Mark Simon of ESPN New York had a great post on Sunday in which he ranked the Top 11 memorable Mets debuts over the team’s history. He included both pitching and hitting debuts. Check out his work and research here. (This is great for some of you younger Mets fans)

I pulled the pitchers out of his list to see where Zack Wheeler might rank on this list. Here are the top five.

1. Dick Rusteck (June 10, 1966 vs. Reds) - The only Mets pitcher to throw a shutout in his major league debut beat the Reds’ ace, Jim Maloney, in a swift two hours, six minutes. Rusteck struck out only four, but dominated. He did not face a runner in scoring position the entire night. Rusteck made only seven more appearances and two more major league starts. That win would be the only one of his major league career.
2. Collin McHugh (Aug. 23, 2012 vs. Rockies) - Against what was a lineup comprised mostly of minor leaguers, McHugh dominated, allowing two hits and striking out nine in seven scoreless innings. He’d get a no-decision because the Mets couldn’t score against five Rockies pitchers. McHugh is one of only five pitchers to allow no runs and two hits or fewer, with at least nine strikeouts, in a debut in the modern era, a list that begins with Hall of Famer Juan Marichal (1960).
3. Matt Harvey (July 26, 2012 vs. Diamondbacks) - This one wasn’t that long ago, so it should be fresh in the memory bank: Harvey piled up the pitch count early, limiting him to 5 1/3 scoreless innings, but he was very impressive, both on the mound (with 11 strikeouts) and at the plate (with a pair of base hits in a 3-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks). The Elias Sports Bureau tells us that Harvey is the first pitcher in the modern era (since 1900) to strike out 11 hitters and record two hits in his major league debut.
4. Dillon Gee (Sept. 7, 2010 vs. Nationals) - Gee opened his career with five no-hit innings before surrendering a homer to Mets scourge Willie Harris leading off the sixth. It would be the only run he would allow in seven two-hit frames in a 4-1 win. Gee’s five wins against the Nationals are his most against any major league team.
5. Gary Gentry (April 10, 1969 vs. Expos) - Gentry came within one out of a shutout in his first start against the expansion Expos. He’d settle for a 4-2 win, the first of many productive moments in a championship season, one in which he would start games in both the NLCS and World Series. The win was a big deal for the Mets in this regard: It made them 2-1, marking only the second time in eight years that they had a winning record through three games.

So where do we slot Zack Wheeler who certainly pitched worthy enough to make this list?

Certainly, Wheeler moves ahead of Gary “Baby Face” Gentry and Dillon Gee. No way he unseats Dick Rusteck, who still remains the standard bearer with his complete game shutout. And Collin McHugh, who was just ousted to Colorado, is probably safe as well.

It comes down to putting Wheeler’s debut either ahead or behind Matt Harvey. I asked the progenitor of the list, Mark Simon, last night. He puts Wheeler at No. 4 behind Matt Harvey citing the walks. Not a bad showing at all… The 4th best pitching debut in 51 years of Mets baseball.

You know what else is amazing here? That we have four pitchers on this list who debuted during 2010-2013. You would think you’d see names like Jon Matlack, Dwight Gooden, Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman here.

On Wednesday, the Rockies designated Young for assignment giving them 10 days to trade him.

Young, 28, hit just .261 with a .671 OPS in 313 career games and is a .211 career hitter away from Coors Field.

Young was hitting .246 on the season with one home run and eight stolen bases, but his defense was the subject of plenty of scrutiny over the course of his time with the Rockies, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post.

Mets VP Jay Horwitz also announced that OF Andrew Brown is on his way to join the Mets. To make room for Brown, the Mets have designated Collin Cowgill for assignment.

To make room for him, the team optioned reliever Greg Burke to Vegas and designated Collin McHugh for assignment to clear a 40-man roster spot.

Torres, 30, exercised an opt-out in his contract Friday, giving the Mets 48 hours to promote him or release him.

Torres is in the middle of a recent good stretch that has him toss consecutive complete games with Las Vegas and he has won five straight starts. The former Colorado Rockie had a 5.26 ERA in 31 relief appearances last season.

There will be more moves coming as the Mets  plan to add pitchers Zack Wheeler and likely Scott Atchison as well on Tuesday. That would indicate two more cuts to be made, possibly Josh Edgin giving them just one lefty in the bullpen – something the Mets have been very accustomed to in the last few years.

Echoing what Terry Collins told reporters on Friday, Sandy Alderson told season ticket holders at Citi Field this morning, that Rafael Montero is a longshot to be promoted to the Mets this season. He cited an innings limit as the reason and said he’s currently about 70-80 innings away from being shutdown for the season.

Last season, Montero tossed just 122 innings and he is already at 73.1 innings this year.

Yesterday, Collins said that Montero may not debut in the majors this season for similar reasons and also because he felt the Mets’ rotation is performing well enough. He wished him well on his promotion to Triple-A Las Vegas.

“I hope Montero goes, and I hope he pitches very, very well there,” Collins said, referring to Las Vegas. “But you’re looking at a guy who last year pitched 120 innings. He’s going to get to that 150 mark pretty fast because he’s been getting deep into games in Binghamton. How many innings he’s going to have when you’re looking up in late August, or early or the middle of August, it could be a situation where he’s going to be spent anyway.”

Original Post 6/14

Mets pitching prospect Rafael Montero has been promoted to Triple-A Las Vegas. Montero was having a stellar season at Double-A Binghamton, where he was 7-3 with a 2.43 ERA and 0.915 WHIP. In 66.2 innings pitched, the control artist struck out 72 batters while walking just 10 batters. He will start on Sunday for Las Vegas.

Because Montero will pound the zone and exhibit such great command as he has throughout his pro career, his ability to pinpoint the location of his pitches should play very well at Vegas.

