Around the Minors

If you have any interest in the way the Yankees develop players, you need to read this interview with Mark Newman, the VP of Baseball Operations. My favorite answer -

There's two basic principles that make up the foundation of our hitting program: Get a good pitch to hit and use the whole field. We don't want to develop dead-pull hitters or dead-opposite-field hitters.

That's exactly the right philosophy to teach young hitters: discipline, swing hard and use the whole field.

• Some of us were talking about J.B. Cox the other day. It turns out he is back. After spending most of last season pondering his future, he's now with the Tampa Yankees. Unfortunately, his first outing was a bit of a doozy: 1 ip, 5 er, 4 h, 1 bb, 1 k. Hopefully he wasn't shell-shocked and can return to being one of our best relief prospects.

• 2007 first-round pick Andrew Brackman is finally approaching the lofty status he garnered on draft day -

If you were ready to write off Brackman when his ERA sat at a lofty 8.31 after six starts in the Florida State League, that would have been a mistake, as things are starting to really click. He's been throwing an almost shocking number of strikes all season (7 BB in 55 IP), but his stuff is getting better and better, as the Yankees have put considerable work into nearly every aspect of his game and the results are finally showing up. With a fastball suddenly getting up to 96 mph, two distinct breaking balls and a changeup, Brackman has allowed six runs over 29 innings in his last five starts while whiffing 34, and he's back on the prospect map.

His last start (Monday): 6 ip, 1 er, 5 h, 0 bb, 11 k.

• Re: Dellin Betances -
  

He's in his fifth professional season, yet last night's outing was only the 51st of his career. Still, he's just 22 years old, and he's still a six-foot-eight righty with a big ceiling. Whatever magic the Yankee coaching staff has pulled with Andrew Brackman of late, it seems to have work off on Betances as well, as he's throwing strikes and dominating, allowing five hits in 12 innings while striking out 13 and, most surprising, walking just one while consistently getting into the mid-90s with his fastball.

His last start (Tuesday): 6 ip, 0 r, 2 h, 1 bb, 7 k.

Imagine Brackman (6'10") and Betances (6'8") in the rotation. The Killer B's? The Big B's?