Mets Minors Beat: Flores En Fuego, Boyd Blasts Bombs

With only a week to go in the minor league season, this series you’ve all grown to love will unfortunately be coming to an end after next Friday’s edition. So it is with great pleasure that I present to you this Friday’s edition of the smash-hit feature exclusively on MMO, Mets Minors Beat. This week we look at some amazing pitching performances, some late-season promotions, and the end of some player’s seasons. Keep reading to get caught up on this week’s Mets Minor League world.

Buffalo

Fred Lewis – The veteran left-fielder is finishing his season strong, going 12-for-37 with seven runs, two doubles, three home runs, three walks and six RBI, for a slash-line of .324/.375/.622 in his last ten games. For the year Lewis is 120-for-413, with 77 runs scored, 25 doubles, 7 triples, 13 home runs, 43 RBI, 53 walks, and 24 stolen-bases, for a slash-line of .291/.373/.479.

Jeurys Familia – The big right-hander had a very good start on Thursday, going 7.0 innings and giving up three runs all earned, on eight hits, with nine strikeouts and one walk, to pick up the win. In what was his last start of the season, Family improved his record to 9-9 with a 4.73 ERA, in 28 game starts.

Mike Nickeas – When I mentioned on the MMO radio podcast on Thursday evening that Nickeas was a lock to be brought back up when the rosters expand on September 1st, there was a chorus of boo’s and some grumblings from the peanut gallery. But did you know that in the time Nickeas has been playing for Wally Backman at Buffalo this year, he has gone 22-for-63, with seven runs, six doubles, one homer, six RBI, and five walks for a slash-line of .349/.386/.492?

Binghamton

Wilmer Flores – After having his nine-game hitting streak snapped on Wednesday night, Flores appeared late in the game in a double switch on Thursday, and started a new streak with a single, and a walk. Did I mention that Flores has been hot? If you are a regular reader of the Beat, you would know that he has been written about in every single one, twice every week. That is just how good he’s been this year. What has he done lately, you might ask? In his last ten games he is 19-for-38 with eight runs scored, six doubles, one triple, three homers, six RBI, and four walks for a truly sick slash-line of .500/.548/.947. Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about!

Gonzalez Germen – The right-hander picked up his 12th minor league win of the year on Wednesday night with a strong 7.2 innings, giving up one earned run on seven hits, with six strikeouts and a walk. The victory improved his Eastern League record to 8-11 with a 4.42 ERA. He won three games for St. Lucie, and one game for Buffalo, to make him a combined 12-11 with a 4.21 ERA. Germen has been a workhorse this season hurling 148 innings, with perhaps one more start still to come.

St. Lucie

Logan Verrett – The right-hander made his sixth start since being called up to St. Lucie this past Wednesday night. In all six starts he has gone at least 6.0 innings, and given up no more than two runs in each of those games. Despite a no-decision on Wednesday when he went 7.0 innings against Jupiter, giving up one run on four hits, with four strikeouts and no walks, his Florida State League record stands at 2-0 with an ERA of 2.09, and a 26/4 K/BB ratio. With six regular season games left on the slate before the play-offs begin, Verrett should get one more start before the post-season, unless they rearrange the rotation to set him up for an early play-off assignment in round one.

T.J. Rivera - The St. Lucie shortstop continues to pour it on. After hitting .327 in July, he is now batting .313 for the month of August. In his last ten games he is swinging the bat to the tune of 13-for-37, with three runs, two doubles, four RBI, four walks, and a stolen-base, for a slash of .351/.415/.405.

Jacob DeGrom - The 6’4″ righty picked up his third FSL win on Thursday night against no defeats by going 6.0 innings and giving up one run on five hits, with six strikeouts and two walks. The effort improved his record at St. Lucie to 3-0 with a 2.08 ERA in four game starts. Overall, in 19 starts between Savannah and Lucie, he is 9-3 on the year with 2.43 ERA, and a 96/20 K/BB ratio.

Erik Goeddel – Another talented righty who has had a very good year throwing for St. Lucie. Goeddel made his 19th FSL start on Tuesday and picked up a no-decision by going 5.1 innings against Jupiter and giving up three runs, one earned on five hits, with five strikeouts and a walk. In his last four starts he is 1-0 with a 1.71 ERA.

Ryan Ellis – Congratulations to St. Lucie manager Ryan Ellis who was named the 2012 Florida State League Manager-of-the-Year.

Adam Kolarek – The 6’3″ lefty reliever was named to represent St. Lucie at the 2012 Florida State League All-Star game. Congrats to you big guy! Kolarek is 1-3 with a 2.45 ERA, 17 saves, and a 67/20 K/BB ratio, in 55.0 innings pitched.

Savannah

The Gnats are in last place in the second half standings of the South Atlantic League’s Southern Division. They failed to win the first half, which means the only way they will make the play-offs this year would be if they can come from 3.0 games behind in the wild-card race, with only four games remaining to their season. Such a scenario is very unlikely although mathematically possible. If they can run the table and win their remaining four games, they would then require a small miracle as there are still three teams between them and a post-season appearance. Savannah made the play-offs the last two seasons, losing in the first round in 2010, and the championship round last year.

Brooklyn

Jayce Boyd – Meet the Brooklyn Cyclones starting first-baseman Jayce Boyd. Boyd is a right-handed power bat who was the Mets 6th round pick in this years draft. There have been some bumps along the way this season as he gets acclimated to professional ball in the New York Penn League, but lately he has certainly found his groove. In his last ten games Jayce has gone 11-for-33 with four runs, two doubles, three homers, seven RBI, and six walks for a slash of .333/.436/.667. I spoke to Jayce before the game on Wednesday at Hudson Valley, and I said, “man your really swinging the bat well these days Jayce, how many home runs have you hit this week?” He told me he had hit one in each of the previous two games. I watched him take BP a little while later, and he was crushing the ball, long, well hit drives over the left-center field fence. That night guess what? He hit his third homer in three consecutive nights, with a deep two-run drive to left-center in the eighth inning.

Rainy Lara – The 6’4″ right-hander was fabulous on Monday night against Aberdeen, going 6.0 innings, giving up no runs, on three hits with four strikeouts and a walk. Lara picked up the win which put him in a two-way tie for most wins in the NYPL, and improved his record to 8-2 on the year with a 3.10 ERA. In 61 innings over 11 game starts he has a K/BB ratio of 69/10, and the league is hitting .216 against him.

Matt Bowman – The 6’0″ righty reliever out of Princeton has been amazing this year, but in his last six games he has shined especially bright. Over that stretch, he has not allowed any runs in 17 innings, while striking out 16 and walking one, he has also picked up a win and a save in those six games. For the year his record stands at 2-2 with a 1.65 ERA, three saves, and a K/BB ratio of 27/2.

Maikis De La Cruz – After getting promoted from Kingsport on Tuesday, the righty swinging outfielder has hit safely in his first three games with the Cyclones. He is 4-for-12 with two runs, two doubles, a triple, a walk and two RBI. At Kingsport he hit .274 with one home run, 30 RBI, and nine stolen-bases, in 223 at-bats.

Luis Mateo – The NYPL ALL-Star pitched another solid outing on Thursday night and again came away with a no-decision as the Brooklyn offense could only manage one run in the game. His last start, last Friday, he went 7.0 innings without allowing any runs and came away with a no-decision as well. On Thursday he pitched 7.0 innings again, giving up just one run this time on four hits with eight strikeouts and a walk. For the year Mateo has gotten very little run support, and his record now stands at 4-5 with a 2.45 ERA and a K/BB ratio of 85/9 in 73.1 innings over 12 starts.

Kingsport

The K-Mets ended their season on Tuesday with their fourth loss in a row. It was a horrible year for the club who finished with a record of 23-43, and they were at no time even competitive in their league this year. Only the glaring ineptitude of the Bristol White Sox (19-46 W-L record) kept the K-Mets out of last place. I will be writing up a complete breakdown, in this case a postmortem, on the Kingsport Mets which will be ready early next week.

