It's Wheeler Day!

It’s Wheeler Day!

Last Night’s Quick Scores

Prospect Pipeline

  • At 2:35 PM ET, all eyes will be on Mets prospect Zack Wheeler as he takes the mound for the 51s. After a so-so last start, Wheeler looks to rebound against the Reno Aces. As always, the pressure is on Wheeler to try to throw a high strike rate and dispel the concerns about his control. The stuff will always be there for Zack Wheeler, and every start is a step towards the future for a man who already has one foot in the door. Wheeler’s last start was a mixed bag, because he dominated the first four innings only to fall apart in the middle of the game. He was victimized by two-out hits and walks, and it will be interesting to see how he handles himself this afternoon.
  • On the topic of Mets pitching prospects, Domingo Tapia is taking the mound for St. Lucie tonight against the Tampa Yankees at 7:00 PM. Tapia is in the middle of a pretty impressive year and continues to warrant attention and respect. Matthew Bowman takes the mound for Savannah tonight, and he is also in the midst of an impressive campaign.
  • Brandon Nimmo has hit a bit of a wall since peaking at a .450 average, as he has only two hits in his last thirty at-bats. Nimmo went 0-for-4 again last night and striking out at a high rate. Another thing to note is that Nimmo has only 16 ABs against left-handers this year, and he is 2-for-16 (.125) against them. Scouts are saying that he’s taking too many fastball strikes and falling behind in the count putting opposing pitchers at an advantage.
  • Andrew Brown is still knocking the cover off the ball and is batting .360/.438/.584/1.022 in 89 at-bats. Of his 32 hits, 15 of them are of the extra-base variety including 11 doubles, 3 triples and a home run. It may be time to exit Collin Cowgill stage right, and enter Andrew Brown stage left. Cowgill has proven to be what we thought he was, a Quad-A player with a marginal skillset, but I will say this about him – he’s real gritty.
  • Rylan Sandoval is on a mini-tear, batting .316 over his eight-game hitting streak, including a grand slam last night.
  • RHP Robert Gsellman was promoted directly from Extended Camp to St. Lucie to fill the slot left open when Hansel Robles was placed on the DL before last night’s game. Gsellman gave St. Lucie four scoreless innings allowing just two hits, two walks while striking out two.
  • Josh Edgin found his edge last night and managed two scoreless innings in his return to Binghamton while striking out three.

Stat Line of the Night

Rylan Sandoval: 3-for-5, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 1 R

Transactions/Injuries

  • RHP Adrian Rosario transferred from Binghamton (AA) to Extended Spring Training.
  • INF Joe Bonfe transferred from St. Lucie (High-A) to Binghamton (AA).
  • RHP Hansel Robles was placed on the DL. We’ll follow up on that later today.
  • Pedro Feliciano rejoined the St. Lucie roster and posted a scoreless inning.
  • Cory Vaughn will miss tonight’s game with as a precaution. He was removed from last night’s game after gunning a runner down at home plate and subsequently feeling a weird sensation in his arm.
  • Tyler Pill will miss tonight’s game as the B-Mets are also giving him the night off as a precaution. It could be fatigue related. Mark Cohoon will make the start in his place.

Quote of the Day

Art Pontarelli, the Mets area scout who signed Jack Leathersich, expects the hard-throwing lefty to get to the major leagues soon and to dominate when he arrives.

“You have to like the makeup,” Pontarelli said. “The thing in my opinion that indicates he’ll be a big leaguer is he has no fear. … He thinks he’s better than the hitter.”

Leathersich, 22, was the Mets’ fifth-round draft pick in 2011 out of UMass-Lowell. Though he is listed at just 5-foot-11, his fastball frequently touches 95 mph and sits routinely at 91-92. Interestingly enough, when I spoke to Jack in February, he told me his idol was another smallish, hard-throwing lefty – Billy Wagner.

Photo of the Day

Check out those Mets farmhands...

Check out those Mets farmhands… They call that big one over there K-Plaw…