Mets Daily Farm System Report 6/18: Gnats on the Brink

New York Mets Daily Farm System Report - Results from the night of Thursday, June 17, 2010

The Usual Suspects

AAA - Buffalo (35-32)

• CF Fernando Martinez: 1-4, 2B, K (.267/.313/.457)
• LF Lucas Duda: 1-4, 2B, BB (.273/.333/.545)
• C Josh Thole: 1-3, BB (.284/.357/.459)
• 2B Justin Turner 0-4, K (.275/.343/.381) Noteworthy since he didn't get on base for the first time in his 19-game Bisons career
• SP Pat Misch: 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 4 K, 1 HR (5-3, 3.50, 82.1 IP, 83 H, 15 BB, 48 K, 6 HR) Good outing goes to waste
• RP Roydrick Merritt: 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K; Very nice Triple-A debut, and yes his name is 'Roydrick'

AA - Binghamton (32-34)

• CF Sean Ratliff: 1-3, 2B, RBI (.385/.385/.462) Game-winning RBI...in the first inning
• 1B Nick Evans: 1-3, 2B, BB, K (.278/.350/.517)
• 2B Josh Satin: 2-3, B (.385/.429/.538)
• 3B Eric Campbell: 0-3, BB, K (.304/.369/.467)
• SP Eric Niesen 5.1 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 5 K (2-3, 2.94, 74.0 IP, 33.2 H, 28 BB, 26 K, 1 HR) Tough to hit (.198 BAA) but needs to improve that K:BB for sustained success
• RP Scott Shaw: 1.2 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K (4-5, 6.94 ERA, 58.1 IP, 72 H, 25 BB, 38 K, 10 HR) 0.00 ERA in last 5 relief outings (11 IP) vs. 8.57 ERA in last 5 starts (23.1 IP)

Hi-A - St. Lucie (30-31)

• Night Off

Lo-A Savannah (39-26)

• SS Wilmer Flores: 1-4, R, K (.280/.345/.439)
• CF Juan Lagares: 0-3, RBI, K (.296/.313/.458)
• DH Pedro Zapata 2-4, 2B, RBI, R, BB, 2 K (.286/.353/.380) Batting .425 in his last 10 games
• 3B Jefrey Marte: 0-4, 2 K (.239/.321/.354)
• 2B Alonzo Harris: 1-3, SB(7) (.241/.278/.375)
• RF Cesar Puello 0-3, R, BB, K, SB(23), CS(5) (.247/.335/.301)
• SP Armando Rodriguez: 6.1 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 6 K, 0 HR (5-4, 3.10, 72.2 IP, 54 H, 28 BB, 63 K, 4 HR) Looking better and better with each passing start (ERA by month: 4.10 | 2.79 | 2.08)

Star(s) of the Night

I'm going to give the give out the rarely seen 'Co-Stars of the Night' to a couple of Savannah Sands Gnats in what might have been their most important game of the season to date.  The first was RHP Armando Rodriguez (pictured) thanks to his strong performance, holding the GreenJackets to just one run over 6+ innings in a game that the Gnats HAD to have.  Mini-Mejia has been overshadowed by some tremendous performances around the Savannah rotation but make no mistake, long-term he has more potential than anybody on this staff.  And in a way it has allowed him to quietly right the ship after a slow start and really get it going of late (2.08 ERA in his previous 3 starts)

The second star was Savannah CF Pedro Zapata who probably doesn't get as much attention as he deserves around these reports but has been as much a reason for Savannah's recent surge into first as anybody.  Zapata came up big last night, setting the tone early leading off the game with a hit and eventually coming around to score and closing it out late by knocking in an insurance run in the 9th.  Zapata has been invaluable on the team's recent hot stretch, batting .377 in the month of June with 13 RBI's in 13 games and a .433 OBP.

Goat of the Night:  Well, to be honest the whole Bisons offense deserves this...yet it goes to 1B Mike Jacobs for his 0-for-3 because I said so.

System Roundup

• The Bisons have had no trouble with the actual pitching prospects, it's the former prospects that seem to give them trouble this season.  Last night it was Hayden Penn, who led the Indians to a 2-0 victory over Buffalo.  After two straight stinkers, LHP Pat Misch bounced back nicely over seven strong innings, allowing only two runs.  However, the Herd's bats were all but useless as they were limited to just three hits on the game.  The once talented (for Triple-A) Bisons roster has been severely depleted thanks to injuries and call-ups; look for their once impressive record to fall below .500 in the next 7-10 days.  John Maine will take the mound for the Bisons making his second rehab start tonight.
• SS Luis Hernandez led this game off with a single; the next batter, newly promoted CF Sean Ratliff, doubled to drive him in.  And that was it.  The B-Mets won a serious pitchers' duel against Richmond last night 1-0 thanks to five solid innings by the interesting LHP Eric Niesen as well as a sterling effort out of the 'pen.  Niesen didn't have his best stuff tonight but he was effectivelly wild and battled to keep the Flying Squirrels off the board.  Niesen has posted a 1.94 ERA in five starts since returning from a concussion back in May.  Both teams went 0-for-6 with RISP.
• The Gnats began their huge 4-gamer with division rival Augusta tonight, a series that will basically decide the first half champ as well as who earns the automatic playoff bid.  And Savannah wasted no time getting on the board just two batters into this one and thanks to typically excellent pitching, they never looked back as the Sand Gnats won the opener in Augusta by the score of 4-1.  Huge props to RHP Armando Rodriguez for a gutsy performance tonight, throwing 6+ strong innings when it really counted most.  Savannah is now two games up on Augusta and needs to take just one of the last three games to clinch the first half title.  They've also won five straight and are 11-4 in June, powering their late push into first place.
• Get ready because the Cyclones season starts TONIGHT against the SI Yankees!  Kingsport will start on Tuesday.  Expect coverage of both teams to probably be a bit more abridged than the full season teams.