Mets Daily Farm System Report - 7/31: Ten Loss Skid in PSL

New York Mets Daily Farm System Report - Results from the afternoon/night of Friday July 30, 2010

The Usual Suspects

AAA - Buffalo (53-53)

• RF Fernando Martinez: 2-4, HR(11), 2 RBI, R, K (.250/.309/.449) Though there's plenty to worry about in his 2010 performance at least the power seems to really be emerging this season
• SS Ruben Tejada: 1-4, K (.284/.333/.347)
• LF Lucas Duda: 2-4, 2B, 3B, R , K (.306/.368/.680) The XBH parade continues
• 1B Nick Evans: 1-4, RBI, K; 2010 Buffalo debut
• SP Ramon Ortiz: 9 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 3 K (2-3, 3.94 ERA, 48 IP, 43 H, 8 BB, 32 K, 1 HR) Forget Gee and Misch, there's a good chance that if the Mets decided to dip into Buffalo's rotation they'd tap Ortiz
• ROSTER MOVES: Lots of roster news in the last couple days to report, let's start with the best:  Mike Jacobs was traded to Toronto for a PTBNL (pause to rejoice) and it gets better as Big Nick Evans was (finally) optioned to Triple-A in his place.  Fernando Nieve accepted his assignment to the minors and joined the Bisons while Val Pascucci's 8-day stint on the DL came to an end this weekend.  Lastly, with the retroactive placement of Jason Bay on the DL, Jesus Feliciano was recalled for his second tour of duty in Queens.

AA - Binghamton (53-54)

• CF Kirk Nieuwenhuis: 1-5, 2 K (.289/.336/.512) Batting .189 over his last ten games including just a single multi-hit effort
• LF Sean Ratliff: 2-5, RBI, 3 K, E(3) (.330/.364/.595) Made a crucial error in the eighth, playing left instead of his natural center
• 2B Josh Satin: 2-5, 2B, 3 RBI, R, K (.306/.409/.439) He's got a double in each of his last five games
• 3B Zach Lutz: 0-4, R, BB, 2 K (.283/.411/.558) Hitless after going six for his last eight in his Bingo return
• C Mike Nickeas: 1-4, HR(4), BB, K (.287/.405/.407) Strong year at the dish continues for the defensive wiz
• SP Michael Antonini: 3.2 IP, 7 ER, 8 H, 1 BB, 5 K, 2 HR (6-9, 4.45, 125.1 IP, 128 H, 24 BB, 103 K, 16 HR) Second outing his last three where he allowed 7+ runs less than four innings pitched

Hi-A - St. Lucie (50-53)

• CF Pedro Zapata: 1-4, K, SB(2), CS(1) (.250/.292/.542) This 1-for-4 thing is getting weird
• 2B Jordany Valdespin: 2-3, 2B, K (.305/.343/.460) Three straight multi-hit games since returning from suspension; the kid definitely has ability but he really needs to loss the 'tude if he wants to move up in this organization
• SS Wilmer Flores: 0-4, K (.327/.354/.458)
• RF Juan Lagares: DNP (.233/.248/.316)
• SP Eric Beaulac: 5 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, 4 K, 1 HR (5-3, 3.38, 82.2 IP, 75 H, 44 BB, 57 K, 3 HR) Like most Mets pitchers Beaulac has seen regression in command but survives thanks to excellent GB tendencies (1.33 GB:FB in 2010)
• RP Brant Rustich: 1 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 1 K, 0 HR; 2010 is looking more and more like a throw-away season for the '07 first rounder with the big arm
• REHAB ALERT - RP Carlos Muniz: 1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K; After a rocky stay in the GCL Muniz has been very strong in the FSL 

SS-A Brooklyn (28-13)

• CF Darrell Ceciliani: 2-4, 3B, RBI, R, K, SB(15) (.389/.444/.558) Has now set the Cyclones single season triples record
• RF Cory Vaughn: 2-4, HR(10) 2 RBI, 2 R (.310/.401/.581) Homer off of 2008 Minors Moniker Madness winner Will Startup
• SS Rylan Sandoval: 3-5, HR(8), 2 RBI, R BB, SB (.320/.398/.565) Yet another leadoff bomb for Sandoval
• 3B Brian Harrison: 1-5, HR(5), 2 RBI, R, E(6) (.286/.338/.600) The bat is definitely looking good but the leather has been an issue
• C Blake Forsythe: 3-3, 3B, 2 R, BB (.233/.333/.300) His best day as a pro thus far
• SP Yohan Almonte: 7 IP, 0 ER (1 unearned), 3 H, 0 BB, 4 K (4-3, 2.31, 50.2 IP, 43 H, 10 BB, 32 K, 1 HR) I'd love to see more K's but otherwise a great season thus far

RK Kingsport (18-20)

