Bichette promoted to Staten Island

After a strong professional debut in which he led the Gulf Coast League Yankees to the league championship, Dante Bichette Jr’s season is not over.  He will be joining the Staten Island Yankees as they make their playoff push, along with three of his GCL teammates.

Bichette, the Yankees’ first selection in the 2011 draft, tore up the GCL with a .438 WOBA, hitting .342/.446/.505 with 3 homers and a 30:41 bb:k ratio in the regular season.  He also came up big in the playoffs, including an important home run in the championship game.  He showed himself to be polished, patient hitter that the Yankees thought they were drafting with their sandwich-round selection, and flashed some solid power as well.

Also joining Bichette in being promoted to Staten Island are slugging catcher Isaias Tejada (.443 WOBA and 6 homers), righty starter Taylor Morton (2.96 FIP), and hard-throwing reliever (and NY native) Mariel Checo (3.01 FIP, 13.67 k/9).  None of these guys were drafted this year, though Tejada and Morton are still young enough to be legitimate prospects.  Checo is an intriguing arm, but considering this is his 3rd stint the GCL, it’s hard to expect much from him going down the line.

Regardless, this is a nice bunch of reinforcements for an already-strong Staten Island team.  Bichette will likely split time between 3rd base and DH with former GCL teammate Tyler Austin.  Tejada could find himself in the catching mix, Morton may get a starting gig (or work out of the ‘pen), while Checo seems certain to end up in the bullpen.  They will be joining a talented squad that includes Mason Williams, Angelo Gumbs, Cito Culver, Bryan Mitchell, and Evan DeLuca.

It’s interesting to speculate about what this promotion may mean developmentally for Bichette, though it may not make sense to read too much into it.  Two top Yankee  prospects who recently spent time in Staten Island after the GCL season were Gary Sanchez and Cito Culver.  Sanchez as we know tore up the GCL and didn’t look overmatched in his short stint in Staten Island.  He wound up starting the 2011 season in the full-season South Atlantic League, putting him on the fast track.  Culver, who was not exceptionally impressive last season, started the season in Staten Island, and will likely begin 2012 in Charleston.

Bichette’s offensive performance this season has been much closer to Sanchez than Culver, so there is a chance that he could start 2012 in Charleston.  However, the Yankees could end up being more cautious with Bichette, sending him to Staten Island instead of full season ball.  Some of the decision may depend on the placement of several other hitting prospects who may compete with Bichette for playing time, such as Austin.  Sending Bichette to Charleston would be a signal that the Yankees are very impressed with his development and want to give him a more challenging assignment (not only in terms of talent, but also the length of the season).

Regardless of Bichette’s 2012 destination, his 2011 season could hardly have gone better.  He began to rake right out of the gate, going a long way toward justifying the much-criticized selection.  It’s certainly nice to have a polished power bat like Bichette start to hit right out of the gate, and it will be fun to follow him as he moves up the ladder.