Professional Career
His initial assignment was to the Staten Island Yankees of the Class-A Short-Season New York–Penn League. On June 19, 2008, in his first minor league appearance with Staten Island against the Brooklyn Cyclones, Venditte pitched a scoreless ninth inning for a Yankees win. Before Venditte faced the last Cyclone batter, Ralph Henriquez, a switch-hitter, upon choosing to bat left- or right-handed (with Venditte subsequently choosing to pitch with the same hand), Henriquez would then go to the other side of the plate (and adjust his shin guard—which is worn on the front leg when a batter takes his stance) to regain the advantage. After this had happened several times the teams appealed to the umpiring crew, which ruled that the batter must first select from which side of the plate he intended to hit, and that the pitcher would then be allowed to declare with which arm he would pitch. Venditte subsequently struck out Henriquez, who slammed his bat against the dirt, to end the game. A film of the incident received notoriety on the Internet and the tale was recounted in a number of places, including within the baseball compendium Rollie's Follies.
Venditte completed the 2008 season with 23 saves in 30 appearances with a 0.83 ERA. His performance earned him a spot on the New York–Penn League All-Star team and the Minor League Baseball Yearly Award for Best Short-Season Reliever.
For the 2009 season, he was assigned to the Charleston RiverDogs of the Class-A South Atlantic League. He was promoted to the Tampa Yankees of the Class A Advanced Florida State League on June 26, 2009. He finished the regular season with a 2.21 ERA and 2 saves in 21 appearances. In October, Venditte pitched for Águilas del Zulia in the Venezuelan Winter League.
Venditte pitched for the Yankees in a spring training game against the Atlanta Braves on March 30, 2010, giving up one earned run on two hits and a walk in 1 1⁄3 innings. He started the 2010 season in Tampa, posting a 1.73 ERA through 72 2⁄3 innings in 41 appearances. On August 31, 2010 Venditte was promoted to the Trenton Thunder of the Class-AA Eastern League.
Venditte pitched to a 3.41 ERA in 51 appearances with Trenton in 2011. Though Venditte was eligible to be selected in the Rule 5 draft during the 2011–12 offseason, the Yankees chose not to protect him. However, he was not chosen by any MLB team. During the 2011-12 offseason, Venditte pitched in the Mexican Pacific League.
Venditte was promoted to the Class-AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees of the International League for Opening Day in 2012. He suffered a torn labrum in his right shoulder.
Read more about this topic: Pat Venditte
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