Chad Jennings spoke with Mark Newman and had many interesting bits of info about many Yankees minor-league pitchers. Here's a rundown:
- Aroldis Chapman is very intriguing, but Newman has no idea what the price tag will be and said “He’s not where (Stephen) Strasburg was.” He also said that he was exactly what they expected when he threw a few weeks ago. "Huge fastball. Spotty command. Inconsistent secondary pitches.... 'But if you don’t like that, you need to be in another business,' Newman said." Newman also said that he would start in A or Double-A and "needs to work on the command and secondary pitches."
- Newman said Jeremy Bleich could be a pitcher that moves quickly through the system this year.
- Wilkin de la Rosa will likely "reapeat Double-A", but they're not sure if he will move to the pen or not. As of now he and Bleich will be in the Double-A rotation, which will also inlcude Hector Noesi and Chris Garcia.
- Dellin Betances is coming off "ligament enhancement surgery" on his right elbow -- the same one Mo had a few years ago -- and is expected to pitch around the start of the season.
- Newman had praise for Andrew Brackman, calling his stuff "top-of-the-rotation stuff." He said everyone must be patient with him due to his “Big body, limited experience and an injury problem.”
- Alan Horne is healthy.
Make sure you go over to
LoHud and check out the full post with more quotes and info from Jennings and Newman.
