Mets Daily Farm System Report - 6/23: Promotions Abound

New York Mets Daily Farm System Report - Results from the night of Wednesday June 23, 2010.

The Usual Suspects

AAA - Buffalo (37-35)

• RF Fernando Martinez: DNP (.254/.301/.418)
• RF Val Pascucci: 1-4, R, 2B, RBI (.233/.337/.556)
• LF Lucas Duda: 3-4, R, HR, 2 RBI (.290/.333/.548); first homer and first multi-hit game in Triple-A
• 1B Mike Jacobs: 2-4, 2 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 K (.262/.310/.484)
• C Josh Thole: 0-4, K (.267/.353/.430); no hits in his last 11 at-bats and just 3 for his last 20, at least he ended this game nailing a runner at second
• SP Ramon Ortiz: 4.0 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 1 K, 0 HR; I slept so much easier last night knowing Ramon Ortiz was in the fold
• RP Manny Acosta: 1.1 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K, 0 HR (1-2, 3.55 ERA, 25.1 IP, 22 H, 11 BB, 26 K, 2 HR); earned his third save

AA - Binghamton (36-36)

• CF Sean Ratliff: 1-4 (.314/.331/.432)
• 3B Nick Evans: 1-4, R, RBI, K (.285/.358/.510); Played third today in place of the injured Campbell, only his 7th game there since his GCL days, his 2nd since 2008
• DH Josh Satin: 1-4, R (.353/.371/.529)
• LF Eric Campbell: DNP (.315/.374/.483); broke his pinky and will be out 4-6 weeks
• SP Jenrry Mejia: 2.1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 K, 0 HR; might take some time to stretch his arm out—thanks, Jerry!
• RP Chris Schwinden: 1.2 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 1 IBB, 0 K, 0 HR (2-5, 5.88 ERA, 33.2 IP, 46 H, 9 BB, 25 K, 3 HR); also gave up three unearned runs and was stinky overall—seems to have predictably hit a wall in Double-A
• RP Scott Shaw: 0.1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K, 0 HR (4-5, 6.89 ERA, 62.2 IP, 77 H, 28 BB, 40 K, 12 HR)
• INJURY UPDATE: As you read above Eric Campbell broke his pinky and its going to be a while before we see him again; REALLY crappy luck for Campbell as he's in the midst of a breakout season.  Strangely, Omir also broke a finger and will be out a similar amount of time...did the clubhouse attendant forget to pay off the team bookie?  Either way, the B-Mets are really short on position players now so expect resulting roster move(s).

Hi-A - St. Lucie (33-35)

• 2B Jordany Valdespin: 1-4, 3B, RBI, K, CS (.295/.326/.470); switched positions with Tovar yesterday
• SS Wilfredo Tovar: 0-5 (.246/.276/.305); 2 for his last 26 with no extra base hits and just one walk
• 1B Stefan Welch: 3-5, 2 R, K, SB (.308/.365/.465)
• CF Joey August: 2-5, 2B, RBI, K (.309/.369/.404)
• SP Scott Moviel: 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 5 BB, 4 K, 1 HR (2-6, 6.34 ERA, 65.1 IP, 81 H, 32 BB, 46 K, 6 HR); only two runs but allowed another home run and walked five guys
• Look for Beltran's return to actual baseball TONIGHT in PSL

Lo-A Savannah (42-28)

• The second half starts tonight for the reigning first half champs at home against the Asheville Tourists and to mark this occasion is the always fun "80's Night" at Historic Grayson Stadium
• ROSTER MOVES: Now that the first half is over with and the Sand Gnats won their title, let the promotions begin.  Most notably, Wilmer Flores looks ticketed to man the keystone in St. Lucie.  Joining him in St. Lucie will be relief pitcher Erik Turgeon, 25-yr old mid-season pickup 2B Michael Fisher, Bavarian sensation C Kai Gronauer, my first half Gnats MVP LF Juan Lagares and of course SAL strikeout king Brandon Moore.  The Legend aka Mark Cohoon is moving onto bigger, better things as he'll reportedly move into the Double-A Binghamton rotation.  Apparently lefty starter Jim Fuller will be left below.  Nothing official yet but expect confimation from the team (as well as resulting fallout) before the day is through.

