Las Vegas 7, Colorado Springs 6

Vegas held on to beat Colorado Springs as Rafael Montero didn’t fare well against the Milwaukee Triple-A squad. Montero was ineffective in five innings, giving up four runs on eight hits, while walking two and striking out five. Righthander Chase Bradford struck out one in a scoreless eighth, while Righty Paul Sewald notched his sixth save in a scoreless ninth. The thousand-dollar 10th rounder in 2013 Sewald has continued to be excellent, with a 1.80 ERA so far in Triple-A. We should have a profile on him up soon.

Rivera led the offense with a 4 for 5 night with a triple, two runs batted in, and a strikeout. Shortstop Niuman Romero, who was called up from Binghamton, had a 2 for 4 night while drawing a walk. Right Fielder Travis Taijeron hit a three run homer in the first inning en route to a 1 for 5 day. It was his Sixth Homer of the year. Third Baseman Ty Kelly also hit a homer in a 1 for 4 day, while walking once and striking out once.

Binghamton 5 , Altoona 4

Binghamton beat Pittsburgh’s Double-A affiliate by a close score of 5 to 4. Righty Tyler Pill threw six innings of two-run ball, while giving up five hits and two walks while striking out six in one of his better performances. The bullpen struggled and gave up two runs in the next three innings.

Carrillo went 3 for 3 with a walk and a double, raising his batting average to .280. Xorge Carrillo also allowed two steals. First Baseman Dominic Smith hit an RBI single and struck out in his 1 for 4 day. He is currently batting .280 on the season and his 31 RBI’s are second in the Eastern League, and his 42 hits are tied for third in the Eastern League.

Charleston 1, Columbia 0

Columbia falls to .500 for the year after a shutout by three Charleston pitchers. The Fireflies struck out 14 times against the Yankees Affiliate. Lefthander Kevin Canelon and did very well, but the offense did not back him up against Lefthander Nestor Cortes and two relievers. Canelon had a great outing against Charleston, recording six innings, while giving up a run on four hits and a walk. He struck out Six in these six innings, and currently sports an ERA of 3.00.

Jose Garcia had two singles and a strikeout in three at bats, raising his batting average on the year to .255. Right Fielder Kevin Kaczmarski was 1 for 4 with a strikeouts.  Designated Hitter Patrick Mazeika was 1 for 4 with two strikeouts, keeping his batting average at .250 on the very young year for him. Al Rabon has a full recap of the game on MetsMinors.net.

Ted’s Prospect Extras:

DSL Extended Performances:

Shervyen Newton 1-4

Edison Valdez 1-4, 2K

Wilmi Valdez 2-4, 2B

Gregory Guerrero 1-1

Check out MetsMinors.net, your #1 source for Mets prospect news!

The post Mets Minors Recap: Ty Kelly Homers, Average Up To .407 appeared first on Metsmerized.

Las Vegas (28-17) 9, Colorado Springs 2

In just hit 4th start of the season Duane Below threw his 2nd consecutive complete game this time allowing two runs (one earned) on seven hits, zero walks, and two strikeouts. Earlier in the day Below was named the PCL Pitcher of the Week for May 18-24th. He needed only 91 pitches (61 strikes) that produced 15 groundouts to compared to six flyouts, this is 6 days after he needed only 98 pitches to throw a complete game shutout. With the outing Below lowered his ERA 2.18, WHIP to .109 while picking up his 4th win of the season. He has held lefties to a .213 average, 0.87 WHIP while only one run in 18.1 innings when pitching on the road.

Matt Reynolds had a big day out of the leadoff spot going 3-5 scoring two turns and hitting two doubles tying him for 2nd in the PCL with 16. T.J. Rivera was 2-4 with two RBI’s, two runs scored, and a double raising his average to .424 in Vegas. Rivera has started 8 games since being promoted getting a hit in each one and getting multiple hits in his last four. In his first game since his demotion  Johnny Monell collected two hits and 4 RBI’s including his 3rd double in AAA. Alex Castellanos started in CF for the first time all year and went 1-3 knocking in two runs with his 12th double of the year, he now has 31 RBI’s good for 6th in the PCL. Brandon Allen was 2-3 with his 5th HR and his 2nd of the holiday weekend. Box Score. Steven Matz (5-2, 2.24) gets the start tonight at Cashman field at 10:05 ET against Col. Springs.

Akron 6, Binghamton (24-20) 1

Rainy Lara bounced back from his shortest start of the season (2 innings) to go 6 solid inning allowing four runs (three earned) on eight hits with zero walks and seven strikeouts. Vic Black followed him with a perfect inning inducing a groundout from his final batter on a 94 MPH fastball, while also getting a flyout and a called strikeout. Julian Hilario had another bad outing giving up two runs in his inning of work and has now allowed a run in three consecutive appearances.

