Minors Recap: Luke Ritter Hits 10th Homer

There were lots of home runs on the Mets’ minor league side on Thursday, including the 10th of the season from Luke Ritter as Francisco Alvarez hit one in his first rehab game and A.J. Ewing homered for the third straight game.

Triple-A

Buffalo Bisons (29-25) 8, Syracuse Mets (32-21) 4

BOX SCORE

SS Luisangel Acuña: 0-for-4 (.669 OPS)
1B Luke Ritter: 1-for-3, HR (10) 2 RBIs (37), BB (.886 OPS)
2B Jose Iglesias: 0-for-4, (.751 OPS)
RF Rhylan Thomas: 2-for-4, 2 R, (7.12 OPS)
DH Rylan Bannon: 0-for-2, 2 BB, R, (.881 OPS)

Luke Ritter

The versatile Ritter hit his 10th home run of the season, which ranks him second among Mets minor leaguers this season after leading the group with 27 home runs last year. The 27-year-old has experience at SS, 2B, 1B, 3B and LF.

Bannon is one of seven players in the International League this season with more walks than strikeouts.

RHP Mike Vasil (7.59 ERA) 5.1 IP, 3 H, 5 R (4 ER), 2 BB, 4 K
RHP Cole Sulser (2.60 ERA) 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K

Cole Sulser pitched for the Mets last night while his brother Beau pitched for the Bisons, marking the first time they’ve pitched in the same game professionally.

Francisco Alvarez, Photo by Bronson Harris of the Binghamton Rumble Ponies

Double-A

Binghamton Rumble Ponies (25-21) 8, Harrisburg Senators (28-20)

BOX SCORE

SS Wyatt Young: 2-for-3, RBI, BB, 2B, (.874 OPS)
DH Kevin Parada: 1-for-4, 2 K (.672 OPS)
1B Ryan Clifford: 1-for-3, BB, 2 RBI, 2B (.582 OPS)
C Francisco Alvarez: 1-for-2, HR, 3 RBI, BB

The big news of the night for the Mets organization was Alvarez playing in his first game since undergoing thumb surgery and hitting a home run for Binghamton during a rehab assignment. The Mets’ starting catcher caught five innings in the game as well.

Young leads the Eastern League with his .432 on-base percentage.

RHP Justin Jarvis (2.21 ERA) 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K, Win

Jarvis is having his best stretch since coming over from the Milwaukee Brewers for Mark Canha last season. The 24-year-old struck out 10 over 5 1/3 scoreless innings his last time out.

Nick Morabito, Photo by Steven Wojtowicz of Metsmerized

High-A

Brooklyn Cyclones (26-22) 9, Jersey Shore BlueClaws (26-22) 6

BOX SCORE

RF Nick Morabito: 2-for-4, R, 2B, SB, RBI, BB, (.913 OPS)
2B Jefrey De Los Santos: 2-for-4, HR, 3 RBI, BB, 2B, (.602 OPS)
1B Mateo Gil: 3-for-5, 2 RBI, 2 2B, (.732 OPS)
C Christopher Suero: 0-for-2, 3 BB, SB, 3 R, (.604 OPS)

Morabito continues to dominate minor league pitching this season, as his 185 wRC+ ranks 8th among 1,013 qualified minor league hitters while he also has 24 stolen bases to his name.

RHP Jawilme Ramirez (3.86 ERA) 5 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

The 22-year-old Ramirez was making just his second start of the season.

Our own Steven Wojtowicz was at the game and got a ton of great photos!

Low-A

Dunedin Blue Jays (25-23) 5, St. Lucie Mets (14-34) 4 – 10 Innings

BOX SCORE

DH Ronald Hernandez: 2-for-5, HR (2), (.758 OPS)
LF Jeffry Rosa 2-for-5, HR (3), (.670 OPS)
2B Boston Baro: 1-for-3, HR (1), 2 RBI, 2 BB, (.746 OPS)

Hernandez is hitting .370/.433/.494 with 12 RBIs in 21 May games. His 425-foot home run was the longest of the night in the Florida State League.

RHP Jack Wenninger (4.87 ERA) 7 IP, 4 H, 3 R (2 ER), 0 BB, 12 K

It’s the third time this season that Wenninger has reached double-digit strikeouts, and his 32.6 K% leads the Florida State League. The 22-year-old led all of baseball (MLB included) with 24 whiffs on Thursday.

Florida Complex League

FCL Marlins (12-5) 6, FCL Mets (9-9) 3 – F/10

BOX SCORE

CF A.J. Ewing: 2-for-5, HR, RBI, 2 R, (.958 OPS)
SS Jeremy Rodriguez: 2-for-4, HR (2), 2B, BB (.972 OPS)
3B Jake Zitella: 1-for-2, 2 BB (.832 OPS)
2B Yonatan Henriquez 1-for-2, 2 BB, (.776 OPS)

Ewing and Rodríguez are two of the best players in the FCL and should probably see time with the St. Lucie Mets soon. Ewing, 19, has a 146 WRC+, and Rodríguez, 17, has a 159 wRC+. It was the third straight game with a home run for Ewing, who is tied for the league lead.