Mets Daily Farm System Report - 5/14

New York Mets Daily Farm System Report - Results from the night of Thursday, May 13 2010

The Usual Suspects

AAA - Buffalo

• SS Ruben Tejada: 0-3, R, K, BB (.304/.348/.362)
• 3B Mike Hessman: 1-2, R, K, 3 BB (.298/.371/.645)
• CF Jason Pridie: 0-4, K, BB (.289/.340/.387)
• RF Jesus Feliciano: 1-5, R, K (.351/.390/.426)
• SP Tobi Stoner: 7 IP, 1 ER, 8 H, 0 BB, 5 K, 1 HR (2-4, 5.90, 36 IP, 43 H, 13 BB, 21 K, 5 HR); Best start of the season for Stoner
• RP Bobby Parnell: 2 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K (0-1, 4.26, 19 IP, 16 H, 13 BB, 17 K, 1 HR)

AA - Binghamton

• CF Kirk Nieuwenhuis: 1-4, 2 K, CS, E(3) (.313/.350/.493) Ugly game by the B-Mets
• 1B Nick Evans: 0-4, K (.292/.387/.528)
• 3B Zack Lutz: 1-4, 2B, 2 K, E(2) (.278/.415/.539)
• SP Eddie Kunz: 5 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 2 K (3-2, 6.21, 33.1 IP, 31 H, 21 BB, 21 K, 2 HR); Never thought I'd say this but Kunz deserved better tonight

Hi-A - St. Lucie

• 2B Reese Havens: 1-4, R, K, BB (.279/.354/.512)
• DH Josh Satin: 2-5, R (.336/434/.487); Riding a 10-game hit streak, 17 for 36 (.472) in that time
• CF Sean Ratliff: 2-5, 2 RBI, R, K (.286/.331/.481); Nice .351 split against left-handers for the lefty slugger
• LF-3B Eric Campbell: 2-5, 2B, 2 R, K, E(3) (.342/.415/.544)
• SP Scott Moviel: 5 IP, 3 ER, 10 H, 2 BB, 2 K, HR, WP (2-2, 5.84, 37 IP, 45 H, 16 BB, 23 K, 2 HR)
• CL Manny Alvarez: 2 IP, 0 ER, H, BB, 2 K (3-1, 7 SV, 0.00, 24.1 IP, 12 H, 4 BB, 22 K, 0 HR); And the 0's continue
• Jeff Francoeur Bobblehead giveaway (for some reason) tomorrow for first 500 fans at Digital Domain Park!

Lo-A - Savannah

• SS Wilmer Flores: 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI, R (.343/.392/.577); After last season's .332, I can't believe this kid's slugging is approaching .600; Riding another 7-gamer
• 3B Jefry Marte: 1-3, BB, E(11) (.222/.337/.309)
• RF Cesar Puello: 0-3, R, K, BB (.235/.321/.277); 2 for his last 25
• LF Nick Santomauro: 0-4, K (.120/.120/.160) Rough start to the season yet he was batting cleanup for some reason
• RHP Brandon Moore: 7 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 6 K (2-2, 2.52, 35.2 IP, 27 H, 6 B, 43 K, 3 HR) Tremendous 43:6 strikeout-to-walk ratio thus far

Star of the Night

Etoile de la nuit honors go to Montreal's own C Jean Luc Blaquiere for his 3 for 4, 2 homer, 4 RBI performance in only his second game above A-ball. Blaquiere joined Buffalo Wednesday after Thole's call-up started the catching carousel moving and he's already 5 for his first 8 with the Bisons. Blaquiere was an international free agent signee back in '04 out of a high school in Quebec and at this point, though he's basically what you'd expect a Lo-A catcher to look like, he's got a solid glove and showed a little pop last year in Savannah. Despite his loud entrance onto the Triple-A scene, Blaquiere is still a long way away from catching in the majors as he's still yet to prove he can bat above .240 in A-ball and was actually batting .203 with 1 HR in 74 ab's in St. Lucie. However, the organization's decision to let him get a taste of the high minors may signify optimism about his future. Or it may mean they don't care if they ruin him...either way...

Goat of the Night: Back to Binghamton RHP Clint Everts who just won't let Sand Gnat 2B Alonzo Harris take the crown without a fight. Everts went 1.1 IP, giving up 3 ER on 2 hits and a walk (strikingly similar to his last appearance). With an ERA pushing 7 and an average against of .311, there's not too much to say here.

Affiliate Spotlight: Double-A Binghamton Mets (19-15)

Lots of interesting story lines and players in Bingy this season: There's top tier talent in Brad Holt and Kirk Nieuwenhuis (and Reese Havens coming), the first round reclamation projects in Clint Everts and Eddie Kunz, a very solid and varied supporting cast and then of course there's Big Nick Evans. Not to mention Omir. In my eyes this team can definitely be competitive in the Eastern League thanks to a very solid offensive club, top to bottom. If a few of their starters can step up and have good years, they can most definitely do damage deep into the playoffs. Either way, the B-Mets will assuredly be a whole hell of a lot better than last year's historically bad 54-86 squad.

In the last week, Binghamton has gone 3-4, made possible by a 3 game winning streak followed by a 3 game losing streak. Overall, the B-Mets are 19-15 which is good for 3rd in the Eastern League, 3 games behind division leaders New Hampshire. Some notes from the first month of the season around NYSEG Stadium:

• Binghamton has been extremely streaky this season having already had two 5-game win streaks as well as three 3-game losing streaks
• Despite their nice overall record, Binghamton is actually 2nd worst in the EL in team ERA (4.74)
• But on the bright side, the B-Mets lead the EL in AVG(.274), OBP(.360) & SLG(.443); so yeah, that's nice
• On the same note, the Dynamic Duo (LF Lucas Duda & 3B Zack Lutz) account for #2 and #3 on the EL Slugging Leaderboard; Lutz leads the circuit in homers with 8.
• Going the other way, Nick Evans is 3 for his last 18 and has seen his OPS drop below 1.000 (gasp!)
• Despite his underwhelming K to BB (34:8), lefty batting Captain Kirk is 14 for 41 (.341) against left-handed pitching thus far; who does he think he is Ike?
• LHP Roy Merritt seems the obvious understudy for Pedro Feliciano come August when his arm falls off: 44 lefties faced, only 7 hits allowed (.167)

System Roundup

• Buffalo beat the Louisville Bats 6-1 on the strength of RHP Tobi Stoner's best performance of the year; they also scored all six of their runs via the longball.
• Down in Double-A, the B-Mets bats continue to go quiet as they fall to the Yankees Trenton affiliate, 5-2. RHP Eddie Kunz actually wasn't bad but the Binghamton defense didn't support the GB pitcher and once again RHP Clint Everts left his underwhelming fingerprints all over this one.
• St. Lucie earned a 6-5 win over the Manatees in a back-and-forth 10 inning affair. SS Wilfredo Tovar had the walk-off single in the 10th.
• 6-2 win for Savannah last night over the Rome Braves. Another day, another great day by Wilmer and another impressive college pitcher as RHP Brandon Moore shines to help the Gnats to an easy victory.