Updated By Joe D. On 5/23 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 [...]

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. [...]

During the third inning of Tuesday night’s Mets broadcast, general manager Sandy Alderson joined Gary Cohen and Ron Darling in the booth. 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 [...]

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 [...]

Last Night’s Quick Scores Las Vegas defeated Omaha, 7-3. Binghamton took down Portland, 6-3. St. Lucie was edged by Bradenton, 5-4. Savannah was one-hit by Augusta, 11-0. Prospect Pipeline Jenrry Mejia made his first “real” rehab start in St. Lucie last night where he lasted three innings. He threw only 61 pitches, and threw 41 of them for strikes, which was a good sign. He allowed five hits and three walks, which led to two [...]

Updated by Mitch Petanick on May 17, 2013 Adam Rubin has reported that Zack Wheeler is scheduled to start throwing again today, and is back with the team in Las Vegas. He was placed on the seven day DL, retroactive to his last start. He will rejoin the rotation next Wednesday when the team is in Iowa. Wheeler received a cortisone shot last Wednesday after being diagnosed with inflammation of the AC joint in his [...]

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. [...]

We are getting perilously close to the time in the baseball season where free-falling clubs tend to fire their manager. Should the Mets sack Terry Collins in the wake of his ripping the fans – who by the way, aren’t coming out to Citi Field these days – they can claim justifiability, but would be making a mistake. Like many quick-fixes, it will not work. Despite Collins’ outburst, firing him is not the answer as it screams panic. [...]

Any enthusiasm and energy the Mets may have had when they broke camp in St. Lucie and headed north have slowly dissipated. The visions of grandeur that Jon Niese would be the ace of the team, that Lucas Duda and Ike Davis would have breakout seasons, that Collin Cowgill would be the leadoff hitter they haven’t had since Jose Reyes, that Kirk Nieuwenhuis would rake in right field, that the bullpen couldn’t possibly be worse than [...]

The Terry Collins era was always going to go down as the bridge to brighter days. How else could you explain Sandy Alderson making Collins his first manager with the track record he possessed three years ago? Collins oversaw teams collapse in Houston and Anaheim, with the latter resulting in a mutiny. He was well-placed as a minor-league field coordinator, and could still be valuable in such a role for an organization going forward. The [...]