Addison Reed was at a low point in his career when he was traded to the Mets in August 2015.

The Diamondbacks’ reliever had struggled to the tune of a 4.20 ERA, lost his closer spot and eventually his spot in the major leagues. Reed was a far cry from the closer who had had 40 saves with the White Sox just two years prior.

Once he was traded to the Mets, everything changed.

Reed put up a 1.17 ERA over the final month of the 2015 season, and carved a spot for himself as the full-time setup man in 2016. Overall, Reed’s 2.09 ERA as a Met is the lowest ERA in team history for any pitcher with at least 100 innings pitched.

Not bad for a late-August trade acquisition for two players I bet you can’t name off the top of your head.

General Manager Sandy Alderson has received the most credit for trades involving high-end starting pitching, like the Noah Syndergaard and Zack Wheeler trades. There’s no question those have been his best. But the trade for Addison Reed should stand out as one of his finest moments as Mets GM. Finding top-tier relief pitchers with several years of team control without giving up a top prospect is tough to find– let alone on August 30.

This is supplemented by the fact that the Mets gave up pretty much nothing to get Reed.

The two prospects the Mets gave up on the Reed deal were minor-league pitchers Matt Koch and Miller Diaz. Koch, 26, pitched briefly for the Diamondbacks last season, but has struggled in the minor leagues this season, pitching to a 7.03 ERA. Diaz is still in Double-A at 25-years-old. So while the book has not yet closed on Koch and Diaz, it’s safe to say that the Mets robbed the Diamondbacks on this deal.

In addition to acquiring a top-tier reliever, the Mets have also gotten a pretty solid pool of relief prospects back in return for Reed.

They’ve received three relievers from the Red Sox’s top 30 prospects, per MLB Pipeline: No. 18 RHP Stephen Nogosek, No. 23 RHP Jamie Callahan, No. 28 RHP Gerson Bautista. Callahan could make the majors as soon as next year, and the other two have a good amount of upside despite being a bit further behind.

Reed exceeded everyone’s expectations with the Mets; this probably includes both his own and Sandy Alderson’s.

At the time of this deal, the Mets were just looking for a seventh-inning guy who could supplement Tyler Clippard and Jeurys Familia. If he was serviceable, that would have been fine. But they ended up getting a guy who would set a record for lowest ERA in franchise history, and three solid relief prospects over the long run.

So while you probably won’t hear the Reed trade mentioned in most conversations for greatest trade in Mets history, it certainly belongs there.

The post Addison Reed, An All-Time Great Mets Acquisition appeared first on Metsmerized.

According to Mets manager Terry Collins, newly acquired reliever Addison Reed is the team’s permanent seventh inning man out of the bullpen.

“He’s the guy, no doubt,” said Collins to reporters after last night’s comeback win over the Marlins.

Reed, 26, was acquired from the Diamondbacks in exchange for minor league pitchers Miller Diaz and Matt Koch. He will be under team control for two more seasons and will be second-year arbitration-eligible this Winter.

With the D’backs, Reed had a 4.20 ERA in 40 2/3 innings. However since coming to the Mets, he has not allowed a run in nine appearances, while collecting 11 strikeouts in 9.0 innings with 3 holds and one save.

In the his last two appearances, Reed earned the save in the Mets’ 10-7 extra-inning win over the Braves on Sunday, and last night he came in the 8th inning and tossed a 1-2-3 inning, seeting up Familia for the save in the 9th.

The post Addison Reed Locks Onto Mets Seventh Inning Role appeared first on Metsmerized.

Las Vegas (36-29) 6, Salt Lake 4

Darin Gorski had a quality start going 6 innings giving up three runs on six hits, zero walks, and struck out six helping him to his 4th win of the year. Chase Huchingson relieved him and threw a perfect inning with one strikeout in his 2nd AAA appearance (0.1 scoreless on Saturday) after pitching at Binghamton this year. Zack Thornton had two rough outings in a row giving up 5 runs in 2.1 innings but rebounded last night to pitch a scoreless inning allowing just a walk and striking out one. Scott Rice started the 9th getting two outs and walked a batter that would come around to score off Jon Velasquez who got the final out despite giving up two hits to out winning run at the plate.

Left fielder Brandon Allen was 3-4 with two doubles (13), scored a run, and knocked in three giving him 32 RBI on the year. Alex Castellanos was 2-4 with his 20th double while scoring two runs, he is now hitting 12-30 (.400) with 6 RBI over his last 10 games. Wilfredo Tovar was 2-4 giving him a .325 (13-40) average with seven stolen bases and a 6/3 BB/K over his last 10 games. Travis Taijeron was 1-2 with a walk, run scored, and knocked in his 32 run of the year. Jayce Boyd was 1-4 with a two-run double and now leads the Mets minor leagues with 22 two-baggers on the season. Johnny Monell was just 1-4 lowering his average to .371 but extending his hit streak to 11 games. Matt Reynolds came into the game hot but cooled down with an 0-4 night while playing shortstop. Box Score

Las Vegas is hosting Salt Lake again tonight at 10:05 ET with Rainy Lara (4-2, 3.57) listed on the game notes as the starter despite being shown still on the Binghamton roster.

Binghamton was off last night but are back at it tonight with Gabriel Ynoa (2-4, 5.72) getting the start vs. Portland at 7:00.

St. Lucie (33-31) 3, Clearwater 2 F/11

Right hander Michael Gibbons made his Mets and pro debut and was absolutely fantastic pitching 7 scoreless innings allowing only two singles and a HBP all night never letting a runner touch 2nd base. He struck out four and was hitting 93-94 MPH with his fastball that he showed great command of. He only needed to face 23 hitters to retire 21 batters on the night and was scheduled to be a spot start with him going to Brooklyn next week but he could have changed some minds. Gibbons left with a 2-0 lead and Kelly Secrest was the first man out of the bullpen for St. Lucie to pitch the 8th inning. Secrest gave up a run on two hits while striking out one raising his ERA to 3.51 on the year. Without Akeel Morris on the roster lefty Josh Smoker was given the save opportunity, he quickly gave up the lead with the 2nd batter hitting a game tying double after the first singled. Smoker would rebound to get three outs sending the game to extra innings. The Mets did nothing in the top of the 10th and Smoker held Clearwater off the board to force the game into the 11th. The game remained scoreless through the 11th and 12th with Mike Hepple pitching those innings for the Mets,

Stefan Sabol led off the top of the 13th with his 5th double since being promoted to St. Lucie and Amed Rosario promptly followed with single to left field to score the game-winning run. Kyle Regnault pitched a quick and easy 1-2-3 13th with two strikeouts to pick up his first save. Rosario was 2-5 with his 16th double, walk, and his 16th RBI of the year breaking out of his June long slump and raising his average to .263 for the year. Yeixon Ruiz and Maikis De La Cruz were both 2-6 with a stolen base on the night. Dominic Smith had a rough birthday going 0-6 failing to reach base. Jeff McNeil and the rehabbing Brandon Nimmo each went 0-5 with a walk while Nimmo also scored a run. Box Score

John Gant (0-0, 2.75) takes the mound tonight for St. Lucie as they play Clearwater at 7:00.

Hickory 4, Savannah (34-30) 1

Casey Meisner failed to pick up his 5th straight win as he struggled with the long ball giving up two in his 6.2 innings. All four of the runs came on the to HR’s as Meisner only gave up five hits and one walk while striking out five. It was just his 2nd loss of the year and raised him ERA to 2.12 on the year. James Duff pitched 1.1 scoreless innings allowing a hit and that is it, his ERA is now 2.90 for the year.

The Sand Gnats collected only five hits on the night while going hitless (0-5) with runners in scoring position stranding seven runners on base. Eudor Garcia was the only Gnat with multiple hits going 2-4 with his 9th double and scoring the only Savannah run. Tomas Nido was 1-4 with his 9th double and has now hit safely in 7 of the last 10 games. Luis Guillorme was 1-4, he has now hit safe;y in 8 of his last 10 games. Jon Leoux was 0-3 with a walk and knocked in the only Savannah run of the night. Wuilmer Becerra went 0-3 with a walk and two strikeouts to lower his season average to .284. Box Score

The Sand Gnats host Asheville tonight at 7:05 with Casey Delgado (3-0, 2.65) getting the start.

Roster News

St. Lucie added right handed pitcher Michael Rollins to their active roster yesterday, he pitched for Wheaton College in Massachusetts and graduated in 2014. In his senior year he pitched 12 games (9 starts) going 4-1 with a 1.89 ERA in 57 innings while collecting 37 strikeouts but got 11.84 groundouts per game. Last summer he pitched in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League going 4-2 with 59 strikeouts in 50.2 innings while holding opponents to a .240 average. Gibbons is 22 years old and listed at 6’3.  Catcher Tyler Moore was reactivated Sunday for Savannah after being out since May 31st. Alfredo Reyes was sent down to Brooklyn in the corresponding move to make room for Moore. Take all these probable starting pitchers with a grain of salt because there is frequent roster movement going on making tough to nail down what is actually going to happen until the lineups come out.

The post Mets Minor League Recap: Amed Rosario Delivers Game Winning Hit appeared first on Metsmerized.

El Paso 4, Las Vegas (31-29) 1

Las Vegas tied the game in the bottom of the of the 3rd on a RBI single by Dilson Herrera and the game stayed that way until the top of the 8th when former big leaguer Ramiro Pena hit a 3-run homerun off Chase Bradford. The 51’s brought the winning run to the plate in the bottom of the 8th against their former teammate Cory Mazzoni, loading the bases for Johnny Monell but he struck out to end the threat for Las Vegas. Darin Gorski started going 6 innings allowing only one run on seven hits while walking none and striking out five hitters. Zack Thornton followed throwing a scoreless 7th but ran into trouble in the 8th leaving with two runners on. Bradford then came in giving up the homerun to the first batter he faced in Pena. Jon Velasquez threw a clean 9th inning with a strikeout bouncing back from his last outing when he gave up 6 runs in one inning.

Herrera was 2-4 on the night knocking in the only Las Vegas run and clearly looks like he is ready to come back to the Mets. Johnny Monell was 1-3 with a walk extending his hitting streak to seven games, he played 1st base again with Travis d’Arnaud catching. d’Arnaud was 0-3 before being taken out of the game in a double switch to presumably fly him to New York for today’s game. Matt Reynolds was 0-3 with a walk snapping his 8-game hitting streak. Wilfredo Tovar went 1-4 scoring the only run while stretching his hitting streak to six games. Box Score

Steven Matz (6-4, 1.94) continues to waste bullets in Las Vegas tomorrow night when he starts against Reno at 10:05 ET.

