Minor Notes: Pilittere to Sit, Trenton's Opening Day

I’m always searching for the best way to cover the relatively unimportant day-to-day news about minor league baseball. These things have small, but definite, impacts upon the major league team. Today, I premier the first edition of Minor Notes.

P.J. Pilittere sits.

P.J. Pilittere has been the Yankee’s property for awhile now. A catcher, he”s not athletic at all, with average agility, hitting skills, and arm strength. However, he has always come with a fantastic reputation of game calling, and pitchers have generally improved under his tutilage. Pilittere was moved up to Triple-A Scranton this year, but will remain inactive as the club’s third catcher.

I’m willing to bet that this is the lead in to Pilittere’s transition to coaching. He could very well become an important name as a catching instructor, scout, or manager in the near future for the Yankees. Scranton is carrying two legitimate defense-first major league backup catchers in Kevin Cash and Chris Stewart. They could lose Jose Molina at very little cost this season.

Trenton Plays, Ashmore Brings Video

When I first started blogging, I had to go to the ballparks myself and obtain press access just to figure out the basics about what was going on at the minor league level. Now, Mike Ashmore is loading up Youtube every game. Look at how easy Eric Hacker’s motion looks:

Hacker's Opening Day

Everyone Else Plays Tonight

Andrew Brackman will make his professional debut tonight. I expect a season of ups and downs. If Brackman stays pretty healthy this season and manages to pitch 120 innings, I am satisfied. Beyond that, everything else is gravy. Expect control problems early on. Minor League Recap will return to give you all the news you need to know, although the format will dramatically change from my previous three seasons.

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