Last Night’s Quick Scores

• Las Vegas got swept in a doubleheader with Iowa, 2-1 and 6-5
• Binghamton dropped to New Britain, 9-3.
• St. Lucie dropped Dunedin, 5-3.
• Savannah dropped to Charleston, 2-0. 
  

Prospect Pipeline

• Zack Wheeler gets back on the hill this afternoon against the Iowa Cubs. The Mets top prospect is back on-track to pitch every five days beginning today for the Las Vegas 51s. Sandy Alderson stopped by the SNY booth during last night’s game and added that if Wheeler has two or three more good starts, he will be considered for a promotion. When asked if there was anything that will keep Wheeler from being promoted he said, “as long as he’s healthy, he’ll be promoted.” We still believe that his first start will come on the road and probably come during the five-game Braves series in June.
• Rafael Montero got promoted and still dominated. I couldn’t have been more impressed with Montero’s start. He shows command of his pitches, knows how to get hitters out, works quickly, and can battle back from adverse situations — what more do we have to see? If Montero is sent back to Double-A, it will leave many scratching their heads. With his performance today, he showed that he belongs at the Triple-A level. Even more impressive is the fact that he did this against a Iowa Cubs lineup who has a bunch of guys with previous major league experience. Alderson said that Montero will return to Double-A Binghamton, but expects him to be back with Triple-A Las Vegas mid-season. He sees no reason why Montero cant be in the big leagues before the end of the year.
  
• Cesar Puello is one of the hottest hitters in the Mets organization right now. He added another hit last night, a two-run homer, his sixth long ball in May. He is hitting .338 this month. Check out MetsMinors.net for a Prospect Pulse on Puello.
• Mets officials say Brandon Nimmo was prepared to return from a long absence for a bruised hand when he tweaked his lower back. Nimmo, the organization’s 2011 first-round pick, last appeared for Savannah on April 29.
• Darryl Strawberry will be representing the Mets at this year’s upcoming draft.
• After two hits in last night’s game, St. Lucie second baseman and leadoff hitter T.J. Rivera has gotten his batting average back up to .300 on the year.
• Alex Panteliodis has been solid this season since coming off the disabled list, and last night was no different. The 22-year old southpaw went 5.2 frames allowing two runs (1ER) on four hits while walking two and punching out four, picking up his first win of the season. So far this year, he has 17 strikeouts to only four walks in 21.2 innings of work.

Stat Line of the Day

Rafael Montero: 6.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K

Transactions

None.

Quote of the Day 

Sandy Alderson spoke about Travis d’Arnaud last night:

He expects that as long as he he returns from the broken foot, he will be with the Mets at some point this season. However, Alderson added that d’Arnaud might not begin playing at Triple-A again until July 1, and he needs to get more minor league games under his belt. “He’s only played in ten or fifteen games over the last year. It’s going to take some time to get back into game shape. Ultimately we need to get him some playing time.”

Alderson is disappointed with the team’s performance this season, particularly with some of the players he acquired for this transition year who did not perform to his expectation.

He no doubt was referring to Collin Cowgill, who he expected to become the team’s leadoff hitter and regular center fielder. Cowgill batted .157/.173/.294 before being demoted to Triple-A after only 19 games.

Andrew Brown failed to make the opening day roster and batted .200 during a brief call-up.

Shaun Marcum, who was signed to a guaranteed $4 million dollar deal, was supposed to replace R.A. Dickey. But the right-hander started the season on the DL, missed nearly a month, and has a 6.59 ERA in five starts since being activated.

Left-hander Aaron Laffey was released after posting a 7.20 ERA in four appearances including two spot starts, and relievers Greg Burke and Scott Atchison have struggled, each with 4.50 ERAs on the season.

Sandy is also concerned with some of the players whom he considered to be part of the future core. When asked to explain who he was talking about, he declined to comment saying only, “I think Met fans know who I’m talking about.”

He left off saying that it’s very tough to watch the team play and not be able to do something to help. However, he will remain patient, but not too patient. Alderson said he would look to some of the younger players in their system to improve the major league roster and named Rafael Montero, Zack Wheeler and Travis d’Arnaud as those who could help.

After the game, SNY analyst Bobby Ojeda pointed out that Alderson looked like a man who is very dejected and very disappointed with some of the moves he’s made in putting this team together. He certainly was different than what we’re used to seeing. There were no jokes this time. I think Sandy realizes that it’s time for him to stop talking about the future and deliver on it already. It’s time to produce something tangible. I believe a lot will be riding on how Wheeler and d’Arnaud produce once they are promoted – especially Wheeler.

It will be interesting to see how this drama unfolds… My gut tells me that by the end of this season, Sandy Alderson will either be on very solid footing or a very slippery slope and I’m leaning toward the latter. His fate will be tied to Wheeler’s immediate performance. Stay tuned…

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!

Keep it up, kid. You’ll see AA soon…

Noah Syndergaard took the hill for the St. Lucie Mets tonight, and continued to dominate hitters at the Single-A level. He was bringing 96 mph heat, and mixing in his change-up and curve ball all night. The curve ball was the sharpest it’s looked all year, as he snapped off hook after hook that either left hitters frozen in their stance, or left them swinging wildly like they were trying to hit mosquitoes out of the sky.

This was the kind of performance I was waiting to see from Syndergaard, whose main flaw seemed to be that his off-speed pitches needed more development before the season started. Tonight, he used them confidently — they were sharp, and they were getting hitters out.

On the night, Syndergaard struck out ten hitters in 6.2 innings of work, and walked none. That looks like a Rafael Montero stat line plus four extra strikeouts. He gave up two runs on seven hits, a couple of which were infield hits, but the ten strike outs were the most this season for the young fire-baller.

St. Lucie would go on to lose this game, 3-2, after T.J. Chism allowed a two-out RBI double that scored a runner left on base by Randy Fontanez for a Brevard Country walk-off win. Rylan Sandoval was responsible for the two St. Lucie runs, with a sixth inning two-run single.

Syndergaard is getting closer and closer to Double-A, and is the clear cut favorite to be the Mets No. 1 prospect once Zack Wheeler is promoted. As of right now, I would slot Syndergaard behind Wheeler as the No. 2 prospect in the organization. I’m starting to believe that he was the key addition from the R.A. Dickey trade, and not Travis d’Arnaud.