Binghamton (28-29) 8, Bowie 1

The game was still scoreless going into the 6th inning before the B’Mets bats came alive scoring three in the 6th, four in the 8th, and one in the 9th to give them a much needed victory. L.J. Mazzilli was finally moved up in the lineup to the 2 hole giving Binghamton a formidable 1-2-3 in Gavin Cecchini, Mazzilli, and Michael Conforto. Mazzilli started the 6th inning rally and was 1-3 with two walks, two runs scored, while stealing his first base in AA. Michael Conforto snapped his hitting streak at seven games going 0-3 but did walk twice (9 in 9 games in AA) scoring both times. Brock Peterson was 2-3 with two RBI’s, two runs scored, two walks, and his first double for Binghamton. Josh Rodriguez was 1-3 with a 2-run triple and was the 4th consecutive hitter in the lineup to walk twice on the night. Gavin Cecchini took a rare 0-5 lowering his average to .322 but did hit three balls hard on the night.

Rainy Lara picked up his 4th win of the season going 7 innings giving up the lone run on five hits and two walks while striking out four. Lara threw 91 pitches (56 strikes) while lowering his ERA to 3.57 and his WHIP to 1.32 on the year. Bobby Parnell pitched the 8th inning without allowing a run or hit, unfortunately he did walk and hit a batter while topping out at 93 MPH with the fastball throwing only 11 strikes in 22 pitches. Chase Huchingson pitched a scoreless 9th with two strikeouts to preserve the win. Box Score

Luis Cessa (4-4, 2.81) is coming off two straight great starts to pitch vs. Bowie at 6:35.

St. Lucie (30-28) 3, Daytona 2 F/10

Dominic Smith came up in the 10th inning with the winning run on 3rd and unsurprisingly came up with the winning hit on a RBI single to center field to score Jeff McNeil. Smith  finished the game going 3-5 with his league leading 20th double, scored a run and picked up his 31st RBI of the season. Maybe most impressive was that two of the hits went to center field while one was right field because despite Smiths’ hot stretch some scouts have said he needs to start pulling the ball more often to change their views. Smith is now batting .279/.321/.425 with 20 doubles, 2 HR’s, and 31 RBI’s in 46 games for St. Lucie. Amed Rosario had a good game going 2-5 with his 14th RBI of the season. FSL All-Star Jeff McNeil was 1-5 scoring the winning run while reaching race for the 25 straight game. Champ Stuart was 0-4 with three strikeouts extending his streak to have struck out in 29 straight games and 79 times overall this year in 183 at bats.

Kevin McGowan pitched well in his start going 6 innings allowing two tuns on only three hits and two walks while striking out a season high seven on the night. Mike Hepple and Josh Smoker each threw 1.2 innings of scoreless ball bridging the gap to All-Star closer Akeel Morris who came in to pick up his 12th save of the year. In his last 12 innings Morris has allowed only one run on five hits while striking out sixteen and walking just four. Box Score

St. Lucie Mets play tonight in Daytona at 7:05 with Miller Diaz (4-3, 3.47) on the hill.

Savannah (31-27) 9, West Virginia 1

The Sand Gnats have now won their 6th straight game pulling themselves into a tie for first place with Greenville thanks to a huge night from Eudor Garcia. Garcia, the Mets 4th round pick from last year, went 3-5 with two homeruns and four RBI’s on the night. Garcia is now hitting .318/.355/.481 with 8 doubles, 2 triples, 3 homeruns, and 21 RBI’s in 33 games for Savannah. Wuilmer Becerra was 0-3 but walked twice, scored three runs, and stole his 6th base of the year. Jonathan Johnson was 1-2 with two walks, HBP, and a run scored out of the lead off spot. Patrick Biondi was 3-5 with his 4th double, 12th stolen base, and 9th RBI of the year, he is now hitting .316. Luis Guillorme was 1-4 with a walk while knocking in his 24th run of the season.

Casey Meisner was fantastic for the Sand Gnats pitching 7 innings of 1-run ball while striking out six and picking up his 6th win of the season. Meisner gave up a solo homerun in the 1st inning but cruised after that allowing just five hits and one walk while lowering his ERA to 1.82 and his WHIP to 1.06. Alberto Baldonado pitched two perfect innings with three strikeouts to close out the game for Savannah. Box Score

The Sand Gnats play tonight at 7:05 vs. West Virginia with Casey Delgado (2-0, 1.80) scheduled to pitch

DSL Mets2 (6-3) 8, DSL Red Sox2 5 Box Score

DSL Twins 9, DSL Mets1 (5-4) 6 Box Score

Injury News and Notes

Casey Meisner, Johnathan Johnson, and David Roseboom were all named to the South Atlantic League All-star game while Wuilmer Becerra and Luis Guillorme were snubbed. St. Lucie Catcher Colton Plaia has been added to the Florida State League All-Star roster as an injury replacement.

Duane Below was placed on the 7-day DL for Las Vegas with catcher Dan Rohlfing being activated to take his place.

The post Mets Minor League Recap: Garcia 2 HR’s, Smith With GW RBI appeared first on Metsmerized.

