Mark Melancon has been dominant at Trenton, with a 0.63 WHIP and 12 hits allowed in 23 2/3 innings.  Is he as good as advertised and when we can expect him in the Boogie Down Bronx?

The scary thing is that Melancon may be better than advertised.  He has a heavy fastball that's been in the mid 90's recently, and a devastating curveball that's one of the best you'll see at this level.

When he puts on pinstripes is entirely up to Brian Cashman, Mark Newman, and so on...because his stuff is certainly good enough to throw him out there right now.

I still think that Joba and Ian being rushed last year leads to people almost demanding to see these guys in their first or second year of pro ball, but he's got the personality to handle it (he's very calm, cool and collected -- doesn't get too excited about anything) and I'm pretty confident he could put up the numbers as well if he was used in a 7th inning or setup role.

I recently spoke to a scout who doesn't feel that his delivery as it stands would lead to him being an effective closer at the big league level, as it may lead to command issues, but I'd be at the very least curious to see what he does facing the more veteran hitters in Triple-A, as he certainly can't be long for Trenton.
 

Thanks to your recent contribution to Nomaas, we're very aware of Jose Tabata's problematic behavior.  His on-the-field performance has also been terrible.  What is going on with him at the plate and is he still worthy of his lofty prospect status?

Tabata is improving, but he still isn't performing the way a lot of people thought he would.

In terms of his behavior, I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that he's a 19-year-old kid who's struggling for the first time.  He entered the season hitting over .300 for his career, so not raking for an entire season is foreign to him.  But there haven't been any issues lately, so ummm...you know, that's always a good thing.

On the field, he flat out doesn't pull the ball.  He'll do it in batting practice, but it's rare to see him do it in a game situation.  I recently asked hitting coach Tom Wilson about this, and he said the following:

"That's something we're working on, just to be able to work on the inside pitch.  Guys were pounding him inside early here.  In A-Ball, guys...they can't do that, they can't throw the ball where they really want to all the time.  So I think you get to here and you see some guys that are able to throw in, and I think the other teams get their pitchers and catchers together and have little meetings and say, 'Hey, this is how we're going to attack this guy.'  And their plan for Tabby is probably that they're going to get in on his hands.  There are some teams that do a real good job of that, so we had to make some adjustments with his swing.  But I like where he's at right now, and I think he's going to make some progress.  When it's all said and done, I think he's going to have a solid year here."

So I do think that he's worthy of his prospect status, I just don't think you'll see him rated as high as he was going into this season in the 2009 guides and magazines, based on both his on and off the field issues.
 

While Jose Tabata's career seems to be moving in the wrong direction, Austin Jackson seems to be on the up and up.  What impresses you the most about the 21-year old centerfielder?

A-Jack has a really strong work ethic, and he's made some big strides from when I saw him during last year's playoffs and even at the start of this season.

He struggled on some things that you might expect a guy to struggle with for a guy still making that transition to a full-time baseball player from being an athlete playing baseball.  Things like knowing when to tag up on certain plays and hitting the cutoff man at certain points.

But he's really improved with what I guess you would consider more instinctual plays such as that, and he's also improved greatly with runners in scoring position after some early struggles there this season as well.
 

David Robertson, now in AAA, made 9 appearances at Trenton this season. Despite being 5'11" and having a 90 mph fastball, what makes this kid so effective?  I mean, he's never allowed a HR in the minors.  We've heard that his pitches have lots of movement, but his numbers are almost difficult to comprehend.  What did you see?

Nasty breaking stuff and good command.  The curveball is what I remember most from him, though.  I'm always all around the ballpark during the game, whether it be shooting photos or taking videos, or trying to sneak a peek at radar gun readings and so on...and I can remember sitting about 10 rows or so behind the plate and just being blown away by this guy's curveball.  The amount of movement he had on it was flat out ridiculous, and he seemed to throw it so effortlessly.  I don't know if you can put it up there with Edwar's changeup, but without question it's a plus pitch.
 

Anthony Claggett, acquired in the Gary Sheffield trade, is having a decent year of the pen: 23 IP, 20 H, 21 K.  But, in those 20 IP, he's walked 14 batters.  What can you tell us about him?

Claggett has a fastball that I've seen in the low 90's, a slider that he doesn't use very much, and a changeup.

To me, he doesn't really have that standout pitch that separates him from a lot of other guys in the system.  Cox has the slider, Melancon and Robertson have the curve, etc.

His fastball is effective enough to where it's been successful for him in Trenton, but I think he might struggle in Triple-A considering the current level of development his pitches have right now.  Ideally, I'd like to see him spend the rest of the year and work on improving his secondary stuff.
 

Despite a W/L record of 2-6, George Kontos' peripherals look decent.: 77 IP, 66 H, 75 K, 31 BB, .236 BA Against.  We see him most likely as a reliever, but what do coaches say about him and how do they see his future?

Kontos struggled a bit at the beginning of the season, had a pretty solid stretch after that, but struggled again in his last start.  It would seem consistency would most likely be his biggest issue.

Kontos throws a two-seam fastball, four-seam fastball, a slider and has been working on using his curveball and changeup more in games.  He was battling delivery issues early in the year that prevented a lot of his pitches from being effective, and also may have had some difficulties in making the adjustment from Tampa to Trenton.

I'd like to see him stick as a starter, and I think that's currently the long-term plan with him, but I could also see a scenario in which he makes the transition to a reliever as well.
 

Recently promoted Dan McCutchen has struggled a bit at Scranton, despite impressing at Trenton.  What stood out about McCutchen during his time at AA?  What have you heard about his potential contribution at the major league level?

When McCutchen's fastball was on in Trenton, he was really hard to hit.  He threw in the low 90's, and would occasionally get it a little higher than that, but it seemed really heavy.

I think he battled some consistency issues at times as well, specifically with command, and I think that's kind of what you've been seeing in Scranton, with the notable exception of his last start.

It seems everyone feels that he's best suited as a reliever, and that's a role that he's told me he would embrace.  But right now, he's at or near the top of the depth chart for making a possible spot start for the Yankees, and I'd like to see what he does as a starter before just shifting him to the bullpen.
 

Tell us about someone else that deserves some attention for his performance this season.

Phil Coke.  What's not to like about the guy?  He throws hard, strikes guys out, and is one of the easiest going guys off the field you're ever going to want to meet.

He's got a real bulldog mentality, and he just wants the ball.  Doesn't matter to him if it's every fifth day or if he's in the bullpen, the kid just wants to make an impact in the game.

I think once he really starts to get complete command of his breaking stuff, and that's something that he's been working on with Scott Aldred since the start of the season, he's really going to emerge as someone to watch.  He's a little older, so a lot of people might not consider him to be a prospect, but some people felt the same way about McCutchen, and look at what he's done.

Jason Jones is another guy who's been putting up some awesome numbers, and it seems nobody's really been paying attention to what he's been doing either.  He's 8-2 with a 2.30 ERA and is pretty much a lock to pitch in the All-Star Game.  He doesn't have spectacular stuff, and he's never going to be a strikeout pitcher, but he gets the job done.
 

Mike Ashmore covers the Trenton Thunder for the Hunterdon County Democrat and authors a blog which follows the Thunder on a daily basis.