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.

Anthony DiComo is reporting that Travis d’Arnaud has been cleared to begin a running program, after he saw doctors today. That’s great news, and now you can get your minds running about the possibility of Travis d’Arnaud catching Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler in September. D’arnaud should be heading to Port St. Lucie to get his rehab started.

I’m sure all Mets fans are hoping that his rehab goes quickly and successfully. The acquisition of a potential star catcher threw most Mets fans into a frenzy when looking ahead, and I ranked him #2 on our MMN Top Prospects List in the off-season. D’arnaud was only able to accumulate 49 plate appearances before his injury in 2013, but he already racked up five doubles and a home run. He’s coming off a ’12 season where he posted a .333/.380/.595 line with 16 home runs, 21 doubles, and 52 RBI.

We’ll keep you updated…

There’s no way this should be surprising news. Cesar Puello had another monster week for the Binghamton Mets earning him the honor of being named the Eastern League Player of the Week.

Puello’s name has been in the news a lot over the past few days because of news surfacing about the Miami Biogensis clinic, but he hasn’t let those distractions get in the way of his play on the field.

In 24 at-bats over the past week, the B-Mets outfielder is hitting .500 with five home runs, 13 RBIs, and two doubles. He had also recorded at least two hits in a game six straight times before getting the collar in yesterday’s series finale against Altoona. This streak included a two-homer game, as well as four different multi-RBI games.

What he’s been doing over the last two weeks is just insane. Here’s how his season statistics at the plate measure up against the rest of the league:

• .326 batting average (T-3rd)
• .401 OBP (7th)
• .606 Slug% (1st)
• 13 home runs (T-2nd)
• 46 RBIs (T-2nd)
• 17 stolen bases (3rd)

Talk about the complete package. Here’s a look at the grown man home run he hit on June 8th in the ninth inning against Altoona:

Sandy Alderson spoke highly of Puello during an interview with Mike Francesa of WFAN on Monday.

“He’s very young…he’s always been a five-tool guy, a five-tool projection, but not necessarily five-tool performance. This year he’s put it all together and has been phenomenal over the last couple of weeks. Now he’s on the roster. We put him on the roster last year because we wanted to protect those five tools.”

Congratulations on this honor, Cesar! I have a feeling he may be winning some MMN player of the week honors tomorrow…just maybe.

(Photo courtesy of Gordon Donovan)

Photo Credit: Gordon Donovan

Rafael Montero was absolutely amazing today as he continued his stretch of dominance over the entire Eastern League. Montero breezed through his start against the Altoona Curve with seven more shutout innings, allowing just two hits and a walk over that span. He struck out six and dazzled anyone watching as he spun a gem.

Over his last three starts in AA, Montero has pitched a combined 20.o innings, allowed just eleven hits and four walks, and struck out eighteen. The most impressive thing, however, is that he has not allowed a single run over those twenty innings. Yes, Montero has not allowed a run since his May 21st start with the 51s and is basically knocking on the door for a promotion.

By the way, Cesar Puello continued his ridiculously hot play today — 3-for-5 with a home run, four RBIs, two runs — and is honestly starting to impress every person on the planet at this point.

Whether the Mets want him to skip Vegas or not is up to them, but Montero is just scary good at this point. He improved to 7-3 with the win today and lowered his AA ERA to 2.43. Montero is likely a candidate to replace Wheeler in the AAA rotation when he gets called up next week, so keep an eye on that one, folks…

By the way, if you enjoy shooting pool checkout these great deals on Billiard Supplies at Ball Sports.

More from Binghamton

OF Cory Vaughn was placed on the DL today with what Lynn Worthy has called a “right elbow strain.” Not much has been made about it, so I can only hope that the injury isn’t too serious and we will see him back in AA soon. In 192 ABs this season, Vaughn posted a .288/.370/.447 slash line with six home runs, seven doubles, one triple, and 31 RBI. He had also stolen eight bases.

To take his place on the roster, OF Travis Taijeron was called up from Single-A. Taijeron was rocking a .303/.396/.564 line in St. Lucie with 20 2Bs, nine homers, and a triple in 188 ABs. Taijeron enjoyed a very successful debut in AA today, going 3-for-5 with a double, home run, two RBI and three runs scored.

Last night, during the Mariners and White Sox game Kyle Seager hit a dramatic game-tying grand slam in the bottom of the 13th inning. But follow the ball’s path in the video below and keep a close eye on the kid standing in the aisle enjoying his ice cream cone.

No word on who the kid was and if he was seriously hurt, but wow…

The announcers never even made a mention of it…

I thought it was funny that after I wrote how Nieuwenhuis’ second home run on Tuesday would have been gone in any MLB park, that Terry Collins asked Wally Backman about Kirk’s home runs and said the following to reporters before last night’s game.

