Last Night’s Quick Scores

• Las Vegas bounce back to defeat Salt Lake, 6-5.
• Binghamton loses final game to Trenton 7-3, to split series at two apiece.
• St. Lucie drops two games to Daytona, scheduled game 4-3, and makeup game, 6-5.
• Savannah loses second game in row to Lexington, 5-2. 
• Brooklyn opened series against Lowell with a 9-3 victory.
• Kingsport avoids sweep to dominate Burlington, 11-3.
  

Prospect Pipeline

• Noah Syndergaard tossed five innings, allowing two runs (1 earned) on five hits, walking two and struck out eight. Even though Thor threw a dominating game, he did not earn the victory. Miguel Socolovich gave up three runs (2 earned) in the top of the 7th inning, to temporarily put the Bees in the lead.
• Matt Reynolds launched a three-run shot over the left field fence in the 7th inning to put the 51s in the lead for good. Reynolds hit his first Triple A home run on Saturday, making it two straight days.
• T.J. Rivera singled on Sunday to extend his current hit streak to five games.  In his last ten games, Rivera is batting .395 (15 for 38), with two doubles and seven RBI’s.
• Rainy Lara (5-4, 4.98) gave up seven runs on 11 hits, giving up two home runs and only struck out one batter.  Lara has not won a decision since June 30, which dates back five starts including Sunday’s loss. In his last ten starts, he is 3-3, with a 5.68 ERA.
• Jeremy Hefner pitches three innings, allowing three runs on three hits, walking four and striking out four. This was Hefner’s first start with St. Lucie on his comeback trail from Tommy John surgery. He pitched in three games with the Gulf Coast Mets prior to Sunday’s start.
• Wilfredo Tovar started for St. Lucie in the doubleheader, is first two games with St. Lucie since coming off the DL, and a combined 1 for 7, with an RBI.
•  Dario Alvarez suffered his first blown save and loss on the same night as he gave up three earned runs in the eighth inning.
• Michael Conforto goes 2 for 4 to extend his current hit streak to nine games. What a start to his pro career, as he has at least one hit in each of his first nine games.
• Amed Rosario went 2 for 6 and extended his current hitting streak to ten games. He is batting .383, (18 for 47), with 10 runs scored and eight RBI’s in that span.
• Cyclone outfielder Michael Bernal went 4 for 4 with Four RBI’s in the victory.
• Wuilmer Becerra finished 2 for 5, and has three straight multi-hit games. In his last ten games, Becerra is batting .366 (14 for 41), with two home runs.

Prospect Injury Update

• Kevin Plawecki still has not returned to the 51s and hasn’t played since July 17th. Plawecki has been sidelined with a mild case of vertigo. According to Robert Brender, he caught in the bullpen yesterday for the 51s, a sign that he could be close to returning.
  

Fun Tweet From The Farm 

Airport Prank!! Watch the @LasVegas51s play the old dollar bill on a string trick!! @mets@SportsNation@SportsCenterhttps://t.co/W1XnyHxmFn

— Anthony Seratelli (@ars1productions) July 21, 2014

(Feature Photo Credit:  K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

The post Mets Minors Report 7/28: Thor Dominates, Conforto Is Sizzling, Alvarez Is Human Afterall appeared first on Metsmerized.

The stories of the spring have been dominated by injuries to Ike Davis, Daniel Murphy, Lucas Duda and all the drama with Rubin Tejada, plus all the news with the current pitching staff and future studs on the mound.

But each spring there always seems to be one story that stands out from the rest, and doesn’t get much fanfare, but is truly a story worth sharing.

Back in early March, Anthony Dicomo of MLB.com, wrote a fantastic post about Anthony Seratelli and how his father’s sudden passing back in February of 2011, fueled his desires to not only reach the major leagues but to dedicate his journey to his father, Russell Seratelli. It is truly a must read.

Seratelli, 31, who is a native of New Jersey, has played in the minor leagues for the past eight seasons without ever making it into a major league game. His path as a pro ballplayer has been long and arduous, but it has’t deterred him from continuing to pursue his dreams.

The utility infielder, spent the 2013 season with the Kansas City Royal’s Triple-A affiliate and batted .273/.395/.413, with 17 doubles, 11 home runs, 41 RBI, 24 stolen bases, and 77 walks in 487 plate appearances.

In his eight minor league seasons he has compiled a .276 batting average, with 67 home runs and 382 RBI, which makes me wonder, why he hasn’t gotten some sort of opportunity to make the major league roster or even a call up when rosters expanded in September’s past. But things happen for a reason and it would be great for the younger Seratelli to make his major league debut with the Mets in front of family and friends.