The B’Mets were held scoreless through the first 8 innings until Jairo Perez (2-4) knocked in Xorge Carrillo who has doubled with a groundout in the 9th. Gavin Cecchini went 1-4 but had his 11th error of the season and his 8th of the throwing variety. Cecchini is now hitting .283/.345/.453 on the season out of the leadoff spot where he has stuck since the Brandon Nimmo injury. Jayce Boyd was 1-4 extending his hitting streak to 11 games and is hitting .385 over his last ten. Box Score. Gabriel Ynoa (2-2, 4.35) is on the mound tonight in Binghamton as they host the Portland Sea Dogs at 6:35.

St. Lucie had the day off but are back at it tonight against Lakeland at 6:30.

Asheville 5, Savannah (19-25) 3

Sand Gnats starter Corey Oswalt had a 3-2 lead heading into the top of 7th before the wheels when he let two straight hitters reach when they tried to give themselves up on sac bunts. Asheville tied the score at 3-3 when Oswalt threw away the 2nd sac bunt allowing a runner to score and put runners on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out. Alberto Baldonado came in to get the final two outs in the 7th but let the go-ahead run score on a sac fly. Oswalt allowed four runs (two earned) on eleven hits, balk, walk, while striking out five and while picking off two runners at 1st.  Baldonado went 2.2 innings giving up two runs on four baserunners while striking out just one.

Eudor Garcia was the offensive force for Savannah has he was 2-4 with his 1st triple, scored a run, and drove in two to give him 9 RBI’s in 20 games since being activated. Garcia has a hit in 8 out of the last 10 games, hitting .382 with 7 RBI’s over that span. Luis Guillorme collected two more hits giving him 7 over his last four games and now has him 4th in SAL in average (.324), 11th in OBP (.388). Vicente Lupo had his 2nd straight multi-hit game that has seen his average go from .156 to .184 in just two days. Box Score. Savannah is back at it tonight with Brad Wieck (1-4, 3.41) taking the mound against Asheville at 7:05.

Over the long holiday weekend:

Las Vegas lost on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday all to OK. City who outscored them 14-7 in the three games with Matthew Bowman, Darin Gorski, and Tyler Pill picking up the losses.

Binghamton went 2-1 with Matt Koch and Beck Wheeler getting the wins out of the bullpen while Seth Lugo took the loss on Sunday for the Mets. Friday night Jayce Boyd hit his 1st HR off the season while Michael Fulmer pitched 5.1 innings giving up two runs (zero earned) in his 4th start for the B’Mets. On Saturday they won 5-4 with help from Cecchini who hit his 4th HR of the season

St. Lucie swept the weekend series against Dunedin outscoring them 24-7 in the three game sweep. Rob Whalen, Kevin McGowan, and Robert Gsellman each picked up a victory in their starts over the weekend. Gsellman moved to 6-0 on Sunday with his ERA sitting 1.76 while giving up just 6.5 H/9 and sporting a 3.36 SO/W ratio. The big news for the Mets this weekend was the successful of their hitting prospects at high-A with Michael Conforto, Dominic Smith, and Amed Rosario combining to go 16-37 with seven RBI’s. Conforto was 5-13 with the RBI’s and a double in each game giving him 12 on the year tying him for 1st in the FSL. Smith went 5-12 with two RBI’s and pushed his slugging percentage to .308 the highest it has been since game three on April 11th. Amed Rosario went 6-12 with three walks, two RBI’s and now has six multi-hit games in his last 10 that has raised his season line to .277/.322/.380.

Savannah went 2-2 this weekend sweeping a doubleheader on Friday but losing on Saturday and Sunday. Josh Prevost and David Roseboom picked up the Friday victories while Wuilmer Becerra hit his 5th HR of the year on Saturday.

The post Mets Minor League Recap: Below Goes Distance Again, Reynolds Three Hits appeared first on Metsmerized.

Travis d’Arnaud has had his struggles since being promoted to the big leagues in 2013, mostly from trying to live up to the pressures of playing in the big city and producing.

Coming into the 2014 season, the hype grew even larger and it might have just been too much for the young rookie to bear. So on June 7, the Mets made the right choice to demote d’Arnaud to Las Vegas who was only hitting .180 at the time. Many wondered, including myself, what would come of it, but it was obvious that d’Arnaud needed a fresh start and a new outlook on his future.

What looked like a bad situation, has actually helped turn d’Arnaud’s season around.

When the rookie catcher first arrived in Vegas, Marc Carig of Newsday writes that a roundtable session was set up, and it included 51s manager Wally Backman, hitting coach George Greer and pitching coach Frank Viola. All three helped d’Arnaud talk through the anxieties that weighed him down and helped to clear his head.

The support that he initially received helped to get him back on the right track, “I’ve had a lot of support,” d’Arnaud tells Newsday. “And I had a lot of help immediately, which was huge for me.”

