New York Mets Daily Farm System Report - 4/8
*All results from games played on Saturday, April 7th 2012
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AAA - Buffalo Bisons (2-1)_______________________________________
BUFFALO 4, ROCHESTER 2 (Box)
The Bisons made the long bus ride from Pawtucket and spoiled the Red Wings afternoon, knocking off Rochester in their home opener. RHP Chris Schwinden got the start and allowed just two unearned runs in his five innings of work, though like Harvey and Familia, he struggled some with his control. Schwinden walked three in those five innings of work and threw nerly 90 pitches. The Bisons offense pulled out enough to get the win, with birthday boy LF Vinny Rottino driving in three runs. CF? Yep, CF Jordany Valdespin added two hits in his professional debut in center. The Bisons pen added four innings of scoreless relief, and RHP Fernando Cabrera notched his second save in 24 hours.
- CF Jordany Valdespin: 2-5, 2 R; I guess they are serious about this, so we'll see how it goes.
- 1B Zach Lutz: 1-3, K, SAC (for some reason)
- DH Josh Satin: 0-4, BB, 2 K
- RHP Chris Schwinden: W, 5 IP, 0 ER (2 unearned), 4 H, 3 BB, 4 K; Good control has always been one of his hallmarks, so I'll chalk it up to the wind and/or cold.
AA - Binghamton Mets (1-2)_____________________________________
BINGHAMTON 2, AKRON 1 (Box)
Bingo got off the schneid behind an outstanding performance from LHP Darin Gorski. Perhaps you have heard of him? We spent alot of last Summer wondering why Gorski hadn't got called up to AA yet, but his debut was worth the wait as he surrendered just one hit and struck out 7 in his six innings of work. Baseball America called his change-up the best in the system, and it lived up to its billing yesterday afternoon. Gorski paired it with a fastball sitting in the low 90s, and Akron was simply overmatched. Which was a good thing, since the B-Mets offense continues to struggle, notching their two runs on an RBI single from 1B Allan Dykstra and a sac fly from SS Oswaldo Navarro. But with Darin Gorski on the hill, that was more than enough. GORSKI!
- CF Matt den Dekker: 1-2, 2B, BB, K, SAC; Pretty much the full den Dekker experience there.
- RF Juan Lagares: 1-3, SAC; The sacrifice was part of this awesome sequence. Zapata bluffs bunting for a hit, walks on four pitches. Den Dekker bunts on the first pitch, because god forbid you make the new pitcher throw a strike. Akron goes for the force, doesn't get it, putting runners on first and second. Then Lagares runs the count to 3-2, squaring around on every pitch, and then gets the 3-2 pitch down for a sacrifice to move the runners to 2nd and 3rd. Binghamton still doesn't end up scoring. BUNTZ!!!!!!!!!
- 1B Allan Dykstra: 1-3, RBI, BB; I know there is some overlap in the Pascucci and Dykstra skillsets, and the corners at Buffalo are a logjam, but it's still weird to see Dykstra repeating AA.
- 3B Jefry Marte: 1-3, 3B, R, BB; Triple was smoked the opposite way off the wall (though the wind helped), and the bat looked great both days I saw him. Marte looked serviceable at 3B, too.
- LHP Darin Gorski: 6 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 3 BB, 7 K; Walk rate bears watching considering his high flyball rate, though he did get squeezed at times yesterday. I'll have more on Gorski early next week when I write up my notes, but I think he's going to have another very successful season.
- LHP Robert Carson: 1 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 2 K, 1 HR; The home run was opposite field and helped out by the wind. The real story is the fastball is up to 93-94, and touching 95 out of the pen.
- LHP Josh Edgin: SV, 1 IP, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K; Not as dominant on the second consecutive day of work, but three weak grounders certainly gets the job done.
Hi-A St. Lucie Mets (2-1)________________________________________
ST. LUCIE 4, BRADENTON 2 (Box)
St. Lucie won the rubber game of their three game series with the Marauders, and like their counterparts in the upper minors they followed the formula of a good start with just enough offense. The good start at Digital Domain came from undrafted LHP Chase Huchingson. Huchingson spent last season shooting onto prospect radars as Savannah's dominant swing man, and a strong campaign in St. Lucie will go a long way to proving the recent pitching convert is no fluke. Facing the fearsome Pirates prospect, Jameson Taillon, the St. Luice offense left 11 on base and went 3-17 with RISP, but the 4 they scratched across were enough to get the 'W, ' as Huchingson outdueled his better known counterpart.
- DH Danny Muno: 3-5, 2B, 3B, 2 R, K, SB; After a pair of hitless games in Advanced A, Muno breaks out in a big way.
- CF Darrell Ceciliani: 1-4, 2 RBI, BB, K
- LF Cory Vaughn: 0-4, 2 K, HBP
- 3B Wilmer Flores: 0-4, K
- C Blake Forsythe: 1-4, RBI, K
- SS Wilfredo Tovar: 1-3, 2B, R, K, HBP
- LHP Chase Huchingson: 6.2 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 5 K, WP; Huchingson is more than just a cool story now. He's still a touch old for the Florida State League, and the real test for the funky lefty is going to be AA. But as long as he keeps filling up the statline, he'll be a prospect worth following
Lo-A Savannah Sand Gnats (2-1)__________________________________
SAVANNAH 7, AUGUSTA 1 (Box)
After a heartbreaking loss Friday night, Savannah made sure this one was out of reach early, banging out a 5-run third on their way to a 7-1 laugher over the GreenJackets. Every Sand Gnat starter had at least one hit, paced by LF Dustin Lawley with three. "3B" Aderlin Rodriguez added a "monster" three-run home run (per Toby Hyde), and, of course, his fifth error of the season. 2011 draftee LHP Alex Panteliodis (spelled like it sounds) made his professional debut and tossed a solid five innings, allowing one unearned run and striking out 3.
- 3B Aderlin Rodriguez: 2-4, HR (1), 3 RBI, E (5); Brian Harrison can play a competent 3B, so I do wonder how long Rodriguez stays there this year.
- DH Camden Maron: 1-4, RBI, K
- C Albert Cordero: 1-3, RBI, K; Definitely worth keeping an eye on how they balance playing time for Maron and Cordero.
- CF Travis Taijeron: 2-4, RBI, K
- LHP Alex Panteliodis: W, 5 IP, 0 ER (1 unearned), 4 H, 1 BB, 3 K; 9th round pick last year was shut down with a hip injury after signing. Will be part of the six-man rotation in Savannah.
★ Star of the Night ★
A tough choice you might say, Danny Muno had a couple extra base hits and swiped a bag. Chase Huchingson had a fine debut in the Florida State League, and Vinny Rottino did have 3 RBIs on his birthday....Oh, come on, who are you talking to here? It's LHP Darin Gorski.