Having a versatile ball player is always a plus on any team and Terry Collins looks at Seratelli as someone worth keeping, “He can play any position, he can switch-hit, he can run. That’s nice to have a guy like that on the bench.”

At Friday’s spring training game in Fort Myers against the Minnesota Twins, I witnessed Collins taking a moment to give Seratelli some pointers on how to approach each at bat.

As Spring Training winds down to an end, Seratelli’s family and friends wait anxiously for the opportunity to celebrate him making the team. And even though it can be nerve-racking and keeps them on edge, they know how significant it would be for him to break camp with the Mets, “It would simply mean a lot because he has been extremely committed and has worked so hard every step of the way,” his mother Victoria Seratelli told me on Saturday.

Anthony Seratelli’s story is one worth keeping tabs on this coming week. The hope is that he is one of the 25 players who get to travel back up North to Citi Field on March 31 when they play the Washington Nationals. It would finally make all the years of hard work and dedication worth it.

If all goes as expected for him a week from today, he’ll end one chapter in an inspiring story and begin a new one as major league ballplayer.

(Photos: Anthony J. Causi, David Conde)

The post Seratelli Closing In On His Major League Dream appeared first on Metsmerized.

The New York Mets play the Miami Marlins at Roger Dean Stadium at 1:05 PM in Jupiter today. Left-hander John Lannan opposes right-hander Henderson Alvarez. The game will be broadcast on WOR 710 AM.

Lannan is back in contention for a rotation spot after Terry Collins said he would likely open season in the Mets bullpen as the second lefthander.

There’s a good chance that the Mets starting rotation will be Bartolo Colon, Dillon Gee, Zack Wheeler, Daisuke Matsuzaka and John Lannan to open the season if Jon Niese were to miss considerable time.

Jenrry Mejia is also considered to be in contention but the Mets prefer to keep him in the bullpen to start the season. Same goes for Rafael Montero.

Many of the Mets regulars were given Monday off including David Wright, Travis d’Arnaud, Curtis Granderson and Eric Young Jr. Their flight from Las Vegas didn’t arrive to New York until midnight.

Here is the starting lineup for the Mets:

1. Matt den Dekker, LF
2. Ruben Tejada, SS
3. Kirk Nieuwenhuis, CF
4. Zach Lutz, 1B
5. Eric Campbell, 3B
6. Anthony Recker, DH
7. Juan Centeno, C
8. Anthony Seratelli, RF
9. Omar Quintanilla, 2B

Den Dekker and Nieuwenhuis are two of the hottest players in the Grapefruit League. MDD leads the league in batting and OBP. Tejada needs a two-hit day desperately if only to get the media pressure off his back for a day.

Agree or disagree with this prediction from a veteran scout on Sunday.

“The Mets are out of it at the July 31 trade deadline and they trade Bartolo Colon for Didi Gregorius. That way they keep their young pitching and save some money, too.”

Enjoy the game and Lets Go Mets!

The post MMO Game Thread: Mets vs Marlins, 1:05 PM appeared first on Metsmerized.

A number of Mets headed west to Las Vegas on Friday for a two game series with the Chicago Cubs. The following is the complete roster of who made the trip to Sin City as announced by the team.

Pitchers: RHP Joel Carreno, Bartolo Colon, RHP Cory Mazzoni, Mejia, RHP Rafael Montero, RHP Bobby Parnell, RHP Ryan Reid, RHP Miguel Socolovich and RHP Carlos Torres

Catchers: Juan Centeno, Travis d’Arnaud and Kevin Plawecki.

Infielders: Wilmer Flores, Zach Lutz, Omar Quintanilla, Anthony Seratelli and David Wright.

Outfielders: Andrew Brown, Eric Campbell, Curtis Granderson, Juan Lagares, Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Eric Young

Field staff: manager Terry Collins, first-base coach Tom Goodwin, pitching coach Dan Warthen, bullpen catchers Dave Racaniello and Eric Langill, Triple-A Las Vegas manager Wally Backman and Vegas hitting coach George Greer.

Terry Collins would have preferred not split up his team and fly 2,000 miles for two games and told the NY Post that some of his stars would be in for a rude awakening once they see the stadium’s facilities.

“They will not be OK,” Collins said, comparing it to the major league weight rooms his players are used to. “It will get their attention. It’s fine. It’s Vegas. It’s in the desert, so the ball is going to be flying, especially if the wind is blowing.”

Bartolo Colon will start the game on Saturday at 4:10 PM EST, while Jenrry Mejia gets the nod on Sunday, same time. Today’s game in Vegas will be broadcast only on WGN. 

