Weekly Check In: Luis Severino

Luis Severino was on the Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre inactive list for much of the week due to being away with the birth of his first child, congratulations to Luis, Mrs. Luis and the new bundle of joy that was welcome to the world this week. Severino came back on Friday to make his latest start and was once again dominant for the RailRiders.

Severino is continuing to make it difficult to keep him down in the minor leagues for the Yankees by pitching well almost every single start. Severino may not be up until September, if then, but the right-hander is definitely making his case for the 2016 season.

Year	Lev	W	L	ERA	G	GS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9
2015	AAA-AA	8	2	2.60	18	18	93.1	71	32	27	2	27	88	1.050	6.8	0.2	2.6	8.5
2015	AA	2	2	3.32	8	8	38.0	32	17	14	2	10	48	1.105	7.6	0.5	2.4	11.4
2015	AAA	6	0	2.11	10	10	55.1	39	15	13	0	17	40	1.012	6.3	0.0	2.8	6.5

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Weekly Check In: Luis Severino

The New York Yankees top prospect Luis Severino now has four starts under his belt in Triple-A as he looks to be on the fast track to the Major Leagues. I was reading River Ave Blues the other day and like he has an uncanny ability to do Mike Axisa took the words directly out of my mouth. Axisa stated that the team needed to have Severino follow the same line to the major leagues that Friday night's starter Adam Warren took to the majors and the idea is brilliant.

Warren, like many of the Yankees starters that have come through their system and reached the majors, was a starter in the minor leagues only to crack the Bronx as a member of the bullpen. This allows New York to bring their players along slowly while limiting innings but still giving pitchers like Warren, David Phelps, Joba Chamberlain and maybe Severino the chance to get their feet wet in the Bronx.

It could work and I think it will happen. Severino has not seemed challenged at any level of the minor leagues in his short career including Triple-A with the Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders and may ultimately force the Yankees hand to call him up sometime after the All Star break.

Year	Lev	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9
2015	AA-AAA	4	2	.667	3.17	12	59.2	49	24	21	2	18	59	1.123	7.4	0.3	2.7	8.9
2015	AA	2	2	.500	3.32	8	38.0	32	17	14	2	10	48	1.105	7.6	0.5	2.4	11.4
2015	AAA	2	0	1.000	2.91	4	21.2	17	7	7	0	8	11	1.154	7.1	0.0	3.3	4.6

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Weekly Check In: Jorge Mateo

Since we can’t watch Saturday morning cartoons anymore because someone thinks we should all go outside and play or some crap like that I figured let’s take advantage of all our free time and check in on Yankees shortstop prospect Jorge Mateo. Mateo started the season showcasing his blazing speed on the base paths as he attempted to chase down Billy Hamilton’s minor league single season stolen base record. While that chase has slowed down a bit over the past few weeks that doesn’t mean Mateo has as he continues to show the Yankees what the future may look like with him plugged in at the shortstop position.

Mateo is not going to hit you 30 home runs and he may not even get 30 double in a single season in his career essentially making him now what the Yankees thought they were getting with Didi Gregorius. A defensive minded and slick-gloved shortstop who lacks in the offensive department. Mateo, like Didi, is young and has plenty of time to turn it around with the bat and add a little pop into his swing but for now he is what he is. With or without a major bat in the lineup Mateo is still far and away the best Yankees shortstop prospect in the entire system until further notice. Here’s why:

Year	Lev	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2015	A	47	202	182	23	49	5	4	2	20	38	9	14	42	.269	.323	.374	.697

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Weekly Check In: Miguel Sulbaran

Good morning Yankees family and Happy Monday! Now normally in this Monday morning check in spot we would see Jacob Lindgren wasting bullets in Triple-A but with him finally being called up to the major leagues before last night's game we were forced to go in a new direction this morning. Instead we will cover a pitcher that is not getting the publications and attention he deserves with a strong season in 2015. If you don't know the name Miguel Sulbaran by now you will very, very soon.