Last week, I asked Lynn Worthy, who covers the Binghamton Mets for the Press & Sun Bulletin, who has impressed him the most this season, and he had this to say about Montero:

The most impressive so far would have to be Rafael Montero because of the command he’s displayed. Cesar Puello’s recent play has made it a close call, but Montero has performed so well all season. While his stuff isn’t at the level of Matt Harvey or Zack Wheeler, he has consistently demonstrated remarkable control beyond what I saw from either Harvey or Wheeler at this level.

It’s a very interesting question to consider how well Montero’s actual stuff translates to a major-league level. I’m not sure. I would tend to think his margin for error will be even smaller against those hitters. There could be a real possibility of him getting hit hard at times. This certainly isn’t an exact comparison, but Collin McHugh had tremendous success and command of multiple pitches in Binghamton and also pitched well at Triple-A. His first start in the big leagues was also stellar, but he has also been hit hard at times.

Montero’s command will be a big plus, and I do think he’s shown a strong ability to work through a lineup a second or third time and keep hitters off-balance. On several occasions he has racked up the majority of his strikeouts after the first time through the lineup. It will be interesting how he gets used if/when he does reach the big league level.

Great job here by Lynn, who provides some great insight.

Montero has been overshadowed by Zack Wheeler ever since the Mets acquired him. The young righthander has done nothing, but excel at each level where he was always among the most dominating pitchers in his league.

Earlier this week, the Mets promoted his teammate Jack Leathersich to Triple-A.

It’s obvious now that the front office is feeling the pressure to start advancing their best prospects after operating at a snail’s pace the last three seasons. I don’t like rushing prospects, but when they are pushing the envelope, a front office should recognize it and act on it. Look for Kevin Plawecki, Jayce Boyd, Noah Syndergaard and others to get the bump in the coming days.

(Photo credit: Gordon Donovan)

Updated 6/8 at 12:55pm by Clayton Collier:

The Mets have optioned RHP Collin McHugh to Triple-A Las Vegas and have called up reliever David Aardsma. He will wear number 30.

To make room for Aardsma, Jeurys Familia has been moved to the 60-day disabled list.

McHugh will pitch in Vegas as a starter.

Original Post 6/8 at 8:58am by Joe D:

According to Mark Hale of the New York Post the Mets plan to promote right-handed reliever David Aardsma from Triple-A Las Vegas in time for this afternoon’s game against the Marlins.

The 31-year-old Aardsma appeared in eight games for Las Vegas, posting a 1.12 ERA with three saves and allowing only three hits in eight innings while striking out 11 and walking seven.

Aardsma missed the 2011 campaign due to Tommy John surgery and has only made one major league appearance with the Yankees since September 19, 2010. He has bounced around between five organizations and once had 69 saves for the Mariners during the 2009-2010 seasons.

It’s likely that Collin McHugh will be optioned to make room for him.

In case you missed it, lefthander Jon Niese tossed 39 pitches yesterday, in a successful bullpen session at Nationals Park in Washington D.C.

Niese said he had no problems, threw the ball free and easy, and was able to get his arm angle to where he wanted to. He does not foresee any after effects tomorrow and said he felt much better than his previous bullpens in between starts.

“It was nice to throw a bullpen without feeling any soreness or pain,” Niese said.

“He said he felt great,” manager Terry Collins said. “No discomfort. No tightness. So that was a good sign.”

Niese is cleared to make his next start on Saturday, against the Marlins at Citi Field.

Original Post 6/3

Jon Niese has been scratched from his start Saturday with what the Mets are calling left shoulder tendinitis.

Niese said he was unable to throw his typical bullpen session on Wednesday and has been feeling discomfort for his past few starts and was very sore after his most recent start, Terry Collins told reporters.

He was examined Thursday morning at the Hospital for Special Surgery and an MRI revealed inflammation, but no structural damage.

He will miss at least one start and is expected to rest for three days then throw a bullpen session next Tuesday.

The Mets have no current plan to place Niese on the disabled list and Collin McHugh will start in his place against the Miami Marlins this weekend.

I’m no doctor, but if he was feeling sore after his last few starts, why were they still letting him pitch?

Niese has already suffered with a neck issue earlier this month and had lower back pain in April. At the time, Niese blamed his poor mechanics for it.

“You try to compensate and (then) create a bad habit.”

He recently made another mechanical adjustment just before his run of recent good starts. I wonder if this new shoulder issue is the result of that adjustment?

It’s always something…

Jose Fernandez, the 20-year old Marlins pitching phenom, suffocated the Mets tonight as Miami beat them by the score of 8-1 to take their second straight game of the series.

Collin McHugh made his first start of the season and he was in trouble right from the start. The righthander lasted just four innings and was charged with four runs on six hits and three walks while striking out one. The fact that he was manhandled by one of the most anemic offenses in the game was discouraging to say the least.

Meanwhile, the story of the game was rookie Jose Fernandez who pitched with all the swagger of a veteran ace and is exceeding all expectations despite being promoted after only 138 minor league innings. The kid was absolutely dominating with an overpowering fastball and that devastating hammer curve. He pitched seven scoreless  innings and allowed three harmless singles while striking out eight. Nasty stuff…

Offensively, the Mets were firing blanks for the second night in a row. David Wright took the collar and is now 0-for-his-last-13. John Buck looked awful again and struck out three times on the first nine pitches he saw. Omar Quintanilla had two of the Mets five hits and is batting .444 as a Met.

The Mets bullpen was ineffective and how Robert Carson continues to hold down a job in the majors defies all logic. He allowed three more runs to cross the plate and now has a 9.00 ERA this season. Greg Burke also allowed a run on two hits and a walk in his two-thirds of an inning of work. Aside from Rice and Parnell this bullpen will need a fourth straight revamp this offseason. How does that saying go… Fourth time’s a charm… No wait… Never mind…

This was a terrible loss for the Mets who have managed to extinguish any good vibes still remaining from their four game sweep of the Yankees. The Miami Marlins are without a doubt the worst team in the majors, but the Mets make them look like Murderer’s Row every time.