In 15 games with the 51s, d’Arnaud hit .436 (24 for 55), six home runs and 16 RBI’s.

“He just needed to slow things down and understand that he was good enough to be who they wanted him to be,” Viola said. “But he had to be good enough for him first. He was putting so much undue pressure on himself that he just had to take a little time to step back.”

Viola continued, “He realized, ‘You know what? I am my own worst enemy right now.’ He got down here, he took care of his own little demons whatever they might have been, he saw the ball, hit the ball, and called the game. He did everything that was asked of him.”

That is all any coach or manager could ask for and what came of the initial decision to send him down, could become a saving grace on his career.

Since returning to the Mets on June 24th, d’Arnaud is hitting .295 (18 for 61) with five doubles, three home runs and 10 RBI’s.

“If I have a good at-bat, I’m happy now,” d’Arnaud said. “Before, if I had a productive out, if I lined out, I would get on myself so much because I was so worried about getting a hit. It helps me to stay even-keeled.”

Now as the Mets begin their second half on Friday and only five games under .500, d’Arnaud’s resurgence is key to a team still trying to find their identity and a young catcher still finding his way. 

You can read Carig’s the full article here. 

(Photo Credit:Jim McIsaac)

The post Demotion Helped D’Arnaud Regain Confidence and Swing appeared first on Metsmerized.

There’s been a lot of discussion in recent weeks over whether or not Eric Young’s performance is sustainable. While there are some worrisome albeit short samples of major league play that seem to indicate he is currently playing above his head, if you look back a bit more you may see a different player.

Eric Young was drafted in the 33^rd round by the Colorado Rockies in 2003 as a 5 ft 9 inch 170 lb 2^nd baseman from Piscataway H.S. in NJ.  Young had his first exposure to pro ball as a 19 year old with the Casper Rockies of the Pioneer (rookie) League in 2004 where he hit .264 with a .407 OBP and 13 steals in 23 games, profiling as a true leadoff hitter. He resumed his stint with the Casper Rockeis in 2005 doing a lot better in a much larger sample – in 219 ab’s he hit .301 with a .404 OBP and 25 steals. He was promoted to the low A-ball Ashville Tourists of the South Atlantic League in 2006 where, in his largest sample up to that point, Young played to a .295 avg., a .391 OBP and 87 steals in 482 at bats. Young had learned how to play to his speed.

From 2007 to 2009 Young worked his way through the Colorado system from Modesto (A+), to Tulsa (AA), and finally to Colorado Springs (AAA) where he hit .299 with a .387 OBP and 58 steals (caught 14 times) in 472 at bats. Young was named to the Futures game in 2009 and was the #6 ranked prospect in the Colorado system in 2010.

Below is a Baseball Cube scouting scale comparing Eric Young to his peers. Ranked players are assigned a number ranging from 100 to 1 with equal distribution to each number. The worst player receives 1 while the best receives 100. Depending on the number of players eligible, there could be more than 1 or more than 100 assigned.

Two things jump out at you, his patience, and his speed. Sounds like an Alderson / DePo guy doesn’t it? Young had been on Depotesta’s radar for quite a while. He totally fits the current Met organizational philosophy.

Eric Young reached something of an apex in his minor league career in 2009 with numbers that certainly warranted a call-up, which he got, but a funny thing happened to Eric Young Jr. on his way to stardom, the Colorado Rockies stopped playing him. They gave him 30 at bats in 2009 and after he hit .246 they sent him back down to Colorado Springs the following year where he didn’t do quite as well in only 123 at bats (.252. avg, .340 OBP). Nevertheless Young got called up again to a crowded Colorado outfield and managed to hit .244 with a 312 OBP and 17 steals, still nowhere near his minor league norms. Young bounced back to Colorado Springs for the 2011 season and he hit .363 with an otherworldly .454. OBP in 223 at bats. The Rockies brought him back to Colorado where he hit an underwhelming (but serviceable) .247 with a .342 OBP and with, hold on now, 27 steals in 198 at bats … Is that right? Yep, 27 steals, Young seemed in the midst of figuring something out and I remember him as a guy who began to make it onto fantasy rosters for his speed. Young began the 2012 season in Colorado and he again found himself trying to break into Colorodo’s crowded outfield, however, Young continued to look like a player that had begun to find his way, hitting .316 with a .377 OBP 14 steals and an 825 OPS in 223 at bats. I for one couldn’t figure out why the Rockies weren’t playing him more.

2013 saw the Rockies open the season with a starting outfield of  Carlos Gonzalez, Dexter Fowler, and Michael Cuddyer. As a 4th outfielder Young hit a disappointing .242 with an even more uncharacteristic .277 OBP in 165 at bats. He was traded to the Mets on June 19th for Collin McHugh. Eric Young’s tenure in Colorado was characterized by inconsistent playing time primarily as a late inning replacement and an occasional spot starter. It’s difficult to gauge a young player’s ability as a backup, particularly a player who throughout his minor league career seemed to do far better in larger samples as a starter.

