The Scranton Wilkes-Barre Monteros

Mood Music - Don't Stop Me Now by Queen

Really, Jesus?  Last night, the crown jewel of the Yankees farm system, Jesus Montero delivered two more home runs in Scranton's 5-1 victory over the Buffalo Bisons.  After the All Star break, Montero has played in 36 games, and here are his stats:

.363/.417/.689 (1.106 OPS) with 11 HR, 28 RBI, 11 2B, 13 BB, and only 27 Ks.

I can't even begin to talk about his performance as of late without sounding like a broken record.  You don't know how hard it has been for me to go this long into the post without the word "man-crush" showing up.  After struggling somewhat in the first half of the season (.743 OPS pre ASP), Montero has really feasted on the International League.

Now, senior writer extraordinaire, jscape2000, wrote about the possible ways to get Montero onto the 40 man roster before the end of the year, and his after fully investigation what it would take, his conclusion was simple:

Leave him in the minor leagues.

Yeah, that's probably the logical thing to do, but boy is Jesus sure making a case for making an exception.  Would anyone really care if we DFA'd Wilkin De La Rosa to see if Montero can continue his raking at the big league level?  Patience, Duggan, patience.

The starter of Montero's double dip was someone who I think has really flown under the radar in our system: D.J. Mitchell.  Mitchell, who's solid season has somewhat been lost in the shenanigans of ManBan, Betances, and Brackman, certainly got my full attention after last night's performance of 7 innings of 1 hit ball.  Mitchell was recently called up to Scranton after the roster shakeup at the deadline, but here is how his season was going at Trenton:

11-4, 133 IP, 4.06 ERA, 4.36 FIP, 55.5% GB, 96 Ks, .254 BAA

Mitchell is a ground ball machine, and I somewhat look at him as Z-Mac 2.0.  So far in his two starts at AAA, he has had one poor start (5.2 IP, 4 ER, 11 H) and the one excellent start that I just described (7 IP, 0 ER, 1H).  He'll certainly be an interesting guy to keep an eye on in the future.

Oh, and as Travis reported last night, Scranton clinched their 4th straight division title.  That'll teach 'em how to be Yankees.