• LF ZeErika McQueen: 1-4, RBI (.282/.329/.376) ZeErika (and Dock Doyle) needs your support in the 2nd round of the Minors Moniker Madness tournament!
• CF Chase Greene: 1-4, 2 R, BB, 2 K (.327/.375/.462)
• DH Aderlin Rodriguez: 0-5, E(12) (.291/.341/.556) 2 for his last 19
• C Nelfi Zapata: DNP (.262/.327/.340)
• RF Javier Rodriguez: 2-5, 2B, 2 R, K (.333/.358/.521) After cooling off a bit in early July he's hitting once again; Batting .375 in his last ten games with eight doubles over his last eight
• SP Jonathan Kountis: 5 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 5 K, 1 HR (0-1, 5.06, 10.2 IP, 15 H, 5 BB, 6 K, 2 HR)

RK GCL Mets (16-16)

• LF Julio Concepcion: 1-5, HR(4), RBI, 2 R, K (.306/.353/.519) Second in the GCL in homers
• OF Tillman Pugh: 0-2, 2 BB, K, SB(1); Pro debut for the ultra athletic 2010 15th round pick after missing the first month with an undisclosed injury
• RP Juan Urbina: 5 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 4 K (3-2, 5.76, 29.2 IP, 32 H, 11 BB, 28 K, 3 HR) Roller coaster debut season continues (Earned runs in his last six starts: 1, 7, 1, 5, 1, 4)

Star of the Night

How can I not go with the suddenly surging Bisons starter RHP Ramon Ortiz?  It sounds weird just plain wrong to say but he's probably the next best minor league option for the Mets rotation right now.  I mean after a rough 8.53 ERA after his first four starts, he's posted a 0.93 ERA over his next four (3.94 overall).  Now this doesn't mean that much, a crafty vet like Ortiz who can mix in plenty of well-developed breaking stuff with excellent command should be carving up minor leaguers, but I guess it's a good sign that he actually is.

Binghamton's LHP Michael Antonini & Savannah's RHP Collin McHugh get the joint Goat after a couple of horrid starts last night.  Antonini allowed more earned runs (7) but McHugh couldn't even last two full innings.  Yuck. 

System Roundup

• The Bisons did their best Mets impression going 2-6 on this last road trip though they managed to salvage a 3-1 win over Columbus yesterday to cap it.  Suddenly the Herd's best starter is RHP Ramon Ortiz who threw a CG allowing a single run on just two hits in this one.  Meanwhile FMart provided some hope for the rest of 2010 with his eleventh bomb of the season while LF Lucas Duda's propensity for extra bases continued with a double and a triple in this game.  Boxscore
• The B-Mets dropped their third straight as they couldn't quite keep up with Erie in this 11-8 four hour marathon defeat.  After starting the month strong, LHP Michael Antonini was brutal again, doing his best Mike Pelfrey impression and completely neutralizing a strong day by the B-Mets offense.  The Bingo bats collected ten hits, five for extra bases (including bombs by C Mike Nickeas & the solid, if unspectacular, OF Brahiam Maldonado) and went a combined 5-for-11 with RISP; that doesn't sound like a loss.  But ultimately poor starting pitching and three errors, including two in the final innings, doomed them in this one.  Boxscore
• The epic losing streak is at ten games as the Mets dropped another one, a 6-0 shutout loss to the Manatees.  All you need to know is that the Mets managed ten baserunners, nine were left on base and the tenth (OF Pedro Zapata) was caught stealing.  Despite a solid performance by starter RHP Eric Beaulac the St. Lucie offense never game them a chance in this one.  Somehow they're still only two games out of first.   Boxscore
• Augusta hung a pretty brutal 15-2 loss on Savannah last night.  Just about the only performance worth mentioning was another nice game by the red hot RF Cesar Puello.  Four of the five Gnats pitchers gave up runs, the offense managed just five hits (versus 20 from Augusta) and the defense made two costly errors.  So yeah, let's move on.  Boxscore
• The juggernaut that is the Cyclones kept on rolling last night in their 11-3 victory over Aberdeen.  Brooklyn once again showed why they're the best, most well-rounded team in the NYPL with another great starting performance out of RHP Yohan Almonte, 14 hits from seven of the nine starters and bombs from three of the usual suspects (Vaughn, Sandoval & Harrison).  Not to mention another tremendous game for my Cyclones MVP, CF Darrell Ceciliani.  Boxscore
• Kingsport took this ten inning affair from Pulaski 6-4.  After an early three run lead and a solid starting pitching performance from RHP Jonathan Kountis, the K-Mets let the Mariners back in this one with some suspect relief work.  But in the tenth, 2010 20th rounder out of UAB 1B Lucas Stewart drove home the eventual game winners with a 2-RBI double.  Boxscore
• The GCL Mets scored in four of the first five innings and then topped that effort with a nice five spot in the seventh to let starter LHP Juan Urbina off the hook in this 10-5 victory over the Astros.  I know he's just 17 and it's pretty much meaningless but Urbina was once again more hittable than I expected him to be from all the scouting reports.  On the bright side, the GCL Mets added ultra toolsy outfielder CF Tillman Pugh after he missed time with an injury following the draft while the incumbent toolsy outfielder LF Julio Concepcion extended his seven-game hit streak with a bomb.  All this with the 2010 5th rounder OF Matt den Dekker reportedly on the way.    Boxscore