So what do we go with? Samples of 30, 51, and 77 games a piece while playing as an occasional replacement, or stints of 128, 130, 105, and 119 games as a regular that show a much different player? Personally I’d go with the bigger samples even though they are minor league stats. Some guys can just never get it going without consistent playing time and Young appears to fit that profile. Throughout his career, the more at bats he’s gotten during any given season, the better his performance.

Young has been a pretty darned good minor league player amassing 330 steals with a .295 career minor league average a .388 OBP and an 808 ops. I don’t expect that to translate to the majors, but you could do a lot worse than a guy with a .260 or so average and a .360 to .380 OBP who can steal 30 to 40 bases and play a decent outfield, and honestly I’d say that’s the least we might expect from Young. Given his 2012 numbers I think it isn’t outrageous to project that Young could hit .300 with an OPB approaching .400 with 60 steals.

Young is more than the sum of his very fast parts. His speed creates problems for the opposition by both forcing them to hurry their defense as well as requiring them to protect against steals and bunts. He also replaces an element of excitement that has been missing since Jose Reyes departed. He can score from first on many hits and he has reintroduced Mets fans to the likelihood of a triple. He not only gets on base, he’s able to move around the bases with world class speed and with stealth, and, he can cover a massive tract of real estate in the outfield. The cumulative effect of Eric Young is one that has managed to help jump start a Mets offense that was a moribund disaster while also shoring up the outfield defense. As such, Young may be a lot more integral to this team than we realize.

The post Is Eric Young For Real? appeared first on Metsmerized.

Las Vegas 11, Colorado Springs 5

How does one judge Rafael Montero‘s second start in AAA this season? Well, it was his first since his recent non-temporary call-up, and he was betrayed by his defense out there on Saturday night.

He pitched into the sixth inning, allowing seven hits and no walks, while striking out seven. All five runs were charged to him — but only one of them was earned. He pitched more than good enough for a win.

The third inning saw Greg Golson come around to score after reaching via fielding error. The other three errors on the board, including one by Montero himself, were committed in the fifth inning — which led to three unearned runs. His only earned run allowed was in the sixth, when he gave up back-to-back doubles. He was removed after 100 pitches, 70 of them being strikes, in favor of Justin Hampson. He struck out his last batter.

Sean Henn, Armando Rodriguez, Greg Peavey, and Hampson combined to finish the game without allowing any more runners to cross the plate — and just one hit between them.

Each Las Vegas 51s position player in the starting lineup Saturday had at least one hit and run scored in an 11-5 victory against visiting Colorado Springs at Cashman Field. The 51s’ 14-hit attack included four solo home runs — from Andrew Brown, Wilmer Flores, Zach Lutz and Rylan Sandoval. They scored three runs in the third, sixth and seventh innings.

Key Stats

Brian Bixler: 2-for-3, 2 RBI, 1 R

Andrew Brown: 1-for-5, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 R

Ike Davis: 1-for-4, 1 BB, 1 RBI, 1 R

Wilmer Flores: 1-for-4, 1 HR, 1 BB, 1 RBI, 1 R

Zach Lutz: 3-for-4, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 R

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

Rafael Montero: 5.1 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K

The post Montero Pitches Well, But Betrayed By Poor Defense appeared first on Metsmerized.