“I talked to Wally today for quite a while,” Collins said. “He said they were legitimate. He didn’t care where he was playing, they were homers.”

Backman also told Collins that Nieuwenhuis is swinging the bat a lot better, has become more aggressive with two strikes, and that he’s really come along very well.

Collins also echoed my earlier sentiments that Nieuwenhuis has put himself back on the Mets radar for a potential return to the Mets outfield. When asked about it he responded, ”he sure is.”

Original Post 6/4

Kirk Nieuwenhuis has been scorching the desert with his red-hot bat in the last two weeks, and his assault on baseballs continued today with two more home runs in the Las Vegas 51s 6-5 win over the Fresno Grizzlies.

Nieuwenhuis, 25, didn’t take his demotion to Triple-A very well and struggled mightily at the plate. But since mid-May, he has been crushing the ball whenever he makes contact and is starting to build a case for a second chance to join the Mets this season.

In his last twelve games, Kirk has walloped seven home runs and raised his average from a season low of .188 to .241 in that span.

Captain Kirk batted leadoff today and immediately got his team on the board with a solo home run off former Met Boof Bonzer to give Vegas the early 1-0 lead.

The Grizzlies came back to take a 5-3 lead heading into the the top of the 8th, but a Brandon Hicks home run pulled the 51s within one run.

Then after Jamie Hoffmann walked, Nieuwenhuis launched a tremendous two-run blast over the right field fence to give his team the 6-5 lead and seal the victory. It was the 10th home run of the season for the center fielder and this one would of been gone in any park. Nieuwenhuis has now raised his on-base plus slugging to a much more respectable .802 for the season.

(Photo Credit: Las Vegas 51s)

It was just a week ago that the Mets blogosphere was abuzz, calling for Ruben Tejada to be sent down and call up a streaking Omar Quintanilla.

Facing demotion, the problem solved itself when Tejada dove for a ball in short left at Yankee Stadium and strained his quad, landing him on the DL and opening a vacancy for Quintanilla to come up and show what he could contribute; and contribute he has.

In his five games since his call-up, the 31-year old veteran has been on fire at the plate, going 9-for-17 with a double, a triple, a home run and three RBIs. Quintanilla has put the ball in play in every one of his at-bats of his short stint thus far, save a lone strikeout.

In just five games, Quintanilla has nearly one third of the production that Tejada had in his 50 games this season.

Although the fielding has been an issue so far as he has already amounted a trio of errors in only a week in the majors, his bat has been invaluable to this anemic Mets offense.

It is a very short sample size, but what a performance so far by Quintanilla. The Mets were hesitant to call him up out of risk of losing him if they had to DFA him should he struggle in the majors, yet he has been able to silence his doubters in a big way.

Since his call-up, Quintanilla has had more hits than David Wright, Lucas Duda, and Daniel Murphy have had combined.

He has certainly made a statement, but the only question that remains to be seen is when he eventually does come back down to earth, can he maintain a solid offensive level of play?

Last Night’s Quick Scores

• Las Vegas shut down Fresno, 8-0.
• Binghamton had the day off.
• St. Lucie dropped to Lakeland, 2-1. 
• Savannah had the day off.

Prospect Pipeline

• Travis d’Arnaud was seen yesterday at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York for follow up on his fractured toe. Travis was cleared to begin weight bearing rehabilitation, but will remain in a boot for the next week.
  
• After only two rehab appearances, Mets prospect Luis Mateo has found himself back on the DL this evening. Mateo, since returning from the DL on May 30th, has made two appearances. He allowed two hits in a scoreless inning on the 30th, but he ran into some trouble in his last outing on June 2nd. He allowed four runs off four hits, including a home run, and a walk.
• The unmistakable traits of Noah Syndergaard‘s blistering fastball were on display once again Monday — only the fourth time at Tradition Field — and his latest showcase for the St. Lucie Mets offered more promise for the future. Reaching a top speed of 96 mph, the prized prospect mixed his fastball with a devastating changeup for five strikeouts over five innings but his winless streak extended to four games during a 2-1 loss to visiting Lakeland. Syndergaard, hailed as the No. 3 prospect in the rapidly improving farm system by MMN, allowed six hits — five of them singles — and two runs as his record dropped to 2-3 on the year. For more on Syndergaard’s performance, check out Bill Passonno’s great recap on MMN.
• Travis Taijeron is smoking hot. Last week’s Florida State League Player of The Week was 3-for-4 with another homerun last night. We did a Prospect Spotlight on Taijeron on MMN yesterday — you can check it out here.
• Carlos Torres twirled a gem last night, going the distance and racking up 11 strikeouts as he thoroughly dominated the Fresno hitters. Torres needed just 107 pitches for the complete game, 72 of which were strikes. The righty gave up just three hits on the night, and allowed zero walks on his way to his fifth win of the season. His 11 strikeouts are a season high, and marks the third time this season he has had double digit strikeouts in a game.
• Francisco Pena had another multi-hit game yesterday. He’s been raking since his call-up to Vegas.
• Congratulations to Luis Cessa for being named the South Atlantic League Pitcher of the Week. Gabriel Ynoa picked up MMN’s Pitcher of the Week honors while Josh Satin got the nod as MMN’s Player of the Week.