If I had to rank my top five prospects in the Mets organization now, they would be Zack Wheeler, Noah Syndergaard, Travis d’Arnaud, Rafael Montero and Brandon Nimmo. It’s nice to imagine a future rotation that includes Matt Harvey, Wheeler, Syndergaard and Montero. Barring injuries, if these guys remain on track, good times are right around the corner for Mets fans.

Binghamton 5, Akron 2

The Binghamton Mets matched a season-high 14 hits in a 5-2 victory over the Akron Aeros Monday night at NYSEG Stadium.

Binghamton tallied at least one base hit every inning against Akron pitching. The scoring started in the third inning against Matt Packer, as the B-Mets scored three times on three hits. They also took advantage of two Akron errors in the frame. With runners at the corners, Josh Rodriguez hit a potential double-play ball that went through the legs of third baseman Giovanny Urshela for the first run.

Binghamton kept their foot on the pedal, as Allan Dykstra followed with an RBI single down the right field line. Cory Vaughn capped the scoring in the third with an RBI fielder’s choice, as he beat out a potential double play ball.

The scoring continued in the fifth against Packer. With two men on and two outs, Vaughn laced an RBI single into centerfield for his second RBI of the night. Cesar Puello rounded out the scoring in the sixth with a solo blast off of the batter’s eye in centerfield. He now leads the team with five home runs.

On the mound Rafael Montero settled down after falling behind early. A one-out, first inning double by Carlos Moncrief gave Akron a 1-0 lead. They tacked on their final run in the third inning when Justin Toole hit a seeing-eye single past a diving Wilfredo Tovar into centerfield.

From there however, Montero held Akron scoreless. He scattered eight hits over six innings on the mound, and picked up his fourth win of the season. Chase Huchingson replaced Montero and threw two scoreless innings of relief. Closer Jeff Walters then came in and finished the game to earn his tenth save of the season.

The B-Mets (20-18) continue their three-game series with the Akron Aeros (19-19) on Tuesday night. RHP Logan Verrett (5-1, 3.04) takes the ball for Binghamton against RHP Paolo Espino (1-0, 4.46) for Akron.

Key Stats

Daniel Muno: 3-for-4, 2 R

Josh Rodriguez: 2-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 R

Cory Vaughn: 2-for-4, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 SB

Cesar Puello: 2-for-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 R

Rafael Montero: 6.0 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 6 K

Chase Huchingson: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 0 ER, 2 K

Jeff Walters: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, 1 K

(Team Report)

Rafael Montero Looks Intimidating (Photo by MMO Contributor Gordon Donovan)

The Dominator took to the mound for the Binghamton Mets tonight, in temperatures that made it seem more like an April night in the upstate New York city, than a night in the middle of May. Rafael Montero stood on the mound, with his glove in front of his face, so the batter could only see a pair of eyes staring in, and his mouth breathing steam like a locomotive.

He didn’t shut down Akron like he has shut down teams in the past — he gave up eight hits and two runs over six innings, but what he did on the mound tonight was still very impressive.

Montero was working quickly again tonight, which on a night where the temperature was in the mid-40s, was a blessing to the defenders. The last thing a guy playing defense wants to do on a cold night is stand around — everything stiffens up and your feet and toes go numb. Montero stuck with his fastball for the majority of the night, which could have also been attributed to the cold. The only reason for throwing so many fastballs tonight would be because he couldn’t get a good grip or feel for his off-speed pitches.

As I stated earlier, Montero did give up eight hits. However, when you take into account that he was throwing mostly fastballs, and he is always around the strike zone, the opposition is going to tag you for some hits unless you mix in some off speed stuff or throw 97 mph. This was also Montero’s third time facing Akron, which could have played a part in giving up the eight hits. Once a team sees a pitcher a few times, it can get get a little easier when hitting, not that Akron did much damage anyway. But the eight hits are the only negative thing that can be said about Montero’s start. It was the second-most hits he has given up in a game this year (gave up ten hits on May 1). And he was still pretty darn impressive even though he did surrender the eight hits.

Montero threw a total of 98 pitches, 66 of them were strikes. He struck out six Akron hitters and walked none. He now has 48 strikeouts on the year, and only 6 walks. That’s good for an 8:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Montero isn’t going to give any teams free runs, but because of the type of pitcher he is, he isn’t going to hold many teams scoreless. Not for the time being anyway. If he can live on the corners, he may be the type of guy that eventually develops into a shutout threat every time he takes the hill. He is always around the strike zone, which could be good and bad for him all at the same time. When he is nipping the black, Montero dominates. However, even when he doesn’t, he still keeps the opposing hitters off balance enough to put his offense in a position to win games. They may get some hits, but Montero forces the opposing team to earn every run that crosses that plate — nothing is easy. That is what I really like about him.

Final Stat Line: 6 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K

Photo courtesy of MMO contributor Gordon Donovan.

Last Night’s Quick Scores

• Las Vegas dropped to Round Rock, 9-5. 
• Binghamton topped Trenton, 3-1. 
• St. Lucie defeated Daytona in extras, 6-5. 
• Savannah had the day off. 

Injury and Health News

After being called a hand contusion and nothing serious, it seems that Brandon Nimmo will be headed to the disabled list after all.

We have our Savannah Beat Writer Wally Murphy at the game right now and he will give us the official report later this evening with his game recap.

Yesterday, Joe D. posted the following in our Mets Minors Report:

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.

According to freelance journalist Robert Brender, Mets catching prospect Travis d’Arnaud is due to be examined in New York on May 17 and currently remains in a walking boot.

“I’m in a boot that I’ve been wearing all the time, except when I sleep,” d’Arnaud said.

“It’s really frustrating. I just want to be out there playing and some freak injury happens and I can’t do anything about it. It just takes away time from playing and being on the field. I was feeling really good and was having fun playing (before the injury). I think just not being able to play is the worst part about it.”

“I already had the last half of last year not playing and now this happens. I just want to get back on the field playing again.”

Baseball’s top ranked catching prospect suffered a fractured first metatarsal in his left foot with Triple-A Las Vegas last month. Depending on how the examination goes, he may be able to begin an injury rehab at the Mets complex in Port St. Lucie sometime this month. He was originally expected to return to games around mid-June.

