Mets Daily Farm System Report - 5/15

New York Mets Daily Farm System Report - Results from the night of Friday, May 14 2010

The Usual Suspects

AAA - Buffalo

• SS Ruben Tejada: 1-3, RBI (.304/.348/.362)
• 3B Mike Hessman: 2-4, HR(11), K (.305/.374/.664); He just keep crushing
• DH Val Pascucci: 1-4, HR(1), K; Welcome back from Indy Ball
• RF Jesus Feliciano: 1-4, RBI, K (.357/.394/.429)
• SP R.A. Dickey: 8 IP, 0 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 3 K (4-2, 2.23, 60.2 IP, 55 H, 8 BB, 37 K, 3 HR); Destined for Queens after Ollie's (latest) meltdown?
• INJURY UPDATE - Fernando added to the 7-day DL with a right hamstring strain, no timetable for return

AA - Binghamton

• CF Kirk Nieuwenhuis: 0-4, 3 K (.313/.350/.493) The captain donned the silver sombrero
• 1B Nick Evans: 0-3, K, BB (.284/.383/.514)
• 3B Zack Lutz: 0-3, BB (.271/.411/.525)
• C Mike Nickeas: 1-4 (.309/.385/.379); All important hit prevented the no-no
• SP Dylan Owen: 6 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 8 K (2-1, 2.82, 38.1 IP, 22 H, 16 BB, 27 K, 3 HR); Dominant performance by Owen wasn't enough
• INJURY UPDATE - LF Lucas Duda was also placed on the 7-day DL for a right hamstring strain; apparently those are going around

Hi-A - St. Lucie

• 2B Reese Havens: 1-4, HR(3), K (.281/.369/.509); Should be heading north pretty soon
• DH Josh Satin: 1-3, 2B, RBI, 2 K (.336/432/.483); Hit streak up to 11
• CF Sean Ratliff: 1-3, 2B, R, K, E(3) (.286/.331/.481)
• LF-3B Eric Campbell: 2-4, 2B, R, 2 K (.342/.415/.544)
• 1b Stefan Welch: 1-3, RBI (.328/.377/.489) This aussie is quietly off to a nice start
• SP Kyle Allen: 6 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 4 K, HR, WP (3-2, 5.40, 35 IP, 34 H, 24 BB, 21 K, 3 HR); Best start of his season kept St. Lucie in this game
• CL Manny Alvarez: 1 IP, 0 ER, H, BB, 2 K (3-1, 8 SV, 0.00, 25.1 IP, 12 H, 4 BB, 24 K, 0 HR); The streak lives
• INJURY UPDATE - Apparently we'll see Igarashi start his rehab here tomorrow; rehabbing his left hamstring strain

Lo-A - Savannah

• SS Wilmer Flores: 4-5, 2B, 3 RBI (.359/.405/.592); 8-game hit streak, 18 for 36 (.500) in that stretch. Incredible.
• 3B Jefry Marte: 0-2, 2 RBI, BB, (.217/.333/.301) Anybody home?
• CF Juan Lagares: 3-4, 3B, RBI, BB (.305/.321/.539) Suddenly valuable IF he moves back to short when Wilmer moves up
• 2B Alonzo Harris: 2-4, R, 2 K (.260/.278/.378)
• LHP Jim Fuller: 6 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 4 K (5-1, 1.81, 44.2 IP, 38 H, 10 B, 41 K, 0 HR) Still hasn't allowed a homer over his first 7 starts

Star of the Night

OK we've waited long enough, the Star of the Night (and the season for that matter) is SS Wilmer Flores.  The kid is absolutely on fire right now and really hasn't missed a beat since the beginning of April.  Some questions about his glove (8 errors already) but few people expect him to stick at short anyway.  The fact of the matter is, he's got a truly special bat.  The kid leads the Sally in OPS and the other 4 guys in the top 5 are all between 2 and 4 years older than him.  Just for good measure he leads the circuit in batting as well.  To answer Gina'a question from yesterday's report, considering that Ike, Mejia & Niese are in the majors and Fernando just succumbed to his second injury of the campaign, I'd say Wilmer is well on his way to becoming the Mets' #1 prospect.

Goat of the Night: Take the night off Clint and Alonzo, tonight's goat is the entire B-Mets offense.  Not because they were shut out on a one-hitter tonight, not even because they've scored only 7 runs in their last 4 games, but mostly because they wasted that great performance by Dylan Owen who really tried to keep them in the game.

Spotlight Affiliate: Triple-A Buffalo Bisons (20-15)

Like Binghamton, Buffalo figures to be much better this season because frankly, it's really hard to be as bad as their horrible 56-87 team last year.  After 2009's injuries shone a spotlight on the absolute dearth of not just prospects-in-waiting but even just serviceable replacements on call in the minors, there was a clear focus by the Mets front office in the offseason to stockpile any and all available/cheap talent they could find in Buffalo.  Enter early favorites Mike Hessman, R.A. Dickey & Jason Pridie.  Beyond that, the ascension of a handful of top-tier prospects (Fernando, Thole & Tejada) as well as interesting supporting guys like Dillon Gee, Pat Misch and Bobby Parnell promise to, at the very least, take the Bisons back to respectability.

In the last week Buffalo has gone 4-3, made possible by a 3-game win streak following a 3-game losing streak (deja vu).  Overall, the Bisons are 20-15 which is third in the International League, but only 1.5 games back from front-running Syracuse.  Some notes from the first month of the season around Coca-Cola Field:

• Buffalo has enjoyed some home cooking thus far, going 11-4 at Coca-Cola Field
• OF Jesus Feliciano is pacing the league in AVG at an impressive .357 clip...
• ...and 3B Mike Hessman leads the circuit in SLG(.664), HR(11) & TB(84)
• As far as pitchers, Knuckle-balling RHP R.A. Dickey has accumulated a 2.23 ERA so far, allowing more than 2 ER in only 2 of his 10 starts
• On the other end, RHP Kiko Calero (who posted a sub-2 ERA in '09 in the majors mind you) has posted a disastrous 10.59 ERA having given up runs in 6 of his 10 appearances
• Oh and Star Wars Night is June 16th, mark your calendars accordingly 

System Roundup

• It was the R.A. Dickey show last night as he quieted the Norfolk bats over 8 strong innings to help Buffalo to a 5-3 win, their fourth straight.  The Bison hitters got on Orioles top prospect Chris Tillman early, as 3B Mike Hessman (who I have an urge to call 'The Terminator') and our old pal Val, in his 2010 Bisons debut, both homered.
• Binghamton also has a 4-game streak going, but of the losing variety as they dropped another to Trenton, 3-0.  The B-Mets offense has officially flatlined, as they managed just 1 measly hit off of 3 Thunder starters and wasted a one-hitter of their own by RHP Dylan Owen over 6 dominant innings.
• Things looked bad in St. Lucie until the bats finally broke through in the 7th and then 2B Reese Havens provided the winning run in the 8th on his 3rd bomb of the year.  Kudos to RHP Kyle Allen for keeping them in this one.
• Easy 8-2 win for Savannah over the Braves. What did I say again yesterday? "Another day, another great day by Wilmer and another impressive college pitcher."  Yeah, that.

Reasons why I love Minor League Baseball: