Yankees Minor League Baseball Blog

Kevin Goldstein recently released his list of the top eleven Yankee prospects and there’s little surprise that Joba Chamberlain is at the top of the list.  The guy ascended all the way from High A Tampa all the way to the Yankee bullpen in what can only be called the fast track and I was happy to hear his future is in the rotation. 

Ian Kennedy pretty much followed Chamberlain through the minor league system and into the majors and he comes in at number two.  Like Chamberlain, he’s a major league ready starter and we should see him in the rotation in 2008.   This is assuming he’s still with the team because he appears to be one of the team’s big bargaining chips in a blockbuster trade.

Austin Jackson is the highest rated position player and he comes in at number three.  Jackson is probably a year away but he could be the heir apparant to Johnny Damon out in centerfield.  He followed up a solid 2007 season with a solid stint in the Hawaiian Winter Baseball League.  He’ll probably play in Trenton to start the 2008 season but him ending things with a cup of coffee with the Yankees.

Jose Tabata and Alan Horne round out the top five.  2007 first round draft pick, Andrew Brackman, is listed as the eighth best prospect and he’ll miss all of 2008 after he had Tommy John surgery in August.  One of the top guys last year, Humberto Sanchez, fell all the way to eleventh with his injury concerns.

SWB lost 3-2 to Rocherster but the big league Yankees have to be pleased because Joba Chamberlain made his bullpen debut and was nothing short of fantastic.  Three batters, three strikeouts.  The Yankees may have just found their bullpen help without even pulling the trigger on a trade.  In the meantime, Steven White fell to 3-3 despite a decent start.  He gave up three runs on five hits and three walks with three strikeouts in six innings of work.

Justin Christian was the hitting star in the loss.  He went two for four with a triple, an RBI and a run.

Philip Hughes continues to his impress in his rehab stint and he improved to 4-1 for SWB.  He gave up just three hits and three walks with four strikeouts in 6 2/3 shutout innings in the 3-0 win.  As an aside, the Yankees are going to put Joba Chamberlain in the pen because the big league club appears to be pretty dissatisfied with Kyle Farnsworth so his time at SWB could be coming to an end pretty soon.

Angel Chavez went one for three with two RBIs.  Justin Christian went two for three with a walk and a run in the loss.

Like Joba Chamberlain, Ian Kennedy transitioned nicely and threw six shutout innings in his debut for SWB.  He gave up two hits and two walks with six strikeouts.   It wasn’t good enough though because the pen gave up three runs and the hitters were shutout in a 3-0 loss.

SWB hitters reached base just five times with three singles and two walks.  Erubiel Durazo and Kevin Reese both singled and drew walks.

You have to feel for Chase Wright.  He got off to that fantstic start for Trenton and it earned him a couple of starts for the big league club.  Then he got sent down to Scranton where did he pretty well but found himself the odd man out when they wanted to test Ian Kennedy and Joba Chmaberlain at Triple A.  So he ends up back at Trenton and in his first start there, he gets pummelled for ten runs in his first Double A loss of the season.

Matt Carson went two for four with a homerun and three RBIs.  Juan Miranda singled, scored a run and drove in a run.

Joba Chamberlain picked up the win his first Triple A start with a very impressive outing.  It’s hard to believe this kid was in High A Tampa just a couple of months ago but he threw five shutout innings and struck out ten in the win. 

Chris Basak went two for four with a double and two runs.  Brett Gardner reached base four times with two singles, two walks and he scored a run.

Philip Hughes continued his rehab assignment to the delight of SWB Yankees fans as he picked up the win.  He gave up just two hits and a walk with seven strikeouts in six shutout innings and with the promotion of Joba Chamberlain and Ian Kennedy to Triple A, SWB now has most of the top flight pitching prospects in the organization.

Erubiel Durazo was one of the hitting stars in the 4-0 win over the Bats.  He went two for three with a walk, a double a run and an RBI.

Joba Chamberlain did it again as he pitched the Thunder to a 6-2 win over the Fisher Cats.  He gave up just three hits and a walk with nine strikeouts in seven shutout innings.

All of the offense came on a pair of three run homers.  Cody Ehlers and Bronson Sardinha both went yard with two men on base.

Trenton lost their sixth straight game with two losses to Altoona in which the Thunder scored just a single run.  In the first game, a great start by Joba Chamberlain went to waste.  He gave up two runs on five hits and four walks with ten strikeouts in five innings.  The reason for the loss was that the Thunder were held to five hits without scoring a run.  Gabriel Lopez had two of those of hits and he went two for two with a double.

In the second game, the Thunder put two runs on the board but Brett Smith was shelled. He gave up six runs (five earned) on five hits and three walks with two strikeouts in three innings.  Brett Gardner was the hitting star and he went two for four with a double.

Joba Chamberlain didn’t have his best stuff but he still improved to 2-0 since joining the Thunder.  He gave up five runs on five hits and three walks with nine strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings in the 9-6 win.

Noah Hall went two for three with a walk, a double, three RBIs and a run.  Andy Cannizaro went two for five with two RBIs and a run.

A fantastic start by Joba Chamberlain went to waste in the Thunder’s 7-4 loss to Reading.  He gave up a single run on three hits and a walk with eight strikeouts in six innings before the pen was shelled for six runs in the final three frames.

Matt Carson doubled and drove in two runs in the loss.  Noah Hall went two for three with a run.

Trenton extended their division lead to eight games with a doubleheader sweep over the Defenders and it extends their overall winning streak to six games.  In the first game, Jeffrey Marquez threw all seven innings and he gave up just one unearned run in the 3-1 loss.  Noah Hall drove in two runs while Brett Gardner went two for three with a double, a walk and a run.

In the second game, Joba Chamberlain made his Double A debut and he pitched about as good as you could ask.  He threw five shutout innings and he gave up three hits and two walks with an impressive nine strikeouts in the win.  Ramiro Pena was a perfect three for three in the 2-0 loss.

Joba Chamberlain had another awesome start in the Yankees 9-1 win over Palm Beach.  He improved to 4-0 and he gave up just one run on six hits with nine strikeouts in five solid innings.

Juan Miranda was very productive at the plate.  He had only one hit but it was a double and he walked three times with two RBIs and three runs.  Colin Curtis went three for five with a homerun, two RBIs and two runs.

Juan Miranda had a big day at the plate in Tampa’s 4-3 win over Brevard County.  He went three for four with two doubles, two RBIs and a run.  Jose Tabata went three for four with a run.

Joba Chamberlain had another huge start.  He gave up three runs on five hits and two walks with ten strikeouts.  The win improves his record to 3-0 on the season and the ten strikeouts is a season high.  He has yet to give up a homerun this year.

Tim Battle hit a tenth inning, three run homer to beat Vero Beach 4-1 in ten innings.  It was only his second homerun of the season. 

Joba Chamberlain had a very nice start.  He gave up two hits and two walks with nine strikeouts in eight shutout innings.

Tampa beat Jupiter 6-3 and Joba Chamberlain improved to 2-0 on the season in the win.  He gave up two runs on four hits and two walks with seven strikeouts in six innings of work.

Kevin Russo went one for four and he drove in two runs.  Marcos Vechionacci went one for four and he scored two runs.

The Yankees are pretty well represented on Baseball America’s top 100 prospect list.  Of course Phillip Hughes is near the top at number four.  Further down the list is outfield prospect Jose Tabata at 27, Humberto Sanchez landed at number 57, Joba Chamberlain was 75 and just making the cut is Dellin Betances at 100.

That’s a solid crop.  You figure an average team should have about three guys on there and for the Yankees to have three in the top 60 is particularly impressive.