Prospect Pipeline

• Zack Wheeler, Noah Syndergaard, Rafael Montero, Luis Mateo, and Domingo Tapia are all in the Mets farm system, yet Logan Verrett has pitched the game of the year for the Mets minor leagues, just coming off of one of the more impressive starts I’ve seen in a long time from Montero. As Satish Ram said in the Binghamton Game recap, “Verrett went ahead on Wednesday and tossed perhaps the best game of his career – as he nearly finished the game with a complete game victory. He was taken out of the game after 99 pitches, which perhaps was pitch count related, before he could achieve the final out. At that point, he had allowed just the one earned run in the bottom of the fourth, and was utterly dominant throughout the entire game. His nine strikeouts were demonstrative of that fact.”
• Verrett is flying under the radar this season, but he has been pitching very well. He now has five wins on the year, which is good for tops in the Mets organization, and also tops the Eastern League. He also leads the EL in innings pitched (47.1). Verret is also ranked third in the organization in opposing hitter’s batting average (,207), and fourth in the organization, fifth in the EL, in WHIP (0.97). Pretty impressive. After last night’s performance, it’s safe to say that Verrett is no longer flying under the radar.
• Cesar Puello: All he does is hit home runs? He extended his hit streak to 15 games in grand fashion again by crushing another two home runs last night, one of which was an absolute bomb. His last three hits are now home runs. He’s showing off that power we all have heard so much about and is now batting.296/.360/.531 in 24 games.
• Aderlin Rodriguez has been smoking the ball over the past three games. In that span, he is 7-for-14 with four doubles, two home runs, and eight RBIs. He now leads the Mets organization with six home runs on the year, and he had the walk-off hit to plate T.J. Rivera in the tenth inning of last night’s victory.
• Here is what the Trenton Thunder pitching coach, Tommy Phelps, had to say about Montero after his start on Tuesday night: “Our guys were talking about facing Montero last year in the Florida State League and were very impressed with him…He’s got real good stuff.”
• I’m not sure how many caught this in the transactions section yesterday, but the Mets promoted catcher Xorge Carrillo from Brooklyn, to St. Lucie. This was a major head scratcher here. Kevin Plawecki has earned a promotion at this point, absolutely dominating and overpowering the Low-A pitching in the SAL. What would prompt the Mets to promote a player in Carrillo, who has had 26 hits in 39 professional games? Plawecki has 44 hits alone this season, and showing no signs of slowing down. It’s either the snub of the year, or like I predicted, there serves no point in skipping Plawecki to High-A ball, because the level of competition is not much different. When Plawecki is ready, he will be in Binghamton.
• Adam Rubin reported yesterday that Collin Cowgill and Kirk Nieuwenhuis would both be seeing time in centerfield with Las Vegas this year. Things are going to get real crowded out there once Matt den Dekker returns from his wrist injury.
• Juan Lagares and Andrew Brown were dominating at the Triple-A level, but have looked lost against big league pitchers. The question I raised when I heard they were promoting the two outfielders, was why the Mets would promote offensive players, coming from a “hitter’s league,” when their numbers were inflated, and seemingly ignore the pitchers, because their numbers are deflated due to the same reason. When looking at the PCL players, you have to take the offensive and pitching statistics with a grain of salt, and rely more on good old fashioned scouting when judging whether a player is ready or not.
• I have but one thing to add to this report. Remember back in February when I said that signing Carlos Torres was a useless move that will only create a logjam and keep pitchers at lower levels because of the trickle down effect? Pitchers like Jacob deGrom and Rainy Lara paid the price because they were squeezed into lower levels that would present no challenge to them and that’s exactly what happened. Torres has allowed 23 earned runs in 27.0 innings for a 7.39 ERA. The other two have proven that they should have started at higher levels and one (deGrom) already has been promoted. Lara will be promoted soon as well. Carlos Torres? A 30-year-old flop who was released twice by teams desperately starving for starting pitching? Are you freaking kidding me? (Joe D.)

Stat Lines of the Day

Logan Verrett: 8.2 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 1 ER, 9 K

Cesar Puello: 2-for-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R

Aderlin Rodriguez: 3-for-5, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 R (game winning, walk-off hit)

Organizational Leaders

Sounding Off

B-Mets pitching coach Glenn Abbott talks about Rafael Montero’s last start and sheds light on the rest of his dominating pitching staff.

Quote of the Day

Today’s quote of the day comes from the Star-Ledger regarding if Jeremy Hefner is hearing Zack Wheeler‘s footsteps:

“If it was right now, if he came up today, then yeah I would probably be the one that gets sent down,” Hefner, 27, said Tuesday. “I’m realistic enough to know that, but I can’t control that.”

“I came up early and then it was all the talk about, ‘When’s Matt coming up?”’ Hefner said. “And much like Zack, they deserve all that press because they’re that good. What it comes down to is I can only control what I can control. If the effort I give every fifth day is good enough to stick, then it’s good enough to stick. And if it’s not, I have stuff I need to work on. If Zack comes up for me, that’s not going to make me hate Zack Wheeler.”

Photo of the Day

After a long hot day on the farm, I like to chill out with my MMO Mets Minors Report.

Binghamton 3, Trenton 1

With all the talk in Binghamton circling around Rafael Montero, the incredible season that Logan Verrett is having has almost gone by the boards. Verrett went ahead on Wednesday and tossed perhaps the best game of his career – as he nearly finished the game with a complete game victory.  He was taken out of the game after 99 pitches, which perhaps was pitch count related, before he could achieve the final out. At that point, he had allowed just the one earned run in the bottom of the fourth, and was utterly dominant throughout the entire game. His nine strikeouts were demonstrative of that fact.

His final line was eight-and-a-third innings pitched, where he gave up five hits and just one walk, while striking out nine batters. His one earned run came on an RBI single he gave up to JR Murphy in the fourth, but that was basically his only blemish. He threw 71 of his 99 pitches for strikes, and was removed from the game in favor of Jeff Walters, who stranded the two inherited runners to save the game for Binghamton and the win for Verrett, his fifth.

It may look like the B-Mets struggled offensively a little – and they did, outside of Cesar Puello and Wilfredo Tovar. Tovar had a three-hit game, and is beginning to show me some offensive talent, as per my request, and was only outclassed by Puello. Puello had a monster game in support of Verrett, with two home runs that drove home all three runs for Binghamton.

Cesar Puello has been on fire during his recent hit streak – and Logan Verrett has been on fire this entire season. Great evening for Binghamton.