The Mets will try to avoid an embarrassing sweep and will have their ace Matt Harvey (5-0, 1.85 ERA) on the mound opposing Marlins right-hander Kevin Slowey (1-5, 3.59) at 1:10 pm. I hope the Mets will score some runs for Harvey who has been looking for his sixth win for nearly a month.

Mets At Marlins – 4:10 PM

RHP Collin McHugh vs RHP Jose Fernandez

Starting Lineup

Omar Quintanilla, ss
Daniel Murphy, 2b
David Wright, 3b
Lucas Duda, lf
John Buck, c
Rick Ankiel, cf
Ike Davis, 1b
Jordany Valdespin, rf
Collin McHugh, rhp

Game Notes

From May 28-30, Mets pitchers struck out 34 batters without issuing a walk. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, no other team’s pitchers in the modern era (1900 to date) struck out more than 26 batters without allowing a walk in a three-game span.

New York pitchers went 31.0 innings without issuing a walk from the first inning on May 28 before Shaun Marcum issued an intentional walk in the sixth inning last night. The franchise record is 36.0 innings from July 4-8, 1994.

Over the last 10 games, Mets starters have posted a 3.17 ERA (23 earned runs/65.1 innings). Over their last seven games, Mets starters have tossed 47.0 innings and issued three walks, while notching 51 strikeouts. Overall, Mets starters have a 4.17 ERA, ranking 17th in the majors.

Collin McHugh is making his first major league start of 2013 this afternoon. In his first start in 2012 (his major league debut), McHugh tossed 7.0 scoreless innings vs. the Rockies on August 23, allowed two hits and had nine strikeouts. The last pitcher to throw 7.0 or more innings, allow two or fewer hits and have nine or more strikeouts in his major league debut was Milwaukee’s Steve Woodard, who one-hit Toronto over 8.0 innings with 12 strikeouts on July 28, 1997. McHugh’s nine strikeouts were the second-most in franchise history by a pitcher in his
first big league appearance. Matt Harvey had 11 strikeouts at Arizona on July 26, 2012.

The bullpen has surrendered two earned runs over its last 15.0 innings (1.20 ERA). New York relievers had seven victories in May, the third-most in the majors. Overall, the bullpen ranks 29th in the majors with a 4.57 ERA.

Game Preview

First off, a very happy one year No-Han anniversary to all of you!

In typical Mets fashion, after winning four against the Yankees, they lose against the Marlins. However, today is a new day and hopefully the start of a new streak as Collin McHugh makes a spot start for the Mets tonight against the young Jose Fernandez. Last night the Mets offense was absent…again. Marcum was fine with the exception of one inning when the game went south. Here’s hoping for the bats to come back today.

Collin is making a return to the majors today. This year he has allowed 6 ER over 3.0 innings in two games. Last year he was 0-4 over 8 games and 4 starts over 21.1 innings with a 7.59 ERA. Last year he faced the Marlins for 0.1 innings allowing 2 hits and one earned runs. This year in Vegas he is 3-2 over 8 starts and 49.1 innings while posting a 2.74 ERA. The only two Marlins that have stats against him are Brantly (0-1) and Pierre (1-1).

It is June 1st and for the third time this season, Jose Fernandez will be facing the Mets. On the season he is 2-3 over 10 starts with a 3.78 ERA while pitching 52.1 innings. In two starts against the Mets this year he has pitched 9.0 innings while allowing 3 ER. He is coming off of a rough start start where he allowed 7 runs, 4 earned over 3.1 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Jose:

Baxter 0-3
Davis 0-2
Duda 0-3
Murphy 1-4
Buck 1-2, HR
Recker 1-2, 2B

Lets Go Mets!

So much for those dreams of an 8-game winning streak… The Mets lost the opener of their three game series with the Marlins by the score of 5-1 tonight in Miami.

Shaun Marcum started and was in search of his first win of the season. But after cruising through six innings and matching zeroes with Marlins starter Jacob Turner, the veteran righthander ran into trouble in the seventh inning and allowed four Miami runs to cross the plate. Not good. In all he lasted 6.2 innings and let up seven hits, two walks and struck out four. His ERA rises to 5.71 for the season while his record falls to 0-6.

Not much doing offensively for the Mets as all they could muster was one late run on an RBI double by Daniel Murphy, his 18th of the season. He had two hits in the game and is now batting .304.

Omar Quintanilla had a pair of hits, but also committed his second error in two games since joining the Mets. David Wright went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.

That’s all she wrote… The five game winning streak comes to an end against the Mighty Marlins. <cough, cough> The Mets are the only team the Marlins have a winning record against this season.

The Mets will pick themselves up and try again tomorrow as Collin McHugh makes his first major league start of the season. He will oppose Marlins rookie Jose Fernandez. First pitch is at 4:10 pm.

Series Preview: Mets at Marlins

Tonight, the suddenly-streaking Mets begin a three-game series with the lowly Marlins down in Miami.

While it appeared early on that the Mets and Marlins would be “battling” for last place in the NL East, the gap between the two teams has widened considerably. The Marlins are by far, the worst team in baseball, coming in at 13-41, including 7-20 at home. The Marlins were already supposed to be one of the worst clubs in the league coming into this season, but a series of devastating injuries has put them on a whole new level of horrible. They are the only team in baseball with a winning percentage lower than .300 (.241) and they have lost nine games in a row. Of course, that hasn’t stopped the Mets from getting swept before, but the odds are certainly favoring them.

Offensively, the Marlins don’t have a single power threat. Their cleanup hitter in last night’s game against the Rays was Marcell Ozuna, who, although he is batting .314, has only one home run in 28 games. The Marlins have 12 players on the DL at the moment, including Giancarlo Stanton, Logan Morrison, and Casey Kotchman. Even with those players in the lineup, the offense is very weak, but without them, it’s the worst in baseball.

Nonetheless, the Mets are still not a good team and, as they’ve shown in the past, they could get swept, even with the momentum they have coming off a four-game sweep of the Yankees. Hopefully, however, the Mets won’t make it an interesting series and can get closer to a .500 record with a series win this weekend.

