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Mets Daily Farm System Report - 8/31: Mejia Electrifies Buffalo

By Rob Castellano

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

The Usual Suspects

AAA - Buffalo (72-64)

  • CF Kirk Nieuwenhuis: 0-4, 2 K (.182/.265/.307) Two for his last 28 with 13 K's in that span but at least he had an excellent outfield assist at home plate in this one
  • LF Lucas Duda: 1-3, BB, K (.308/.384/.604)
  • 1B Nick Evans: 2-3, 2B (.319/.391/.563)
  • SP Jenrry Mejia: 8 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 9 K, 1 HR, HB; He's not yet a finished product but he certainly is ready to start learning on the job with the big club
  • RP Sean Green: 1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K (1-1, 5.40, 18.1 IP, 21 H, 7 BB, 17 K, 1 HR)
  • RP Michael O'Connor: 1 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 1 K (4-2, 2.76, 65.1 IP, 62 H, 16 BB, 65 K, 5 HR) The sixteen inning scoreless streak comes to an end in the top of the tenth

    AA - Binghamton (64-70)
  • CF Sean Ratliff: 1-5, R (.325/.375/.596)
  • 1B Josh Satin: 1-5, 2B, R (.317/.406/486)
  • LF Eric Campbell: 2-4, 2B, RBI, K (.284/.330/.444)
  • 3B Zach Lutz: 2-4, 2B, RBI, BB (.293/.394/.586)
  • 2B Jordany Valdespin: 2-5, 2B, RBI (.234/.253/.317)
  • SP Robert Carson: 5 IP, 7 ER, 9 H, 2 BB, 5 K, WP, HB (1-6, 8.74, 45.1 IP, 66 H, 22 BB, 28 K, 7 HR) Double-A hitters are now batting .344 against Carson
  • RP Eric Niesen: 3 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 1 K (4-5, 4.83, 72.2 IP, 72 H, 56 BB, 55 K, 8 HR) Best effort in quite a while

Hi-A - St. Lucie (58-73)
  • Night Off

Lo-A Savannah (69-63)
  • CF Matt den Dekker: 2-5, RBI, R, 2 K (.395/.452/.513)
  • 3B Aderlin Rodriguez: 2-5, 2B, 3 RBI, 2 K, E(1); Promoted to bolster Savannah's lineup just in time for their playoff run
  • SS Robbie Shields: 3-5, HR(4), 2 RBI, 2 R, K (.267/ ) With the additions of den Dekker and Rodriguez and Shields finally heating up, the Gnats lineup suddenly looks a lot more potent
  • RP John Church: 2 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 3 K, 1 HR (7-2, 2.52, 89.1 IP, 73 H, 36 BB, 75 K, 2 HR) His second appearance since moving back to the 'pen, most likely as a result of more than tripling his previous high in IP so far this year
  • ROSTER MOVES: The Gnats welcomed teenage slugger 3B Aderlin Rodriguez from Kingsport to man the hot corner in Savannah last night.  They also added Brooklyn's RF Cody Holliday; the '09 18th rounder was batting just .200 with 0 homers through 35 games with the Cyclones but at this point Savannah just needs bodies with RF Cesar Puello still trying to get back from a back strain, 3B Jefry Marte probably out for the season with hamstring issues, injury-prone 3B Brian Harrison recently on the DL with a shoulder strain and now LF Nick Santomauro out after making an awkward diving catch last week.
  • Congratulations to RHP Armando Rodriguez who was named the SAL Pitcher of the Week after giving up a single earned run over eleven innings in his last two starts.