Quick Hops

• RHP Jacob deGrom makes his second career Double-A start for Binghamton. After being promoted from St. Lucie, he was stellar in his debut on 4/17 against Portland. Unfortunately he was tagged with the loss, although he only gave up one run on eight innings in an eventual 1-0 shutout loss to Portland. He surrendered just three hits, struck out eight, and only walked one. Before being promoted, DeGrom was 1-0 in two starts with St. Lucie. In 12.0 innings with the St. Lucie Mets, he allowed four runs  and struck out 13. He was drafted in the ninth round of the 2010 draft by the Mets out of Stetson University.
• Juan Lagares continues to produce. He had a lead off home run for Las Vegas in last night’s loss to Colorado Springs. Andrew Brown and Lagares are making strong bids to be called up to Flushing. Lagares is batting .346 with three home runs in the lead off spot this season, while Brown is batting .343 with nine doubles and fifteen RBI. The only knock on Brown this season is his strikeouts — fifteen so far.
• Hansel Robles pitched another gem last night. In six innings of work he didn’t allow any runs, struck out six and only walked two batters. He is holding opposing hitters to a .215 batting average this season.
• The Binghamton Mets pounded out 13 hits and took advantage of a season-high eleven walks to defeat the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, 15-2, at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Allan Dykstra and Danny Muno each drove in three runs as the B-Mets matched a season-high with fifteen runs scored. Alonzo Harris led the offensive day with four singles, becoming the first B-Met in 2013 to compile a four-hit day. Vaughn also chipped into the multiple-hit effort with three of his own. Josh Rodriguez scored three times as the B-Mets had eight different players touch home.
•  Right fielder Cory Vaughn is on another one of his tears at the plate. After a slow start to the season he is batting .395 in his last ten games with three homers and 13 RBI. Entering tonight’s action and is batting .298/.365/.526 for the season.
• So I write an article espousing all the virtues of Collin McHugh yesterday and why he should get called up. If only I had glanced at the schedule and saw he’d be pitching in the notorious Colorado Springs. And as most pitchers do, especially control artists who pound the strike zone. On Sunday, average infield outs went beyond the reach of infielders and dropped in for base hits. McQ got tagged for 13 hits and 12 of them were singles. But get this… zero walks. On Saturday, Collins said referring to Wheeler and the PCL, “I don’t care how many hits he gives up in the PCL, but six walks is unacceptable. He’s better than that.” So I give McHugh a pass.
• It looks like center fielder Brandon Nimmo is human after all. Last night, he went 0-for-3, but still managed to walk twice and even stole a base. His slash line is still at a jaw-dropping .424/.513/.576. The budding star leads the league in Batting, OBP and Triples. He spoke to Adam Rubin last night, “It’s baseball, so we’re going to go through cold streaks and hot streaks,” Nimmo said. “This is a hot streak right now. I’m going to go through a period where I’m not doing very well. We’re just going to try to keep this going as long as possible, just be consistent. But, yeah, there’s a reason people don’t hit .400 in baseball.”
• LHP Adam Kolarek was transferred from Las Vegas (AAA) to Binghamton (AA) where he proceeded to toss two scoreless innings for the B-Mets upon his arrival.
• Mets announced they have signed RHP D.J. Mitchell. He made four relief appearances for Yankees last season before being traded to the Seattle Mariners for Ichiro Suzuki. He’s only made one start for Tacoma (AAA) this year. The right-hander allowed three runs in four innings in the outing on April 8.
• Shaun Marcum threw in a simulated game this morning in St. Lucie and it looks like he is still on target to start for the Mets on Saturday. The right-hander threw 52 pitches over five scoreless innings in an extended spring training game in Port St. Lucie, Fla., the team announced today.

The post Minor League Hops: Robles With Another Gem, Mets Sign D.J. Mitchell, Vaughn On A Tear appeared first on Metsmerized.

Colorado Springs 8, Las Vegas 7

It was an up and down night for the Las Vegas 51s that ended on a low note as they fell to Colorado Springs in walk off fashion, going down in a wild one 8-7.

Mets rotation hopeful Collin McHugh took the hill and had himself a day he’d like to soon forget. Going just 5 1/3 innings, McHugh surrendered  four runs on a whopping 13 hits while walking none and striking out three. McHugh failed to put together a single 1-2-3 inning, however was able to limit the damage through the first five frames to three runs despite the high hit total in part due to the fact that only 1 of the 13 knocks surrendered was an extra base hit. Three of the runs scored on McHugh’s watch came in the third where Charlie Backmon, Nolan Arenado and Ryan Wheeler all cashed in RBI knocks in a merry-go-round of five straight singles. Later in the inning, Matt McBride lined a two-out base hit, however thanks to a strong throw by Juan Lagares, Arenado was tagged out at home to end the threat. McHugh would leave in the sixth with a runner on third and just one out. Justin Hampson would come on and give up three straight knocks, after which he was pulled for Armando Rodriguez , who would allow one more run to score on a sac fly, but retired the side. McHugh would receive a no decision, however his ERA ballooned from just 0.50 coming into today to a “lofty” 1.93 ERA.

The 51s were first to draw blood in this one as Lagares led off the game with a solo shot on a fly ball to left field. They would be held off the board in the second and third. In the fourth and fifth however, Las Vegas cashed in a run in each on RBI singles by Zack Lutz and Andrew Brown respectively. Lutz would be driven in in the top of the sixth on a Jamie Hoffmann drive to center that went for a double, his sixth on the season, making it a 4-3 Vegas advantage. After losing the lead in the previous half inning, the 51s Wilmer Flores came up in a 1st and 3rd situation with just one out and got himself a RBI-steak of his own. They would later load up the bases for Hoffmann who came through again, this time with a two-run single, to make it a 7-6 lead for the Mets Triple-A affiliate.

Greg Peavey came on and put up goose eggs in the seventh and eighth, and went out for his third inning of work in the ninth. Clearly gassed, Peavey was completely ineffective as he allowed the first three batters to reach base, loading them up for Tyler Colvin, who promptly served up a game winning, fly ball to right field that brought home the tying and lead runs to win it for the Colorado Springs Skysox. The 51s have now fallen to just two games over .500 at 10-8.

(Clayton Collier)

Key Stats

Juan Lagares: 1-for-5, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 R

Andrew Brown: 2-for-5, 1 RBI, 1 R

Wilmer Flores: 1-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB

Zach Lutz: 2-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB

Jamie Hoffmann: 2-for-4, 1 2B, 3 RBI

Collin McHugh: 5.1 IP, 13 H, 0 BB, 4 ER, 3 K

Justin Hampson: 0.0 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 2 ER

Greg Peavey: 2.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 K

________________________________________________________________________________

Binghamton 15, New Hampshire 2

The Binghamton Mets pounded out 13 hits and took advantage of a season-high eleven walks to defeat the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, 15-2, at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Allan Dykstra and Danny Muno each drove in three runs as the B-Mets matched a season-high with fifteen runs scored.

Alonzo Harris led the offensive day with four singles, becoming the first B-Met in 2013 to compile a four-hit day. Vaughn also chipped into the multiple-hit effort with three of his own. Josh Rodriguez scored three times as the B-Mets had eight different players touch home.

Facing Deck McGuire for the second time in less than two weeks, the B-Mets wasted little time grabbing the lead. Binghamton loaded the bases in the first on a single and two walks and plated two runs on run-scoring groundouts by Dykstra and Cory Vaughn.

Blake Forsythe led off the second inning by bouncing a double off the right field wall and came home with two outs when Alonzo Harris zipped a single back up the middle.

The Fisher Cats scratched back in the fourth with one big fly from Ricardo Nanita. The outfielder launched a 2-0 pitch from Verrett over the right field fence for his second homer of the series, cutting Binghamton’s lead down to two.

Binghamton put the game out of reach with a five-run fifth inning. The B-Mets chewed through three New Hampshire pitchers, sent 11 men to the plate, collected three hits and took advantage of five walks to take an 8-1 lead.

Richard Lucas chased McGuire (1-2) from the game with an RBI single in the fifth. The righty exited after allowing six hits and handing out a career-high six walks. Chorye Spoone inherited three runners and allowed all to score, by uncorking a wild pitch and walking three of the four batters he faced. Trystan Magnuson finally put out the flames in the disastrous inning by inducing a fly out.

Verrett (3-0) went just far enough to pick up his third straight win. The righty allowed five hits and surrendered one run over five innings in the victory. His only blemish was Nanita’s solo homer in the fourth.

Binghamton’s offensive attack continued into a four-run sixth inning. The B-Mets took advantage of a fielding error with the bases loaded, a hit batsman and three hits, highlighted by Danny Muno’s two-run single off the top of the right field wall. They tacked on three more runs on three hits and two errors in the ninth.

Adam Kolarek, in his first game since returning from the Las Vegas 51’s (AAA), tossed two scoreless innings of relief. Adrian Rosario closed the B-Mets pitching tab and allowed one run on two hits in two innings of relief.

The B-Mets (10-7) continue their week-long roadtrip by starting a three-game series against the Portland Sea Dogs Monday night in Maine at 6:00 PM. RHP Jacob DeGrom (0-1, 1.13) takes the hill for his second Double-A start. RHP Brandon Workman (3-0, 3.00) gets the ball for Portland.

Key Stats

Alonzo Harris: 4-for-5, 2 RBI, 2 R, 1 BB, 3 SB

Allan Dykstra: 1-for-3, 1 2B, 3 RBI, 2 RBI, 3 BB

Josh Rodriguez: 1-for-2, 1 2B, 3 R, 4 BB

Cory Vaughn: 3-for-6, 2 RBI, 2 R

Daniel Muno: 1-for-3, 3 RBI, 1 BB

Logan Verrett: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 1 HR, 3 BB, 1 ER, 1 K

Adam Kolarek: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 ER, 1 K

Adrian Rosario: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 3 BB, 1 ER, 2 K

(Team Report)

The post Upper Minors: McHugh Battered, Lagares Homers, Muno Drives In Three appeared first on Metsmerized.

Las Vegas 10, Colorado Springs 6

Chris Schwinden held Colorado Springs over the first three innings and the Las Vegas dropped a 10-spot overall on the scoreboard to claim first blood in a four-game series against Colorado Springs.

Zach Lutz got the scoring started early with an RBI single that drove home Reese Havens, and Jamie Hoffman followed that with a ringing double to drive home Lutz and Andrew Brown. The 51s would strike again in the sixth, with Juan Centeno and Juan Lagares providing the fuel with a pair of two RBI hits. Lutz came through once more in the top of the ninth and put the nail in the coffin with a two-run single.