SS-A Brooklyn (4-2)

• CF Darrell Ceciliani: 0-2, 2 K (.280/.280/.400)
• RF Cory Vaughn: 1-3, BB (.190/.346/.429); another walk is good
• 1B Jeff Flagg: 0-4, K (.167/.200/.208); struggling
• SP Yohan Almonte: 6.2 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 1 K, 0 HR (1-1, 5.40, 11.2 IP, 11 H, 3 BB, 4 K, 0 HR); fell apart in the seventh

RK Kingsport (1-1)

• CF Chase Greene: 2-2, 2B (.333/.333/.500); intriguing '09 16th rounder left this one early after an injury on the basepath
• 3B Aderlin Rodriguez:1-4, 2B, K (.500/.500/1.375); I was hoping he’d hit two home runs every day
• DH Nelfi Zapata: 1-4, RBI, K (.286/.375/.286)
• RF Javier Rodriguez: 2-4, 3B, R, K (.375/.375/.625)
• SP Mike Hebert: 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 2 K, 0 HR; also allowed two unearned runs

RK GCL Mets (2-1)

• SS Randoll Santana: 1-5, K (.333/.385/.333)
• C Jeff Glenn: 2-3, R, BB, K (.286/.375/.286); 2009 9th rounder had a solid day
• RP John Holdzkom: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 2 BB, 2 K, 0 HR; totally forgot this guy was still around!

Star of the Night

Lucas Duda hit the go-ahead home run in last night’s game in Buffalo, so he’s our star of the game. Duda’s kind of interesting in that he’s hit everywhere he’s been but doesn’t really project as an impact player at the big league level. He has decent contact skills, but his size—6-5, 240—will probably limit him to first base in the majors, with maybe spot duty in left. He has great patience, but not the pop you’d expect from someone his size, so it’s very difficult to imagine him on the Mets, especially with Chris Carter somewhat entrenched in the same role.

Our Goat is Binghamton reliever Chris Schwinden, who only gave up two earned runs, but he deserves some of the fault for the seven hits and three unearned runs he gave up. It’s not uncommon for finesse righties to hit difficulty right as they reach Double-A, where you can’t get outs just by throwing strikes anymore. Runner-up is Brandon Brown down in Kingsport for his three-error day.

System Roundup

• Buffalo scored three in the first and two in the sixth to give them a 5-4 victory over Gwinnett. The newly signed Ramon Ortiz, a pitcher I assumed was either retired or dead, went four innings, allowing two runs on seven hits and a walk. Bobby Livingston, who appears to have been bumped from the Buffalo rotation, allowed two runs over the next three innings. Lucas Duda added three hits and his first Triple-A home run and the Bisons ended this one on a strike him out-throw him out DP by Josh Thole.
• The New Britain Rock Cats pounded the Binghamton Mets, 10-2 on Wednesday. Jenrry Mejia got his long-awaited first start of the season and went two-and-a-third, although he wasn’t the real culprit, as he allowed just one of the runs on two hits and two walks. Chris Schwinden and Edwin Ramirez were the most responsible, as they combined to allow nine runs over three innings.
• The South Atlantic League was still enjoying its All-Star Break. Play resumes today, as the Sand Gnats take on Asheville.
• Brooklyn starter Yohan Almonte looked strong through six innings before Wally Backman sent him out there for a seventh, and he fell apart. The Hudson Valley Renegades scored four runs in the seventh to win the game, 5-2. Both Brooklyn runs were knocked in by outfielder Will Cherry.
• Kingsport lost to Johnson City, 5-4. Samuel Taveras allowed two runs in the eighth to blow the game for Kingsport, but the real problem was defense. Javier Rodriguz and Lucas Stewart each committed an error, and shortstop Brandon Brown committed three.
• Edioglis Villasmil (??) got touched for five runs over four innings, and the GCL Mets lost to the GCL Cardinals, 7-3. Miguel Tejada hit a two-run homer, while Jeff Glenn and Dylan Brown had two hits apiece for the Mets.