The Mets’ affiliates as a whole struggled Thursday, though Jonah Tong and Tyler Stuart impressed with dominant performances on the mound in two of the best games of their respective professional careers up to this point.
Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized
Triple-A
Syracuse Mets (12-10) 1, Columbus Clippers (9-14) 9
- LF Ben Gamel 0-for-1, 3 BB, K (.918 OPS)
- DH Luke Ritter 0-for-4, 2 K (.830 OPS)
- 3B Mark Vientos 0-for-3, BB, 2 K (.917 OPS)
- 2B Luisangel Acuña 0-for 4, K (.560 OPS)
Syracuse only managed two hits on the day, though it did draw a whopping eight walks. Unfortunately, it could only turn that into one run, which came off a Taylor Kohlwey groundout.
- LHP Joey Lucchesi (2.42 ERA) 5 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 6 H, 2 BB, 3 K (61 of 94 pitches for strikes)
- RHP Jon Duplantier (9.00) 1/3 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 3 BB (14 of 29 pitches for strikes)
- RHP Eric Orze (5.59) 1 2/3 IP, 1 BB, 1 K (10 of 19 pitches for strikes)
- RHP Shintaro Fujinami (13.50) 1/3 IP, 6 R, 3 ER, 1 H, 4 BB (11 of 29 pitches for strikes)
- RHP Grant Hartwig (4.70) 1 2/3 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 3 K (19 of 33 pitches for strikes)
Lucchesi had a strong outing, but Fujinami was victimized by both poor control and an error by Acuña that left him with an ugly stat line. He has struggled all season for Syracuse, dealing with the same command issues that plagued him in the major leagues last year.
Double-A
Binghamton Rumble Ponies (8-9) 5, New Hampshire Fisher Cats (8-10) 2
- CF Matt Rudick 1-for-5, HR (1), 2 RBI (6), K (.531 OPS)
- 2B Rowdey Jordan 1-for-4, 2 R, SB (2), K (.593 OPS)
- RF Alex Ramírez 3-for-4, 2B, R, RBI, 2 SB (9), BB (.937 OPS)
- 1B JT Schwartz 0-for-2, 2 BB (.724 OPS)
- DH Kevin Parada 0-for-5, 2 K (.677 OPS)
The Rumble Ponies looked good on offense as they continued to thrive off the rebirth of Ramírez while Rudick hit a two-run home run in the ninth inning that put Binghamton up for good.
Jett Williams was missing from the lineup once again with no injury explanation.
- RHP Tyler Stuart (3.45) 6 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 12 K, (54 of 81 pitches for strikes)
- RHP Luis Moreno (6.75) 3 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 3 K (32 of 54 pitches for strikes)
Stuart is in the zone right now, building off his prior strong outing with one of his best starts as a professional. He struck out 12 batters on only 81 pitches while going six innings. Moreno would end up coming in to pitch the final three innings and got credit for the win despite first blowing the save.
High-A
Wilmington Blue Rocks (12-6) 1, Brooklyn Cyclones (9-9) 0
- DH Nolan McLean 0-for-3, BB (1.072 OPS)
- LF Stanley Consuegra 1-for-4, 2B, K (.690 OPS)
- 1B Nick Lorusso 0-for-4 (.877 OPS)
Brooklyn’s offense, after its recent scoring outburst, went missing today. They managed just four hits and one walk on the day while no Cyclone recorded more than one hit.
- LHP Felipe De La Cruz (3.06) 4 2/3 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 6 K (56 of 84 pitches for strikes)
- RHP Victor Castaneda (4.15) 2 1/3 IP, 2 K (14 of 26 pitches for strikes)
- RHP Jordany Ventura (3.48) 2 IP, 1 H, 2 K (15 of 24 pitches for strikes)
The Cyclones had a great pitching day overall, with the only blemish being a run-scoring single in the fifth inning that would wind up marking the difference. Ventura has come out strong to start the season, striking out 15 batters in 10 1/3 innings.
Low-A
St. Lucie Mets (8-10) 0, Daytona Tortugas (10-8) 2
- 1B Christopher Suero 2-for-2, 2 BB 2 CS (4) (.937 OPS)
- C Ronald Hernandez 0-for-4, PO, K (.630 OPS)
- CF Nick Morabito 1-for-4 (.993 OPS)
- 3B Colin Houck 1-for-3, BB, K (.643 OPS)
- SS Jesus Baez 0-for-4 (.705 OPS)
St. Lucie’s offense was also missing in action today, managing five hits and four walks while getting caught stealing twice. When you are barely getting on base and trying to manufacture runs, getting thrown out is a less than ideal way to accomplish said goal.
- RHP Jonah Tong (0.00) 6 IP, 2 H, 9 K (58 of 84 pitches for strikes)
- RHP Austin Troesser (2.63) 2 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 3 K, 1 HR allowed (23 of 33 pitches for strikes)
Tong had an outstanding outing as he shares the spotlight with Stuart among Mets’ minor leaguers. He is currently striking out nearly 50% of the hitters he faces on the season. St. Lucie held strong despite scoring no runs until Troesser, who has been great this season, allowed a two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth.