Key Stats

Alonzo Harris: 0-for-2, 2 BB

Cory Vaughn: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 BB

Cesar Puello: 2-for-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R

Wilfredo Tovar: 3-for-3

Logan Verrett: 8.2 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 1 ER, 9 K

Jeff Walters: 0.1 IP, 0-2 inherited runners scored.

Rafael Montero Looks Intimidating (Photo by MMO Contributor Gordon Donovan)

Some people believe that we were put on this planet to serve a purpose. They believe that we were all put here for a reason. Well if that is the case, Rafael Montero was put on this planet for one reason: to pitch.

Montero was going through the Trenton Thunder lineup with surgical precision tonight, prompting this tweet from Trenton’s beat writer and former MMO Alumni Matt Kardos:

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

Montero was incredible over six innings of work, striking out five consecutive hitters at one point. Montero was painting the corners and was working quickly. He was in a rhythm, and the Trenton hitters were doing very little to break that rhythm. They let Montero work at his own pace, and it was a major advantage tonight. The difference in the major leagues, when Montero gets there, will be that hitters will step out of the box to break his rhythm.

Through his first six innings of work, Montero had thrown 74 pitches, 55 for strikes. He gave up one hit, one walk, while striking out eight. It wasn’t until the seventh inning where Trenton started to get to Montero. Montero started the inning off by giving up a lead off walk, and it seemed to spiral after that. He ended the game giving up three hits and three earned runs.

The most impressive thing about this start by Montero is that it came off the heels of his worst start of the year. As I stated in this morning’s morning report, this game was an important test for Montero. The entire Mets organization was watching to see how he would respond after last week’s start where he gave up ten runs. Paul DePodesta commented recently that Montero needed to face some adversity. This was Montero’s first taste of adversity, and he passed this test with flying colors. How these young pitchers bounce back after bad starts is a big step in their development. Montero showed everyone that he was for real tonight.

Montero is special. Watching him work through those first six innings was a sight to see. I know most people were watching Matt Harvey dominate the Chicago White Sox, but this kid Montero, he’s pretty good too. I try to avoid comparing prospects to established superstars and all-time greats. I know Montero has drawn some comparisons to Pedro Martinez. I have tried like heck not to accept that comparison, but the truth is, I’m starting to see it.

He knows how to pitch, and he knows how to get batters out. The way he works the ball on the corners is completely masterful. The way he gets hitters to chase pitches out of the zone is equally impressive. Montero is scary good right now, and he’s only going to get better.

Here are some quotes from Matt Kardos’ post game interviews after yesterday’s game:

Montero on bouncing back strong after a bad start last week: “I feel happy because I am progressing as a pitcher and that is big for me.”

Montero on if he ran out of gas in 7th: “I haven’t gotten tired so far this year. I just have a pitch count and that’s why they took me out.”

Montero on the go-ahead hit by Slade Heathcott: “I don’t think it was a bad pitch, he just put it in play and you have to give props to the hitter.”

Thunder Manager, Tony Franklin, on Montero: “Montero is very good, the kid has some very good mechanics that allows him to throw the ball well.”

Slade Heathcott on Montero: “He filled the zone up. That’s the toughest thing. I think at one point he had something like 60 strikes and 20 balls. I think he was anywhere from 90-95. Nothing overpowering, his slider was decent but he filled the zone up & worked both sides of the plate.”

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 lull 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.

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.

Trenton 5, Binghamton 1

Binghamton Mets starter Rafael Montero cruised through six innings, but faltered late as the Trenton Thunder scored four runs in the seventh to beat the B-Mets, 5-1, in comeback fashion on Tuesday night at Arm & Hammer Park. The B-Mets collected three hits in the first two innings, but were held hitless for the final seven frames in their second straight loss.

The B-Mets packed all their offense into the first two innings against Trenton starter Jose Ramirez. Cesar Puello emphatically got the B-Mets on the board in the second inning by blasting an 0-2 pitch to left field for his second homer of the season. Puello’s blast extended his hitting streak to 14 games, the longest active hitting streak throughout Double-A.

It proved to be Binghamton’s only run of the game. Ramirez settled down to retire the final seven batters he faced before exiting after four innings of work. The righty allowed one run on three hits, walked two and hit a batter in his second start of the season.

Montero dominated the Thunder through his first six innings. The righty matched a season-high with eight strikeouts and allowed just two base runners on a walk and single.

His fortunes changed in the seventh. Jose Pirela started the inning by walking on nine pitches. J.R. Murphy followed by lining a single to left. With runners on second and third, Slade Heathcott bounced a two-run, go-ahead single up the middle and ended Montero’s night.

Josh Edgin came out of the bullpen and issued a two-out walk to Neil Medchill. The southpaw paid for prolonging the inning when Ali Castillo pulled a two-run triple down the first base line. Trenton added another run off Edgin on an RBI single from Heathcott in the eighth.

The Thunder bullpen picked up where Ramirez left off and silenced the B-Mets offense. Josh Romanski (2-0) struck out four over three perfect innings and Danny Burawa allowed only one runner in two scoreless frames to collect his first save. At one point, the three Trenton pitchers combined to retire 20 consecutive B-Mets.

Montero (3-3) allowed three runs on three hits in his third straight loss. He struck out eight and walked two.

The B-Mets (16-16) conclude their series against the Thunder Tuesday night at 7:05 PM. RHP Logan Verrett gets the ball for Binghamton against LHP Nik Turley.

Key Stats

Cesar Puello: 1-for-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 R

Daniel Muno: 1-for-3

Allan Dykstra: 1-for-3, 1 BB

Rafael Montero: 6.1 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 3 ER, 8 K

Josh Edgin: 1.2 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 2 ER, 3 K

(Team Report)

Last Night’s Quick Scores

• Las Vegas had their game suspended due to rain. 
• Binghamton dropped to Trenton, 5-0. 
• St. Lucie topped Daytona, 6-2. 
• Savannah dropped two games to Hickory, 4-3 and 5-3. 

Prospect News

The Florida State League has announced that St. Lucie Mets outfielder Travis Taijeron was named the league’s Player of the Week for the period of April 29 – May 5.

Taijeron batted .474 and had nine hits, including one home run and six doubles in six games. He had a .600 on-base percentage and .947 slugging percentage.

Taijeron, an 18th round selection out of Cal Poly Pomona in 2011, has hit safely in eight straight games. Taijeron, 24, is hitting .266 with two home runs and 11 RBIs in 29 games played .