Stat Lines of the Day

Carlos Torres: 9.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 11 K

Eric Campbell: 3-for-4, HR, 3 RBI, 3 R, BB

Travis Taijeron: 3-for-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI

Transactions

RHP Luis Mateo is headed back to the DL.

3B Dimas Ponce assigned to St. Lucie Mets from Brooklyn Cyclones.

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

Quote of the Day

“I’ve got to wear the boot still,” Travis d’Arnaud told The Post, adding that he’s unsure of a time frame for its removal.

“A couple of weeks ago when I found out it was still broken it was real tough to take,” d’Arnaud said. “But there was nothing I could do except go home and relax and make sure my foot healed, and that’s what I did.”

MMN Comment of the Day

Today’s comment comes from MMN reader “Dave In Spain,” who points out what the Mets should focus on in this year’s draft.

Jon Niese started and despite not having his best stuff, he cruised through five scoreless innings. But then in the top of the sixth, centerfielder Brett Gardner tagged him for a leadoff triple and came around to score when Jayson Nix singled him home in the next at-bat for the first run of the game.

After Niese’s second single of the game, Brett Garner made a great leaping catch to rob Daniel Murphy of a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth. A shocked Murphy smashed his helmet in disgust as he was trotting to second base.

The Yankees got back to back, one-out singles off of Niese in the seventh, but the Met lefty was able to get out of the inning without any damage. The final line on Niese was one earned run on eight hits and a walk in 7.0 innings pitched with five strikeouts.

In the bottom of the seventh, third baseman David Wright led off the inning and walloped a tremendous solo home run to tie the game at one.

Brandon Lyon pitched a scoreless eighth after allowing a single to Nix and then inducing a doubleplay by Robinson Cano to end the inning.

With one out in the eighth, Mike Baxter laced a ground rule double to bring up pinch hitter Jordany Valdespin who had a great at-bat and worked out a walk. A passed ball with Ruben Tejada at the plate put runners on second and third. Tejada then hit a grounder to Cano who fired home to nail Baxter at the plate for the second out. That set things up for the hot-hitting Murphy who came through with a hard single to drive home Valdespin with the go-ahead run. Wright was up next and he took a pitch to the elbow to load the bases and bring up Lucas Duda who went down swinging for the final out. But not before the Mets took the 2-1 lead.

Bobby Parnell came in to preserve the lead in the ninth and after getting the first out he issued a four-pitch walk to Ichiro Suzuki. But he retired the next two batters to earn his ninth save of the season.

So the Mets take round one with a solid win… The series continues tomorrow at Citi Field at 7:10 PM with the Real Deal Matt Harvey on the mound. Lets Go Mets!

Wheeler lasted merely four innings in his second start back from the DL against Salt Lake – after he looked a little rusty in his last go-around. He allowed four hits, two of which were home runs, and three walks which led to five runs. Only three were earned, however, as Matt Long took Wheeler deep after a fielding error by Brandon Hicks extended the inning in the second. He served up the first home run, which was also a two-run home run, to Kobe Calhoun in the first inning with two outs.

Three walks in four innings is undesirable, but what further compounded the issue is the timing of said walks. He walked Brad Hawpe with two out in the first right before Calhoun took him deep – and walked back to back batters in the third to set up a runner in scoring position with only one out in the third. Salt Lake took advantage of this with an RBI single. Wheeler’s only easy inning during this start was the fourth – where he retired the batters in order. He departed after 80 pitches, but only 41 strikes.

This is purely speculation, but I wonder what happened between the time he was injured and his next start and if it hurt his mechanics somehow after he worked so hard to correct them. He has looked like a different guy between his last two starts – a stark difference from earlier in the year when I actually thought he could be ready for promotion. With the Super 2 date very close to passing, that no longer becomes a concern – instead, we need to make sure he fulfills the original criteria for promotion: stringing together 2-3 solid starts in a row with a low walk rate.

The Mets played their first suspended game since Aug. 6, 1986 tonight and after Atlanta scored two runs in the top of the tenth inning,  the Mets lost the game 7-5 to drop them 11 games under .500 for the season. Brandon Lyon allowed both Atlanta runs and took the loss.

