Keyshawn Askew, Photo by Ed Delany of MMO

The St. Lucie Mets entered Thursday night with the second best ERA in the Florida State League and by far the most strikeouts (202), and that trend continued with great performances from 2021 draft picks Nick Zwack and Keyshawn Askew.

AAA: The Syracuse Mets had their game in Rochester postponed due to rain. It will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Saturday, April 30th.

AA: Game One: Erie Seawolves 5 (9-7) vs. Binghamton Rumble Ponies 0 (4-11) 

Binghamton came out flat in the first game of their doubleheader against Erie. Only managing to string together four hits through seven innings. Super prospect Francisco Álvarez managed to get one of them, a first inning double, which was also the only extra base hit of the afternoon for the Rumble Ponies. But it was just a bump in the road for Erie’s starting pitcher, Adam Wolf, who shutdown the Ponies through five innings and then the Erie bullpen would slam the door on a 5-0 loss for Binghamton.

  • LHP Nate Fisher: (L, 0-1) 3.0 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO, 1 HR, 7.50 ERA
  • RHP Trey Cobb: 2.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO, 3.38 ERA
  • RHP Brian Metoyer: 1.1 IP, 0 H , 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO, 9.53 ERA

A bad second inning would doom Nate Fisher to an eventual loss as Erie scored four runs off of him with Dane Myers topping it off with a three-run home run. Trey Cobb was able to settle things down after that going 2 2/3 innings in relief giving up just one run and striking out five. Finally, it was an encouraging outing out of the bullpen for Brian Metoyer who threw 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief as he looks to shake off some early season struggles.

AA: Game Two: Erie SeaWolves (10-7) 10 vs. Binghamton Rumble Ponies (4-12) 2

The second game of Binghamton’s doubleheader didn’t go much better than the first. This time the Rumble Ponies were routed by the SeaWolves 10-2. There were, however, a few more positives at the plate for Binghamton in the nightcap of their doubleheader. Hayden Senger hit his first home run of the season and Francisco Álvarez continued to roll with another double along with an RBI, his 13th of the season.

  • RHP Jose Butto: (L, 1-2) 4.1 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 6 SO, 1 HR, 3.00 ERA
  • RHP Kevin Gadea: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 12.86 ERA
  • RHP Joe Zanghi: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 1.00 ERA

Coming into this game Jose Butto was boasting a 0.66 ERA through his first three starts of the season, arguably the hottest pitcher in the Mets’ minor league system. Unfortunately, Butto couldn’t stay hot on this chilly Binghamton evening. Through his first three innings, Butto appeared to be starting back up where he left off, firing three scoreless and hitless innings along with five strikeouts. Things unraveled immediately though in the fourth. A lead off double ended his hitless night and then on the next pitch, he’d surrender a two-run home run to Andre Lipcius. His woes would continue in the fifth as he would allow three out of his first four batters he faced reach on base before being pulled for Kevin Gadea. Gadea would get roughed up as well for four earned runs in an inning of work and the rout was on as the Rumble Ponies had a day to forget, getting outscored 15-2 in the two game sweep.

A+: Bowling Green Hot Rods (12-5) 4 vs. Brooklyn Cyclones (9-8) 1

The Cyclones offense struggled mightily against Hot Rods starting pitcher Zack Trageton as he held them scoreless through six innings. The Cyclones were able to avoid the shutout after Nic Gaddis ripped an RBI double into left field to score Jose Peroza in the eighth. But any hopes of a Brooklyn rally in the ninth were quickly extinguished as they’d go down in order and fall to Bowling Green 4-1.

  • RHP Junior Santos: (L, 0-3) 3.1 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 1 SO, 8.03 ERA
  • RHP Jesus Vargas: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 SO, 1.20 ERA

Junior Santos will be happy to see the calendar switch over to May. Santos has had a month he’d like to forget. Through his first four starts of the season he’s been roughed up to the tune of a 8.03  ERA in 12 innings. It was more of the same for Santos in this start. Bowling Green jumped all over him for four runs, seven hits and took advantage of his poor command to scratch out four walks all over 3 1/3 innings of work.

However, Jesus Vargas would come into the game in relief and keep the game close, pitching five scoreless innings with seven strikeouts. Vargas continues to enjoy success with Brooklyn. After the Mets signed him over the offseason as a minor league free agent from the Dodgers system, he has a 1.20 ERA with 15 strikeouts over 15 innings.

A: Daytona Tortugas 2 (8-9) vs. St. Lucie Mets 5 (11-6)

After a dramatic come from behind win in extra innings in the previous game, St. Lucie would beat Daytona again, this time in a more traditional nine inning game. The Mets would flex their muscles in the third inning when light hitting shortstop, Shervyen Newton drilled his first home run of the year, a two-run shot. In the next inning Carlos Dominguez would also go deep for the fourth time this season extending St. Lucie’s lead to 4-0. Alex Ramirez added an insurance run in the seventh with an RBI single as he continues to mash in Single-A, now batting .379.

  • LHP Nick Zwack: 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 SO, 4.97 ERA
  • LHP Keyshawn Askew: (W, 1-0) 5 IP, 0 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 SO, 1.13 ERA

The term “Zwack Attack” might become a trend in St. Lucie if Nick Zwack continues to put on pitching performances like this. For his second straight start, Zwack would shutout his opponent. Wednesday night though might have been his most impressive performance of the season. In four innings of work Zwack would blow away nine Tortuga batters on strikeouts, scattering only three hits and maintaining his control giving up only one walk.

Zwack was up to 94 mph with his fastball and had a very impressive 44% whiff rate for his overall arsenal on Wednesday night. The 2021 17th round pick has 24 strikeouts in 12 2/3 innings this season and only two walks in that span. The left-handers slider got 10 swings and 5 whiffs, and also added a whopping nine called strikes.

Not to be outdone, Keyshawn Askew would fire five impressive innings of his own, allowing no earned runs, no hits, no walks and punching out six and the Mets would roll to a 5-2 victory.

Askew, the Mets 10th round pick last year, was up to 93 mph with his fastball, but his star pitch of the evening was his slider that induced eight whiffs on 17 swings. He threw a career-high 30 sliders on the night, a tough pitch for hitters to pick up coming from his Askew angle. Askew has 20 strikeouts compared to only three walks and seven hits allowed in 16 innings this season.