Prospect Pipeline

• Welcome back T.J. Rivera. We haven’t mentioned Rivera in the Minors Report for a couple of weeks and he was tired of being ignored, so he went out and got five hits in last night’s game. The lead off man now leads St. Lucie with a .292 average and is second on the team with 19 RBI.
• Brandon Nimmo sat out both games of the Savannah doubleheader yesterday as he recovers from a hand contusion. More about Nimmo in the Quote of The Day.
• Cory Mazzoni made his first start in a month for Binghamton last night, and looked rusty. Trenton jumped out to an early four run lead in the first inning, as Mazzoni gave up seven hits in three innings of work, three of which were extra-base hits.
• Hansel Robles looked sharp in his start last night. He only allowed two opposing batters to reach base, both on hits, as he didn’t allow any walks on the night. Opposing batters are now hitting a skimpy .200 against Robles this season.
• Rafael Montero takes the hill for Binghamton tonight. I really want to see how he bounces back after his last outing on May 1, where he gave up seven earned runs. This is just another test for the young prospect. This is exactly the kind of adversity the Mets wanted to see Montero battle through.
• 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 Line of the Day

T.J. Rivera: 5-for-5, 2 2B, 1 R

Transactions/Injuries

St. Lucie Mets placed LHP Pedro Feliciano on the 7-day disabled list retroactive to May 4, 2013.

Binghamton Mets placed RHP Tyler Pill on the 7-day disabled list retroactive to May 2, 2013 (right shoulder strain).

Quote of the Day

Brandon Nimmo spoke with Clint Robus, of the Casper-Star Tribune, about the ups and downs he expects to go through in his first full season of professional baseball.

The young prospect started off the season on fire, but things have slowed down lately for the former first rounder. ”I knew this was going to happen,” Nimmo said with a laugh. “So I’m not too surprised.”

“You have to stay even-keeled all the way through the good and through the bad,” Nimmo said.

With regards to adjusting to the everyday grind in the minor leagues, Nimmo said  ”The next day, your body is a little groggy. Your back’s a little stiff, when you get bus you kind of feel like you’ve never walked before. It takes a little bit to get used to.”

Savannah manager Luis Rojas on Nimmo’s little cold spell: Nimmo is just “going through a time. We want him to go through this,” Rojas said. “This is part of his development, and this is the part where he’s going to … figure out a lot more things.”

Rojas goes on to add that Nimmo’s mental approach is special for a player of his age (20), and he has earned respect in the clubhouse for the way he handles himself. ”That’s Brandon right there. Always a smile on his face … happy to be playing baseball,” Rojas said. “He’s going to be giving his best every day.”

Rojas also noted that Nimmo’s hand injury is not serious, and they are keeping him out of games as precaution.

Photo of the Day

Rafael Montero takes the hill tonight for Binghamton. Photo courtesy of MMO contributor Gordon Donovan.

Kevin Plawecki is leading the South Atlantic League in hitting.

Welcome to the second edition of Who’s Hot, Who’s Not. This week was a very intriguing one for followers of the Mets minor league system. We saw the rise of two top pitching prospects, and the fall of one who had been absolutely dominant. We also saw Kevin Plawecki continue to show why the Mets made him a first-round pick last year. He leads off our Hot List…

Who’s Hot

•   Kevin Plawecki, C (SAV): Plawecki continues to rake and prove that he is too advanced for the South Atlantic League. In a stadium  in which hits are hard to come by, Plawecki has hit the cover off the ball, and put up very good power numbers. This week, he hit .438 with a .500 On-Base Percentage and slugged .750. He is currently leading the league in average, On-Base Percentage, Slugging, doubles, and total bases.
• Noah Syndergaard, RHP (STL): After giving up seven runs against Fort Myers on April 18, Syndergaard has been lights out, tossing three straight terrific outings. In his two starts this week, he allowed just two runs (one earned) on 13 hits in 13 innings. Even more impressive, he struck out 12 and walked just three.
• Zack Wheeler, RHP (LAV): Wheeler, after some awful early-season struggles, has bounced back well. This week, he allowed one run on eight hits over 12.2 innings, while walking just two batters. He has also been throwing more strikes, which is the key to him reaching the majors. Wheeler has started using his breaking ball again, which may be the reason he has been able to put it back together on the mound.

Honorable Mention: Travis Taijeron, OF (STL): Taijeron was on fire this week, hitting six doubles an batting .500 and getting on base in well over 50% of his plate appearances. Taijeron struggled in the second half, so it’s great to see him be able to put it back together again.

Who’s Not

• Rafael Montero, RHP (BIN): Montero was on fire last week, making last week’s Hot List. This week, however, was a completely different story for Montero. In one start, he tossed 6.2 innings but allowed ten runs (seven of them earned) on ten hits against Erie. That came after five straight starts of alloweing two runs or less to start the season.
• Jacob deGrom, RHP (BIN): DeGrom had one so-so start and one bad start this week for Binghamton. In his first against Akron, he allowed five runs on seven hits (including two home runs) against Akron. In the second, he gave up three in six innings. However, for the entire week, he was only able to strike out three batters in 11.1 innings. It’s only two starts, but deGrom averaged almost eight strikeouts per nine innings last season.
• Brian Bixler, SS (LAV): Bixler, who signed as a minor league free agent this offseason, had a very tough week at the plate, batting .150/.190/.150 with no extra-base hits and five strikeouts in 20 at-bats.

The upstate New York weather was unreal, mid 70′s, our nicest day of the spring. But, it was the B-Met probable starter that had be antsy with anticipation all day long. Binghamton ace Rafael Montero was scheduled to climb the hill for the B-Mets. I had never seen Montero pitch live, and I couldn’t wait.

A ‘pitch to contact’ philosophy seems prevalent in major league baseball. I’m not sure what former pitchers like Nolan Ryan, Bob Gibson, and Tom Seaver would say about that, but ‘pitching to contact’ seems to be the name of the game in today’s major league game.

When pitchers pitch to contact they attempt to get batters to get the bat on the ball and put the ball in play. At it’s best the ball is intended to be hit on the ground preferably within the first three pitches to the batter. Pitchers don’t think contact, Instead they direct their best pitch to the batter’s hittable zone.

Pitching to contact is a byproduct of the emphasis on pitch counts in the modern game. Don’t try to be too fine, pitch to contact, and pound the zone are all part of the ‘pitch to contact’ philosophy.