                                                           SHORT-SEASON LEAGUES

SS-A - Brooklyn (45-22)
  • CF Darrell Ceciliani: 0-3, 2 BB, E(5) (.347/.408/.528) Ironically-timed error after his remarks in yesterday's Q&A
  • RF Cory Vaughn: 2-5, 2 K, CS(5) (.306/.395/.550)
  • SS Wilfredo Tovar: 3-4, RBI, R, CS(2) (.286/.268/.263) Just when you think he's fading he goes and bumps his average by over 50 points 
  • C Blake Forsythe: 2-4, RBI, R, 2 K (.237/.283/.348)
  • SP Jonathan Kountis: 5 IP, 0 ER (1 unearned), 6 H, 3 BB, 5 K, WP (1-1, 4.50, 11 IP, 65 H, 16 BB, 61 K, 2 HR) Three of his four starts since joining Brooklyn from Kingsport have read 'five innings, zero earned', though 14 walks in that span looks foreboding
  • RP Nelson Pereira: 2 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 1 K (1-0, 2.81, 32 IP, 24 H, 11 BB, 36 K, 1 HR) That's 13.2 scoreless now with only four hits allowed in that span for the crafty lefty
  • Don't miss 'Hamilton Bennett Mustache Mayhem' tonight where the first thousand fans will receive a stick-on mustache to honor Brooklyn's well-mustachioed 2010 29th round lefty reliever.  Also, all fans sporting a 'stache will get in free and there will even be a 'Stache-Off!

 

RK - Kingsport (28-36)
  • LF ZeErika McQueen: 0-3, BB, K (.264/.316/.344)
  • CF Chase Greene: 0-2, 2 BB (.214/.288/.271)
  • C Albert Cordero: 0-3, BB (.272/.302/.465)
  • SP Carlos Vazquez: 6 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 4 K, 2 HB (0-1, 2.25, 12 IP, 6 H, 3 BB, 7 K, 1 HR) Very strong in his second start since joining Kingsport from the GCL 
  • Before his promotion, 3B Aderlin Rodriguez was honored as Kingsport's Hitter of the Year while RHP Orlando Tovar received Pitcher of the Year honors.  CF Javier Rodriguez was also honored for making the 2010 All-Appalachian league Team.

RK - GCL Mets (31-25)
  • LF Juan Concepcion: 0-2, 2 K (.282/.326/.466)
  • SS Randoll Santana: 1-1 (.252/.331/.315) Came back from the injury to pinch hit in this one
  • C Camden Maron: 0-3, 2 K (.313/.411/.438)
  • LF Tillman Pugh: 0-1, R (.230/.397/.328) Pinch hit
  • SP Domingo Tapia: 1.1 IP, 7 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 1 K, HB, Balk (1-2, 3.86, 32.2 IP, 28 H, 11 BB, 18 K, 1 HR)
  • RP Marcos Camarena: 4.2 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 3 K ; Apparently Camarena should have made the start
  • So an interesting, very Mets-esque story broke yesterday surrounding the GCL team as Mets Director of Minor League Operations Adam Wogan issued a statement regarding an incident that took place late last week.  Apparently, Mets Manager Sandy Alomar Sr. and Mets Pitching Coach Hector Berrios were both suspended for the remainder of the season for an "on-field argument between the two men".  So let's get this straight, the guys on the same team charged with shaping our youngest of youngsters got into a fight on the field which sounds like it may have gotten physical.  Sweet.  Mets Minor League Field Coordinator Terry Collins managed the team these last few days.  Sigh.

Star of the Night

Do I have any choice but to go with RHP Jenrry Mejia?  In his highly anticipated Triple-A debut, Jenrry busted out of the gates striking out seven of the first eight batters to face him.  He went on to garner ten groundballs versus only two fly outs, didn't let a ball out of the infield through four innings and held a no-hitter into the sixth.  He looked utterly dominant in this game, consistently driving his running fastball into the bottom half of the strike zone while working in the low-to-mid 90's all night, touching 97 on a couple of occasions.  And despite Jerry Manuel's best efforts, Mejia's curve showed tremendous growth as he snapped off a handful of hard-breakers for strikes in this one.  It was an exciting start to say the least but let's keep our heads here, Mejia is by no means a finished product.  His 66 of 103 pitches for strikes last night wasn't bad, but it wasn't great and certainly leaves enough margin for major league hitters to gain an edge.  If he can shore up that command (and he's given us no reason to think he won't), we're looking at our next best chance for a no-hitter, a Cy Young and a future ace for years to come.  

