaeffer Hall and Steve Garrison.

The Thunder haven't been caught stealing in seven attempts in August. The last Thunder runner to get caught was Melky Mesa, who was nabbed by Akron catcher Raul Padron on July 27 at Canal Park.

In sporadic playing time, utilityman Yadil Mujica has a modest five-game hitting streak, the longest of any hitter on the team.

When he looked at the box score after the game, even manager Tony Franklin couldn't believe his eyes -- Yadil Mujica's night was just that good. The Cuban defector -- who signed with the Yankees so late that he is not included in the team's media guide -- was 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, a run and four big RBIs.

That the outburst came a game after an ill-advised bunt attempt (and a headlong slide into first, to boot) with two outs in the bottom of the 12th inning and the tying run on second base speaks a little to his character and a lot to his ability to rebound.

Unfortunately, because he speaks no English, and with hitting coach Julius Matos banished to Tampa for the foreseeable future, there is almost nobody on the team capable of acting as a translator for Mujica, or any of the Spanish-speakers in the clubhouse, for that matter.

Dellin Betances is the best candidate, but he was gone before the media were done speaking with Franklin.

The same problem exists for Japanese lefty Naoya Okamoto, who lost his interpreter when Kei Igawa was promoted to Scranton. Okamoto, for what it's worth, pitched another stellar inning and two-thirds last night, allowing just one unearned run.

Other quick notes:

- Shaeffer Hall rebounded from a rocky first couple of innings to throw six frames of two-run ball, though the four walks showed that he didn't have his best command.

- With Hall, Okamoto and Wilkins Arias, the Thunder used solely southpaws on Tuesday. Combined, the trio induced 14 groundouts against just four flyouts.

- Jason Place was 3-for-4 with a run scored, and two of his hits were infield singles.

- Jose Pirela had another pair of knocks, including a double. He's hitting .346/.393/.577 in June after hitting just .164 and .196 in April and May, respectively. He did, however, commit his 17th error of the season, this time on a relatively routine grounder.

- Corban Joseph is hitting .317/.404/.537 over his last 10 games. He has six doubles, a homer and seven RBIs. Perhaps more impressively, he's walked six times and fanned just five.

- Over his last 10 appearances, Arias has whiffed 17 and walked just three.

- The game itself lasted 2 hours and 48 minutes. There were, however, two rain delays of 60 and 28 minutes, respectively. During the hourlong wait, which came before the game started, almost no rain fell.

Before I hit the hay here in Tampa, here are a few stray photos from the day that was. Included in the mix: Robinson Cano laughing it up with past and future Thunder reliever Wilkins Arias, Mitch Abeita's bat, Yadil Mujica ready in the rain, Jeremy Bleich testing out that repaired labrum and Jake Anderson fielding grounders in the rain, with a few seagulls in the outfield.

Day two of The Trentonian's trip to Tampa for minor league spring training is in the books, and here's six videos that are the fruits of our labor on a disgustingly rainy Monday. From the top, there's footage of: Robinson Cano, Gary Sanchez, Jesus Montero, Eduardo Sosa, Yadil Mujica and Brett Marshall.

Neal Cotts and Andy Sisco, two pitchers who were, in reality, no more than candidates for the Scranton bullpen, were cut today by the Yankees. Cotts and Sisco, both left-handers who pitched in the bigs most recently with the White Sox, were signed to minor league deals earlier in the offseason.

Still, with those two out of the way, the bullpen scenarios at Trenton and Scranton are beginning to get a little more clear. Not crystal clear, but clearer for sure.

Also today, according to Matt Eddy at Baseball America, the Yankees signed 26-year-old Cuban shortstop Yadil Mujica. BA's write-up looks like this:

"Scouting info on Cuban defectors can be scarce, but Yadil Mujica appeared on the nation's preliminary roster for the ’09 World Baseball Classic and batted .358/.432/.440 that season before defecting. He had emerged as one of Cuba's most promising young middle infielders."

Given his age and pedigree, I wouldn't be terribly surprised to see him start at High-A and work his way to Trenton sometime this season.