That seemed to be the approach Montero took to the mound last night. I entered NYSEG Stadium aware of Montero’s other world ability to throw strikes. In that area the young Met prospect didn’t disappoint.

Total Pitches: 95 – Strikes: 65 (72%) – Balls: 25 (28%)

Montero commanded the strike zone regardless of his pitch choice or whether he was throwing from the full wind-up or the stretch.

• Full Wind-up Fastball: Strikes 25 – 71%,  Balls 10 – 29%
• Curves: Strikes 10 – 83%, Balls 2 – 17%
• Sliders: Strikes 3 – 75%, Balls 1 – 25%
• Stretch Fastball: Strikes 17 – 74%, Balls 6 – 26%
• Curves: Strikes 4 – 44%, Balls 5 – 56%
• Sliders: Strikes 6 – 86%,  Balls 1 – 14%

As is my habit, I struggle determining the difference between the curve and slider. Montero’s curve in not of the 12 o’clock to 6′ o’clock variety. The speed differential between the two pitches in minimal. Combining those points could mean my numbers on Montero’s off speed stuff are slightly askew.

As you can see, Montero commands the strike zone. He struck out five and walked 1 meaning his season totals are now 40 K’s and 4 BB’s. That’s a 10:1 K/BB ratio.

The reason I believe Montero had a ‘pitch to contact’ approach in his head was the number of batters who put the ball in play in less than 3 pitches. Montero faced 32 hitters and exactly half, 16, put the ball in play on the first or second pitch thrown to the plate.

Montero threw first pitch strikes at a 69% clip or 22 times of the 32 batters. 10 times batters put the ball in play on the first pitch. The problem: those batters racked up 6 of the 10 hits Montero surrendered. He eased through the first three innings retiring 9 of the 10 batters he faced, allowing one hit, and only throwing 28 pitches. You do the math, that’s an average of only 2.5 pitches per batter.

Things unraveled in the fourth. Here’s the sequence that was Montero’s undoing:

- Leadoff double down the left field line on a first pitch fastball.
- Single to right field on a first pitch fastball.
- Double down the line on a first pitch curveball.
- Infield single on a first pitch fastball
- A second infield single on a first pitch fastball.
- Three pitch strikeout for the first out.
- Five pitch strikeout for the second out.
- First pitch triple on a curveball and a 4-3 groundout on the 4th pitch. You get the picture.

There is a lot to like about this kid. Strike zone command is a positive, a solid foundation to make pitching progress. His fastball is sneaky fast and sometimes touched 94 mph. There was no visible reaction when he was getting hit hard. And, to be fair, the two infield hits in the sequence I described could have been ruled errors.

Shortstop Danny Muno made a diving stop on one, sprang to his feet and made a low throw to first. Had the third baseman communicated with Muno, the B-Met shortstop could have nailed the runner on second base who had started to third, stopped and froze when Muno fielded the ball on his stomach.

The next batter hit a hard grounder up the middle, I thought might end as a double play. Josh Rodriguez showed great range backhanding the ball behind the second base bag, but as he lifted his mitt to make the toss to second, the ball dropped out of his glove.

Later, in the SeaWolves three-run seventh, Cesar Puello misplayed a ball in right field that cost at least one and possibly two runs. Through it all Montero seemed unflappable.

Perhaps it’s the traditionalist in me. Perhaps it’s the fact I was raised a pitcher during a different era. Perhaps it’s because I still coach high school baseball at a Class D level where sometimes every batted ball can be an adventure. Whatever the case, I’m suspicious of the “pitch to contact’ philosophy as a rule. It fires me up to see Matt Harvey throw a two-strike pitch intending to punch a batter out, especially when he finds himself in a jam.

In my opinion, Montero was simply too fine in this outing. Extending his pitch count a bit in an attempt to miss a few more bats or at least miss the sweet spot on the barrel of the bat may have been beneficial even if Montero was forced to shorten his outing by an inning. Five consecutive hits on the first pitch is avoidable. Especially when you have this kids stuff.

Last night’s final totals weren’t pretty: 10 runs and 10 hits in 6 2/3 innings. Even so, I’m excited about Montero and see real upside here. He is definitely in the mix of young arms Met fans could see pitching in Citi Field.

Points of interest:

• Alonzo Harris hit a solo homerun in the seventh, his third of the year leaving him one behind team leader Corey Vaughn.
• Darrell Ceciliani laced a triple to right-center field. This kid can fly. B-Met manager Pedro Lopez moved Ceciliani from left field to center field and shifted Harris from center to left last night.
• Blake Forsythe continues to swing the bat well registering another multiple hit game. Forsythe was the DH last night going 2-for-4 with a double.
• Cesar Puello went 2-for-4. The big guy has surprising speed, but struggled making plays in right field. Like many power hitter, that’s an area the B-Mets will look to improve.
• Francisco Pena had a great night at the plate going 3-for-4 with two doubles, both just inside the left field line. Pena flied out to deep left field in his other at bat.
• John Church recorded a 1-2-3 ninth inning. Church has fanned 16 batters in 13.1 innings and lowered his ERA to 2.77.

Rafael Montero by MMO Contributor and Photographer Gordon Donovan.

Last Night’s Quick Scores

• Las Vegas demolished Reno, 14-8.
• Binghamton got thrashed by Erie, 11-4.
• St. Lucie was beaten by Tampa, 7-3. 
• Savannah defeated Kannapolis, 6-3. 

Minors News

RHP Rainy Lara of the Savannah Sand Gnats was named the South Atlantic League Pitcher of the Week for the week ending April 28. Lara pitched a brilliant game tossing 7.1 shutout innings and allowing just five hits and walking none while striking out nine against the West Virginia Power.

For the season, Lara is now 3-1 with a 1.88 ERA in four starts spanning 24 innings. He has struck out 24 and walked three and has held the Sally League to a .231 batting average this season.

