Mets Daily Farm Report - 5/4/12: Wheeler to DL, St. Lucie Loses? That's Unpossible

*All results from games played on Thursday, May 3rd

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Let's skip to the big news of the morning, that being Binghamton starter and Mets top prospect RHP Zack Wheeler being placed on the 7-day minor league DL with what the team is calling a 'right middle finger avulsion'. No word yet on how the avulsion was suffered, the severity of said avulsion or what an avulsion is.

Actually, basically this sounds like he somehow ripped his finger nail off. Ouch. Not extremely surprising though as a similar injury forced him to the DL back in 2010. I don't expect he'll be out all that long but more importantly hopefully this isn't an indication of a long-term issue. Though I suppose the question should be asked if a certain grip or throwing tendency places him at higher risk for such a painful malady.

Wheeler has pretty much looked the part of the Mets top pitching prospect thus far in 2012, posting a 1.75 ERA through five starts, allowing just 17 hits through 25.2 innings while striking out 30 batters.

AAA - Buffalo Bisons (15-12)_______________________________________

SYRACUSE 5, BUFFALO 6 (Box)

The Chiefs found that it's really hard to win when you go 3-for-14 with RISP. Fortunately for them they also found that it's a little easier when your opponent goes 2-for-14. So this one was pretty much up for grabs going into the eighth inning knotted at four. Consecutive hits by Brad Emaus and Rob Johnson got the ball rolling and a nice shutdown ninth from veteran reliever Fernando Cabrera -- who is now sporting a sub-1 ERA -- put a bow on this one. Starter Jeurys Familia was a bit shaky but good enough, buoyed by an RBI double that we may as well just assume was struck using Matt Harvey's wonder bat (video below).

• 3B Zach Lutz: DNP; Always nervous when I see that
  
• PH Josh Satin: 3-4, 2 2B, BB, K; That's the Satin we know and love
• 2B Brad Emaus: 1-4, R, E(1)
  
• RF-CF Fred Lewis: 1-4, RBI, K
• OF Dustin Martin: 1-4, 2B, RBI, 2 K
• 3B Matt Tuiasosopo: 0-3, BB, K; Former M's top prospect batting .237 on the young season
  
• RHP Jeurys Familia: 5 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 3 K, 1 WP; Control was still a little shaky last night as his BB/9 hovers around 9, but frankly he's a kid getting his first exposure to Triple-A and he's still rather young for the level so I wouldn't get too worked up about it yet...especially since his K/9 is still well over 10, so the dynamic stuff is still there
• LHP Josh Edgin: .2 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K; Has definitely found the going a little tougher at Triple-A
• REHAB ALERT: RHP D.J. Carrasco: 1 IP, 1 HR, 1 K; Allowed a homer to the second Triple-A batter he faced
  

Familia's RBI double:

AA - Binghamton Mets (13-13)_____________________________________

BINGHAMTON 7, AKRON 3 (Box)

The B-Mets got off to a fast start scoring three (unearned) in the first on a shot from Raul Reyes, made possible by an untimely error by the Aeros, far and away the Eastern League's best defensive team. Their remaining four runs all came in the middle innings as the Binghamton lineup punished former B-Met RHP Jose De La Torre for his disloyalty. On the other side, starter Collin McHugh continued to allow just enough baserunners to make things interesting while striking out everyone else; an unorthodox profile yes but an effective one as he's featuring a sub-3 ERA thus far. The B-Mets ten hits came from eight different hitters last night and this one was never in doubt.

• LF Juan Lagares: 1-4, 2B, R; His first XBH in his last 33 ab's
  
• 2B Reese Havens: 0-4, R, BB, 3K
  
• CF Matt Den Dekker: 1-4, 2B, 2 RBI, Sac Fly; That's 8 RBI's over his last 10 games
  
• 3B Jefry Marte: 1-5, R, 2 K
• C Juan Centeno: 2-3, R, BB; After a slow start he's got the average up to .281
• OF Pedro Zapata: 2-4, 2B, R, K; Meanwhile Zapata still toils at .220
• RHP Collin McHugh: W, 7.1 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 5 K, 1 WP; 11 groundouts versus just 4 flyouts
  
• LHP Robert Carson: 1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K
  

Hi-A St. Lucie Mets (22-5)________________________________________

JUPITER 6, ST. LUCIE 1 (Box)

The little Mets notched just their fifth dirty, dirty loss of the season last night. Not a ton to talk about here as the St. Lucie bats went quiet after averaging nearly six runs a game over the past week. Their lead in the division is now back into the single digits (GASP!).

• CF Cesar Puello: 0-4, K
  
• 3B Wilmer Flores: 1-3, BB, E(3); Bat still hot, glove lukewarm
  
• SS Wilfredo Tovar: 0-2, BB
  
• RF Cory Vaughn: 1-4, HR(7); Seven homers after 24 games, he had four after 68 games with Savannah in 2011
  
• 2B Danny Muno: 2-4
• DH Robbie Shields: 0-4, 3 K
• LHP Angel Cuan: L, 6 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 5 K, Balk
  
• RHP Ryan Fraser: 2 IP, 1 ER, 3 H; Not a huge fan of the 1:5 GB-to-FB rate

Lo-A Savannah Sand Gnats (15-11)__________________________________

DELMARVA1, SAVANNAH 3 (Box)

For the second straight day Gnats pitching held the ShoreBirds to just one run, as starter Domingo Tapia continued to feature exciting potential. After allowing a couple of singles in the first, Tapia went on a run of 14 straight batters retired. In other news Travis Taijeron is probably too good for this level as he's sporting a an .1169 OPS over his last ten and he's among the league leaders in both SLG and OBP. And against all odds Aderlin Rodriguez made a nice defensive play, throwing out a runner at home plate; good for you Aderlin!

• 3B Aderlin Rodriguez: 0-3; Hard to say whether the .243 BABIP has just been bad luck (for 2 years?) or if his hit tool really is that underdeveloped, as compared to his power game...sort of leaning towards the latter
• C Albert Cordero: 1-3, HR(1); Fourth straight game with a hit, maybe early season swoon is over?
  
• DH Travis Taijeron: 3-4, 2B, R, RBI; That's nine RBI's over his last four games
  
• RHP Domingo Tapia: 7.1 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 WP; That's more like it
  

★ Star of the Night ★