The aforementioned Chris Schwinden was able to pitch into the sixth, which was a stark improvement from his last start, and he was only on the hook for three runs – two of them earned. One of them scored as an inherited runner via Gonzalez Germen, who picked up three outs before being lifted for Sean Henn, the ex-Yankee. Oddly enough, the bright spot for the pitching staff was the newly demoted Greg Burke, who pitched two scoreless innings to close out the game and pick up a save.

Key Stats

Juan Lagares: 1-for-5, 1 2B, 2 RBI

Zach Lutz: 2-for-5, 3 RBI, 1 R

Jamie Hoffmann: 3-for-5, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R

Juan Centeno: 1-for-3, 2 RBI, 1 R

Chris Schwinden: 5.1 IP, 5 H, 3 BB, 3 R, 2 ER, 5 K

Gonzalez Germen: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 2 ER, 2 K

Sean Henn: 0.2 IP, 3 H, 0 BB, 1 ER, 1 K

Greg Burke: 2.0 IP, 3 H, 0 BB, 0 ER, 1 K

The post Jamie Hoffmann, Zach Lutz Pace 11-Hit Attack In 10-6 Vegas Win appeared first on Metsmerized.

I can get used to playing in Savannah, and those BBQ Pork Kabobs aren’t half bad.

Breaking News:

As I predicted only two days ago, Jacob deGrom was indeed promoted to Binghamton before Noah Syndergaard.

DeGrom replaces Luis Mateo, who was placed on the DL with a right elbow strain.

Good call by the Mets, and a hearty get well soon to Luis Mateo.

Joe D.

Last Night’s Quick Scores

• Savannah (6-5) topped the Greensboro Grasshoppers, 8-5
• St. Lucie (8-3) defeated the Charlotte Stone Crabs, 6-3
• Binghamton (6-5) dropped a game to the Portland Sea Dogs, 7-4
• Las Vegas (6-6) got toppled by Colorado Springs, 19-5

Prospect Pipeline

• Brandon Nimmo‘s new nickname is the Human Torch — he is on absolute fire. He had another three hits, one of which was his first home run of the season, and added five RBI in last night’s game. He is now the organization leader in batting, with a .429 average. He is also the only hitter in the organization with a batting average over .400. Nimmo on his home run: “I was looking for a good pitch to hit, and I got a fastball inside and drove it well,” he said. “It felt really good. Even in my fourth at-bat, I hit the ball pretty well. I was staying on the ball, seeing it well tonight. You just enjoy these nights.”
• Travis d’Arnaud hit his first home run of the year on Monday night. So far on the season, d’Arnaud is hitting an even .300, and has six extra base hits and eight RBI. Even more impressive is the fact that he has walked twelve times against seven strikeouts. His on base percentage is an outstanding .488. This kid is ready for big league pitchers.
• I’ve been saying since last Summer that Rafael Montero could be a viable option for the Mets 2014 rotation. Some scoffed, but I stood my ground. Now I say he’s a lock and we’ll see him by September of this season at the latest. I’m higher on Montero than I am about Noah Syndergaard and I don’t really care what others think about that. Three starts into his Double-A season and Montero already looks like he needs more of a challenge at Triple-A, and no, it’s not too early to say that as I said he was polished enough to start at Vegas even before the season started. Also, what is the big deal about who signed Montero? It’s as if some will root less for him based on who signed him. I swear, I’m seeing more and more fans with this crackpot mentality everyday. Give it a break. (Joe D.)
• As I wrote in an article yesterday, right-hander Zack Wheeler pitched 5.1 innings, issued no walks and struck out 8 on Sunday afternoon. Improvement? Without a doubt. But for crying out loud stop with all the cries of calling him up. He hasn’t thrown one quality start yet and is completely gassed by the fifth inning. All these scouts that follow him around like puppy dogs never say anything about that. I get it, he has four plus pitches, no need to repeat it every five days. His pitch counts are way too high and while he walked none in this last start, I lost count of how many times he went to three ball counts on batters. One-hundred pitches through five innings is not going to cut it in the major leagues. Stop trying to get the front office to rush him. He has the talent and bulldog mentality that Matt Harvey does, but not nearly the refinement and efficiency. (Joe D.)
• Collin McHugh gets the ball tonight for Las Vegas. Many people have been calling for McHugh to be called up to Flushing, and rightly so. So far this season, McHugh is 2-0, has an ERA under 1.00, and twelve strikeouts to only one walk. (Hey Mitch, I second that motion. – JD)
• J.J. Cooper, of Baseball America, answered some fans’ questions about prospects, and why some players got the snub on his Prospect Hot Sheet last week. Here is what he had to say about Nimmo and Travis d’Arnaud: “Nimmo was in consideration more than d’Arnaud…  The catcher’s week was nice, but not really Hot Sheet worthy in a week where 150+ players posted 1.000 OPS or better. And many of them were playing in less hitter-happy environments.” And in regards to Kevin Plawecki: “Thought about it for a little while. Working against him was the fact that he’s a tick old for the Sally League, but the Mets like to take it slow with their draft picks. He still looks to be most likely a backup catcher at the big league level, but he is an intriguing guy to watch.” Here is what he said about the Mets pitcher who impressed him most so far this season, not named Rafael Montero: “Mateo. He was in serious consideration to at least make the team photo. Very nice first outing after a healthy jump up in level of competition.” What about Montero’s chances of pitching at Citi Field in 2013? “Let’s slow down a minute. I know the Marlins just rocketed Jose Fernandez to the big leagues, but that’s a rare case. Montero has two starts in Double-A and only 10 pro starts above low Class A right now. A full season in Double-A is probably best for his development.”
• Lately, I seem to find myself watching twice as much Mets minor league baseball than regular Mets baseball. I don’t miss any of the Mets games, but in addition to them I’m catching at least two other minor league games a day as well. Sometimes simultaneously. I just find the minor league games to be so much more compelling and it reminds me of the old baseball broadcasts where you could actually hear the sounds of the game instead of three guys in a booth that yap non-stop and then those insane interviews that cut in while players are scoring runs in the background. SNY broadcasts have become way too noisy and distracting to me. Call to the Booth, Tweet the Booth, Text Polls, Cholula Hot Sauce Meters, etc. It’s a wonder they could fit the game in. (Joe D.)

