NYPL notes: Amburgey amassing hits

Starting his career in the Gulf Coast League, Trey Amburgey relied on his patience while facing off against hard-throwing and oftentimes unpredictable pitchers.

When he was moved to the New York-Penn League in the middle of this month, he knew he would see better hurlers with better command, and he has since taken full advantage of the greater number of strikes he's seen since arriving in Staten Island.

"Down there you don't see a lot of strike-throwers," Amburgey said of playing for the Gulf Coast Yankees. "You just have guys trying to throw hard, and you don't know what you're going to see every day. Up here I knew I was going to see more strikes, so that helped a lot more."

The results have been astonishing for the New York Yankees' 13th-round pick this past June, who has hit the cover off the ball since his Aug. 15 debut for Staten Island. In 10 games, Amburgey has hit safely in all but one of them and compiled an impressive .529/.538/1.000 slash line, which includes the first three home runs of his professional career, nine extra-base hits, 11 RBIs and 10 runs scored.

The 6-foot-2 outfielder has also been able to show off his deceptive speed, going 4-for-4 on stolen base attempts, adding to the 14 steals he had in the GCL.

"I have to use my legs," said Amburgey, who stole 32 bases at St. Petersburg College in the spring, prior to being drafted. "Even the coaches tell me that [the other teams] don't expect me to run. Whenever I get the chance, just run and show them I can do it. I'm just taking advantage of the time that I'm given and having fun."

Coming out of a small school like St. Petersburg, a junior college in his home state of Florida, Amburgey is eager to prove that talent can be found anywhere and is doing that through his nightly performances with Staten Island.

It's how he felt last summer playing for the Vermont Mountaineers of the New England Collegiate Baseball League, where he was an All-Star, hitting .327 with 12 stolen bases.

"I've always carried that, even when I was in summer [ball] last year," said Amburgey of showing that small-school talent can be just as good as that from the big programs. "I just wanted to prove I belonged and that I can play with the best of them. So I've always carried that motivation."

That motivation is making believers out of the Yankees faithful and changing the tune of some of the most ardent fans on the other side of baseball's biggest rivalry, his own family, who grew up just outside Boston as diehard Red Sox fans.

"My mom's entire family is from [the Boston area]," he said. "It was kind of funny getting drafted by the Yankees. But they've all supported me. They've showed me nothing but support, and they don't hate me anymore."

In brief

Master criminal: Hudson Valley's Michael Russell may only be tied for third in the league with 17 stolen bases, but he has yet to be caught attempting to steal this season. The next closest clean swiper of bases is Auburn's Edwin Lora, who is 7-for-7. Russell is looking to become the first player in the league to finish with 12 or more successful steal attempts without being thrown out since Lowell's Ryan Westmoreland went 19-for-19 in 2009.

Powering up: Williamsport outfielder Jose Pujols went deep in each game of the Crosscutters' three-game sweep of State College this week. He had gone 176 at-bats before he hit his first home run of the season Aug. 12 but now has four long balls in his last 40 ABs. Pujols has also collected two RBIs in four straight games and, despite hitting .205 in August, has 15 RBIs and 13 runs scored.

Dazzling debut: James Kaprielian, the New York Yankees' first-round pick in June, was spotless in his first outing for Staten Island. In three innings, the Yankees' No. 5 prospect struck out seven Lowell Spinners and did not allow a hit or a walk. Kaprelian threw 35 pitches -- 24 for strikes -- and induced four groundball outs.