Memphis 10, Las Vegas (29-26) 9

The Las Vegas offense has really struggled during their now 9-game losing streak but they finally did their part on Thursday night spotting Darin Gorski and company a 6-1 lead going into the 2nd inning. The 51’s had a 8-4 lead heading into the bottom of the 7th with rehabbing Vic Black coming into the game who got rocked. Black managed to get just one while allowing four earned runs on two hits and two walks. Before throwing a pitch Black was assessed a ball for not adhering to the Minor League pitch clock rules. Black gave up a 2-run HR to former Big Leaguer Dan Johnson and was said to be hitting the mid 90’s on the gun. The 51’s were able to take the lead again in the top of the 8th with Wilfredo Tovar knocking in a run in the top if the 8th. However the bullpen struck again with Chase Bradford, Scott Rice, and Jon Velasquez combining to give up two runs to give the Redbirds the 10-9 lead. Gorski started the game going 6 innings giving up four runs on seven hits (another Johnson HR), three walks, and struck out five. Bradford allowed two unearned runs while also allowing two inherited runners score that belonged to Black. The 51’s bullpen inherited 6 runners and let four of them score.

Matt Reynolds extended his modest hitting streak to 4 games going 2-4 with a walk, run scored, and three RBI’s giving him 35 on the year. His .275/.332/.408 line is pretty weak for the PCL but the Mets need some infield depth and he is the best option left right now. Brooks Conrad had just one hit but it was a big one with a grand slam in the 6-run 3rd inning. Here is video of the grand slam. Johnny Monell keeps raking in AAA collecting 3 hits boosting his slash line to .375/.431/.542. T.J. Rivera was 0-1 now going without a hit in his last 30 at bats. Gorski was 1-2 with his 4th double,walk, scored two runs and is now 6-11 on the year. Box Score

Steven Matz (6-3, 1.98) hopes he can help the 51’s snap their 9-game losing streak, they play Memphis at 8:05 ET tonight.

Trenton 2, Binghamton (26-27) 0

The B’Mets offense was completely shutdown by Trenton starter Caleb Smith who combined with the bullpen to throw a two hitter. Michael Conforto was the offense collecting both hits including an opposite field double off a left handed pitcher. His 2nd hit came in the 9th inning with two outs when he hit a fastball down the LF line for a single to try and extend the game but Josh Rodriguez struck out to end it. Conforto is now 6-17 with fives walk, four RBI’s, and three extra base hits in his first 5 AA games. The only other two runners the B’Mets had were Rodriguez and Jared King with a walk. Gavin Cecchini had a rare off night going 0-4 halting his 6-game multi-hit streak and committing his 12th error (another throwing) of the year.

Luis Cessa pitched a gem giving up just a solo homerun to Gary Sanchez in his 7.2 innings of work taking to loss to even his record to 4-4. Cessa allowed four hits, one walk, while he struck out eight hitters and lowered his ERA to 2.81 with the league hitting .264 against him. Adam Kolarek gave up one unearned run in his 0.2 of inning before Paul Sewald relieved him allowing the inherited run to score. Binghamton has now lost 9 of its last 11 games and has dropped below .500 for the first time since all season. Box Score

Binghamton starts a news series after being swept by Trenton, they play tonight at NYSEG stadium at 7:05 vs. Reading with no starter scheduled yet.

Palm Beach 3, St. Lucie (27-27) 2

The Mets lost when Kyle Regnault uncorked a wild pitch with Brett Wiley on 3rd who came across to end the game in ugly fashion. The play before Wiley was on second with one out when a ground ball was hit to SS Amed Rosario who threw to 3rd to try and cut down Wiley. Rosario’s throw looked to be in time but the umpire blew the call giving the Cardinals runners on 1st and third with one out. The loss went to Mike Hepple who gave up a single to Wiley to start the bottom of the 9th. The Mets wasted a great start by John Gant who pitched 8 innings giving up two runs on five hits (HR) while striking out nine.

Dominic Smith had his 16-game hitting streak come to an end with a 0-3 night but he did reach base with a walk in the 7th inning coming around to score later in the inning. Stefan Sabol was 2-3, he is now 9-24 since being brought up from Savannah. Dilson Herrera went 1-3 with two strikeouts and an opposite field 2B off Alex Reyes who was consistently hitting 96/97 with his fastball. Travis d’Arnaud was 1-2 with a four pitch walk and a line drive single to center field. TDA also threw out would be base-stealer Juan Herrera in the bottom of the 1st inning. TDA and Herrera both played 5 innings in the field before they were taken out. FSL leading hitter Jeff McNeil went 1-4 extending his now team leading hitting streak to 11 games. L.J. Mazzilli was 1-4 with his 2nd double and came around to score. Amed Rosario went 1-4 and has cooled off in the beginning of June going just 2-15 to start the month. Box Score

Miller Diaz (3-3, 3.45) is on the hill for St. Lucie tonight as they play the Palm Beach Cardinals at 6:35.

Savannah (27-27) 4, Greenville 2

The Sand Gnats moved their record to .500 for the first time this season after going 14-5 in their last 19 games. The game was tied 0-0 in the bottom of the 4th when Wuilmer Becerra started the 3-run inning with his 14th double on the year. Eudor Garcia, Jon Leroux, Vicente Lupo, and Patrick Biondi each followed with singles with each one producing a run besides Garcia’s. Becerra’s 14 doubles put him 3rd in the South Atlantic League while his .489 slugging ranks him 4th as well. Garcia, Leroux, and Biondi all had three hits on then night for Savannah who had 13 hits including going 6-12 with runners in scoring position. Luis Guillorme was 1-4 with a walk, his 6th stolen base of the year and knocked in an insurance run in the 8th for his 22nd RBI of the year.

