Mets Daily Farm System Report - 9/4

• CF Sean Ratliff: 1-3, K (.319/.370/.574
• 1B Josh Satin: 0-1 (.314/.401/.485) Pinch hit
• 3B Eric Campbell: DNP (.273/.317/.424)
• 2B Jordany Valdespin: 0-3, K (.230/.235/.300) Batting .158 over his last ten
• SP Mark Cohoon: 5 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 4 K, 1 HR (5-4, 4.18, 71 IP, 74 H, 15 BB, 56 K, 5 HR) Sixth straight start allowing 2 runs or fewer, 2.72 ERA over his last eight; Has been more prone to the longball in Double-A (only two allowed in Savannah)

• SS Wilmer Flores: DNP (.293/.318/.410)
• 1B Stefan Welch: 1-2, 2B, 2 RBI (.253/.321/.388)
• C Kai Gronauer: 2-5, R (.314/.361/.394)
• DH Francisco Pena: 2-4, 2 BI, BB, K (.290/.250/.296)
• SS Michael Fisher: 1-4, 2B, RBI, R, BB, 2 K, E(7) (.284/.340/.440) Eight-game hit streak, batting .343 in his last ten; Fisher has turned out to be a useful utility man all over the diamond and a very worthy pickup in April
• RF Rafael Fernandez: 1-4, 2 R, BB, K (.304/.304/.448) He'd be a lot more interesting if he could improve that K:BB rate even just a bit (26:97)
• SP Orlando Tovar: 1.2 IP, 7 ER (2 unearned), 8 H, 1 BB, 0 K, 1 HR; Yet another reward start goes horrible awry, he only allowed one bomb but didn't strike out a single batter
• RP Nick Carr: 2 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K (1-1, 5.40, 23.1 IP, 25 H, 16 BB, 26 K, 2 HR) Carr's trying to finish strong with his two best appearances, back-to-back

Lo-A Savannah (73-63)

• CF Matt den Dekker: 0-0, R (.380/.441/.511) Pinch ran
• SS Robbie Shields: 1-5, 2 RBI, BB, 3 K (.286/.329/.455) Batting .458 over his last five games
• 3B Aderlin Rodriguez: 0-4, RBI, BB, K (.227/.296/.409) His first hitless game at Savannah
• 2B Luis Nieves: 4-4, 2B, 2 BB (.326/.380/.457) Had four of the five Gnats hits and got on base all six times
• SP Gonzalez Germen: 6 IP, 3 ER, 8 H, 1 BB, 3 K (1-0, 2.77, 13 IP, 11 H, 1 BB, 10 K, 1 HR)

SS-A Brooklyn (50-23)

• CF ZeErika McQueen: 2-3, RBI (.143/.200/.143)
• CF Cory Vaughn: 2-3, 2B, R, BB, K (.307/.397/.549)
• SS Wilfredo Tovar: 2-4, (.283/.333/.350) We may be looking at Rey Ordonez, part II
• C Blake Forsythe: DNP (.240/.304/.400)
• SP Angel Cuan: 4 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 3 K (5-1, 2.03, 79.2 IP, 68 H, 17 BB, 64 K, 2 HR) Like Almonte yesterday, pulled early to save it for the playoffs

Star of the Night

In a game where the Sand Gnats had only five hits, SS Luis Nieves had four of them and walked in both of his other plate appearances to boot.  At 22, Nieves is probably not much of a prospect, even in the middle infield but he's been a revelation since joining Savannah (from Brooklyn) to fill in for the ailing 2B Alonzo Harris and figures to give them a nice boost just in time for the playoffs.

Our Goat if the Night is undeniably RHP Brandon Moore after his 3.1 IP, 9 ER, 4 HR(!) Binghamton debut.  You can't be too upset with him as he's had a pretty strong season but if anything, this start underlies the fact that Moore is going to have a lot more trouble with higher level lineups.  He bowled over Lo-A (and even Hi-A to a degree) with his strong command and excellent pitching IQ but his overall lack of velocity and stuff isn't the typical recipe for success at the higher levels.  If it were me, I'd start him back in St. Lucie despite good results in his twelve starts there this season in order to really force him to refine the things that will give him a fighting chance against better hitters, such as quality secondary offerings and top shelf command.  RHP Orlando Tovar deserves some mention for his 1.2 IP, 7 ER performance in his reward start but he was jumping all the way from Kingsport to St. Lucie so those kind of results are to be expected.

System Roundup

• After falling behind early, the Bisons showed some fight and won 7-4 in a nice comeback victory over Lehigh Valley.  Buffalo's biggest rally wasn't really of their own doing as their five-run inning in the sixth was more a product of two IronPig errors, four walks and just a couple of singles.  But in the following inning, 3B Zack Lutz added some insurance with his first Triple-A bomb in just his second game with the Herd.  Lutz now has 19 homers in 2010 and is slugging .575 with a .287(!) ISO at he highest levels of the minor leagues.  Boxscore
• In game one yesterday, the B-Mets were crushed by Harrisburg 9-1.  RHP Brandon Moore was rewarded for a strong season with a start at Double-A but unfortunately was hit all over the park, digging a nine-run hole by the end of the fourth.  The Binghamton bats were not surprisingly quiet as a result, totaling just seven singles throughout this one. Boxscore  In game two, LHP Mark Cohoon once again pitched well, allowing just three baserunners, but took the loss in this 3-1 defeat as his lineup and bullpen both deserted him.  After seven singles in the first one, the B-Mets managed just three more hits in the second game; apparently with no playoff run in sight, these guys are ready to go home.  Boxscore
• Like Binghamton, St. Lucie lost thanks to a very poor reward start, this one from Kingsport's RHP Orlando Tovar, as Fort Myers topped them 97-.  Tovar had allowed nine runs by the end of the second but the jump from the Appy League to the Florida State League is huge, even for just one start, so you can't be too upset with the Kingsport Pitcher of the Year.  But unlike Binghamton, St. Lucie fought back, managing to get this one within two before they fell short as the international trio of DH Francisco Pena, C Kai Gronauer & 1B Stefan Welch all provided big hits.  Boxscore
• The numbers from this game belie it but somehow the Gnats managed to pull this one out against Asheville 5-4 in twelve.  Savannah won the opener of their last series before the SAL Playoffs despite being outhit 13-to-5 and getting four times less hits with RISP.  Give tons of the credit to SS Luis Nieves who had four of the five Gnats hit as well as the bottom third of the order who despite going hitless totaled six walks and four of the five Gnats runs.  Also lots of credit to RHP Marcos Tabata who provided four innings of one-run relief to close this game out.  Boxscore
• Brooklyn reached the 50-win plateau last night (which is flat-out incredible) with a 5-4 victory over Tri-City.  Starter LHP Angel Cuan was typically strong over a scoreless four inning, shortened start and the offense did the rest.  LF ZeErika McQueen, SS Wilfredo Tovar & Cory Vaughn all added a couple of hits and 3B James Schroeder hit his second homer of 2010 in their big four run fourth.  Boxscore