Robert Gsellman – The 6’4″ 19-year-old right-hander made his first start since July 17th on Monday against Pulaski, and he looked very good despite picking up a no-decision. Gsellman induced mostly groundouts as he went 6.2 innings, giving up no runs, on four hits, with five punch-outs and one walk. In 43.2 innings this year the right-hander has gone 1-3 with a 3.92 ERA working as both a starter and a reliever.

Transactions

Michael Fulmer – A few days after I reported that Michael Fulmer was more than likely shut down for the year due to reaching his innings limit, he went on the D.L. Hmmmm, that sounds fishy. You know if you shut a guy down, he still takes up a roster spot. And you can’t place him on the D.L. unless he has an injury. So guess what? Despite not having pitched in almost two weeks, Fulmer just went on the D.L. with a left shin contusion. That’s the same injury that plagued righty reliever Erik Turgeon of the B-Mets before he was released at mid-season. Even though Turgeon was pitching awful this year, he was on and off the D.L. three times with a left shin contusion. I guess there’s a lot of that going on in baseball these days.

Gavin Cecchini – The Mets 1st round pick in the 2012 draft was sent to Brooklyn as soon as Kingsport’s season ended. I met him on Wednesday and he agreed to be a guest on the Metsmerized Radio Show this off-season. While at Kingsport this year in 191 at-bats, he hit .246 with one home run, 22 RBI, and five stolen-bases.

Craig Hansen – The former big leaguer and 1st round draft pick of the Red Sox was promoted from Brooklyn to Savannah this week and pitched one inning, with nothing across, and two strikeouts for the Gnats on Tuesday night against Asheville.

Matt Reynolds – The Mets 2nd round pick in this year’s draft went on the D.L. this week. Reynolds has been playing shortstop for the Sand Gnats ever since T.J. Rivera was sent up to St. Lucie in June. In 158 at-bats for Savannah he is hitting .259 with three homers, 13 RBI, and five stolen-bases.

Stefan Sabol – The righty slugger was placed on the D.L. last weekend with a sprained ankle. I asked him how it was feeling on Wednesday and he said it was much better and he would be activated in time for this weekend’s slate of games. The Mets 17th round pick in this year’s draft is hitting .249 this year with five home runs, and 21 RBI in 213 at-bats.

Juan Carlos Gamboa – It’s been a lost season for the talented infielder as he has been on and off the Brooklyn D.L. several times. Well he’s back on it, and with Gavin Cecchini on the team now, Gamboa is probably done for the year.

Miller Diaz – The power-armed right-hander was promoted to Savannah when the Kingsport season ended this week. He made his first SAL start on Wednesday against the Asheville Tourists, and it was Diaz who looked like a tourist. He lasted only 4.2 innings and gave up six runs, three earned, on seven hits, but he did manage to strike out eight while walking only one. So it wasn’t all bad. He may get one more opportunity to pitch before the season ends.

Maikis De La Cruz – As stated above, the speedy outfielder went up to Brooklyn from Kingsport on Tuesday.

Jorge Rivero – After hitting well, and showing versatility in the field at Kingsport this year, Rivero was sent back up to Brooklyn where he had started the year. I spoke to him in the clubhouse on Wednesday, and I asked him if it was “good to be back” with the Cyclones? He didn’t say anything, he just broke into a huge smile and reached out his hand to shake mine. At Kingsport the switch-hitting utility-man led the club in hitting, going .313 with two home runs, 20 RBI, and four stolen-bases in 144 at-bats.

Oswaldo Navarro – The Bisons placed the 27-year-old infielder on the D.L. this week and he is most likely done for the year. In 97 at-bats for the Herd he hit. 216 with two home runs and 11 RBI.

Jack Leathersich – The Rocket was activated on Tuesday from the Temporarily Inactive List.

I hope you have enjoyed this Friday’s edition of the Beat. We will be back Monday for the last Monday morning quarterback edition, and we’ll get you caught up on what transpires this weekend. So until then…..LGM!