Martires Arias got the start but was unable to last long enough to qualify for the win pitching 4 innings giving up just one run on two hits and three walks. Arias struck out seven hitters but needed 98 pitches (63 strikes) including striking out Red Sox uber-prospect Yoan Moncada twice. Ricky Knapp was tremendous in relief going the final 5 innings to pick up his first win of the season. He gave up one unearned run on four hits while striking out five and throwing only 63 pitches in his outing. Box Score

The Sand Gnats look to move over .500 with Scarlyn Reyes (4-4, 3.32) getting the start against Greenville at 7:05.

DSL Mets1 (4-1) 9, DSL Orioles2 6 Box Score

DSL Mets2 (3-2) 5, DSL Yankees2 4 Box Score

News and Notes

The Mets signed veteran minor leaguer Brock Peterson who plays 1B/LF and had a cup of coffee with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2013 playing 23 games going 2-26. He was released by the Twins last week after batting just .186/.289/.351 so far this season. He is however a .281/.358/.479 for his career at the AAA level. He is going to be assigned to AA Binghamton which would put their roster at 26 meaning they should ship someone to Las Vegas who is down two players.

With the MLB draft coming up rumors are starting to swirl that Savannah starter lefty and 7th round pick last year Brad Wieck is going to be the player to be named later in the deal for Alex Torres. This would be unfortunate as Wieck has excelled in his starting role going 2-5 with a 3.49 ERA while striking out a South Atlantic League leading 64 batters in just 49 innings. He pitched exclusively out of the pen last year for Brooklyn posting a 1.40 ERA and 0.896 WHIP.

The Mets also have to make a quick decision on the status of Daniel Murphy because they are already playing with a short bench. They could send a reliever down like Jack Leathersich without making a hasty decision about Murphy. Matt Reynolds, Wilfredo Tovar, and Alex Castellanos have all been mentioned as possibilities. Reynolds and Castellanos would both have to be added to the 40-man roster with Matt being the hotter bat right now. Tovar’s bat has cooled down but he is an elite defender and has the luxury of being on the 40 already.

The post Mets Minor League Recap: Reynold’s With 3 RBI’s, Smith’s Streak Over appeared first on Metsmerized.

Las Vegas (22-10) 3, El Paso 1

Tyler Pill can finally breathe a sigh of relief as he picked up his win of the season in his 6th start spinning 7 innings of one-run ball. After giving up a run early in the game Pill retired the last 16 hitters he faced with 7 strike outs in that span. His final line was 7 innings, three hits, R, BB, eight strike outs and threw 98 pitches with 66 for strikes. Scott Rice got his 1st save working around two walks, lowering his ERA to 0.90 on the year and hasn’t allowed a run since April 12th. The 51’s were trailing 1-0 in the top of the 7th before Brooks Conrad broke through with a two-run 2B that scored Eric Campbell and Brandon Allen who both walked. Here is video of the go-ahead hit. After a Dan Rohlfing single Pill stepped up to the plate and helped himself out with a sac fly. Darrell Ceciliani continued his hot stretch with three hits and now is 15-33 over his last ten games with three stolen bases. He also had a Lagares like catch in center field coming in on a ball and diving head first to make the catch. Eric Campbell reached base three times collecting his 3rd double and his 4th steal of the year. Matt Reynolds was 0-4 with two K’s lowering his average to .306. Box Score. The 51’s will start a series hosting Sacramento tonight at 10:30 ET with no starter listed in the place of Noah Syndergaard.

Richmond 4, Binghamton (18-13) 3

Seth Lugo was very good again before letting the first two runners in the 7th inning reach and Matt Koch came in and let both of the inherited runners score to give the Squirrels a 4-3 lead. Lugo ended up receiving his first loss of the year allowing four runs on seven hits while striking out a season high eight hitters in 6 innings. Adam Kolarek had his 5th straight scoreless appearance spanning over 9.1 innings, giving up only four base runners over that span. the B’Mets only produced four hits with Gavin Cecchini getting the biggest one with his 2nd homerun of the season. He is now hitting .325/.381/.506, might be time for him to move up in the lineup and he has been hitting mostly 7th or 8th this year.  Brandon Nimmo was 1-4 and Dustin Lawley was 1-1 with his 11th double and a walk before he left the game with an apparent injury after trying to break up a double play at 2nd base. Box Score. Rainy Lara (2-1, 3.04) is on the hill tonight as the B’Mets take on Richmond again at 6:35

Tampa 4, St. Lucie (13-18) 2

The big story last night for 8 innings at Tradition Field was the dominance by Robert Gsellman, unfortunately his start was all for not as Bobby Parnell returned to the mound and allowed three runs in the 9th inning to give Tampa a 4-2 lead. Parnell gave up the three runs on two hits, walk, two wild pitches, while hitting 90-92 MPH on the radar gun. On the same day Gsellman was named Florida State League pitcher of the week he put his name in the hat for this weeks already. Gsellman threw 8 great innings giving up just the lone run on five hits with no walks and five strikeouts and needed only 88 pitches. He now has a sparkling 1.46 ERA to go along with 0.86 WHIP with a 29/6 K/BB while only allowing 23 hits (zero HR’s) in his first 37 innings. Baseball Prospectus named Gsellman the pitcher of the day saying he rarely used his good curveball because he spent the night working on his 3rd best pitch the changeup. Phillip Evans made his season debut going 2-4 and scoring both of the Met runs. Dominic Smith showed some life at the dish going 1-3 with a walk and his first steal of the year. Michael Conforto was 0-4 but did walk for the first time in the last 13 games, his OPS is now under .800 (.796) for the first time this year. Maikis De La Cruz went 1-3, BB, RBI(15th), and stole two bases to give him four on the season. Amed Rosario and Jhoan Urena combined to go 0-8 with three K’s but Rosario did steal his 4th base. Box Score. St. Lucie looks to break their 6-game losing streak with Miller Diaz (0-2, 2.57) making the start against Tampa in a morning start at 10:30.