Right-hander Jeremy Hefner initially started the game for the Mets 18 hours earlier and delivered a gutty performance, allowing just two runs on three hits in six solid innings of work. Hefner walked just two batters and struck out seven in his 94 pitch performance. I had a terrible feeling in my gut when Terry Collins decided to end Hefner’s night with the 3-2 lead and leave the last nine outs for the bullpen. And right on cue, the very first batter, Dan Uggla, launched a solo home run of LaTroy Hawkins to tie the game, leaving Hefner still searching for his first win of the season.

Hefner, the Moore, Oklahoma native, has had a hard time dealing with the tragedy in his hometown. The killer tornado flattened his former elementary school where several children were found dead. He really has pitched better than his 0-5 record would indicate, and it would have been nice to see his teammates gut out this win for him.

Hawkins and Scott Rice are starting to fade after extensive overuse by Terry Collins. Hawkins allowed a run, and Rice allowed a pair of Braves to cross the plate. The bullpen is about ready to completely implode. Why did Collins feel the need to give Hefner the hook while he was in a groove?

The Braves took a 5-3 lead in the eighth on a two-run single by pinch-hitter Evan Gattis. The Mets evened it in the bottom half against Varvaro, who struggled to get a good grip but threw a wild pitch that let the tying run score.

Ike Davis struck out four more times and is now 1-for-41 and batting a season low .143.

Daniel Murphy has three hits including his 15th double of the season to go with two runs scored and an RBI. Nobody in hotter right now.

David Wright has two hits and swiped his eleventh base of the season.

John Buck hit his 11th homer of the season and drove in two to give him a team leading 32 RBIs.

A high-ranking team official told he New York Post on Thursday that barring a setback, Zack Wheeler is expected to make 2-3 more starts for Triple-A Las Vegas and then join the Mets. If Wheeler remains on normal rest, that would put his Mets debut somewhere in the June 6-11 range.

“If not for the minor setback with the shoulder, he might already be here,” the club official said. “We are at the point where you can say it’s probably two or three more starts for Las Vegas.”

Kristie Ackert of the Daily News also adds this:

“He’s ready,” a team source told the News Thursday, but the front office will want to see him throw consistently after the injury.

Wheeler allowed three runs on five hits, two home runs, two walks and two strikeouts, over five innings pitched against Triple-A Iowa. It was his first start since May 11 when he was put on the disabled list for a sore clavicle. He received a cortisone shot in the AC joint of his throwing shoulder.

With as bad as the team’s doing, declining revenues, falling attendance, and SNY viewership down 22%, the Mets need Wheeler more than he needs them.

However, he’ll need to burst out of the gates like Matt Harvey did if they expect him to save their season from total financial loss.

Original Post 5/22

Zack Wheeler took the hill this afternoon for the first time after a brief stint on the disabled list due to inflammation in the AC Joint of his throwing shoulder. He received a cortisone shot, and missed his scheduled start this past Saturday.

Wheeler looked a tad rusty from the get-go. He didn’t have great command over his pitches, and in fact, he missed the strike zone wildly a couple of times. He got hit hard throughout his five innings of work, and ended up giving up two home runs and a triple that narrowly missed being a third home run.

The two strike outs that Wheeler got in today’s game was his lowest total of the season (opening day he had three). It was promising to see that even though he didn’t have great command, he only walked two batters. Wheeler gave up three runs on five hits, two of which, as I stated earlier, were home runs. It should be noted that the ball was flying out of the park in Iowa today, and through the sixth inning (when I am writing this), there have been a total of six home runs hit between the two teams.

Coming on the heels of what Sandy Alderson said about Wheeler needing about two or three more solid outings before he will be promoted, today’s start was a disappointing one. The good news is, it looked as though he was pitching without pain, and was clocked at 96 mph with his fastball. This outing seemed to be nothing more than Wheeler experiencing a little lag from not pitching in over a week, and I look for him to get back on track with his next start.

Have you checked out MetsMinors.net yet? What are you waiting for an engraved invitation? Come see why almost 5,000 different readers checked us out on Tuesday. We are rewriting the book on Mets minor league coverage and it will never be the same again. Over a dozen dedicated quality posts per day – each packed with insights and quotes we get from the players themselves. Come see what all the commotion is about and I guarantee you’ll be hooked…

Last Night’s Quick Scores

• Las Vegas defeated Iowa 9-4.
• Binghamton beat New Britain, 8-3.
• St. Lucie dropped Dunedin, 5-3.
• Savannah lost to Charleston, 4-2.
  