Stat Line of the Night

Brandon Nimmo: 3-for-5, R, HR, 5 RBI

Tweet of the Day

Zack Wheeler took Darin Gorski on his first trip to In-N-Out Burger:

First trip to in and out was a success…def one of the best burgers I’ve ever had and the fries animal style #legit

— Darin Gorski (@darin_gorski20) April 15, 2013

Picture Courtesy Of Zack Wheeler’s Twitter Feed

Transactions

Retroactive to April 11, Cory Mazzoni was placed on the disabled list due to “Tennis Elbow.” Luis Mateo was called up from St. Lucie to fill in for Mazzoni while he is out. He started last night’s game, and was removed in the fourth inning with an apparent injury. Before leaving the game, Mateo gave up four runs on six hits. He also walked three batters.

In other transactions, Pedro Feliciano joined the St. Lucie roster, Adam Kolarek was moved up from Binghamton to Las Vegas, and Shawn Teufel was added to Binghamton’s roster from extended spring training. Teufel arrived in Binghamton, and then found himself pitching a couple of hours later, coming in to relieve Mateo when he was removed from the game. He pitched two innings, giving up two hits and striking out two.

So Sandy is yelling at Terry five times a day?

The post Mets Minors 4/16 Report: DeGrom Promoted To Bingo, Nimmo Crushing It In Savannah, D’Arnaud Goes Yard appeared first on Metsmerized.

Colorado Springs 19, Las Vegas 5

Ouch. The Colorado Spring Sky Sox destroyed the Las Vegas 51s in Monday’s night affair, 19-5.

Chris Schwinden got the start and struggled mightily – although it was not completely his fault. His final line says it all – 3.2 innings pitched with seven hits (two home runs) and four walks allowed. This all added up to eight runs allowed – although only four of them were earned. Schwinden got off to a rocky start and the defense behind him did him no favors, as he walked the lead-off batter and then had errors made on two consecutive plays. A three-run homer in the inning provided the major damage, and unfortunately for Las Vegas, their opposition would never look back.

Considering that there were six errors committed by Vegas in this game and it quickly became an ugly and lop-sided affair, I wanted to take a second to focus on the positives to take away from the game. Travis d’Arnaud had an awesome game at the plate, where he was 1-for-2 with a two-run home run and three walks. It was his first long ball of the year. He is batting .300 on the campaign now with a .488 OBP. I would be remiss, however, not to mention the error charged to him on an errant pickoff.

Juan Lagares, who many had written off before this year, is having a strong showing so far this year in AAA and he added another solid game on Monday. He was 2-for-5 with a triple and two RBI, and is batting .346 to this point in the season. A tip of my invisible hat also goes to Armando Rodriguez, who was the only Vegas pitcher not to allow a run in Monday’s game – although Justin Hampson had zero earned runs charged to him as well.

Las Vegas will dust themselves off and send Collin McHugh to the mound tomorrow evening for their shot at redemption.

Key Stats

Travis d’Arnaud: 1-for-2, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 R, 3 BB, E

Juan Lagares: 2-for-5, 1 3B, 2 RBI

Wilmer Flores: 3-for-5, E

Andrew Brown: 2-for-5, 1 2B, E

Chris Schwinden: 3.2 IP, 7 H, 2 HR, 4 BB, 8 R, 4 ER, 4 K, L

The post D’Arnaud Goes Deep, Schwinden Hammered, Vegas Blown Out 19-5 appeared first on Metsmerized.