Offensive/Pitching Team Rankings

Pitching Matchups

Game 1: Shaun Marcum, RHP (0-5, 5.77 ERA, 34.1 IP, 8.4 K/9, 2.1 BB/9) vs. Jacob Turner, RHP (0-0, -.– ERA)

Turner is a former Tigers prospect who was rated very highly coming out of high school, selected ninth overall in the first round in 2009. He was the centerpiece of the deal last year that sent Omar Infante and Anibal Sanchez to Detroit. He pitched well last season for the Marlins, posting a 3.38 ERA in seven starts, but has struggled badly this year in Triple-A, and had a 4.47 ERA in ten starts before being called up for game one of this series.

Game 2: Collin McHugh, RHP (0-0, 12.00 ERA, 3 IP, 2 K, 0 BB) vs. Jose Fernandez, RHP (2-3, 3.78 ERA, 52.1 IP, 8.9 K/9, 3.6 BB/9)

Many were critical of the Marlins for calling up 20 year-old Fernandez too early this year, after he jumped from the High-A Florida State League to the majors. It was short-sighted and the Marlins could have done some real damage calling up such an inexperienced prospect to fill a short-term need, especially on a team as hopeless as the Marlins. However, the gamble has brought moderate success for Fernandez. He has struggled with his control at times, but he has still been arguably the best pitcher on the team.

Game 3: Matt Harvey, RHP (5-0, 1.85 ERA, 78 IP, 9.7 K/9, 2.0 BB/9) vs. Kevin Slowey, RHP (1-5, 3.59 ERA, 62.2 IP, 6.8 K/9, 1.7 BB/9)

Slowey missed most of 2011 and all of 2012 with injury, but is currently having a career-year for Miami, posting career-bests in ERA and home runs per nine, while keeping up his career averages in walks and strikeouts per nine. He’s bound to cool off soon because he just isn’t a very good pitcher, but with the very weak Mets lineup, Matt Harvey may once again have to shutout the Marlins in order to win.

Rafael Montero Is Heading To AAA (Photo by MMO Contributor Gordon Donovan)

The Mets have promoted RHP Rafael Montero to Triple-A Las Vegas, according Adam Rubin of ESPN New York.

Lynn Worthy of Press and Sun Bulletin, later reported that this was likely just a spot-start situation, as the B-Mets expect to have Montero back in their rotation for the end of next week. He did note, in a later tweet however, that nothing is set in stone – and referenced Collin McHugh’s performance in AA in the past when he was only supposed to be up for one start.

Well, we’ve been calling for some movement in the field of Rafael Montero for a little while now as he has dominated in Binghamton for the most part. The Mets organization has responded to Montero’s excellent performance so far this year with a promotion to AAA, where he will join the Las Vegas rotation as he perhaps progresses to an MLB call-up later this year.

Montero was one of my favorite prospects to cover last year because he had such amazing command and what I described as a bulldog mentality on the mound. He is intimidating when he pitches with great stuff, mixing in a slider, change-up, and occasional curve in with his fastball that has exceptional late movement.

I am part of the camp that believes Montero should have had some work in AA and then skipped Las Vegas, but regardless, he will get some time to fine tune himself before making a major league appearance. He’s knocking on the door…

So far in 2013, Montero is 4-3 with a 3.47 ERA through 46.2 innings, where he has allowed 40 hits – and only two home runs. He has walked just six batters, in contrast to his 54 punchouts. Those Las Vegas fans are lucky – Zack Wheeler and Rafael Montero in the same rotation!

Where would this team be without Matt Harvey?

Is it safe to say that as of this moment, the only proven and legit core player under the age of 30 this team has is The Dark Knight of Gotham?

I like Jon Niese a lot, but is he a core player? Or just an number three pitcher who plays the role of an ace on a very bad team?

I quickly threw some numbers into a spreadsheet and I can’t believe how appalling the numbers are once you take Harvey out of the equation.

Two of our top three starters have ERA’s of 5.93 for Jon Niese and 6.13 for Dillon Gee. Our number four starter, Jeremy Hefner has got them both beat with a 4.28 ERA. You may recall me saying back in January that he would be a sleeper and best choice for fifth starter? (Hey Alex68, remember this? Underrated????? SMH!!!)

Then you have the pitcher who was supposed to help replace R.A. Dickey‘s innings in Shaun Marcum. The Mets gave marcum a guaranteed $4 million dollars and in return he’s already missed one month and since his debut is averaging 4.1 innings in three starts and has a team worst 8.31 ERA.

Mets pitchers are now officially the worst in the National League and second worst in the Major Leagues. And that’s with Matt Harvey who is in the top five in over a half dozen pitching categories.

That’s kind of embarrassing, wouldn’t you say?

Gee has been the latest starter to deliver an abysmal performance after allowing six runs and nine hits against the Cardinals last night in 4.0 innings.

“I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t even know what to say, really. I didn’t feel all that bad tonight”, said Gee after the game. “Physically I feel great. There’s nothing going on there. I don’t know. I’m kind of lost.”

You don’t say?

Gee and Co. is partly why the Mets bullpen has been as abysmal as it has. They are burning through arms at an unprecedented rate. Six weeks in and already eight transactions related to the bullpen alone. And it’s not as if it was a great bullpen to begin with. It was put together with sticks and Krazy Glue.

So while everyone is piling on when it comes to the Mets offense, the truth of the matter is that this team is quite atrocious on all fronts. Take a look at the evidence:

METS PITCHING RANKINGS

METS HITTING RANKINGS

That stinks to high heaven. It’s a shock to the system to even look at those awful, awful numbers.

I can tell you right now that Zack Wheeler and Travis d’Arnaud alone are not going to fix that. In fact I think it’s a sin that those two are being setup for an unfair amount of undue pressure, as if trying to stick in the majors wasn’t already challenging enough.