Prospect Pipeline

• Zack Wheeler was back in action after missing a start due to inflammation of the AC Joint in his throwing shoulder. Wheeler looked a tad rusty from the get-go. He didn’t have great command over his pitches, and in fact, he missed the strike zone wildly a couple of times. He got hit hard throughout his five innings of work, and ended up giving up two home runs and a triple that narrowly missed being a third home run. You can see a full recap of his start at MetsMinors.net.
• Rafael Montero got sent back to Double-A Binghamton after his fantastic start on Monday with Las Vegas. Montero impressed against Iowa yesterday, going 6.2 innings and allowing two runs on four hits, one walk, and five strikeouts. While it was labeled as a “spot start”, I had a feeling that if he proved himself worthy, he would be staying with Las Vegas. Sandy Alderson squashed those thoughts on SNY, saying that Montero would be heading back to Double-A. he GM did mention he would likely return to the 51s mid-season, and went as far as saying he wouldn’t be surprised if he was in the big leagues by the end of the year.
• In his first start since earning his second SAL Player of the Week honors, Rainy Lara only lasted 4.2 innings against Charleston last night. He allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits, one walk, and four strikeouts.
• Josh Rodriguez led the B-Mets offense with a 3-for-4 day, including a walk, double, and two RBIs to help Binghamton defeat New Britain.
• Noah Syndergaard faced his former organization for the first time since the Blue Jays traded him last winter. He took the loss against Dunedin, throwing 5.2 innings and allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits, two walks, and four strikeouts.
• Francisco Pena hit a two-run homer against Iowa yesterday, and Adam Rubin tweeted that we shouldn’t be surprised if he makes his way to Flushing sometime this season.
• Cory Vaughn continues his strong start to 2013, raising his season average to .302 with another two-hit game last night in New Britain. With the mess that is the current New York Mets outfield, Vaughn could also be making his big league debut sometime this year.
• XtreemIcon covered the B-Mets in Great Britain on Monday and Tuesday and was able to spend some time with pitching prospect Logan Verrett. He wrote a must-read article about him that includes quotes from Blake Forsythe, Jack Leathersich, pitching coach Glenn Abbott and manager Pedro Lopez.
• Curious as to how the Mets’ top prospects are performing? Catch up with this week’s Top-10 Tracker.

Stat Line of the Day

Francisco Pena: 2-for-4, two-run HR, 3 RBI, 1 R

Transactions

Rafael Montero was transferred from Triple-A Las Vegas back to Double-A Binghamton.

RHP Dylan Owen transferred from Las Vegas (AAA) to Binghamton (AA)

Quote of the Day 

Cory Vaughn on his improved hitting approach:

“I think I’m just not panicking as much. I’m just going out there and having fun. Up here, if it’s 3-1, 2-0, they’re not just going to be throwing a ‘cookie’ every time. If they throw me a slider 3-1 and I’m not looking for it, or looking wherever they throw it, I’m going to take it as opposed to just swinging and getting a rollover groundout.”

(Photo credit: Michael G. Baron)

Because of Murphy’s high on-base percentage, batting him leadoff is something I have advocated, and I’m glad Terry Collins was thinking outside the box enough to make the move.

“He gets on base, because he can hit,’’ Collins told ESPN.com. “And, when he’s swinging good, he can get some walks. We’ve got to get some people on ahead of David [Wright]. That’s for sure.’’Notice how Collins didn’t mention getting on base ahead of Ike Davis, but I guess he couldn’t say that with a straight face.

Murphy is the seventh Met to hit leadoff this young season, and of the previous six, is there one who you can note with conviction that will be here next year?

Ruben Tejada (12 times), Jordany Valdespin(10), Mike Baxter (eight), Collin Cowgill (seven),Justin Turner (two) and Kirk Nieuwenhuis (one) have all appeared without much success at the top or the order. Mets leadoff hitters have hit a major league low .179 with a 29^th ranked .238 on-base percentage.

Collins was non-committal on how long he’ll use Murphy leading off, but considering he’s a .300 hitter with a .337 on-base percentage, he doesn’t have better options.

With their leadoff hitters and Davis, the Mets have two slots in the batting order hitting less than .200, and overall they have four positions in their regular lineup hitting below .240.

Collins thought about Murphy hitting first during spring training, but then he had to come up with a center fielder and decide what to do with Tejada. Meanwhile, Murphy, because of his willingness to take a pitch, also seemed suited to hitting second.

“I thought about it in spring training, to be honest, whether or not to lead Murph off,’’ Collins said. “We’ll just see how it goes. It might be something we’ve certainly got to consider as we get deeper into the season, because he can hit.

“He gets on base. If he does that, certainly we’ve got to keep our options open with Murph being the leadoff hitter.’’

Murphy hitting first seems the way to go for now, but slotting him there doesn’t alleviate all of Collins’ concerns. Rick Ankiel can be an answer defensively in center field, but the outfield remains subpar.

The Mets now need a No. 2 hitter, but because Tejada insists on hitting fly balls, he’s not an ideal fit there.

Let’s face it, currently Murphy and Wright are the only hitters in the lineup who are reliable.

