Minor Notes: Scranton Unstoppable

Scranton Wins 10th Straight Game

The Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees are 10-0 to start off their season. Eight of their wins have been on the road. They have scored 7.9 runs per game and allowed just 3.3 runs per game. They are hitting a ridiculous .323/.402/.510 as a team, in a league that has so far played out to be an extreme pitcher’s league in 2009.

The prospects, Austin Jackson, Juan Miranda, Mark Melancon, David Robertson, Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, and others have been contributing, but so have former major leaguers John Rodriguez, Todd Linden, Jason Johnson, Brett Tomko, and Shelley Duncan. Its a well balanced team that should shape up to be a Triple-A powerhouse for the entire season.

Slow Starters

We generally try to focus on the good news here at Yankees Universe. However, some players just don’t supply us with a whole lot to be happy about all the time. Slow starts are just a small snapshot in time, so take these with a grain of salt.

Austin Romine has failed to keep pace with his catching mate Jesus Montero. Romine has hit .167/.194/.200 to start the season. His teammate this year and last, Brandon Laird, is also struggling, hitting .231/.310/.269.

Francisco Cervelli is doing even worse. After an impressive WBC performance and good camp, Cervelli is hitting just .083/.154/.083 in 24 at bats on the season. He has also committed 3 errors. Cervelli isn’t alone on the Trenton team. Seth Fortenberry, Marcos Vechionacci, Reegie Corona, and Justin Snyder are all also slumping. In fact, the Trenton Thunder have still not managed to hit a single home run.

Jesus Montero goes 4 for 5

Montero was looking like a slow starter until Friday’s game. He went 4 for 4 with 2 doubles, raising his season line to .333/.412/.533. While his 30 at bats are far from a meaningful sample size, it feels good to see Montero still post a 4/4 K/BB ratio in 8 games despite mostly failing to land hits.

The Yankees continue to keep trying Montero at catcher, even though we get almost daily reports about how poor his defense is. Its worth remembering that Montero is still very young, and has a lot of improvement ahead of him defensively. If he continues to improve on offense, he’ll be a scary player regardless of position.

Follow Me On Twitter