On Wednesday, Sandy Alderson seemed concerned that Wheeler is being looked upon as some sort of savior and he admitted to Mike Francesa that he wasn’t. But the fact that both he and d’Arnaud will be walking into this disaster is going to be something to behold and I don’t mean that in a good way. I wonder how they will handle it, and God forbid if they don’t produce immediate results and hit the ground running.

The other day on Twitter I tossed out the suggestion of just letting both of them stay at Triple-A and don’t bring them up unless this team turns it around. Losing is contagious. I know you all know that. If this is what those two kids are going to walk into, I’d rather wait and call them up in September.

At least in September they can come up without the pressure of having to carry a team that was poorly constructed. It’s bad enough that Matt Harvey has had to deal with this. I totally feel sorry for that kid. On any other team, but the Mets, Harvey would probably be 8-0 right now.

I don’t know if this is rock bottom, but heaven help us if it isn’t and it continues to get worse.

Keep your fingers crossed for good new on Zack  Wheeler.

Last Night’s Quick Scores

• Las Vegas dropped a game to Albuquerque, 8-5.
• Binghamton took down Akron, 7-3.
• St. Lucie one-hit Brevard County, 4-0.
• Savannah lost via walk-off, 4-3. 
  

Prospect Pipeline

• Zack Wheeler‘s MRI is not worrying me as much as it should. Mitch detailed some concerns with the inverted W delivery that he employs yesterday and how it can weaken a shoulder – but I think I’m just hoping for the best here. Wheeler has been so impressive in his past few starts that I doubt it is anything serious. What I am worried about, however, is further changes to his mechanics that may throw him off his game.
• Logan Verrett continued to impress with another quality start yesterday, which was mapped out by our own John Bernhardt who went as far as to call it gritty in discussion with me. Verrett received a no-decision in yesterday’s start, but rocks a 3.15 ERA in eight starts with a 5-1 record. Opposing hitters are batting just .207 against him with 40 hits in 54 innings.
• Matthew Bowman, or Princeton’s Lincecum as Teddy K. calls him, was absolutely masterful last night when he tossed seven innings of one-hit ball. He combined with T.J. Chism for the one-hit shutout. Bowman is a polished pitcher with some college experience, so his domination of Savannah and potential future domination of St. Lucie can be taken with a grain of salt. It is still awesome to see, however. 
• Gabriel Ynoa continues to show some poise for his relatively young age, as he recorded a quality outing yesterday with six-and-a-third innings of two-run ball. This is a name you should really keep tabs on going forward.
• How about Jack Leathersich continuing to employ a ridiculous strikeout rate? He has 33 strikeouts in 17.2 innings, and if my math is correct, he stands at about a K/9 of 17…Wow. Opposing hitters have been held to a .190 average against him.
• Zach Lutz is on a six-game hitting streak and he has had multiple hits in three of those games, with a three-hit performance coming in last night’s game. He owns a .324 average over his last ten games and has also launched three home runs. Of course, there’s that PCL curve to worry about…
• Maikis De La Cruz has looked sharp in his time replacing Brandon Nimmo on the Savannah roster so far. He owns a .391 ( 9 – 23) average in the short sample size.
• Kevin Plawecki actually caused the universe to implode when he decided to hit a triple – not a double – during Tuesday’s Sand Gnats game.

Stat Line of the Day

Matthew Bowman: 7.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 ER, 9 K

Transactions/Updates

• Collin McHugh was called up to the New York Mets yesterday. Brandon Hicks was optioned down to Single-A St. Lucie.
• Josh Edgin was promoted to Las Vegas.
• Matthew den Dekker is expected to resume baseball activities in early June.
• OF Jonathan Clark was called up to St. Lucie from the Brooklyn roster.
• Travis d’Arnaud will be examined tomorrow before rehabbing in the PSL.

Video of the Day

Everyone should take a minute out of their day to watch this touching video of Mets catcher Landon Powell and his family. Powell is currently playing for the Las Vegas 51s.

Photo of the Day

So how much longer are we keeping Plawecki in Savannah with me?

Scott Atchison, who experienced numbness in his fingers while pitching Monday, has been placed on the disabled list according to Assistant GM John Ricco.

Atchison was examined Tuesday in New York by team doctors who said there is “no new structural damage.”

The 37 year old veteran reliever opted not to have Tommy John surgery last year despite a ligament tear in his right elbow.

Collin McHugh has been promoted from Triple-A and is in St. Louis. He will work out of the bullpen while with the team.

In eight starts for Las Vegas, McHugh was 3-2 with a 2.74 ERA and 1.25 WHIP. In 49.1 innings, he’s walked nine and struck out 36.

Originally Posted at 9:00 AM

Mets reliever Scott Atchison took the mound pitched last night at Busch Stadium with numbness in the fingers of his right hand, which he classified as a side effect of his torn elbow ligament.

The Mets plan to send Atchison for tests on his elbow, although the reliever is not sure what that will accomplish. He has been pitching with a torn ligament since at least 2009, according to MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo.

“It’s documented, obviously, with my elbow,” Atchison said. “Some of it’s, ‘What can I handle?’ I feel like I’ve been managing it pretty good all year, and today for whatever reason the tingling came back.”

Atchison, 37, missed more than two months last season after experiencing similar numbness, but opted against Tommy John surgery.

In 19 appearances spanning 18.0 innings Atchison has a 4.50 ERA and allowed 20 hits, 6 walks, six strikeouts and a 1.44 WHIP.

He said he could not feel his fingers last night when he failed to get an out and gave up three hits including a two-run homer to Matt Holliday.

The Howard Hughes Corporation and Play Ball Owners Group form the new ownership group and our beat writer is on the way to the park right now where they are expected to make an official announcement.

This is all part of what MMO’s Rob Silverman reported over the winter about the move to a new, $65 million stadium called The Ballpark at Summerlin Center that will be located in the suburbs of Las Vegas.

The Mets have a two-year player development contract with Las Vegas that will remain in place regardless of the change in ownership.