Starting Lineup

1. Daniel Murphy 2B
2. Rick Ankiel CF
3. David Wright 3B
4. Lucas Duda LF
5. Marlon Byrd RF
6. Ike Davis 1B
7. John Buck C
8. Ruben Tejada SS
9. Shaun Marcum SP

Game Notes

Bobby Parnell has three wins and four saves this month. Parnell has hurled 8.0 scoreless frames in May and is tied for the major league lead among all relievers with four wins and is seventh in the NL with a 0.93 ERA (min. 17.0 innings). Parnell is unscored upon in 17 of his 19 appearances.

New York’s bullpen retired all 12 batters they faced yesterday as Sc tt Rice earned his second win and Bobby Parnell notched his sixth save. Overall, the Mets bullpen has a 4.77 ERA, ranking 29th in the majors.

The Mets batted second baseman Daniel Murphy into the leadoff spot on Sunday in hopes that he could spark the team’s offense. Murphy hit a go-ahead solo home run in the eighth inning to secure a 4-3 victory and series win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Murphy is now 14-for-28 over his last seven games and has an eight-game hitting streak.

Juan Lagares hit a game-tying two-run homer in the seventh inning in the Mets’ 4-3 win over the Cubs on Sunday. It was his first major league home run and thanks to the age-old tradition at Wrigley Field of throwing opposing home run balls back to the field, Lagares got to keep his souvenir thanks to a quick-thinking Daniel Murphy who had the ball retrieved and taken to the Mets clubhouse.

Lefty reliever Scott Rice tossed two scoreless innings to pick up the win against the Cubs. It was his major league-leading 25th appearance. Rice lowered his ERA to 3.05, and is on pace for 99 appearances. That would surpass Pedro Feliciano‘s franchise mark of 92 games in 2010 and rank second all-time to Mike Marshall‘s 106 appearances for the Dodgers in 1974.

Highly regarded pitching prospect Rafael Montero has been promoted to Triple-A Las Vegas, apparently for a Monday spot start on his normal day to pitch. Binghamton manager Pedro Lopez told the Press & Sun-Bulletin that Montero is only expected to remain with the 51s for one start, then return to Double-A.

Game Preview

The Mets continue their tour against NL Central Teams, this time at Citi Field as the Mets open up their series with the Reds. THe Mets, who recently lost 6 games in a row, now have won 3 out of their last 4 and could use this week to build off of that. Tonight Shaun Marcum will get the nod as he goes up against Johnny Cueto.

Shaun Marcum is 0-4 on the season with a 6.75 ERA over 21.1 innings of work. His last start was the best of the season so far as he allowed 3 runs, 2 earned over 6.2 innings of work. Last year he allowed one earned runs over 6.0 innings of work while striking out 7 batters against the Reds who have the following numbers against him:

Paul 3-12, 2B
Phillips 0-12, 3 K
Votto 5-9, HR
Bruce 2-8, HR
Choo 2-9, 3B

The Mets bats will try to do some damage against Johnny Cueto who is 1-0 this season over three starts and 17.1 innings with a 2.60 ERA. This will be Cueto’s first start since mid-April due to oblique issues. Last year he made one star against the Mets where he allowed 1 earned run over 7 innings of work allowing 6 hits and striking out 8 Mets. The Mets have the following numbers against Johnny:

Wright 5-17, HR
Ankiel 7-16, 2B, HR
Byrd 6-11, 2B
Murphy 2-7
Davis 2-6
Turner 2-3, 2B

Let’s Go Mets!

Byrd captured the attention of Mets fans and earned himself a spot on the roster with an incredible spring training, in which he hit .357 with a .965 OPS and a team-leading nine doubles, five more than anyone else on the team. However, once the calender turned and regular season play began, Byrd struggled, and was relegated to a lesser role. He finished the month of April with a .232 batting average and a .759 OPS.

Since May began, Byrd has turned it on at the plate. Despite having a diminished role, Byrd has hit .357 with a  .988 OPS this month along with two home runs in 29 plate appearances.

The reason for Byrd’s decline over the past two seasons (other than just getting a little bit older) may very well be his plate discipline. Byrd, in his best years, was swinging at pitches outside the strike zone somewhere in the range of 29 to 30% of the time. That number has increased to the high-30% range over the past few years. This year, he is swinging at a career high 40.9% of pitches outside the strike zone, but recently, has improved on that dramatically. He stuck out in almost 32% of his plate appearances in April, striking out at least once in almost every game, but has lowered that significantly, to just 24% this month.

Compared to the rest of the outfield recently, Byrd has been by far the best hitter. Here is how he compares to the rest of the outfield this month:

Byrd has been overlooked the entire season, when in reality, he one of the best options the Mets have on the 40-man roster. Remember, not too long ago, Byrd was a reliable 10-15 home run hitter with a .280-.290 batting average, which isn’t great, but it is certainly better than the struggling Mike Baxter.

Catching prospect Travis d’Arnaud will need to remain in a walking boot for two more weeks without any weight-bearing activity, according to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York.

