Minor League Recap – High A Tampa Yankees

As with many A – ball teams, the Tampa Yankees saw a lot of turnover on their roster throughout the season.  Despite all the changes they finished 74-64 in the 12-team Florida State League.  They were led by an offense that finished 3rd in Runs scored & 2nd in Batting Average.  Tampa’s pitching staff finished 10th with a 3.98 team ERA.

The team went through a lot of changes during June. It’s three top hitters, 3B Robert Lyerly, OF Deangelo Mack and CF Zoilo Almonte were promoted to AA Trenton and were eventually replaced by Kyle Roller, Rob Segedin, Slade Heathcott & JR Murphy from Low A Charleston.  Unfortunately, Slade & Murph had there seasons cut short by injury and Roller and Segedin had some trouble adapting to the more advanced pitchers.

HITTERS

Abe Almonte had a 30-game hitting streak

Abraham Almonte - CF, 22, 5’9″ 205

Almonte is a well-built switch-hitter who finished the season on fire with a 30-game hitting streak. He was hitting a pathetic .218/.294/.280 with 12 XBH at the midpoint of the season but was .314/.369/.475 with 30XBH in the 2nd half to finish at .268 with 30 sbs.  Almonte has a plus glove and great speed and shows flashes of being a dynamic offensive player but he’s been wildly inconsistent throughout his career so it remains to be seen if he can build on his huge 2nd half.

Kyle Roller – 1B, 23, 6’1″ 235

Roller’s a big lefty hitter drafted in the 8th rd in 2010 because he can stroke and he did just that in 2011. He was roping in Charleston to start the season with a .925 OPS that got him promoted after 50 games. He held his own against better pitching to finish the season at .284/.371//482/.854 with 31 doubles & 16 HRs in 110 games.

Rob Segedin

Rob Segedin - 3B, 22, 6’3″ 220

Like Roller, Segedin was drafted in the 3rd rd of 2010 for his stick.  He began mashing in CHS with an .878 OPS but he did not hit in Tampa after his promotion with a .245/.311/.309 slash in 52 games.  It doesn’t damper his upside as a productive hitting corner IF or OF. His season total was a respectable .287/.358/.403.

Deangelo Mack – LF, 24, 5’10″ 190

Mack had a solid year for Charleston and even played 40 games for Trenton from May to July when Melky Mesa was injured. He hit .248/.357/.388 for Trenton but was a .300 hitter in his 59 games for CHS. Overall, he hit .280/.361/.436 with 8 HRs among his 31 xtra base hits. Mack has a good feel for the strike zone and a nice lefty stroke but doesn’t have good power or speed for a corner OF which may hurt his future value.

Walter Ibarra - 2B, 23, 5’11″ 180

Ibarra is in his 6th season in the organization and he repeated the FSL despite hitting .301 last yr.  This yr he had his best season hitting .297-.333-.421 with 10 sbs and 33 xbh. The Yanks have a lot of talented 2B in the system rated higher than Ibarra so his future may be as a utility player.

PITCHERS

Marshall is now fully recovered from Tommy John Surgery

Brett Marshall – RHP, 21, 6’0″ 195

Marshall was given an $850,000 signing bonus as a 6th rounder in 2008 but underwent Tommy John Surgery in July 2009. He came back to throw 84 innings last yr and looked good. He got off to a poor start in April this season but rebounded to have a great yr as he got stronger in his 2nd year from TJ surgery. Since May1, he went 8-4 2.87 with 100 Ks in 119 IP and saw a big uptick in his stuff and Ks in the 2nd half.

Brett threw a career high 140.1 IP this season which is big having never thrown more than 87. He proved his arm is healthy.  Overall, he was 9-7 with a 3.78 ERA , 3.24 FIP, 7.3 K/9 & 3.1 BB/9.  He has a good 2-seam fastball he used to post a 1.88 GO/AO ratio. His FB is in the low 90s with ability to throw in the mid 90s and he also features the makings of a plus slider. The organization has to be pleased with his season and they will likely have him begin in AA Trenton next yr.  Look for Marshall to be a highly rated prospect in upcoming rankings.

Jairo Heredia – RHP, 21, 6’1″ 190

Heredia has been a highly ranked prospect for years but is terribly injury prone. Many had given up on him but he returned this season and showed the talent by going 8-2 3.29 with 9.0 k/9 & 2.1 bb/9 through June. However, he was then placed on the DL never to return.  He’s still only 21 and has excellent command to go along with a plus Curveball and low 90s fastball with movement but he has not shown any durability.

Ryan Flannery – RHP, 25, 6’4 245

Dominating yr as the team’s closer going 3-1 with 19 saves and a 1.24 ERA. Had a 7 to 1 K to BB rate and 2.30 Ground Out to Air Out ratio but at 25, he’s very old for this league and needs to prove himself at AA where he didn’t fare well allowing  16 baserunners in 5 IP.

Jose Quintana is a deceptive lefty

Jose Quintana – LHP, 22, 6’0″ 170

Quintana began the season as a reliever and did so well they made him a starter in July. Overall, he finished with a 10-2 record, 2.91 ERA, 2.96 FIP, 7.8 k/9, 2.5 bb/9 and 1.16 GO/AO rate. His strikeout ad groundball numbers were better as a reliever but that is true for most pitchers. Jose is a bit of an unknown not getting a lot of coverage prior to this season.  He sits n the 89-91 range and throws a curve & change.

Michael O’Brien – RHP, 21, 5’11″ 185

O’Brien pitched well in Low A so was brought up in late June and continued his success in Tampa. Combined he finished 7-7 with a 3.16 ERA with 99 Ks in 119 IP. He saw a big drop in his Ks after his promotion and was shut down for the season in mid-August