Savannah (12-18) 6, Hickory 3

The Sand Gnats scored three runs in the top of the 9th to go up 6-2 and to give reliever Ricky Knapp some much needed insurance runs as he gave up one run before striking out Michael De Leon who was the tying run. Knapp did pick up his 1st save of the season giving up just the one run while striking out four over his 3 innings. Scarlyn Reyes got the start pitching 6 solid innings giving up two runs on eight hits and a walk while striking out four while picking up his 2nd win of the season. Stefan Sabol collected three hits and three RBI’s including his 3rd HR off the year hitting out of the 4 hole while playing 1st base. Wuilmer Becerra was 1-4 with a walk and now has hit safely 15 out of his last 18 games. Jean Rodriguez was 3-5 with two runs scored boosting his slash line up to .298/.316/.412 for the year. Eudor Garcia was 1-5 with a RBI while Jonathan Johnson reached base three times smashing his 1st homerun of the year and extended his hit streak to 8 games. Box Score. Corey Oswalt (3-0, 4.76) starts in another morning game that starts at 11:00 against Hickory.

In injury news Victor Cruzado was put on the DL in St. Lucie with a wrist injury while Phillip Evans was activated to take his spot.

The post Mets Minor League Recap: Cecchini Homers, Parnell Blows Stellar Start By Gsellman appeared first on Metsmerized.

Normally, the lower levels on the minor leagues serve the purpose of developing young players fresh out of the June MLB draft and to get them accustomed to life in professional baseball.

But for the Brooklyn Cyclones, making the playoffs has basically been a perennial feat.

However, the 2013 summer short season ended without a postseason berth for the Cyclones for just the fourth time in the team’s 13-year existence.

It is important to note though that the team has now finished at or above .500 (38-37) in all 13 of its seasons, making the Cyclones one of only four teams in affiliated baseball – the Arizona League Giants, the Elizabethton Twins and the New York Yankees – to never finish below .500 since 2001.

Right from the start of the summer, it seemed the Cyclones just couldn’t find their rhythm. Though it’s by no means an excuse, the weather certainly didn’t cooperate at MCU Park in Coney Island the first few weeks.

Almost every home game, the Cyclones were forced to wait out one or even two rain delays. And in games where there were no weather delays, Brooklyn wound up playing a number of extra-inning games, including a marathon 16-inning game.

Manager Rich Donnelly continuously said, “That’s baseball, there is no clock,” in response to questions about how to deal with the delays and extra-inning games. But he did say that the start of this season was the strangest given the circumstances in all his years in professional baseball.

Despite not getting off to a great start, the Cyclones began picking up their game and were in the playoff hunt right until the end of the season. That’s all you can ask of a young team finding their way.

Mets’ great Lee Mazzilli’s son, second baseman L.J. Mazzilli, led the Cyclones with a .278 batting average. He sat above .300 for most of the summer, but a hand injury late in the season caused him to cool off down the stretch. He also led the team in RBI with 34.

Mets’ 2012 first-round draft pick, shortstop Gavin Cecchini, had a solid all-around season. His bat was a bit cool to start the year, but once he returned from a high ankle sprain, he was red hot offensively. He rattled off a 16-game hitting streak and began spraying line drives all over the field. He finished the year hitting .273.

But for Cecchini, his strength is his defense, and he showed that this summer. He has a great arm and gets to a lot of balls with his range. His glove can carry him to the next level, but he’ll have to maintain a steady bat.

After an extremely cold start, right fielder James Roche rebounded to take some strides offensively. He led the team with five home runs and displayed good power to the gaps. But he must cut down on his strikeouts to be considered a legitimate prospect.

While the Cyclones’ offense was streaky, the pitching really held its own this summer. Starting pitchers Miller Diaz (2.03), Rob Gsellman (2.06), Carlos Valdez (2.58) and John Gant (2.89) all recorded an ERA under 3.00. Diaz, Gsellman and Gant were each named to the All-Star team.

Diaz led the staff with seven wins and 87 strikeouts. He sometimes had trouble putting batters away, which led to some high pitch counts, but the talent is there.

Gsellman seemed to be the hard luck pitcher on the staff, as he barely received any run support. But he still pitched well enough to be able to make an impact at the next level next season.

Akeel Morris, who struggled in extended spring training, really impressed the Mets’ brass, so much so that Jeff Wilpon ventured to MCU Park to check him out. With a fastball sitting in the low-to-mid 90s, Morris could have a future as a big-league reliever.

It seems he still considers himself as a starter, but he thrived in a long-relief role this summer. He finished 4-1 with a 1.00 ERA.