Adam goes on to say that the determination was made after team doctor Struan Coleman examined d’Arnaud today at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan.

D’Arnaud, 24, avoided surgery to repair a non-displaced fracture in his left foot and was initially expected to miss eight weeks.

He was batting .250/.429/.472 in 49 at-bats for Las Vegas with one home run before suffering the injury on a foul ball off his left foot. But four weeks later and he still has not been cleared to put pressure on that foot.

“D’Arnaud experienced some tenderness to the touch in the area of the broken first metatarsal.”

With John Buck adequately producing for the Mets, there’s no urgency to rush D’Arnaud back. Regarded by many as the top catching prospect in the game, he probably wasn’t going to join the Mets until the second half anyway.

The Mets will play this one cautiously and make sure he is completely healed before any determination will be made regarding his rehab and beginning baseball activities.

I was driving in to work and listening to WFAN today, much like I would on any other day. I happened to hear Joe & Evan discussing some quotes from LaTroy Hawkins and Marlon Byrd regarding the incident that took recently place with Jordany Valdespin, when he got hit by a pitch, in what seemed to be a show of revenge from tossing his bat after a home run, in a lopsided loss to the Pirates.

Joe & Evan said that the quotes really give a taste for how much the Mets dislike their teammate, and his immaturity…after reading the quotes, you can be the judge.

Here are the quotes from Hawkins, and a couple of other Mets, from USA Today:

LaTroy Hawkins

“I couldn’t believe he did that, we were all dumbfounded. It was a bonehead thing to do. And to do that against Jose Contreras? He’s old enough to be his father, and one of the nicest guys in the world. What were we supposed to do there? We were down six runs, he hits a home run and he acts like it’s a walk-off. This isn’t Little League.”

“What, now we’re supposed to get into a fight for that? We’re supposed to throw at somebody because he did a bonehead thing? Now, if they throw at him for no reason, that’s a different story. We protect our team. But to do what he did put us in a bad spot, a real bad spot.”

“He showed absolutely no respect. If you’re going to pimp it, you’re going to suffer the consequences. I have no problem defending my teammates, but some things, you just can’t defend against. He’s created a lot of unnecessary tension around here.”

“Sometimes you have to look yourself in the mirror. He’s got to ask himself, ‘What can I do to gain the respect back from my teammates?’ And he’s got to come up with that answer on his own.”

“For some reason, he doesn’t want to do things the right way. He wants to do it the hard way. Hopefully, he’ll figure it out, because he’s got a chance to be a damn good ballplayer.”

Marlon Byrd

“The Pirates did what you were supposed to do. They just sent a message that you don’t do that. We would have done the same thing to another team. Any of the 29 other teams would do the same thing. Anybody around baseball who knows anything about the game knows that’s what’s supposed to happen. It should have been done and over with.”

According to USA Today, Byrd has already counseled Valdespin many times this season.

Terry Collins

“I tried to explain to him that if you were a (expletive) star or a big-time star and you do that, you might get away with it, but we’re getting beat 7-1 with a 12-year veteran on the mound. Come on.”

“I don’t care what the fans think. This is the big leagues. It’s a big-man’s game. I told him, look, it’s not about you. It’s about us. It’s about the team. We’re all trying to teach you a lesson here. We’ll see if he gets it.”

David Wright

“The easiest way to describe this is that it’s stupid. The whole incident is stupid. It’s gotten way too much attention. This thing should have been over, and now it’s turned into a life of its own. To read these reports how we don’t have his back and how we don’t care about him is absolutely ridiculous. It couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s ridiculous.”

David Wright is sticking to his neutral stance, but the other quotes were pretty strong. Even if a teammate does something stupid, you come to their defense. If a teammate makes an error, you pick him up. If he strikes out in a clutch spot, you pat him on the back and tell him we’ll get them next time. If he gets plunked on purpose, you come to his defense, regardless of the events that led up to the plunking.

With Twitter, Facebook and blogs – both mainstream and otherwise – available throughout the 24/7/365 news cycle, it’s impossible to not transfer that meme to those that cover and watch sports.  On Saturday, Jordany Valdespin took one to the forearm a day after he embarrassingly celebrated a home run during a Pirates blowout win.  What resulted was talk about the validity of Pittsburgh’s Bryan Morris‘ actions, and how the Valdespin’s teammates reacted. Instead of continuing this news “filler,” let me set everyone straight as to what the deal is with Valdespin.

First, Jordany Valdespin is nothing more than a backup player. He isn’t the future, nor is he a clone of Jose Reyes, the answer in the outfield or infield, or some sort of energizer for a slumping offense. He possesses poor plate discipline and is an average defender, at best, at any position. His career MILB on-base percentage was .330. In the big leagues he’s shown even less of a penchant to get on-base with his .287 clip. Even worse, he doesn’t come across as a hard worker or someone that possesses a big league baseball IQ. There is nothing with Valdespin’s process that screams big league starter, much less star. I have my doubts he will stick around since he seems unable to endear himself to any clubhouse throughout his career.

