6/20/09

Minors Stuff


Extended Camp:


Ramon Martinez was placed on the 60-day DL.


New Met:



Arturo Lopez is another Mexican League guy (should Adrian Gonzalez just be named GM now?) who may have some tools. He throws a straight 4-seamer in the low 90's, a slider in the low 80's and a changeup in the low 80's. The 4-seam is just a major league average pitch, as it has no cut or anything to it. The slider and change appear to be average pitches stuff-wise, but are below average due to his inability to command them. He comes from a high 3/4 release and appears to favor his change over his slider.


It seems to me that Omar has a pattern here. Many teams, like the Mets with Nelson Figueroa, have had to call up players who no longer have options. When they are sent down after the emergency is over that got them to the Bigs in the first place, they have to clear waivers first. Omar seems to be scooping up good, established minor leaguers in the hopes of finding another Fernando Tatis or Fernando Nieve.


Lopez was 0-0, 3.77, in 20 relief appearances, for the AAA-Porland team. The Padres needed a spot reliever, they called him up, he gave up five runs in four innings, so they attempted to send him back down. Along same Omar.


Look... he's a lefty reliever and he's 26 years old.


Can't hurt sending him to Buffalo.



B-Mets:


Saturday, June 20 Trenton G1 5:05 pm TBA vs. LHP Wilkin De La Rosa (3-4, 4.30)

Saturday, June 20 Trenton G2 TBD TBA vs. RHP Kanekoa Texeira (5-4, 3.68)

Sunday, June 21 Trenton 1:05 pm RHP Eric Brown (4-5, 4.81) vs. RHP Zach McAllister (5-3, 1.81)

Tuesday, June 23 Bowie 7:05 pm RHP Jenrry Mejia (0-2, 2.25) vs. TBA



Baseball America on Josh Thole:


I couldn't put him in my personal Top 10 yet because I'm still worried about where he plays in the big leagues. On the one hand, the man can hit, and that's the most important tool there is. But on the other, there are still concerns about where he'll play in the big leagues. He ranks near the bottom of the Eastern League in caught stealing percentage (31.5 percent) and he's still working on framing pitches. If he can't catch well enough to be an everyday catcher, he doesn't really have a clear full-time position. He doesn't have the power (one home run this year with a career high of five) to play first base, especially for a big-market team like the Mets, and he's too slow to be an outfielder. He may end up as a very useful lefty hitting backup catcher who can play some first, but his lack of a profile means he still has an uphill battle for a starting job.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/draft/chat/2009/268411.html

So when you give up 12 runs, lose by 10, and it's not the worse loss you've had in the past 10 days ... Yeah, that's the kind of slump the B-Mets find themselves in right now. They've lost four in a row and are 5-14 in June after tonight's 12-2 loss.Here's the kind of game it was, viewed through the filter of one stat: Runners Left of Base. Trenton had 14, Binghamton had 13.Which means the B-Mets would have had to score all but two of the men they got on base to win this game.But, even worse ... Trenton left 14 men on base. Which means it could have been 26-2.




Lucy:


Baseball America on Ike Davis:


Ike was on the short list this week, although he was a little ways from making the photo. But he's having a very solid year and has done a good job of putting last year's putrid start behind him. But he is a good example of how it's worth remembering when some first or second-round pick goes out and stinks up the joint in short-season ball this year that it isn't time to write them off. Prospects can be gassed or otherwise struggle in their first pro season, just ask Chipper Jones.


The Mets literally drop the Subway Series thanks to a walk-off Luis Castillo error, but it's Johan Santana's beating (3 9 9 9 2 3) which generates more concern. Despite a 6.50 ERA over his last six starts, he's shaking off reports that his woes are attributable to knee or blister problems, claiming it's just location, location, location. Meanwhile, Jerry Manuel celebrates one year on the job, and the smart money says he's not guaranteed another.

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