New York Mets Daily Farm System Report - Results from the night of Thursday, June 24, 2010
The Usual Suspects
AAA - Buffalo (38-37)
- RF Fernando Martinez: 2-3, 2B, BB, K (.264/.314/.432) Another walk!
- LF Lucas Duda: 1-4, R, 2 K, E(3) (.286/.324/.514)
- CF Jorge Padilla: 1-4, HR(2), 2 RBI, R (.292/.320/.583) His first homer as a Bison; also Bison is plural, why are they called the Bisons? I literally have nothing better to talk about
- C Josh Thole: DNP (.267/.353/.430) On his way to Queens; On a related note, what can I say about the Bisons roster that hasn't been said about Afghanistan: It's bombed out and depleted
- SP Dillon Gee: 3.0 IP, 7 ER, 9 H, 0 BB, 4 K, 0 HR (6-5, 5.31, 83 IP, 92 H, 24 BB, 79 K, 13 HR) Somehow in this train wreck of a start he didn't allow a homer...nice!
- RP Roy Merritt: 1.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 1 K (0-1, 14.54, 4.1 IP, 9 H, 1 BB, 3 K, 0 HR)
AA - Binghamton (37-36)
- CF Sean Ratliff: 0-4, 2 K (.282/.300/.564)
- 1B Nick Evans: 0-4, 3 K (.281/.353/.502)
- 2B Josh Satin: 1-4, 2B, R, K (.342/.359/.526)
- LF Brahiam Maldonado: 2-3, GS(3), 4 RBI, R, SB(5) (.260/.324/.469) Quietly having a decent season when you consider his strong start in PSL
- SP Eric Niesen: 7 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 K, 1 HR (3-3, 2.66, 40.2 IP, 27 H, 30 BB, 30 K, 2 HR) Yet another strong outing for the lefty from Wake Forest; if he can keep those walks down like he did tonight we might be onto something here
- RP Manny Alvarez: 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 5 K, 0 HR (3-0, 3.26 ERA, 19.1 IP, 17 H, 3 BB, 27 K, 0 HR) After a rough start to his Double-A career, Alvarez has been awesome of late allowing only only 2 hits and 0 walks vs. 13 K's in his last 8.1 IP; the impeccable command alone has got to be opening some eyes upstairs
- ROSTER MOVES: The B-Mets officially welcomed LHP Mark Cohoon into their rotation yesterday.
- INJURY UPDATE: For those that missed it yesterday, the hottest hitter in the Mets' system 3B Eric Campbell was placed on the DL with a broken pinky; expected recovery time is 4-6 weeks.
Hi-A - St. Lucie (33-36)
- SS Wilmer Flores: 1-5, 2 K; Let the Wilmer era in PSL begin
- 2B Jordany Valdespin: 2-4, 2 RBI, BB, SB(6), E(14) (.301/.336/.471) Valdespin's immediate future as a full-time second baseman began tonight
- 1B Stefan Welch: 0-2, R, 2 BB, K (.305/.369/.462) Welch couldn't believe that someone actually drove him in when he got on base
- C Kai Gronauer: 1-4
- SP Kyle Allen: 5.0 IP, 3 ER (2 unearned), 4 H, 3 BB, 4 K, 1 HR (5-5, 4.81, 73 IP, 70 H, 42 BB, 42 K, 7 HR) That K:BB remains at 1, not good
- REHAB ALERT: Carlos Beltran went 0-for-2 with a walk over five innings; he did not get any chances in CF.
- ROSTER MOVES: As mentioned yesterday, the St. Lucie Mets added SS Wilmer Flores, LF Juan Lagares, C Kai Gronauer, 1B/2B Michael Fisher, RHP Brandon Moore & reliever RHP Erik Turgeon. Also added from Savannah was OF Rafael Fernandez.
- The promotion aren't just on the rosters as tonight is 'Bark in the Park' night in PSL so get all your four-legged fans out to the game!
Lo-A Savannah (42-29)
- 3B Jefry Marte: 0-4, K (.249/.329/.360) After an up-and-down first half, Marte is hoping to surge in the second half like he did last season
- 2B Alonzo Harris: 1-3, SB(8) (.238/.275/.268) Looking to heat up after finishing the first half in a slump that had him on the bench for the title-clinching game (Batted .200 in last 10 games); plus now he's got some competition for the best Harris on the team
- CF Pedro Zapata: 1-3, 2B, BB, K (.290/.358/.382) Went into the break on a tear (Batted .415 in his last 10 games) and extended his hit streak to 8 in this one
- LF Nick Santomauro: 0-3, BB, K, E(2) (.150/.193/.178) Think of it this way, if the NJ native doesn't pick it up soon at least he'll get to enjoy a lot more rides on the Cyclone
- SS Wilfredo Tovar: 0-2, K, E(1); A couple of 18-yr old Venezuelan shortstops switched places yesterday; each is now where he rightfully belongs
- SP Armando Rodriguez: 4.1 IP, 0 ER (1 unearned), 4 H, 1 BB, 2 K (5-5, 2.92, 77 IP, 58 H, 29 BB, 65 K, 4 HR)
- ROSTER MOVES: To replace the Flores-sized hole at short, the Gnats got the just as young, somewhat intriguing SS Wilfredo Tovar from St. Lucie. This is where Tovar belonged from the start as the Mets have been jerking him around all year (XST to PSL back to XST back to PSL and finally to SAV). '06 4th rounder RHP John Holdzkom also joined the club after one appearance in the GCL. The 6'7" fireballer with some command/makeup issues was last seen in Savannah back in '08. They also got org. filler in relievers RHP Marcos Tabata, RHP Ryan Mollica & C Juan Torres from St. Lucie, 1B Travis Ozga from Kingsport and the toolsy '09 14th rounder OF RJ Harris.