This is not about race. The players dislike Valdespin because of who he is. Think it’s just his current teammates? After a game-winning grand-slam against the Dodgers, former B-Mets reliever Erik Turgeon took to Twitter and shared these nuggets:

“Valdespin with a walk off home run. If you need me I will be in the bathroom throwing up! I have Zero respect for that piece of s***”

“If your shocked that, then you don’t kno bout all that! Happy for the mets wish someone deserving got the hit like Lagares!”

“Tough for me to get Valdespin out when I’m on the same team as him don’t ya think?”

“Evidence ask your favorite guy in the organization who there least favorite guy is”

Who cares what a retired minor league reliever says, right? What about his current teammates, none who seemed upset or enraged that he was plunked on Saturday. There was furor about how John Buck conducted the pie celebration after that very same grand slam. When I asked Buck about it last week his response with a coy smile was telling: “A big walk-off home run deserves a big pie to the face.”

Read from that what you will, but contrite, at least in my opinion, is not the word to use when describing Buck’s comments. Remember, this is the same guy that was suspended in the minors for an undisclosed incident (some speculation is that it was for a Ruben Rivera-type action, read into that what you will), and again this past offseason during winter ball. There is too much smoke around Valdespin’s fire.

On a good team Valdespin provides speed and power off the bench. Those are characteristics that do make him valuable. His clownish behavior is probably overshadowing that right now, making the story more about him than the team. This will be tolerated when someone like R.A. Dickey is winning Cy Young Awards, but rarely so with a borderline big league player. Valdespin embarrassed the Mets this weekend. Take those blue and orange sunglasses off and see what the opponents do to another bad team celebrating a meaningless home run. It reminds me of how the Nationals used to be when they had Anderson Hernandez, Lastings Milledge and Elijah Dukes: Bad attitude, clownish behavior and, worst of all, a lot of losses.

The shame of it all is Valdespin does have some raw talent. If he took the time to learn from those around him, and put the effort into improving, perhaps there would be hope for better days ahead. Right now, you can’t even get him to take extra batting practice. He consistently never shows up to such events, which is almost sacrilegious on a team that is hitting so poorly; even more damning for a wet behind the ears rookie.

If I were the Mets I would move on from Valdespin ASAP. You probably don’t want to release him as he is too good to be put on the waiver wire. Perhaps there is a minor deal that Alderson can spring for an outfielder. Not a starter or star, but someone that is a bench player, but is a starter on this team due to circumstances. Maybe another team looks at Valdespin’s talent and thinks they can “steal” a future contributor. You never know what you can get if you ask.

Sandy Alderson needs to set the tone and show the club that professionalism and behavior matters to this organization. Ridding the clubhouse of Valdespin won’t turnaround this lost season, but it will be addition by subtraction. You are not losing anything on the field as those late-game home runs are bound to run dry as he makes his way around the league.

I am sure this opinion will stir up debate, however I doubt it’s worth the time.

Those that contribute the least spray the most champagne; they also take up the most space when it comes to the news.

Zack Wheeler took the hill tonight for Las Vegas, and was locked into cruise control for the majority of the night. He threw 99 pitches, 61 for strikes. Wheeler had seven strike outs and only allowed one walk to his final batter. That last comment is music to a lot of peoples’ ears.

Wheeler looked good the entire night. He gave up a run early in the first inning, but he wasn’t getting knocked around. He settled down after the first, and took control of the game. He did get some help from a couple of guys that swung at pitches after Wheeler got behind them with three-ball counts. One batter swung at a pitch with a 3-0 count which is one of the biggest no-no’s in baseball. If you swing at a 3-0 pitch, it better land on the moon.

Speaking of moonshots, Wheeler gave up a home run to Matt Angle, after Angle jumped all over the first pitch of the seventh inning (fastball). Wheeler showed poise when he retired the side in order after the home run, looking like he wasn’t phased. Regardless of the home run, Wheeler did his job tonight.

Wheeler continues to build on his previous performances, and it really is starting to look as if the mechanical glitch that Wheeler fixed could be the difference. Since the mechanical fix, he has only walked three batters (one in each of his past three starts). He pitched 7.1 innings tonight, which was his longest outing of the season. In his final strikeout in the eighth inning, he was still hitting 96 mph on the radar gun…wow.

Wheeler’s ERA, in a very friendly hitter’s league, is now down to 3.57.

Final Stat Line: 7.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 1 HR

We will have even more on Wheeler as Rob Silverman will be sharing his insights from Vegas at the conclusion of the game as well as grab some post game quotes from Wally Backman.