Mets Daily Prospect Report, 6/22/15: And your 2015 South Atlantic League First Half Champions are…

*All results from games played on Sunday, June 21^st, 2015

Triple-A - Las Vegas 51's (40-31)_______________________________________

LAS VEGAS, FRESNO (Box)

Rainy Lara turned in a solid outing, but was his own worst enemy. The right-hander issued five walks in five innings, upping his pitch count to 83 over that span, necessitating an early exit from the game. Interestingly enough, none of those walks actually came back to hurt him. The two runs that he allowed came from hits off the bats of Robbie Grossman, Tyler Heineman, and Tony Kemp. His counterpart, Asher Wojciechowski was a bit better, scattering six hits over seven innings. James Hoyt pitched a 1-2-3 eighth and Jason Stoffel replaced him in the ninth. After Alex Castellanos struck out for the first out, Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Anthony Recker walked, putting the tying runs on base for Las Vegas. Brandon Allen stuck out for the second out, but Travis Taijeron was hit by a pitch, bringing Wilfredo Tovar up to the plate with bases loaded. Wally Backman chose to pinch hit for his light-hitting middle infielder and found lightning in a bottle. Brooks Conrad knocked a grand slam over the right field wall to give the 51s a 4- lead, their first lead of the ballgame. Chase Bradford, in his second inning of work, worked around a one out hit, and just like that, the 51s snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.

• 3B Danny Muno: 1-5, K
• SS Matt Reynolds: 0-5, K
• C Johnny Monell: 1-4; Threw out one of two runners
• LF Alex Castellanos: 1-4, 2 K
• CF Kirk Nieuwenhuis: 2-4, R, 2B
• DH Anthony Recker: 0-3, BB, 2 K
• PR-DH T.J. Rivera: 0-0
• 1B Brandon Allen: 1-4, 2B, K
• RF Travis Taijeron: 1-3, 2B, K, HBP
• 2B Wilfredo Tovar: 1-3
• PH-2B Brooks Conrad: 1-1, R, HR (5), 4 RBI; Grand slam, two outs, in the ninth. Talk about clutch
• RHP Rainy Lara: 5 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 2 K
• LHP Chase Huchingson: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 2 K, PO, HB
• RHP John Church: 0.1 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 K
• LHP Scott Rice: 0.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 K
• RHP Chase Bradford: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 3 K

Double-A - Binghamton Mets (35-32)_____________________________________

BINGHAMTON, NEW HAMPSHIRE

POSTPONED (RAIN)

Team	W	L	GB
New Britain Rock Cats	38	31	---
Trenton Thunder	37	32	1
Reading Fightin’ Phils	36	32	1.5
Binghamton Mets	35	32	2
New Hampshire Fisher Cats	31	36	6
Portland Sea Dogs	26	43	12

Advanced-A - St. Lucie Mets (34-33)_____________________________________

NO GAME (ALL-STAR BREAK)

Team	W	L	GB
Charlotte Stone Crabs	44	23	---
Fort Myers Miracle	35	32	9
St. Lucie Mets	34	33	10
Jupiter Hammerheads	33	34	11
Palm Beach Cardinals	32	35	12
Bradenton Marauders	30	37	14

Low-A - Savannah Sand Gnats (39-31)__________________________________

SAVANNAH 8, AUGUSTA 5 (Box)

And it all came down to this. Coming into the last game of the first half, the Savannah Sand Gnats and the Greenville Drive were tied for first place in the division, with identical 38-31 records. Earlier in the year, when Savannah had a sub-.500 record, who would've even thought that this scenario would've been possible? But, after a rough April, Savannah went on a hot streak at the end of May and beginning of June that coincided with a Greenville losing streak.

Fortuitously for the good guys, the Sand Gnats had Casey Meisner toeing the bump for them. Meisner, deemed the Mets' seventeenth best prospect by myself and twenty-first by our Amazin' Avenue aggregate list, has had some helium in the first half, posting a 2.15 ERA in 71 innings with a 7.6 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 (though, admittedly, his sterling ERA is lowered by a .256 BABIP; His FIP is still a respectable 3.77, however). Opposing Meisner was Sam Conrood, a 22-year-old right-hander from Carrolton, Illinois. Selected in the 5^th round of the 2014 MLB Draft from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, the righty has been impressive, posting a 2.51 ERA in 61 innings with a 9.9 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9.

On the last day of the half, we were getting an ace-vs-ace showdown.

The Sand Gnats came out of the box pumped up. Jonathan Johnson and Luis Guillorme both drew walks to start the game, and Coonrod threw away John Mora's sacrifice bunt, Savannah had bases loaded with no outs. After Eudor Garcia plated a run with a sac fly, Wuilmer Becerra laced a line drive into right to score another run. In the second, Coonrod had some more issues keeping the ball over the plate. After Joe Tuschak singled, Adrian Abreu and Jonathan Johnson both walked, loading the bases once again. After Luis Guillorme drew his second walk in as many innings- this one scoring a run- Coonrod was pulled from the game.