- It's a big time for promotions system-wide in every sense of the word. Tonight in Savannah is "Toy Story 3 Costume Night". I must admit I remain a sucker for Pixar films; I usually love them and Toy Story 3 was no different.
SS-A Brooklyn (5-2)
- CF Darrell Ceciliani: 2-3, 2B, 2 R (.321/.321/.464)
- RF-CF Cory Vaughn: 2-4, R, BB (.240/.387/.440)
- 1B Jeff Flagg: 4-5, 2 3B, 4 RBI, 2 R (.276/.300/.448) That's the way to break a slump
- SP Chris Hilliard: 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 2 K (2-0, 1.50, 12.0 IP, 9 H, 2 BB, 7 K, 0 HR) The '08 38th rounder was impressive again
- The 'Wally Backman Ejection Counter' stands at 1 following a disputed 9th inning HR; the Cyclones were up 16-3 at that point...did I mention that Wally Backman is awesome?
RK Kingsport (1-2)
- CF ZeErika McQueen: 2-5, K (.333 ) Can anyone change their name to McQueen? Not that I'm seriously considering it or anything...
- 3B Aderlin Rodriguez: 0-5, K (.308/.500/1.375)
- DH Nelfi Zapata: 1-2, 2 RBI, BB (.286/.375/.286)
- RF Javier Rodriguez: 0-5 (.231/.375/.625) Big year for the '08 2nd rounder out of PR to prove his doubters (myself included) that he's no bust
- SP Lachlan Hodge: 3 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, 2 K
- For anyone that didn't hear, this team is managed by the awful yet loveable former catcher Mike Difelice
RK GCL Mets (2-1)
- Off Night
- Continuing the theme of notable former Mets managing our farm teams, this team is managed by none other than Sandy Alomar Sr.
Star of the Night
I think we have to go with Brooklyn 1B Jeff Flagg off his 4-for-5 with two triples; anytime you're pushing double digit total bases in a single game you get my vote. The 2008 27th rounder out of Miss. St. looks a lot like organizational filler to me thanks to seemingly so-so power with pretty poor K:BB tendencies. But hey, the lumbering righty hit ten bombs last year in Kingsport and certainly has the size to develop some more pop (6'6", 246 lbs) so who knows.
Goat of the Night honors go to RHP Dillon Gee, who is really in a bad way right now. Last night marked the third start in his last four where he allowed six or more earned runs and the second in his last three giving up seven earned. I knew he was nothing more than a #5 starter at best but as his ERA balloons over five, even that looks questionable right now.
System Roundup
- So you want to hear about an ugly game? The Bisons lost to Gwinnett 10-4 in RHP Dillon Gee's worst showing in 24 career Triple-A starts, giving up seven earned in just three innings. Five Braves had multi-hit games, the team as a whole had 17; the team was 9-for-21 with RISP. Forget about the 9, but 21 MF'ing guys in scoring position in one game? That's poor Bisons. If there's anything to take from this one the Herd offense did manage to hit up the rehabbing Jair Jurrjens for four runs in six innings. That is all.
- The B-Mets took this one versus the Rock Cats 5-1 on the strength of some really excellent pitching. LHP Eric Niesen had maybe his best start of 2010 especially when you consider that nice low walk total. For someone who is looking so good against Double-A hitters (.190 BAA), limiting the free passes is clearly going to be his project for the rest of this year. Not to be outdone, RHP Manny Alvarez took the final two innings of this one allowing only one baserunner and striking out five of the six he faced. Binghamton didn't need much in this one so LF Brahiam Maldonado's 7th inning Grand Slam put them over the top.
- St. Lucie was doomed from the start in this 6-3 loss to Palm Beach thanks to poor starting pitching. The complete disappearance of any and all upper tier pitching prospects in this farm system continued last night as RHP Kyle Allen was unimpressive again, though his defense didn't really help him out making three errors in the game. The bats were eh, going 3-for-14 with RISP; at least there's a lot more talent in this lineup now.
- Savannah began the second half on the wrong foot in their 2-0 shutout defeat to Asheville. In what will probably be a recurring story in Savannah, not much offense tonight as they were no-hit into the 7th and managed only two hits for the game. It's tough when an already suspect lineup loses 2-3 of it's best hitters. Let's not forget starter RHP Armando Rodriguez who took the hard-luck loss but just keeps on rolling, allowing no earned in 4 very strong innings. What's impressing me most about A-Rod is the start-to-start consistency.
- Brooklyn starter LHP Chris Hilliard was excellent again in this 16-5 Cyclones win over Hudson Valley but obviously he didn't need to be as Brooklyn broke out the lumber. The Cyclones managed 19 hits in this one, 7 different batters had multi-hit games and they were 10-for-23 with RISP (take that Gwinnett!). 1B Jeff Flagg himself managed eight total bases. letsgocyclones posted a far better recap of the game here. Also, I kind of have a soft spot for the Renegades as we went to see them for my first dozen or so baseball games as a youngster.
- Kingsport lost to Johnson City, 7-4. They were doomed by bad pitching tonight as three of the five Mets pitchers allowed runs, including four in the first three innings. CF Chase Greene was out of the lineup after suffering an injury on the basepaths in Wednesday's game.