Mets Minor League News: Schwinden’s Back, Urbina Joins K-Mets Rotation, Lutz Activated From DL

I woke up this morning and realized I hadn’t perused the minor league transactions in a couple of days, and that’s just not like me. Usually the minor league transaction sheet is a snooze. Rarely is there a move of significance, just guys bouncing around a level here and a level there, or somebody going on the D.L. But I noticed some interesting names being activated in the last couple of days. Who am I referring to? Inquiring minds want to know:

Cesar Puello – The outfielder who had gone on the D.L. on May 24th with a broken hamate bone was activated by St. Lucie on July 2nd. He has gone 0-for-7 in two games since returning to action.

Zach Lutz – The oft-injured Buffalo third-baseman returns to action for a rehab stint at St. Lucie. Lutz went on the D.L. the end of May for a broken hamate, and was just activated on July 4th.

Pedro Beato - The righty reliever was activated today from his rehab in Buffalo to try and put a band-aid on the pathetic big league bullpen. While at AAA, recovering from shoulder problems, he pitched in 24.0 innings spread over 16 games. He had a record of 3-2 with an ERA of 1.13 and opponents were batting just .179 against him.

Jeremy Hefner – The right-hander was returned to Buffalo to make room for Beato. While with the Mets Hefner pitched in 30.1 innings spread over 11 games. He made three starts and compiled a record of 1-3, with an ERA of 5.64 and his K/BB ratio was 17/2.

Justin Hampson – was returned to Buffalo when Jordany Valdespin was recalled. He only logged 1.1 innings for the big club, over three games. He gave up two unearned runs on three hits, one walk, and a strikeout.

Chris Schwinden – The right-hander has returned to the organization after being claimed off waivers from the Yankees today.

Adam Loewen – The slugging right-fielder returns to the Herd after going on the D.L. on April 21st. At that time he was hitting .270 in 37 at-bats, with three homers and nine RBI.

Christian Montgomery – The 2011 11th round draft pick made two game starts for Kingsport this year, throwing 7.2 innings and giving up ten runs, eight earned, on six hits, six walks, and seven strikeouts. His record was 0-1 with a 9.39 ERA. And then he was suddenly promoted to St. Lucie on July 1st effectively skipping over Brooklyn and Savannah. He has since been placed on the 7-day D.L.

Juan Urbina – The young left-hander was sent from the Brooklyn bullpen to the Kingsport starting rotation to take the spot that Montgomery had occupied. For Brooklyn, pitching in relief this year he was 0-0 with a 3.60 ERA over 5.0 innings.

Joe Bonfe – Our good friend the third-baseman/super-utility guy went on the D.L. on July 2nd. Joe was hitting .257 combined between St. Lucie and Binghamton this year. I’m going to try and find out what his injury is, I’ll keep you posted.

Well that’s it for the transactions in July so far, definitely some names of note getting back into action. Guys like Puello, Lutz, and Loewen. It’s also nice to see Schwinnie coming back to the organization after a sojourn that took him from the Mets on June 2nd, to the Blue Jays, then the Indians, then the Yankees, and then back to the Mets on July 5th. Welcome back Chris.