Year	Age	Lev	W	L	ERA	GS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	BF	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9
2015	21	AA	3	2	3.70	8	41.1	35	21	17	2	13	23	176	1.161	7.6	0.4	2.8	5.0
2015	21	AAA	1	0	0.00	1	5.0	5	0	0	0	2	3	21	1.400	9.0	0.0	3.6	5.4

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Whitley is Down, What Now?

Chase Whitley has been pitching through some elbow pain for “a while” now and finally left the game against the Rays on Thursday night in the second inning of the contest. The news is bad on Whitley and he will not be relied on for quite some time in the Yankees rotation after the injury begging the question what will the Yankees do now? The good news for the Yankees is if an injury is going to occur, which you hope it never does, it couldn’t have happened at a better time during the season. The cavalry is coming and once again the Yankees may be able to survive this with the depth and insurance that Brian Cashman has stockpiled this offseason.

Chris Capuano is fully stretched out and has made a start in Triple-A Scranton with the RailRiders meaning he could be activated and take Whitley’s spot while he is placed on the 15 day DL. Masahiro Tanaka is back and has thrown multiple bullpen sessions since being shut down with his forearm strain and wrist tendinitis and may only be a week or two away at most while the Yankees still have the likes of Bryan Mitchell sitting down in the minor leagues waiting for the call. Capuano has been confirmed as the starter on Sunday already in place of Whitley giving everyone else in the rotation an extra day of rest.

It’s unfortunate that the Yankees lost another starting and one with so much promise in Whitley but as cold as it sounds the show must go on, especially in New York. With Tanaka close, Capuano ready and Mitchell waiting in the wings the Yankees may not have the starting pitching depth they had this time last week but they have enough to get them by and keep them in first place and that may have to be enough.

Weekly Check In: Jorge Mateo

Jorge Mateo is still stealing bases left and right and still within striking distance of catching Billy Hamilton and breaking his minor league record for stolen bases in a single season. If the Yankees could get any sort of offense out of Mateo he could turn out to be something special in the Bronx. Let’s check in on Mateo’s stolen base attack thus far this season:

Year	Lev	G	PA	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2015	A	19	79	10	18	3	1	0	9	18	4	7	15	.257	.321	.329	.649

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Weekly Check In: Jacob Lindgren

Jacob Lindgren is wasting away in Triple-A right now, let's be honest. He has nothing left to prove in the minor leagues and the Yankees are basically letting him rot in Scranton. It sucks so it's time to start beating that drum. The biggest issue is not one Yankees reliever is really stinking up the place to really push the issue, you know? Anyway let's be informed before we go to war against Brian Cashman and know what Lindgren has done this season for the RailRiders:

Year	Lev	W	L	ERA	G	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9
2015	AAA	0	1	2.25	6	8.0	6	5	2	0	4	11	1.250	6.8	0.0	4.5	12.4

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

How Scouts Knew Carlos Beltran Was Going to Make it

Legend: "Carlos Beltran described his minor league road routine: He would buy 8 tacos from Taco Bell, eat 4 before the game and 4 after it."
— Andrew Keh (@andrewkeh) March 20, 2015

CC Sabathia, you reading this?

Another Yankees Minor League Player Suspended for Steroids

Steroids, drugs and performance enhancing drugs for the most part seem to be cleared up, or hidden better, at the major league level but the epidemic seems to still be a huge problem in the minor leagues. The Yankees have already suspended two of their own this season for steroids and drugs and now can add a third name to that list in Moises Cedeno.

Cedeno is a 19 year old right handed pitcher who is currently as the Yankees Dominican Summer League team. Cedeno will miss 72 games during the 2015 season after testing positive for Clenbuterol marking the 41^st suspension this season overall under the minor league program.

Without Cedeno the Yankees DSL team will miss his 4-4 record and 3.23 ERA in 13 starts last season and 8-7 record with a 4.24 ERA in 28 starts and one relief appearance in his three season minor league career. We have a problem here folks….