We’ll tell you more after the press conference.

It was so weird because I was in the middle of setting up phone interviews with Collin McHugh and Zack Wheeler and speaking to Jim when it suddenly sounded like Grand Central Station poured into his office.

“Hold on. We’ve just been sold, Joe.”

I was like huh???

Should be a doozy of a game for Rob tonight.

Last Night’s Quick Scores

• Las Vegas dropped Albuquerque, 4-3. 
• Binghamton split a double header with Harrisburg, 3-1 and 9-3. 
• St. Lucie had an off day.
  
• Savannah lost to Rome, 4-1. 

Prospect Pipeline

• Wheeler Watch: Joe D. thinks the timing is right, everyone likes what they see (including Wally Backman — see below), and the Mets could us a jolt…one more solid start and Zack Wheeler may be packing his bags for Queens.
• What’s that? You have nothing to do this evening? Why not follow Rafael Montero‘s start against the Akron Aeros? The game starts at 6:05 PM. I will be live tweeting and have a summary of his performance up here on MMO immediately following the game — you can follow me on Twitter @FirstPitchMitch.
• Wheeler isn’t the only pitcher that seems to have gotten his act together in Las Vegas. Collin McHugh is back on track, after pitching seven innings in last night’s game, only allowing one run (on a home run). McHugh has had a roller coaster of a season so far, but it has had more peaks than valleys. He started off the season pitching lights out, allowing just one earned run over 18 innings pitched. His next three starts, not so good. He allowed 13 earned runs over a span of 17.1 innings pitched. It looks like we are on another incline, as McHugh has held the opposition to one earned run over his last two starts (14 IP). McHugh now ranks tenth in the Pacific Coast League in ERA, with a 2.74, and leads the league in innings pitched, at 49.1 — not too shabby.
• The Mets, looking for bullpen help, have recalled right-handed reliever Greg Burke from Las Vegas.
• Cory Mazzoni is shaking off the rust, and had a much stronger start in his second go after being activated from the disabled list last week. He is still on a strict pitch count, but pitched very well, and was popping off at 96 mph until his very last pitch.
• Hansel Robles takes the hill for St. Lucie today. The Mets haven’t played in a game since Friday night. Robles has a 2.36 ERA and holding opposing hitters to a .200 batting average this season.

Stat Line of the Day

Collin McHugh: 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 HR, 2 BB, 1 ER, 5 K

Transactions

New York Mets recalled Greg Burke from Las Vegas 51s.

Quote of the Day

Wally Backman regarding Wheeler’s past three performances:

“I think the kid is on a mission. His last three starts have all been quality starts,” 51s manager Wally Backman said. “To me, just looking at the kid, knowing him, having him for part of last year and this year, he smells it. He knows what’s in front of him and he’s going at it as a professional, in the right way. As long as he puts up zeros the organization will have to make some decision on that shortly.”

“He has made some huge improvements over his last three starts. He’s worked with [pitching coach] Randy St. Claire, who’s done a wonderful job of showing him video, some of the mechanical issues he might have had. And he responded to it,” the former Major League infielder said. “He did what he had to do to overcome the problem. He was very receptive to what Randy has told him and he’s gotten a lot better in his last three starts.

” He showed the consistency with all of his pitches and he’s throwing everything for strikes. He’s showing what you have to do at the Major League level to be a successful Major Leaguer. There’s no question, his stuff doesn’t play to be an average Major League pitcher — his stuff plays to be a very, very quality Major League pitcher. I think to all of us in the organization it’s just a matter of being consistent, and he’s shown it his last three starts.”

“I’d love to keep the kid. The more we can season him at the Minor League level, the better he’s going to be when he gets to the Major League level. But can he pitch in the big leagues tomorrow? Absolutely,” Backman said.

“Does he need more seasoning? Maybe. But I said that about Matt Harvey last year, too, and the rest is kind of history.”

Photo of the Day

I love to start my week off with the Mets Minors Report.

 

Las Vegas 4, Albuquerque 3

Despite a near-bullpen meltdown, the Las Vegas 51s were able to avert any further damage and best Albuquerque by a final score of 4-3.

Collin McHugh got the nod for the 51s and had himself his second-straight spectacular outing. McHugh went seven frames allowing just one run on six hits while walking two and striking out five. The 25-year old righty was putting up goose eggs up until the sixth inning when Nick Buss homered to center to make it a 4-1 ballgame, representing the only run to cross against McHugh. He would be relieved by Sean Henn and eventually pick up his third win on the year to improve to 3-2 while lowering his ERA to a solid 2.74. With the way the Mets rotation is going, if McHugh keeps this up, he could find himself back in Flushing sooner rather than later.

The Las Vegas offense scored early and proved to be just enough to be able to edge the Isotopes. Omar Quintanilla started a two-out rally in the second with a double to right and would come around to score on a Juan Centeno RBI single to draw blood first. Wilmer Flores led off the fourth with a two-bagger of his own to the left fielder Tony Gwynn, his twelve of the year. A hit by pitch and a walk to Quintanilla would load the bases with one out for Jamie Hoffmann who promptly grounded one through the hole near third to score Flores. After him, Centeno reached on a fielding error by Osvaldo Martinez, allowing Campbell and Quintanilla to score and giving the 51s a four-run advantage.

Heading into the ninth, Sean Henn was out for his second inning of work and made it a nail-biter. After recording the first out, he walked Martinez and surrendered a double to Alfredo Amezaga to set the table for Tony Gwynn who drove them in with a two-run single to cut the lead to 4-3. Gaining a second wing, Henn struck out the next two batters to face him to slam the door and hand Las Vegas a hard fought victory as they now climb over .500 at 18-17 on the year.

