The story of Thursday night in the Mets farm system was Brett Baty and Ronny Mauricio homering for Triple-A Syracuse with Mets’ GM Billy Eppler at the game. Lefty Joey Lucchesi also twirled a gem in the Syracuse win.
AAA: Syracuse (8-4) 4, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (6-6) 3 Box Score
- 3B Brett Baty 3-for-4, 3 RBI, HR (4th), 1.325 OPS
- 1B Mark Vientos 0-for-4, 2 K, 1.038 OPS
- SS Ronny Mauricio 1-for-4, HR (5th), 1.156
Baty slugged his fourth home run, a three-run shot, of the season in the third inning to give the Mets a 3-0 lead. Baty’s 228 wRC+ ranks third in the International League, though the two players ahead of him (Lenyn Sosa and Tyler Nevin) were recently promoted to the majors. Baty was caught stealing second and had a throwing error in the game.
Mauricio’s five home runs lead the Mets minor league system and rank second to Peyton Burdick‘s six in the International League.
- LHP Joey Lucchesi 6.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K, Win, 2.30 ERA
- RHP Bubby Rossman 1.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 2.84 ERA
- RHP Eric Orze 1 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 10.80 ERA
Lucchesi made his second straight strong start as he looks for his return to the big leagues. The left-handed got nine whiffs on 15 swings against his churve. Of note, Lucchesi had two pitch time violations.
Right-hander José Butto was supposed to start on Friday for Syracuse, but has been scratched from that start per Anthony DiComo of MLB because the Mets might decide to use a sixth starter on their upcoming road trip.
AA: Binghamton (2-4) 8, Somerset (3-3) 7 Box Score
- RF Matt Rudick 2-for-4, 2 RBI, R, 2 2B, 1.365 OPS
- CF Brandon McIlwain 2-for-5, RBI, 2 R, .600 OPS
- 1B Dariel Gomez 2-for-3, BB, RBI, R, .885 OPS
TWO IN A ROW FOR THE PONIES!
A combined 13 hits with a DOUBLE-PLAY to close out this one! 💪🏻🔥 #LetsRumble pic.twitter.com/ySuvB43LA2
— Binghamton Rumble Ponies (@RumblePoniesBB) April 14, 2023
Second baseman Luke Ritter and third baseman Mateo Gil also had two hits in the game for Binghamton, and leadoff man Wyatt Young was on base three times. The game ended in a rare double play that had a runner thrown out at home plate and then immediately at third base too.
- RHP Luis Moreno 4 IP, 7 H, 5 R (4 ER), 2 BB, 3 K, 16.88 ERA
- RHP Hunter Parsons 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, 10.80 ERA
- RHP Sammy Tavarez 2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 2.45 ERA
Parsons has eight strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings to start the season out of the Rumble Ponies bullpen.
Mets top 10 prospect Dominic Hamel gets the start for Binghamton on Friday night.
High-A: Winston Salem (3-1) 7, Brooklyn (2-4) 5 Box Score
- DH Kevin Parada 0-for-3, 2 BB, 2 R, .747 OPS
- CF Alex Ramirez 2-for-5, RBI, R, .527 OPS
- RF Stanley Consuegra 4-for-5, 4 RBI, 2 2B, .956 OPS
- SS Cesar Berbesi 2-for-4, 1.129 OPS
Consuegra had a monster game following a night when he hit a home run at 115.1 mph. The 23-year-old Berbesi is third in the South Atlantic League with his .600 OBP to start the season.
- RHP Cameron Foster 4 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 5.40 ERA
- RHP Wilkin Ramos 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 3.38 ERA
- LHP Quinn Brodey 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5.40 ERA
Foster, the Mets 14th round pick last year, was making his first professional start and only his second appearance.
Low-A: St. Lucie (1-4) 9, Jupiter (3-2) 1 Box Score
- SS Jett Williams 2-for-4, 3B, 2 BB, 3 R, .883 OPS
- LF Abraham Almonte (rehab) 1 -for-2, HR (1st), BB, 2 R, 1.300 OPS
- DH Jacob Reimer 1-for-4, BB, 3 RBI, .742 OPS
- C Vincent Perozo 2-for-4, 2B, BB, R, 1.083 OPS
Williams, one of the Mets’ two first rounders last season, had a big night at the plate and just missed hitting a home run. Reminder that Williams will play the entire season at 19 years old. Perozo will play the second at just 20 years old behind the plate.
- RHP Layonel Ovalles 5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, Win, 1.80 ERA
- RHP Douglas Orellana 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, Save, 0.00 ERA
Ovalles ranks No. 15 on my Mets top prospect list that will be out soon. The 19-year-old was up to 95 mph with his fastball on Thursday and two of his curveballs got over 60 inches of vertical break.
Orellana, 20, had his fastball up to 97 mph with above-average spin.
The St. Lucie Mets play a doubleheader on Friday starting at 4 p.m. with right-hander Jawilme Ramirez starting the first game.