Honorary Mention for 3B Aderlin Rodriguez who picked the wrong night to have his own stellar debut at the next level.  After catching fire in Kingsport, Aderlin made the jump to Savannah and just kept hitting, going 2-for-5 including a 3-RBI double.  Though his secondary skills need some work, his superior hitting ability and tremendous raw power give him a great shot to succeed in his first look at college-level pitching.

The Goat of the Night is the GCL Mets' RHP Domingo Tapia who took the Mets completely out of their one-game playoff into the league championship series by allowing seven runs in 1.1 innings of work.  It's a real shame as the kid had posted a 1.59 ERA in August and hadn't allowed more than two runs over his last seven starts.  You have to remind yourself that these are 19 and 20 year olds still learning to deal with that kind of pressure and this was most definitely the biggest start of this young pitcher's career.

 

    System Roundup

  • Despite an electrifying performance by none other than RHP Jenrry Mejia, the Bisons dropped this one to the Chiefs 4-1 in the tenth. Regardless, Mejia was dominant in his first Triple-A start of 2010, striking out nine batters and allowing just five hits over eight innings.  He worked in the low-to-mid 90's all night.  This was actually a really good pitching duel as Syracuse starter Shairon Martis was on his game as well.  Both teams had totaled one run on six hits after regulation but unfortunately for the Herd, LHP Michael O'Connor let the cat out of the bag in the form of three runs in top of the tenth.  Oh and in honor of Brooklyn's 'Mustache Mayhem' tonight, I give you Syracuse reliever Colin Balester; now that guy could win Best Mustache in Brooklyn.  Boxscore 
  • Despite a nice comeback, Binghamton lost last night's game 7-6 against the Portland Sea Dogs.  The B-Mets bats put on an impressive performance in this one, amassing fifteen hits and going 7-for-16 with RISP.  Every Mets hitter had at least one hit, six of them had more than one and six more had at least one double.  Unfortunately, the only thing that they were missing was a longball which would have gone a long way in this one-run affair.  That's because LHP Robert Carson was pummeled once again, giving up seven hits over five ugly innings.  At this point, do you still start him in Double-A next season?  Boxscore 
  • Offense was the name of the game as the teams combined for 23 runs and 32 hits yet the Sand Gnats lost this slugfest to Greensboro 14-9.  SS Robbie Shields knocked his fourth bomb of the year to open the scoring for the Gnats and making his Lo-A debut, 18 year old 3B Aderlin Rodriguez had a couple of hits including a bases-clearing double.  The timing for this promotion is weird as it probably could have waited with only two games left in Kingsport but whatever, it should be interesting to see what Aderlin does against advanced pitching either way.  Speaking of pitching, Savannah received some pretty awful pitching in this game, especially out of starter RHP Taylor Whitenton, who allowed an atrocious nine runs in less than two innings.  After a nice stretch in mid-August, Whitenton has now allowed thirteen earned runs over his last five innings pitched.  Boxscore
  • Another great all-around performance by the 'Clones in this 6-1 victory over the Tigers.  The only run allowed came on an error in the fifth, otherwise starter RHP Jonathan Kountis, LHP Nelson Pereira & sometimes closer RHP Johan Figuereo teamed to throw nine very solid innings.  The Brooklyn bats were also solid mounting fourteen hits, though strangely all of them were singles.  Boxscore  
  • In their penultimate game of 2010, the K-Mets were edged by the Bristol White Sox 2-1.  With one Rodriguez on the shelf and the other promoted, this lineup looked pretty punchless, managing just three hits total.  RHP Carlos Vazquez was strong in his second showing since joining the team but just didn't get any support.  Boxscore
  • You can call it a season for the GCL Mets who lost in their one-game playoff appearance against the...GCL Phillies yesterday, 8-4.  I hate to throw one of these youngsters under the bus but starter RHP Domingo Tapia completely folded under the pressure of this game, surrendering seven runs in the first inning and a half, effectively ending this one.  RHP Marcos Camarena came in to provide nearly five innings of very strong relief but the Phillies starter Lendy Castillo was flat-out dominant and the Mets only real rally came up too little, too late in the top of the ninth.    Boxscore

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