Key Stats

Wilmer Flores: 1-for-4, 1 2B, 1 R

Omar Quintanilla: 1-for-3, 1 2B, 2 R, 1 BB

Jamie Hoffmann: 1-for-3, 1 RBI, 1 BB

Juan Centeno: 1-for-3, 2 RBI

Collin McHugh: 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 HR, 2 BB, 1 ER, 5 K

Sean Henn: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 2 ER, 2 K

Wheeler’s starting to look like the real deal. (Photo: Michael Baron)

Last Night’s Quick Scores

• Las Vegas defeated Albuquerque, 4-3.
• Binghamton was rained out.
• St. Lucie was also rained out.
• Savannah took down Rome, 3-2.

Prospect Pipeline

• Well…he did it again. I’ve been hesistant with Zack Wheeler since the beginning of the 2013 season, but I can hold nothing else against the young man. He is pitching like an ace – with veteran like poise on the mound and in a hitter’s league, no less. I had high expectations for him and he is beginning to get there. I still don’t think we’ll see him promoted until past the Super Two date, but hey, a little more practice never hurt anyone. Except maybe Allen Iverson.
• I make this statement, of course, because Wheeler is coming off yet another good start for the 51s last night. His line was solid, as he allowed two runs over seven-and-a-third innings pitched, while striking out seven batters. Perhaps the most important thing to take away is that for the third straight start – he walked only one batter. Something to note, via my buddy Mitch Petanick… “In his final strikeout in the eighth inning, he was still hitting 96 mph on the radar gun…wow.”
• It was his third straight quality start in a row. Is it conceivable that the mechanical change and removal of his blister actually were the final things needed to flip the switch for Zack Wheeler? Honest to god, I have no idea, but I will take the performances he is providing as of late. The Harvey and Wheeler show might be coming to a wreck of a team near you within a month…
• Speaking of AAA pitching, our current rotation after Wheeler includes Carlos Torres, Chris Schwinden, and D.J. Mitchell – with Collin McHugh being the last man. I know Meija will eventually be back in that mix too, but wow, it is not inconceivable to understand why Buffalo decided not to renew with the Mets. By the way, wouldn’t Collin McHugh be better out there than Shawn Marcum at this point? Honestly. McHugh could get called up if Familia hits the DL, but Greg Burke is also a likely candidate.
• Rainy Lara really needs to be promoted soon. His domination of the league continued Friday with seven strong innings, where he allowed just one earned run and set down eight men via strikeout. His ERA at this point STILL stands at under 1.50 and he really needs a challenge. He does not have dominant stuff and he needs to learn how to work against hitters who won’t be overmatched against his pitches. I see a path for Lara to the MLB in terms of success however, as he could end up being a versatile Jeremy Hefner type guy down the line with better control at the worst. You could make the case for the promotion of Rafael Montero, Rainy Lara, Noah Syndergaard, and Zack Wheeler… what a problem to have, right?
• And on the topic of promotions, I need to start counting the days until they jump Kevin Plawecki to AA. As a player with some college polish, AA should at least serve as a challenge for him – as he is clearly too advaced for A ball. His skillset is shining through, however, and he continued to demonstrate his gap power with a double in last night’s game, his second straight game with a two-bagger. It was his 19th on the year, and he has now reached base in 22 straight games.
• Wilmer Flores is looking like he might be beginning to break out this season, as he slammed his second home run in three games last night in support of Wheeler. Flores has hit all three of his home runs at home so far this season. He is in the midst of a so-so campaign, but is still very ripe at just 21 years of age.
• Seeing Captain Kirk settle down nicely in the PCL with the 51s and bang out a three-hit game on Friday, I can’t help but worry that he is going to end up as one of those AAAA outfielder types. I always saw potential for more from him.
• Danny Muno may have hit a home run on Friday evening – but someone needs to tell him that his twitter was hacked and it sends out spam DMs.
• The Mets played like an MiLB team yesterday, so I should probably give them a mention. There’s a part of me that hopes Matt Harvey drills someone today to show a little support for JV1 out there.

Stat Line of the Day

Zack Wheeler: 7.1 IP, 6 H, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 ER, 7 K

Tweet of the Day

Thank you to all my fans for the support. I love my fans….. #teamJV1 # papivaldy

— Jordany Valdespin (@jordany023) May 12, 2013

Transactions

Chad Zurcher, Savannah’s shortstop, was placed on the 7-day DL yesterday. Robert Gsellman was added to their roster and was effective.

Domingo Tapia was placed on the 7-Day DL on Friday for the St. Lucie Mets with a burnt hand, and Carlos Vazquez of the Brooklyn Cyclones was called upon to take his place in a corresponding move. Jennry Meija was later added in place of him, to start his rehab assignment. Angel Cuan made the start in Tapia’s place on Friday. For the record, Tapia burned his non-pitching hand.

Mark Cohoon will be starting the first game of a double-header for Binghamton tomorrow as they return a six-man rotation with Cory Mazzoni returning from injury. However, Tyler Pill has been shutdown after being diagnosed with a right shoulder capsule injury. You can thank Lynn Worthy for that little tidbit.

According to Adam Rubin, Terry Collins told him that Frank Francisco was supposed to throw a side session yesterday, and did not.

Last Night’s Quick Scores

• Las Vegas edged out Round Rock, 3-2. 
• Binghamton dropped to Trenton, 5-1. 
• St. Lucie blasted Daytona, 13-3. 
• Savannah topped Hickory, 9-6. 