The post Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas appeared first on Metsmerized.

Photo: NY Post, Anthony J. Causi

Ken Davidoff has a column in Friday’s post that will leave “Negative Nellie” Met fans howling. Davidoff features a utility infielder, a local kid from New Jersey, who signed a minor league contract with the Mets over the winter, was invited to camp, and as Davidoff sees it, has a legitimate chance to make the team coming north in April.

This could be baseball’s “feel good” story of the 2014 season. His name is Anthony Seratelli. He’s a scrappy, 31-year old infielder who has been fighting for recognition and respect on the baseball diamond since he first wore a glove.

Seratelli was cut from his Old Bridge High School baseball team as a freshman. Overlooked by college recruiter’s everywhere, Seratelli walked on the the field at Seton Hall and made the team. The pattern of overlooks and disappointments continued when Seratelli attracted no major league notice during the draft.

But, Seratelli loves the game of baseball, and his uneven path finding his way up baseball’s ladder steeled him to take nothing for granted and to search for alternative means to prove he could play.

That alternative path saw Seratelli spending a year formally out of the game after graduating from college before playing in 2006 for the Windy City ThunderBolts of the Frontier League. Seratelli’s play in an open tryout at the Kansas City Royals complex caught the eyes of some Royal personnel and at long last, on his 24th birthday, the persistent infielder signed his first contract to play professionally.

Nothing has come easy for Seratelli over seven years in the Royals system. Slowly and painstakingly, the gritty Seratelli has moved up through the system from Rookie-level ball in the Pioneer League all the way to Triple-A in Omaha where he played in 2012 and 2013. As Davidoff aptly put it, Seratelli was too good a player to cut loose but not quite good enough to earn a spot on the 40-man roster.

“I’ve been beaten down. I just keep trying to get there,” Seratelli told Davidoff.

This winter, the Mets were one of two teams (Tampa Bay was the other) to inquire about Seratelli’s services. With the Mets fluid shortstop situation, Seratelli liked his odds of turning heads in Port St. Lucie when Terry Collins indicated the team would like to give him a look at shortstop during spring training.

Both Terry Collins and Sandy Alderson have mentioned his name at spring training camp, a sign that Collins is true to his word. Alderson noted the Met brass likes Seratelli’s profile.

Seratelli has several assets the Mets like. He’s a switch hitter with the versatility that is a valued commodity in a utility player. In trying to do everything possible to catch on with a team, he has equipped himself to play every infield position as well as both corner outfield spots. Davidoff notes Seratelli’s plate discipline as proven by the .276/.372/.418 numbers he’s posted in over 3,200 minor league plate appearances. And, Seratelli runs the bases well swiping 184 bags at an impressive 80.7 success rate.

“I’m very proud of my on-base-percentage. I feel it gets overlooked a lot,” Seratelli told Davidoff. “But, its been brought up quite a bit here, which I’m happy about. I know that the Mets are high on that. I hope that makes me help the team.”

Last season it was Scott Rice who charmed New York baseball fans with a grit an determination that saw him finally make his major league debut after pitching for 14 years in the minor leagues. Rice’s rises to Flushing drew howls from the skeptics, but the lanky lefty won over most Met fans with his impressive outputs out of the bullpen.

Rice’s story line differs from Seratelli. Rice entered professional baseball as a highly regarded first round draft pick in 1999 but injuries and bad luck slowed his progress. At no point in his baseball career has Seratelli drawn the raves and attention that Scott Rice once enjoyed. It’s the iron will, the stubborn perseverance, and the refusal to give up on a dream that links the two determined Mets.

The post Anthony Seratelli Has A Shot To Make Big League Team appeared first on Metsmerized.

Seratelli, 30, has played all four infield positions and  some outfield while batting .276/.337/ .418 in his eight year minor league career. The New Jersey native batted .273 last season with 11 home runs and 41 RBI in 487 plate appearances for Triple-A Omaha in the Royals organization.

Carreno, 26, was signed out of the Dominican Republic by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2004. The soft-tossing righty last pitched in 2012 when he 0-2 with a 6.14 ERA and 1.68 WHIP in 11 appearances including two starts for the Blue Jays. He was torched for seven home runs in 22 innings. Last season, he went a combined 6-3 with a 2.43 ERA for Double-A New Hampshire and Triple-A Buffalo.

Both Seratelli and Carreno will be invited to Major League Spring Training.

The post Mets Sign IF/OF Anthony Seratelli and RHP Joel Carreno to Minor League Deals appeared first on Metsmerized.