Mets Minors 4/15 Report: Montero Is Just Plain Loco, Nimmo Still Raking, Mazzoni Scratched With Sore Arm

Phil Evans is heating up after making some adjustments to his approach.

Last Night’s Quick Scores

Prospect Pipeline

Zack Wheeler, who had walked six batters in his first 8.1 innings this season, did not walk any Fresno batters in Sunday’s matchup. He now has seventeen strikeouts and six walks this year, which is a solid ratio. At this point, Wheeler is just bored pitching in the minor leagues. We will see a different side of Wheeler once he is finally called up to the show.
Rafael Montero continues to pump out quality starts. Through three starts in 2013, he has thoroughly dominated Double-A hitters, pitching in 16.2 innings, striking out 21 batters and only walking one. That is a ridiculous ratio. Montero has established himself as an early promotion candidate, and don’t be surprised to see him get the call up to Triple-A when Wheeler gets promoted. Montero is the youngest pitcher in the top two levels of the organization (AA/AAA).
Montero also impressed Akron pitching coach, Greg Hibbard: “Once he got into a rhythm and found his arm slot, he just dominated us. Good command, good fastball — 94 mph high, 92 average. … From a developmental standpoint, the changeup — that’s probably the third-best pitch — needs a little work. For righties, that’s often the last thing to come along.”
Brandon Nimmo looks to be on a mission to prove the doubters that he was worthy of a first round selection. He now ranks second in batting in the South Atlantic League, with a .405 batting average. He trails teammate Kevin Plawecki, who has a .410 average.
Scouting expert Mike Newman is glowing about Travis d’Arnaud. “If not for D’Arnaud’s recent string of injuries, I’d prefer him over Mike Zunino. Back in 2009, I saw a .285 hitter with 18-25 home run potential and his surge in minor league production has made this a real possibility. I’d loved to see him get the nod on opening day, but John Buck is serviceable, so why push D’Arnaud’s arbitration clock? Sometimes being a pragmatic prospect guy really ruins the fun doesn’t it?” (Joe D.)
Another scout on Wheeler yesterday: “Very good. 94-98 w// good life on all pitches. Pitched better than line indicates. No sign of finger bothering him” (Joe D.)
Luis Mateo is getting called up from St. Lucie to make one spot start. Cory Mazzoni is going to miss one start with Binghamton because of arm soreness that for now is not considered serious. Mateo has nine strikeouts and two walks in 6.2 scoreless innings this season. Mateo will return to PSL after his start. (Joe D.)
Cory Vaughn hit a three-run home run on Sunday. It was the first B-Met home run with runners on base. Vaughn finished the series with a robust seven RBI. (Joe D.)
Mets left-hander Steven Matz delivered a solid performance this weekend which was great to see. Frank Viola has asked the young southpaw to scrap his curveball and go with his slider which seems to be making a positive and significant difference. In 5.0 innings, he allowed one unearned run on four hits while walking one and striking out seven. This is what a great pitching coach is supposed to do. (Joe D.)
Shortstop Phillip Evans is heating up. On Sunday he went 3-for-4 with three singles and it’s great to seem him making adjustments on the fly as he has stopped pulling everything and is now going the other way while being more selective at the plate. Evans is a strong kid and will hit for power, but he needed to understand that contact is the name of the game and it seems like he gest that now. (Joe D.)

Stat Line of the Night

Brian Harrison: 3-for-4, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 R

Tweet Of The Day

Don’t measure success by how far you’ve gone. Measure success by how far you have come. #itsthelittlethings

— Michael Fulmer (@MFulmer12) April 15, 2013