Steroids/Drugs Still Run Rampant in Minor Leagues

Thankfully this is not Yankees related, although the team did have one of their farm hands suspended this offseason already due to drugs, but three more minor league players were suspended for steroids and drug abuse this week. This is the side of Prospects Month that I had hoped to never have to cover but it seems like steroids and drug abuse, despite the “clean up” of the game, is still running rampant at least in the minor leagues.

Spencer Edwards is an outfielder in the Tampa Bay Rays organization, Brian Ruiz is an outfielder in the Cleveland Indians organization and Joseph Gardner-Prophet is a free agent RHP and all received suspensions this week. Edwards and Ruiz each received 80 game suspensions after failing tests for performance enhancing drugs while Prophet received a 50 game suspension for a second failed drug test.

All in all there have been 34 suspensions since the beginning of 2014 under the minor league program including 20 for drug abuse alone. Staggering numbers in a “clean” game. 

Michael Pineda's Rehab Assignment Begins Sunday

Reinforcements are officially on the way for the New York Yankees as Michael Pineda will begin a minor league rehab assignment this Sunday. Pineda pitched a 45 pitch simulated game today and came through it in one piece and will likely extend himself to 60-65 pitches this weekend. Manager Joe Girardi wants Pineda stretched out to around 90 pitches before coming back to the major league club. There has not been an announcement on where the rehab assignment will take place but you have to figure it is likely to either be Charleston with the Riverdogs or Tampa with the Tampa Yankees.

Using the 15-20 pitches addition every start you could conceivably state that Pineda will only make two rehab starts before joining the Yankees. That puts Pineda in the mid to late August range. A lot can happen between then and now, it could be too late by then. Either way the Yankees are going to let Pineda go all out when he does return so there is always that.

Zach Nuding & Francisco Cervelli Added To Trenton

The Trenton Thunder, Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, have announced multiple moves prior to Wednesday’s game against the Richmond Flying Squirrels.

C Francisco Cervelli has his MLB rehab assignment transferred from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Cervelli has appeared in five rehab games with Tampa (A+) and Scranton (AAA) and is 2-for-18 at the plate with a walk.

LHP Jeremy Bleich has been transferred to Scranton and RHP Zach Nuding has been transferred from Scranton. The 26-year old Bleich, who is in his fourth season with the Thunder, has not yet made his Triple-A debut. This season with the Thunder, the Stanford University product was 4-5 with a 3.51 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 66.2 innings.

Nuding began the season with the Thunder and was transferred to Triple-A May 3rd. In five starts with the Thunder to begin the season, Nuding was 2-0 with a 2.43 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 29.2 innings. He made eight starts with the RailRiders, and posted a 2-4 record with a 6.25 ERA over 40.1 innings.

The Thunder active roster stands at an Eastern League maximum 25 players.

Quick Hit: Shawn Kelley Rehab Assignment In Trenton

Thunder fans can catch a pair of Major League pitchers in action this weekend as Pittsburgh Pirates reliever Stolmy Pimentel takes the mound tonight for the visiting Altoona Curve and New York Yankees reliever Shawn Kelley is expected to pitch for Trenton on Saturday night.

Pimentel, a 24-year-old right-hander, made his MLB debut for Pittsburgh last year and is 2-1 with a 3.18 ERA in six games for the Pirates this season. He was placed on the Disabled List on May 3 with shoulder inflammation.

Kelley, has appeared in 193 Major League games and has a career record of 15-13 with a 3.75 ERA. He appeared in 57 games for the Yankees in 2013 (fourth most among NYY pitchers) and pitched in 16 games this year before sustaining a

Preview: New York Yankees @ New York Mets 5/15

The New York Yankees and the New York Mets will play the finale of the Subway Series this season tonight at Citi Field, thank goodness. The Yankees will send Chase Whitley to the mound making his major league debut to face off with Jacob deGrom. The game will be played at 7:10 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network, MLB Network, MLB TV, and can be heard on the radio with WFAN.

Whitley as I said is making his major league debut tonight as he is replacing the injured CC Sabathia in the rotation. In Triple-A Whitley was 3-2 with a 2.39 ERA in seven games, six starts. Whitley possesses a fastball, a changeup, and a slider in his repertoire and has excelled since being moved into the starting rotation last season. Whitley has spent much of his career as a relief pitcher and owns a career 2.64 minor league ERA.

deGrom, you know I have spent enough energy on the Mets this week. I'm over it and I'm over the Mets, moving on now.