Other relievers John Mincone and Johnny Magliozzi found success in the closer’s role. Mincone was named an All-Star after posting a 1.47 ERA and six saves, but a lower back injury ended his season early. Magliozzi stepped right in and saved nine games with a 1.17 ERA.

Though the Cyclones’ season did not continue deeper into September, the team still accomplished what it set out to do at the beginning of the season: provide an entertaining quality of baseball to an area of Brooklyn that was hit hard last fall during Hurricane Sandy.

The “Meaningful Mondays,” in which a portion of each ticket sold went to local charities aiding in Sandy recovery, were a nice touch to help the surrounding communities still in need from the superstorm.

For the 13th consecutive season, the Cyclones led the New York-Penn League in attendance.

It was a fun summer at Coney Island, and we’ll hopefully be seeing some of these faces at Citi Field in the near future – especially some of the talented young pitchers to go along with the already-talented crop of pitchers the Mets are developing.

(Photos: Brooklyn Eagle, MiLB)

The post 2013 Organizational Review: Brooklyn Cyclones appeared first on Metsmerized.

Is it me or is time flying this offseason? I can’t believe that the deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 Draft is already upon us. Tomorrow night at 11:59 PM EST is the deadline for adding players to the 40 Man Roster.

I think the Mets are in great shape heading into decision day. With four spots currently open, that’s just enough to protect Steven Matz, Jeff Walters and Jacob deGrom with room to spare. They could also cut Omar Quintanilla and Scott Atchison to open up two more spots.

I’d like to see the Mets open up those additional spots and protect Allan Dykstra, Darin Gorski and Adam Kolarek.

The likelihood of any of the other unprotected players lasting on an MLB roster for an entire year are slim to none, so they should all survive the purging. Those players include:

Triple-A Las Vegas 51s

Hamilton Bennett
Eric Campbell
John Church
Reese Havens
Rylan Sandoval
Chris Schwinden

Double-A Binghamton Mets

Joe Bonfe
Darrell Ceciliani
Mark Cohoon
Blake Forsythe
Ryan Fraser
Jim Fuller
Erik Goeddel
Chase Huchingson
Greg Peavey
Cory Vaughn

Like I said, the Mets are in good shape…

In case you were wondering, any player is eligible for the Rule V who:

1. Signed his first pro contract being age 19 or older after FOUR SEASONS (counting the season in which he signed)

2.Signed his first pro contract being younger than 19 after FIVE SEASONS (counting the season in which he signed)

These rules apply regardless of how much they have played since or whether they missed any time due to injury.

The post Rule 5 Deadline Approaches: Look For Mets To Add Matz, Walters, DeGrom To 40 Man Roster appeared first on Metsmerized.

But for the Brooklyn Cyclones, making the playoffs has basically been a perennial feat.

However, the 2013 summer short season ended without a postseason berth for the Cyclones for just the fourth time in the team’s 13-year existence.

It is important to note though that the team has now finished at or above .500 (38-37) in all 13 of its seasons, making the Cyclones one of only four teams in affiliated baseball – the Arizona League Giants, the Elizabethton Twins and the New York Yankees – to never finish below .500 since 2001.

Right from the start of the summer, it seemed the Cyclones just couldn’t find their rhythm. Though it’s by no means an excuse, the weather certainly didn’t cooperate at MCU Park in Coney Island the first few weeks.

Almost every home game, the Cyclones were forced to wait out one or even two rain delays. And in games where there were no weather delays, Brooklyn wound up playing a number of extra-inning games, including a marathon 16-inning game.

Manager Rich Donnelly continuously said, “That’s baseball, there is no clock,” in response to questions about how to deal with the delays and extra-inning games. But he did say that the start of this season was the strangest given the circumstances in all his years in professional baseball.

Despite not getting off to a great start, the Cyclones began picking up their game and were in the playoff hunt right until the end of the season. That’s all you can ask of a young team finding their way.

Mets’ great Lee Mazzilli’s son, second baseman L.J. Mazzilli, led the Cyclones with a .278 batting average. He sat above .300 for most of the summer, but a hand injury late in the season caused him to cool off down the stretch. He also led the team in RBI with 34.

Mets’ 2012 first-round draft pick, shortstop Gavin Cecchini, had a solid all-around season. His bat was a bit cool to start the year, but once he returned from a high ankle sprain, he was red hot offensively. He rattled off a 16-game hitting streak and began spraying line drives all over the field. He finished the year hitting .273.

But for Cecchini, his strength is his defense, and he showed that this summer. He has a great arm and gets to a lot of balls with his range. His glove can carry him to the next level, but he’ll have to maintain a steady bat.

After an extremely cold start, right fielder James Roche rebounded to take some strides offensively. He led the team with five home runs and displayed good power to the gaps. But he must cut down on his strikeouts to be considered a legitimate prospect.

While the Cyclones’ offense was streaky, the pitching really held its own this summer. Starting pitchers Miller Diaz (2.03), Rob Gsellman (2.06), Carlos Valdez (2.58) and John Gant (2.89) all recorded an ERA under 3.00. Diaz, Gsellman and Gant were each named to the All-Star team.

Diaz led the staff with seven wins and 87 strikeouts. He sometimes had trouble putting batters away, which led to some high pitch counts, but the talent is there.

Gsellman seemed to be the hard luck pitcher on the staff, as he barely received any run support. But he still pitched well enough to be able to make an impact at the next level next season.