Prospect Pipeline

• Yeesh… Rafael Montero had a pretty rough go-around last night against Erie where he was lit up for ten runs, seven of them earned, over the course of six-and-two-thirds innings pitched. He still walked only one and allowed one home run, but that’s about the best of it. All prospects are allowed bad starts or bad games here and there – so we’ll just chalk this up to a bad hair day.
• Matthew Bowman went eight strong innings last night and allowed three earned runs as he continues to find himself in the midst of a strong campaign.
• After last night, Kevin Plawecki now has 15 doubles and four home runs in just 24 games, which is ridiculous. His slash line stands at .402/.462/.1.158 through 92 at-bats in 2013 as he does not seem to have hit a single wall yet. My first thought when he was drafted was to compare him to Paul Lo Duca – but irregardless of that, Plawecki seems to be developing very nicely.
• Juan Centeno had a superb day at the plate last night for Las Vegas, where he banged out four hits. Centeno was a young man known more for his defensive prowess over anything else – which leads me into the point that he should be starting more than Landon Powell at the moment. At the very least, I want him to catch Wheeler’s next start. Centeno has a solid baseball IQ and can definitely help assist Wheeler in staying on track.
• Our Minor League Analyst Teddy Klein (via Toby Hyde) told us that Brandon Nimmo has been nursing a minor hand injury and that perhaps it could explain his recent slump. He got the game off last night and it’s considered nothing serious.
• Andrew Brown went 3-for-5 last night with a HR, a 2B, and 3 RBI as he continued his “seriously, call me up to the MLB team” tour.
• Zack Wheeler‘s 36 strikeouts in April tied for third place among the Top 100 MLB prospects.
• SP Alex Panteliodis will make his season debut and be activated from the DL to start for St. Lucie on Thursday. Last season for Savannah, Pants went 5-8 with a 3.64 ERA in 22 starts for the Gnats last year. He’s more of an organizational type of guy, but Pants may have some value down the line. 
  
• Matt Garrioch, minor league analyst, posted his GAPPER report yesterday for April which ranks the top five pitchers and position players in many leagues and per team itself. Wilmer Flores and Zack Wheeler were fourth in his PCL rankings, Montero ranked third in the AA, and Syndergaard and Tapia both made his list for A+ ball.

Stat Line of the Day

Kevin Plawecki: 3-for-5, 3 2B, 1 RBI, 1 R

Transactions/Injuries

• As of this point, there has been no update on Hansel Robles, who was placed on the 7-day DL yesterday. Robert Gsellman took his spot in the rotation two days ago.
• Cory Vaughn just has some inflammation in his arm, and was advised to take it easy for about a week.
• Cory Mazzoni threw a side session pitching and is approaching his return date.
• Right-hander Michael Fulmer, returning from surgery to repair a meniscus tear, tossed two innings Monday in extended spring training.
• Wilfredo Tovar was removed from last night’s game purely as a precautionary measure because he was sick. There is no injury.

Quote of the Day

Rob Brender: You’ve gotten shots at the big league level in 2011 and 2012 and you’re doing so well offensively this season. Does it make you anxious to get back to the Mets?

Josh Satin: Absolutely, but there’s a fine line. You can’t feel sorry for yourself because there are lots of other people in professional baseball who feel the same way. Then again, sometimes I look around and I’m like ’damn, this guys in the big leagues with whatever team. I know I’m better then him.’ So it’s hard sometimes but, then again, it’s just the way it is. You can’t feel sorry for yourself. You just have to keep performing.

Photo of the Day

Hey Plawecki, how about wrangling me up a shot of bourbon, oh and make sure it’s a double.

Juan Centeno (Photo by Gordon Donovan)

Rafael Montero was hotter than Scarlett Johansson in her Black Widow costume for his first four starts of the season, compiling three wins, 27 strikeouts and only one walk. Zack Wheeler was as cold as ice, struggling to find command and his first win of the year.

The two men may be the brightest pitching prospects in the Mets organization right now, but couldn’t have been further apart from each other on the spectrum as they were for the first month of the season. We know that Wheeler said he watched some video, and noticed a small mechanical issue that could have caused his shaky start to the season. He worked out the kink, and poof, he pitched his best game of the season on Tuesday, going 6.2 innings, and not sacrificing a walk until the final batter he faced. However, there may be more than meets the eye here with both of these guys.

Enter the Travis d’Arnaud injury.

Everyone knows that d’Arnaud is out with a fracture in his left foot. The injury caused the Mets to promote Juan Centeno, who had been the starting catcher in Binghamton until the d’Arnaud injury forced his call up. Many pegged Centeno for Las Vegas at the start of the year, since he is defensively superior and had already shown offensive mastery at the Double-A level with Binghamton the year before. However, this looked as if it was a move that was made to keep Centeno playing everyday, and he was primed to be promoted the minute d’Arnaud got his call to the show.

Centeno spent time in 2012 with Wheeler in Binghamton. During Wheeler’s best start of the year, Centeno was catching. Could that have had something to do with Wheeler’s performance on Tuesday? Is there a comfort level there? Does Centeno call a better game, putting Wheeler in a better position to succeed?

Montero, on the other hand, has pitched quite poorly since Centeno was called up. Montero had primarily pitched with Francisco Pena behind the plate this season, but could the lack of leadership and wisdom that Centeno provided the other catchers, even from the dugout in between innings, be causing the catchers to put the pitcher in a less than optimal position to succeed?

This could all be coincidence, and maybe it is, but it’s hard to ignore the fact that Wheeler has pitched much better since Centeno’s call up, and Montero has pitched much worse. Maybe Wheeler is finally heating up, and it was only a matter of time before he got it together. Maybe the hitters in the Eastern League are heating up, starting to hit Montero, and it was just a matter of time before they figured him out. But maybe, just maybe, Juan Centeno is the smoking gun here.

Erie 11, Binghamton 4

The Erie SeaWolves tagged Rafael Montero for ten runs on ten hits and handed the Binghamton Mets an 11-4 loss on Wednesday night at NYSEG Stadium. Francisco Pena collected three hits and drove in two runs in the losing effort.

The B-Mets were in control for the first three innings. Binghamton grabbed the lead in the second against Erie starter Victor Larez. Blake Forsythe led off the inning with a double to left and came home when Pena smoked an RBI double down the left field line.

After cruising through the first three innings, Montero hit a major speed bump in the fourth. The SeaWolves plated five runs on five hits and took advantage of a fielding error to take a commanding four-run lead. Tyler Collins supplied an RBI double to tie the game, James McCann added a run-scoring single and Marcus Lemon capped the rally with a two-run triple.

Tyler Collins added to the lead with a solo home run in the fifth and the SeaWolves blew the game open with four more scores in the seventh. Ramon Cabrera delivered the crushing blow with a three-run single.

