Mets Daily Farm System Report - 8/29: Yohan>Johan

New York Mets Daily Farm System Report - Results from the night of Saturday August 28, 2010

Good news everyone, after pitching like his dominant old self in Binghamton, RHP Jenrry Mejia will be making his next start for Triple-A Buffalo on Monday.  If all goes well, Mejia will likely make his next start up in Queens.

The Usual Suspects

AAA - Buffalo (72-62)

Game One

• CF Kirk Nieuwenhuis: 0-3, 2 K; The struggles continue
• LF Lucas Duda: 1-3, 2B, R, K; Is it me or does this guy have an XBH every night?
• 1B Nick Evans: 2-3, 2B, R
• RF Jesus Feliciano: 1-3
• SP Dillon Gee: 5.2 IP, 0 ER, 6 H, 4 BB, 11 K, HB (13-7, 4.69, 157.1 IP, 167 H, 40 BB, 161 K, 22 HR)
• RP Sean Green: 1.1 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K (1-1, 5.71, 17.1 IP, 21 H, 7 BB, 16 K, 1 HR)

• CF Kirk Nieuwenhuis: 1-3, K (.195/.267/.329)
• LF Lucas Duda: 0-3, 3 K (.311/.385/.614)
• 1B Nick Evans: 0-3 (.319/.389/.566)
• RF Jesus Feliciano: 2-3 (.346/.393/.419)
• SP Raul Valdes: 2.2 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 2 K, 1 HR (1-1, 2.61, 31 IP, 25 H, 8 BB, 31 K, 3 HR) No word as to why Valdes left this one so early
• RP Jose De La Torre: 1 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 2 K (3-2, 3.25, 44.1 IP, 33 H, 21 BB, 51 K, 5 HR)

AA - Binghamton (63-69)

Game One

• CF Sean Ratliff: 0-2, BB, K
• 1B Josh Satin: 0-2, BB, K
• LF Eric Campbell: 1-3, R
• 3B Zach Lutz: 1-3, 2B, K
• 2B Jordany Valdespin: 0-4, K
• SP Eddie Kunz: 5 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 2 K, 1 HR (7-7, 5.14, 105 IP, 104 H, 64 BB, 60 K, 6 HR)
• RP Manny Alvarez: 2 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 3 K, 1 HR (3-1, 3.05, 6 S, 46.1 IP, 33 H, 6 BB, 53 K, 5 HR)

• CF Sean Ratliff: 1-4, R, K (.328/.376/.603)
• 1B Josh Satin: 0-1 (.323/.414/.500) Pinch hit
• LF Eric Campbell: DNP (.279/.329/.442)
• 3B Zach Lutz: 0-1 (.285/.388/.575) Pinch hit
• 2B Jordany Valdespin: 0-4, 3 K, 2 E(5) (.233/.243/.301)
• SP Edgar Ramirez: 5 IP, 6 ER (1 unearned), 8 H, 2 BB, 1 K, 3 HR (5-1, 5.70, 66.1 IP, 78 H, 26 BB, 49 K, 10 HR)

• SS Wilmer Flores: 2-5, R, 2 E(12) (.299/.320/.414)
• RF Rafael Fernandez: 1-3, HR(3), 2 RBI, BB (.298/.332/.444) Fernandez is an under-the-radar prospect who definitely has the tools to reach the bigs in some capacity down the line
• DH Kai Gronauer: 2-4, RBI, R, 2 K (.330/.386/.426) Hit streak at twelve games; 23 year old cementing himself as one of the most interesting catching prospects in the Mets system and one of the top European prospects in all of baseball
• C Francisco Pena: 2-3, RBI; It's been a nice 2010 return for him thus far
• SP Brandon Moore: 6 IP, 1 ER (3 unearned), 6 H, 0 BB, 10 K, 1 HR, WP, HB (2-4, 3.82, 66 IP, 69 H, 26 BB, 61 K, 4 HR)
• RP Nick Carr: 2 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 4 K (0-1, 6.52, 19.1 IP, 24 H, 15 BB, 20 K, 2 HR) It has NOT been a nice 2010 return for him thus far

• CF Matt den Dekker: 1-2, 2B, RBI, R, BB, K (.394/.456/.521) Another day, another big hit
• SS Robbie Shields: 0-4, K (.254/.281/.400) Tough to swallow that 5:24 BB-to-K rate
• SP Armando Rodriguez: 5 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 2 BB, 9 K, WP (7-9, 3.19, 141 IP, 114 H, 45 BB, 146 K, 5 HR) That's 39 K's over his last 24 IP with a 0.63 ERA