Go Yankees!!

Minor League Assignments

Before Girardi beats us to it, should we just start calling him "Jaggy" now?

With the fact that we got nearly 3 inches of snow in mid-Ohio last night (thankfully very little of it stuck) it's hard to believe that not only is Tuesday opening day for Major League Baseball, but the minor leagues start on Thursday. 

With that said, thanks to Josh Norris and Nicholas Flammia, we have information regarding some of the rosters for the Yankees minor league affiliates. Of course, these are unofficial, as the team has yet to announce these things, but here's what we got so far...

Triple-A Scranton: OF Zoilo Almonte, RHP Danny Burawa, OF Ramon Flores, IF Corban Joseph, C John Ryan Murphy, and C Austin Romine. RHP Al Aceves, RHP Bruce Billings, RHP Brian Gordon, RHP Shane Greene, and RHP Chris Leroux will be in the starting rotation, although the order is unknown. RHP Chase Whitley is a possibility for the rotation as well.

Double-A Trenton: RHP Bryan Mitchell, 2B Rob Refsnyder, C Gary Sanchez, and OF Mason Williams. 

High-A Tampa: LHP Manny Banuelos, OF Jake Cave, SS Cito Culver, RHP Rafael DePaula, 2B Angelo Gumbs, 3B Eric Jagielo, and C Peter O’Brien. 3B Dante Bichette Jr. looks to be part of this team too.

Low-A Charleston: 3B Miguel Andujar, SS Abi Avelino, RHP Rookie Davis, OF Aaron Judge, RHP Brady Lail, RHP Luis Severino, C Luis Torrens, and SS Tyler Wade. It's being reported that RHP Jordan Cote will also be there.

Extended Spring Training: RHP Domingo Acevedo, RHP Manolo Reyes, RHP Simon De La Rosa, LHP Ian Clarkin, OF Alex Palma, and OF Leonardo Molina. OF Tyler Austin (wrist), OF Slade Heathcott (knee), 1B Greg Bird (back), and RHP Jose Campos (being cautious) will be here as they are being slowed down to start the year.

After a down year in the minors in 2013, I'm really hoping 2014 is a good one. I'm not much of a prospect humper like some people around here, but I can't wait to see what guys like Eric Jagielo, John Ryan Murphy, Gary Sanchez, Mason Williams, Manny Banuelos, Aaron Judge, Jose Campos, Ian Clarkin, Slade Heathcott, and Tyler Austin will do. Chances are, the Yankees will need to do something about their middle infield, and having these young guys step up would really help (directly or in a trade).

Quick Hit: New York Yankees Minor League Link Party

Chad Jennings went absolutely crazy covering the minor leagues yesterday that everyone who loves the prospects should read. Jennings touches on everyone from Ronnier Mustelier, Tyler Austin, the Opening Day assignments, spring standouts, and so much more.

Click HERE to see the entire post and give it a read. It's a lengthy one but it's a good one. Enjoy.

Orlando Hernandez Hired As Minor League Instructor

El Duque Orlando Hernandez has been hired by the New York Yankees as a minor league pitching instructor, very cool. No word on whether he will teach his patented leg kick or eephus pitch but either way it is great when a blast from the past comes back to work with the team, especially when they are as successful as Hernandez was. He is being listed as a spring training minor league instructor so no word whether he keeps the title after spring is over, but I would think that he would and should.

Hernandez did not retire all that long ago after announcing his retirement in 2011 but last pitched in the majors in 2007. Very cool and very well deserved so congrats to him.

Tampa Yankees 2014 Schedule

The 2014 schedule for the High A Tampa Yankees is in and being brought to you as a part of Prospects Month here on The Greedy Pinstripes. CLICK HERE to see the full schedule for the Tampa Yanks. The Tampa Yankees season starts on April 3, 2014 and ends on August 31.