Casey Meisner, meanwhile, was cruising. Over the first four innings, he allowed a single in the first and a walk in the second. In the fifth, Dylan Davis and the GreenJackets played some small ball, scoring a run on a single, stolen base, and two ground outs for their first run of the game. Meisner was not laboring or showing any difficulties after the run scored, but Jose Leger elected to play it safe by bringing in a fresh arm for the sixth. Cameron Griffin pitched a scoreless sixth. Dawrin Frias pitched a scoreless seventh. Ben Griset gave up a run in the eighth, making it a 3-2 ballgame.

With the pressure on, the Savannah offense responded. In the ninth, the Sand Gnats plated five more runs, making it an 8-2 ballgame. It's a good thing they had a flurry of offense in the top of the inning, because Paul Paez gave up three runs in the bottom of the inning. Augusta tried to come back, but their attempt failed, and with it, Savannah went a perfect 6-0 against them in the first half.

...

Of course, none of that really mattered. Greenville's game started in the early afternoon game, and by 2:30, the Drive were trailing and were down 8-2. They lost to the Blue Claws 9-3 before the Sand Gnat game even began.

• 2B Jonathan Johnson: 1-2, 2 R, 3 BB, SB (12)
• SS Luis Guillorme: 1-3, 2 R, RBI, 2 BB, SB (8)
• CF John Mora: 1-3, BB, K, SB (5)
• 3B Eudor Garcia: 0-4, R, 2 RBI, 2 K
• RF Wuilmer Becerra: 2-5, R, 2B, 2 RBI, K
• DH Jean Rodriguez: 1-5, 2B, 2 RBI, 3 K, CS (4)
• LF Joe Tuschak: 2-5, R, K
• 1B Adrian Abreu: 0-4, BB, 2 K
• C Tyler Moore: 1-4, R, 3B, K; Failed to throw out three stolen base attempts
• DH Jean Rodriguez: 1-5, BB, 2 K
• RHP Casey Meisner: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
• RHP Cameron Griffin: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K
• RHP Dawrin Frias: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 3 K
• LHP Ben Griset: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
• LHP Paul Paez: 1 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

SS-A - Brooklyn Cyclones (1-1)_______________________________________

BROOKLYN 6, STATEN ISLAND 4 (Box)

The Cyclones won their first series of the season, hanging on to beat their cross-boro rivals 6-4. After building up a 5-0 lead, Nicco Blank almost blew the lead. The reliever allowed an inherited runner to score in the sixth, and then allowed two of his own, making it a 5-4 ballgame. In the eigth, Jeff Diehl homered over the left field wall- not always an easy task, given the weird wind patterns at Richmond County Bank Ballpark- to give Brooklyn an extra insurance run, and Alex Palsha shut down the Baby Bombers in the ninth for his first save.

• CF Enmanuel Zabala: 0-5, 3 K
• SS Alfredo Reyes: 0-5, R, K
• 2B Vincent Siena: 1-3, 2 R, BB, SB (1)
• RF Michael Bernal: 2-4, R, 2B, 3B, RBI, K
• RF Tucker Tharp: 0-0
• 1B Zach Mathieu: 1-3, 2 RBI, BB
• DH Jeff Diehl: 2-4, R, HR (1), 2 RBI
• LF Oswald Caraballo: 0-4
• C Manuel Hilario: 1-4, 2 K, E (1)
• C Natanael Ramos: 0-0
• 3B Branden Kaupe: 0-4, 2 K
• RHP Michael Gibbons: 5.2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
• RHP Nicco Blank: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, WP, BLK
• LHP Carlos Valdez: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K
• RHP Alex Palsha: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K, SV (1)

Select DSL Check-Ins

Name	Position	Games	Innings Pitched	ERA	Hits	Walks	Strikeouts
Jhoander Chourio	RHP	---	---	---	---	---	---
Daniel Guzman	LHP	5 (2 GS)	16.1	3.86	16	6	11
Joel Romero	RHP	4 (1 GS)	9.2	3.72	12	6	8

Name	Position	Games	At-Bats	Average	OBP	Slugging	HR	BB	K	SB
Edgardo Fermin	SS	16	56	.232	.348	.304	1	9	13	4/5
Tulio Garcia	OF	13	43	.186	.286	.209	0	5	20	0/0
Kenny Hernandez	SS	14	48	.104	.193	.146	0	4	13	2/2
Yoel Romero	SS	13	40	.025	.133	.025	0	3	12	0/2
Juan Uriarte	C	19	67	.299	.347	.403	1	4	6	0/2

Star of the Night

Brooks Conrad

Goat of the Night

The Las Vegas offense