From Bryan Hoch:
Jorge Posada caught Melancon during his batting practice session Sunday at George M. Steinbrenner Field, offering rave reviews. Jeter may have crowed when Cano splintered his lumber, but Jeter also cut and missed at two pitches from Melancon, grinning widely after the second one made him look silly.”His ball cuts, it sinks, it’s got late life to it,” Girardi said. “That usually translates into swings and misses, and not solid contact.”
Posada said that Melancon’s two-seamer was even more impressive than his 12-to-6 curveball, widely regarded as his strikeout pitch. Posada said that Melancon’s two-seamer cut to lefties — the reason Cano’s bat was taken out of service — and that the four-seamer was the one that prompted Jeter to flash his pearly whites.
Viewing the Yankees’ bullpen mix, Posada does not seem to expect Melancon will be on the first-base line April 6 at Baltimore. But it seems safe to wager that he’ll have his share of Opening Days if everything continues on this track, projecting as a late-inning reliever or closer type.
“We’ll see how he progresses,” Posada said. “I think they don’t really want to rush him right now. They want him to get a full year in and see what happens. But he’s got a bright future. There’s no doubt about that.”
If Edwar Ramirez’s shoulder injury turns out to be a serious one, I wouldn’t be too surprised to see Melancon pitching in his place. Frankly, based on what the Yankees saw in camp today, if that were to occur, I don’t think any of them would be too surprised, either.
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Melancon is definitely my number 1 story to watch this spring training. I am really pumped to see him pitch. Moshe Mandel(Quote)
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I certainly think Melancon can do the job immediately.
What’s the rush with Mariano?
Why not let him come back very, very slowly and stay an extra 3 weeks to a month in Florida. and let some of these kids like Melancon pitch in relief behind Bruney, Marte, Coke and Veras.
I doubt Melancon embarrasses himself. leftylarry(Quote)
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Moshe Mandel Reply:
February 22nd, 2009 at 11:38 pm
I dont know- lets not understate how important Mo is to the team. Moshe Mandel(Quote)
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Nobody ever won a W.S. in April.
Joe Torre needed to know that too. leftylarry(Quote)
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Old Ranger Reply:
February 23rd, 2009 at 12:17 am
You are right about winning it in April but, a team can dig themselves one hell of a big hole…as we have seen the last few years.
Unless he comes unglued, Melancon will be up this year, hopefully not to soon. No need to rush him. Old Ranger(Quote)
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Moshe Mandel Reply:
February 23rd, 2009 at 12:24 am
Exactly. You may not win it in April, but with these three teams in the same division, you can lose it. See last season for an example. Moshe Mandel(Quote)
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Plus, you’re not going to throw the relief kids into the fire with Mariano gone. You know a guy like Bruney will foolishly overthrow his pitches in an attempt to make up for his absence. Chris H.(Quote)
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Melancon is probably my favorite Yankee prospect right now, I’ve been following him for awhile. I can’t wait to see him in pinstripes, though I think the Yanks should give him maybe a month or so in AAA considering his small sample size there. We have the depth that even wth Edwar possibly injured, someone besides Melancon can fill his role initially. I would be shocked if Melancon doesn’t force his way into the majors before the deadline, however.
I disagree also with the Mo thing. From everything I’ve read, he seems to be progressing this spring in a similar fashion then he would in a normal year and has had no setbacks. Edward likely isn’t our 8th inning guy anyway (probably Marte/Burney, at least to start the season)so we can get a guy like Robertson or Coke to fill Edwar’s shoes for the time being. Melancon will be in the majors soon enough, and I can’t wait to see his debut! Justin(Quote)
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Some of you seem to miss the point about Edwar. He has improved his FB, his Change is awesome. AJ starts a game, needs help in the 7th, Edwar comes in and throws off the hitters timing and gets them out of trouble. That’s his game, after a hard fastball…Edwars’ change looks very slow and hard to center, also makes a lot of GB to the infield. Old Ranger(Quote)
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Moshe Mandel Reply:
February 23rd, 2009 at 10:54 am
We were told he improved his FB last offseason, i remember writing about it. He is what he is, a solid reliever who will give up a lot of homeruns and big innings if his stuff is off at all. Moshe Mandel(Quote)
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Old Ranger Reply:
February 23rd, 2009 at 11:10 am
Yup! He is on or off. When on…lights out! When off…well, let’s not go there. Old Ranger(Quote)
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I was lucky enough to see Melancon pitch in Trenton a couple of times and his stuff borders on electric. Downer powercurveball and low to mid-90s fastball with very good life. He could use a little better command as he can leave the FB up at times, but I agree with an earlier poster who thinks he will start in AAA but could be called up by May. Anthony G.(Quote)
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