• CF Darrell Ceciliani: 2-5, 3B, 3 RBI, R, BB, 2 K (.351/.404/.521)
• RF Cory Vaughn: 2-4, 2B, RBI, BB, 2 K (.305/.394/.539)
• SS Wilfredo Tovar: 0-4, RBI, K (.290/.333/.323)
• C Blake Forsythe: 2-4, HR(3), RBI, 2 R, BB, K (.226/.283/.348)
• SP Yohan Almonte: 9 IP, 0 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 5 K (8-4, 2.00, 85.2 IP, 68 H, 15 BB, 56 K, 1 HR) Though his K-rates are too low, Almonte is turning himself into a legitimate pitching prospect

• LF ZeErika McQueen: 1-5, R, K (.270/.318/.353)
• CF Chase Greene: 1-5, R, 2 RBI (.220/.283/.280)
• 3B Aderlin Rodriguez: 3-5, 2B, RBI, K (.310/.349/.543) Eight hits in his last thirteen at-bats
• DH Albert Cordero: 1-4, K (.281/.308/.480) Broke his seven-game hit streak
• SP Orlando Tovar: 7 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 4 K, 1 HR (4-0, 3.43, 44.2 IP, 51 H, 9 BB, 40 K, 3 HR) 

Star of the Night

We're going back to Brooklyn as last night's starter RHP Yohan Almonte was flat-out dominant with a rarely seen minor league nine inning CG shut out.  After a 4.32 ERA in June, Almonte has posted an ERA of 1.97 over the past two months and is really putting his name on the map.  His low K-rates don't bode well for long-term success at the highest levels but there is such a thing as a prospect who doesn't strike everyone out and Almonte certainly has looked the part thus far.

The Goat of the Night is Binghamton's 2B Jordany Valdespin who not only had an 0-fer, not only had a Silver Sombrero but also made not one, but two costly errors in Binghamton 5-4 loss yesterday.

 

System Roundup
• In the first game of their doubleheader, the Bisons beat up on the $46 million wonder Kei Igawa and shut out Scranton/WB 4-0.  Starter RHP Dillon Gee was effective but racked up 114 pitches in under six innings of work which obviously cut his day short.  Fortunately the Yankees went 0-for-10 with RISP so another clutch run-scoring hit from suddenly hot 2B Russ Adams was all Buffalo would need.  Boxscore  The second one was much closer as the bats on both side went quiet and unfortunately the Bisons 'pen couldn't hold up their end of the bargain as the Yankees edged them 2-1.  LHP Raul Valdes started strong but was pulled early for some reason and the diminutive RHP Jose De La Torre gave up the decisive run in the sixth.  The only Buffalo run came on a DH Val Pascucci solo job.  The Bisons find themselves 1.5 games back in the Wild card race with ten games left to play.  Boxscore
• In Game One of BInghamton's Saturday twin bill, the B-Mets edged the R-Phils 4-3.  RHP Eddie Kunz made the start and was actually pretty solid in this one.  RHP Manny Alvarez provided two more decent innings of relief and a couple of clutch hits, including SS Jose Coronado's two-RBI double in the fifth, was all they'd need.  Boxscore  In Game Two (with the B-team on the field) Binghamton got another nice start from a reliever in RHP Edgar Ramirez but bad defense and some more poor relief led to a 5-4 loss.  Specifically, two errors in the bottom of the sixth led to four runs and then RHP Elvin Ramirez gave up the game-winning run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.  Boxscore
• St. Lucie lost a heart-breaker to Fort Myers last night, 7-6.  Starter RHP Brandon Moore was solid, striking out ten batters but was let down not only by his defense but his bullpen as well.  SS Wilmer Flores had a couple of hits but also made a couple of costly errors while RHP Nick Carr & RHP Rhiner Cruz allowed three runs in the final three innings to give this one away in walk-off fashion.    Boxscore
• Thanks to some strong pitching, Savannah held on against Charleston 3-2.  Starter RHP Armando Rodriguez was typically dominant over his five innings, striking out nine River Dogs and allowing just one hit; unfortunately he's still learning how to keep that pitch count down.  Offensively, the surging CF Matt den Dekker as well as C Jordan Abruzzo had RBI base hits in the third which made up all of the Sand Gnat scoring and though it got close, in the end RHP Brandon Sage came in and managed to finish off the final inning and two-thirds.  Boxscore
• The Cyclones clinched the McNamara Division title last night with a symbolic 10-0 whitewashing of Connecticut.  Starter RHP Yohan Almonte had the best start of his season in this CG shutout and on the offensive side, all but one position player had a hit and six of them had more than one.  They won this game the same way they won their title, flat out domination.  Boxscore  
• Kingsport won this back-and-forth affair against Greeneville 6-4 last night.  Trailing 4-3 going into the eighth, the K-Mets rallied for three runs, capped by a big RBI double from 3B Aderlin Rodriguez.  Boxscore