Prospect Pipeline

• It was supposed to be an epic matchup of top pitching prospects in Trenton, between the B-Mets and the Trenton Thunder yesterday — the Double-A version of the Subway Series. Rafael Montero was on the hill for Binghamton, while Jose Ramirez took the hill for Trenton. If you look at the box score, it looks as if Ramirez did the share of dominating, but it was Montero who bounced back, and looked masterful for six innings. Montero now has 48 strike outs to just eight walks this season. You can read my recap on Montero’s performance last night, here.
• Montero wasn’t the only pitcher that bounced back last night. Collin McHugh was even more dominant, pitching seven complete innings, while giving up no runs and compiling five strike outs and no walks. Round Rock only managed five hits against McHugh. I actually had to double-check to make sure Las Vegas didn’t build a dome after seeing those numbers.
• Eudy Pina makes his Mets Minors Report debut today, and with good reason. Pina smacked two home runs in Savannah’s win yesterday morning. He also added a double and compiled four RBIs on the day.
• Phillip Evans has been flirting with the Mendoza Line, but he erupted for three hits in yesterday’s game, one of which was his first home run of the season.
• Cesar Puello provided all of the B-Mets offense with one swing of the bat yesterday. He crushed an 0-2 hanger from Jose Ramirez over the left field fence, which also extended his hit streak to 14 games.
• Travis Taijeron has been named Florida State League player of the week. Taijeron, an 18th-round pick in 2011 from Cal Poly Pomona, hit .474 with one homer and six doubles in six games through Sunday.
• Third baseman Aderlin Rodriguez also has heated up with the FSL club. Rodriguez is 7-for-17 with two homers and nine RBIs in his past four games, which has upped his season average to .218. (Rubin)
• Right-hander Jeff Walters, whose eight saves with Binghamton lead the Eastern League, has an interesting distinction. Walters was drafted five times — out of high school, twice out of junior college, then after his junior and senior years at the University of Georgia. He signed after being selected in the seventh round by the Mets in 2010. Told getting drafted five times must be some type of record, Walters said he actually knows another person who experienced it — his former high school pitching coach, Randy O’Neal, who ended up being the 15th overall pick in the 1981 draft by the Detroit Tigers the final time. (Rubin)
• Jack Leathersich now has 27 strikeouts in 15.0 innings pitched for Double-A Binghamton. For his young pro career in the Mets system, he now has an insane 166 K’s in 99.2 innings.
• Matthew Bowman pitched six innings and struck out seven to earn his first win in his Florida State League debut as the Mets defeated the Daytona Cubs 13-3 on Tuesday. Bowman was promoted from Savannah, where he went 4-0 with a 2.64 ERA in five starts.
• We want to welcome Matt Musico and Wally Murphy to MMO Minor League Team! Matt was formerly the Executive Editor of Rising Apple where he led the site to great heights. Wally has been covering the Savannah Sand Gnats for eight years and has never missed attending a home game in all that time. Two powerhouse additions to an already great minor league team. Welcome Aboard, guys!

Stat Lines of the Day

Eudy Pina: 3-for-5, 1 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 R

Phillip Evans: 3-for-4, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 4 R, 1 BB

Collin McHugh: 7 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K 

Transactions/Injuries

The Mets are taking it slow with Michael Fulmer as he returns from surgery to repair a torn meniscus. Fulmer has not pitched again in a game since throwing two innings in an extended spring training game last Monday.

Right-hander Luis Mateo is making progress with a throwing program after leaving his Double-A debut April 15 with elbow inflammation. He was due to throw a bullpen session either yesterday or today.

Brandon Nimmo still has not returned to the lineup since April 29 because of a hand contusion. The Mets now consider it more serious than initially thought and will have him seen by team doctors with a possible MRI as well. DL stint looming.

Carlos Vazquez assigned to Brooklyn Cyclones from St. Lucie Mets.

C Xorge Carrillo assigned to St. Lucie Mets from Brooklyn Cyclones (This one confused me, why not promote Kevin Plawecki?).

St. Lucie Mets placed C Albert Cordero on the 7-day disabled list retroactive to May 6, 2013.

Quote of the Day

The quote of the day comes via Twitter and was in response to Rafael Montero‘s performance last night:

In my three seasons of covering minor league baseball, tonight’s effort by Rafael Montero is the most impressive that ive seen

— Matt Kardos ⚾ (@mattkardos) May 8, 2013

I really can’t stress enough how impressive Montero was yesterday. It was easily the best start I saw from a pitcher this year. Most people were busy watching Matt Harvey, and didn’t get to watch Montero, and the box score doesn’t give Montero any justice. Watching Montero attack the hitters and be able to put the ball where he wanted made it look like he was a man among boys — he just looks like he doesn’t belong (in a good way). He has fluid and smooth mechanics that almost seem to put the hitters to sleep at the plate. Before they know it, Montero’s 94 mph fastball just went by and nipped the black ever so slightly…Strike Three! This guy is the goods.

Photo of the Day

Wow, these Mets Minors Reports are hot.

Las Vegas 3, Round Rock 2

Collin McHugh took the mound tonight and pitched a heck of a game. He continued his tremendous start to the season tossing seven scoreless innings. The righty threw 90 pitches (59 strikes), allowed just five hits, struck out five, and left the game with a 1-0 lead. McHugh came into the game leading the 51s with a 3.57 ERA, but after tonight’s masterful performance, he lowered his ERA to 2.98.

McHugh was in line for the win when he left the game heading into the eighth inning, but the combination of Gonzalez Germen and Justin Hampson squandered the lead allowing the tying run to score. Greg Burke took the ball in the top of the ninth up 2-1, but was unable to nail down the save. He allowed a double followed by an RBI single, and saw his ERA balloon to 5.19.

The Vegas offense was held to just three hits on the night, but was highlighted by Josh Satin hitting his fifth home run of the season, and an RBI single by Juan Centeno. Eric Campbell had a very patient night at the plate, accumulating three walks, and scored the go ahead run in the bottom of the eighth inning to give Vegas a 2-1 lead.

In the bottom of the ninth, Reese Havens singled to lead off the inning, and was moved to second on a ground out by Satin, before being pinch ran for by Brian Bixler. The next batter Zach Lutz struck out swinging, but the ball hit the dirt and had to be blocked by the catcher. Bixler plated the winning run on an errant throw by the catcher attempting to throw out Lutz at first base.

Key Stats

• Wilmer Flores: 0-for-2, BB
• Josh Satin: 1-for-3, HR, R, RBI, BB
• Juan Centeno: 1-for-3, RBI
• Reese Havens: 1-for-4
• Eric Campbell: 0-for-1, RBI, 3 BB
• Collin McHugh: 7 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, ND