Binghamton scratched back with two runs against Larez in the seventh, his final inning. Pena started the inning with a double and scored on Joe Bonfe‘s groundout. Alonzo Harris launched an 0-1 pitch over the left field wall for his third homer of the season.

The SeaWolves plated their final run of the game against reliever Adam Kolarek in the eighth. Pena capped his three-hit day with an RBI single in the bottom half of the inning against Erie reliever Tyler Clark.

Montero (3-2) suffered his second straight loss. The righty allowed a career-high ten runs (seven earned) and ten hits while striking out five. Larez (4-0) racked up his fourth straight win, allowing three runs on seven hits over a season-best seven innings.

The B-Mets (14-12) conclude their four-game series and week-long homestand Thursday night at 6:35 PM. RHP Logan Verrett (4-0, 1.95) takes the mound against LHP Kyle Lobstein (2-2, 3.56).

Key Stats

Blake Forsythe: 2-for-4, 1 2B, 1 R

Cesar Puello: 2-for-4

Francisco Pena: 3-for-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 1 R

Rafael Montero: 6.2 IP, 10 H, 1 HR, 1 BB, 10 R, 7 ER, 5 K, Balk

Adam Kolarek: 1.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 K

John Church: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 ER, 1 K

(Team Report)

Welcome to the first post in a weekly series called “Who’s Hot, Who’s Not,” in which we look at the hottest and coldest players in the Mets’ minor league system from the past week. Here’s a look back at the week that was. NOTE: Stats are from April 20 through April 27.

Who’s Hot

• Jayce Boyd 1B (SAV)- Boyd has come out of nowhere this season, hitting .405/.490/.583 through his first 22 games with two homers and nine doubles, the same number he had in 54 games with the Brooklyn Cyclones last year. With Brooklyn, Boyd hit just .239/.320/.368 with five home runs. The 2012 sixth-round pick batted .500/.581/.769 with a home run and four doubles. 
• Kevin Plawecki C (SAV)- Boyd and Plawecki have led the offensive charge for Savannah this season and are two big reasons why they have gotten off to such a hot start. The power-hitting Plawecki already hit four homers through his first 21 games, including one last week. Las week, Plawecki batted an impressive .440/.483/.680 with three doubles to go along with his home run.
• Rafael Montero RHP (BIN)- Montero has been terrific thus far for Binghamton,putting up a 1.99 ERA in 27.2 innings and a ridiculous 11.6 K/9 rate, having some Mets fans calling for a promotion to the big leagues. While that is unlikely, Montero may soon earn a promotion to Triple-A Las Vegas. This past week, Montero, in two starts, allowed two runs in 11 innings while striking out 14 and walking just two.

Honorable Mention: Domingo Tapia RHP (STL)- It was almost a toss-up between Rafael Montero and Domingo Tapia. Both put up very impressive numbers this week. Tapia tossed 12.2 innings in two starts, allowed four runs (only two earned) and struck out 11. He has a 2.51 ERA in 25.1 innings over five starts.

Who’s Not

• Brandon Nimmo OF (SAV)- After a very hot start, Nimmo has gone ice cold, hitting well under the Mendoza line at just .091 over the last week. His .286 On-Base Percentage and .182 Slugging Percentage are also far worse than what we saw earlier in the season from Nimmo. Hopefully he can turn it around soon.
• Cam Maron C (STL)- Maron also started off the season well, hitting .286 through ten games but has struggled since. His batting average has now dropped below .240. This week, he hit .154/.1185/.154.
• Collin McHugh RHP (LAS)- McHugh has allowed only one earned run through 18 innings this season before two bad starts this week. Over 12.1 innings, McHugh got walloped for 20 hits and nine runs allowed, striking out just seven. This kind of week happens to every Vegas pitcher, and isn’t something to be concerned about unless it carries on over his next few starts.

Akron 4, Binghamton 0

So Rafael Montero is human after all…

The Binghamton Mets struck out a season-high 16 times, and were shut out for the second time in 2013, in a 4-0 loss to the Akron Aeros Friday night at NYSEG Stadium.

Danny Salazar carved through the B-Met batting order, matching a career-high with nine strikeouts in his five shutout innings. The righty allowed just three base hits, and erased two of them with double-play balls in the win. The Akron offense did just enough against Rafael Montero to support Salazar’s effort. With runners on the corners in the top of the third, Tyler Holt beat out a potential double-play ball which scored Ronny Rodriguez. Two batters later, Holt came around to score as Jesus Aguilar tallied his league-leading 23^rd RBI with a single into centerfield.

Montero’s night ended after five innings; he gave up the two runs and struck out eight. Adrian Rosario walked two of his first three hitters in the sixth, and allowed them both to score on a two-run double by Roberto Perez to give Akron a 4-0 lead.

The combination of Austin Adams and Bryce Stowell picked up where Salazar left off for Akron. Adams struck out four in his two innings on the mound, and Stowell punched out three more in the last two frames.

The B-Mets (11-10) continue their three-game series with the Aeros (9-12) Saturday afternoon at 1:05 PM. RHP Logan Verrett (3-0, 2.55) will start for Binghamton against LHP Matt Packer (0-2, 3.15) for Akron.

Key Stats

Alonzo Harris: 1-for-4, 1 SB (10)

Allan Dykstra: 1-for-3, 1 BB

Richard Lucas: 1-for-2, 1 BB

Rafael Montero: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 2 ER, 8 K

Adrian Rosario: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 2 ER, 1 K

Chase Huchingson: 2.0 IP, 4 H, 0 BB, 0 ER, 1 K

Jack Leathersich: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 0 ER, 3 K (0.00 ERA)

(Team Report)

Rafael Montero, rhp, Mets: The rules of the game allow for New York to put off a 40-man decision on the 22-year-old Montero until after the 2014 season. Necessity may dictate a callup this season, given the way that Montero has pitched at Double-A Binghamton. After dealing six shutout innings at New Hampshire on Saturday, Montero has allowed four runs in four starts, going 3-0, 1.59 with an incredible 27-1 K-BB ratio in 22 2/3 innings.

Domingo Tapia, rhp, Mets: The strong-armed Tapia started striking batters out last season in the South Atlantic League, and he apparently remembered to pack those whiffs for his assignment to high Class A St. Lucie this season. The 21-year-old ranks third in the Florida State League with 23 punchouts after recording 11 in 12 2/3 innings this week and allowing two earned runs in two starts.