Akeel Morris, who struggled in extended spring training, really impressed the Mets’ brass, so much so that Jeff Wilpon ventured to MCU Park to check him out. With a fastball sitting in the low-to-mid 90s, Morris could have a future as a big-league reliever.

It seems he still considers himself as a starter, but he thrived in a long-relief role this summer. He finished 4-1 with a 1.00 ERA.

Other relievers John Mincone and Johnny Magliozzi found success in the closer’s role. Mincone was named an All-Star after posting a 1.47 ERA and six saves, but a lower back injury ended his season early. Magliozzi stepped right in and saved nine games with a 1.17 ERA.

Though the Cyclones’ season did not continue deeper into September, the team still accomplished what it set out to do at the beginning of the season: provide an entertaining quality of baseball to an area of Brooklyn that was hit hard last fall during Hurricane Sandy.

The “Meaningful Mondays,” in which a portion of each ticket sold went to local charities aiding in Sandy recovery, were a nice touch to help the surrounding communities still in need from the superstorm.

For the 13th consecutive season, the Cyclones led the New York-Penn League in attendance.

It was a fun summer at Coney Island, and we’ll hopefully be seeing some of these faces at Citi Field in the near future – especially some of the talented young pitchers to go along with the already-talented crop of pitchers the Mets are developing.

The post Brooklyn Cyclones Season Recap appeared first on Metsmerized.

• Miller Diaz– After bouncing around the Mets’ Rookie Ball affiliates for parts of four seasons, Diaz is having a breakout season for Low-A Brooklyn. The hard-throwing righty has a fastball that sits in the mid-90s. He doesn’t have good enough control to stick as a starter, but he has the tools to be a very good relief pitcher down the road. This year, he has a 2.01 ERA in Brooklyn, striking out 11.8 batters per nine and walking 4.3 in 62.2 innings. His ERA and WHIP are both among the league leaders and Diaz’s 82 strikeouts leads all NYPL pitchers.
• Chris Flexen– Flexen has put up gaudy numbers for Kingsport this season. In his first full year, the 2012 14th-round pick has a 2.09 ERA in 11 starts, striking out 8.1 batters per nine and walking just 1.6. He has already tossed two complete game shutouts this season, and currently sits fourth in the Appalachian League in ERA. He has a decent low-90s fastball and secondary pitches, but his most impressive trait is his control, likely the reason the Mets took a flier on him in last year’s draft. Maybe this year’s dominance is a result of repeating Kingsport, but it’s certainly a promising sign when any young pitcher is competing for the ERA crown in his league while walking so few batters.
• Matthew Bowman– Bowman, a 2012 13th-round pick, has already made quite an impression in his year and a half of professional pitching. The soon-to-be Princeton graduate (he will finish his degree this fall) is armed with four average pitches, with a changeup that could be above average eventually, and superb control. He has consistently gotten hitters out at every level he’s pitched, going form Brooklyn, to Savannah, to St. Lucie in one calendar year. This season, he has a 3.05 ERA in 21 starts with 116 strikeouts (8.2 K/9) and 35 walks (2.5 BB/9) in 127 innings. He is undersized at 6’0″ and less than 170 pounds, which may eventually force him to move to the bullpen, but Bowman could become a suitable back-of-the-rotation pitcher or middle reliever and make his debut sooner rather than later.
• Akeel Morris– After blowing up last season with Kingsport, watching his ERA balloon to almost eight, Akeel Morris practically fell of the prospect map. A 10th-round pick out of the Virgin Islands in 2009, Morris had a solid first two seasons in professional ball, posting a combined 3.32 ERA between the Gulf Coast League and Kingsport, striking out over ten batters per nine innings. The big concern, however, was his control. In each season, he was walking well over six batters per nine, something that was going to catch up to him sooner or later. Although he brought his walk rate down to 5.2 in 2012, he fell apart, finishing with a 7.98 ERA in 38.1 innings. This season, Morris has flipped the script, putting up unbelievable numbers for Brooklyn mostly as a “piggybacker,” a long relief pitcher that comes in after a starter and is put on regular rest. Morris has brought his walks down further (4.6 BB/9), and has improved his already-incredible strikeout numbers. In 45 innings, he has 60 strikeouts (12.0 K/9), giving up only 29 hits (5.8 H/9) in the process.
• Steven Matz– Anytime you get a lefty throwing in the upper 90s, heads are going to turn. Matz, 22, was taken in the second round of the 2009 draft. It took quite a while for him to actually get on the mound, as Tommy John Surgery delayed his arrival, and when he did arrive, we only got a short glimpse of what he could be last year with Kingsport. Even in a short time with Kingsport, however, earning a spot on the Baseball America Hot Sheet before going down with injury. He finished te year with a 1.55 ERA in six starts. This year, he has come back fully healthy and has been fantastic for Savannah. In 21 starts, he has a 2.62 ERA with 121 strikeouts (10.2 K/9) and 38 walks (3.2 BB/9) in 106.1 innings. Although his numbers may be boosted by the pitcher-friendly Grayson Stadium, he still has a 3.38 ERA on the road. With his stuff, he’s a keeper. You may not hear much about Matz now, but if he keeps this up, he will shoot up top prospect lists very quickly.

Check out more great information on the Mets’ minor league system over at MetsMinors.net.

Also make sure to follow me on Twitter @UpAlongFirst

The post Mets Minors: Top Underrated Pitchers In The System appeared first on Metsmerized.