The Herd:
There have been only two simple pleasures while watching the Buffalo Bisons this year. Fernando Martinez's big May at the plate was one. Jonathon Niese's brilliant June on the mound was the other.
Despite throwing a season-high eight innings and posting his fifth straight quality start, Niese got a no-decision in Tuesday's 4-3 loss to the Charlotte Knights before 7,473 in Coca-Cola Field.
But that doesn't diminish the job the New York Mets' top pitching prospect has done in recent weeks. The 22-year-old left-hander is 3-6 on the season with a 4.85 earned-run average but went 3-2, 2.43 in June.
Here's an unofficial look at B-Mets starter Eric Niesen's night.1st inning: 6 balls, 8 strikes, 14 total pitches.2nd inning: 4 balls, 8 strikes, 12 total pitches3rd inning: 22 balls, 19 strikes, 41 total pitches.Totals: 32 balls, 35 strikes, 67 total pitches.
SEEING STARS: Asheville catcher Beau Seabury came into the game hitting .163. He had three hits, scoring a run and logging an RBI. Tourists center fielder Scott Robinson had a three-run double in the seventh inning that proved to be the difference. The Sand Gnats had nine hits, but only turned them into one run, leaving 11 men on base. "We couldn't hit at the right time," first baseman Stefan Welch said. "We were hitting the ball pretty well and we just couldn't hit at the right time." After starting the second half of the season with two straight wins, the Sand Gnats have dropped their last four. "We've had great pitching and defense," Welch said. "Just the hitting has been a little bit behind. Hopefully, we'll pick it up; we have plenty more games."
DECISION MAKING: Dan Houston (3-6) got the win for Asheville. He pitched six innings and gave up only one run. Houston last faced the Sand Gnats on May 30 and pitched only 3.1 innings and allowed nine runs. Chris Schwinden (4-4) got the loss for Savannah. He pitched seven innings. He gave up only one run in his first six innings of work. In the seventh, he allowed three runs on three hits, a walk and a hit batter. Manny Olivares pitched two innings in relief for the Sand Gnats and did not allow a hit or a run. Adam Jorgenson (13) got the save for Asheville.
Clones:
Despite possessing a solid assortment of pitches and a ton of promise, Brooklyn Cyclones reliever Mattias Carrillo wasn’t used all that much in 2008, going 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA in just 15 appearances.
This season however, Carrillo is hoping for things to be different.
Gaining velocity on his fastball, [which sat around 88 MPH last season] and junking his curveball in favor of a slider is one way to do it.
He’s worked on a few other things as well.
“I added a couple of miles to my fastball; it’s at about 91 MPH now,” said Carrillo. “I’m very happy with my stuff right now. I’ve worked a bit on my mechanics a bit too; my arm angle is a bit different; I have a higher release point.”
"First you find a little thread, a little thread leads you to a string, and the string leads you to a rope. And from the rope you hang by the neck." -- A.I. Bezzarides, American novelist and screenwriter
Amid a deeply demoralizing downward spiral when the season seems to be on the verge of capitulation for these Mets, there are a few tiny, tiny shards of hope to hold.
Delusional? Well, in part, yes. That's what watching a Major League team fielding a Minor League lineup night in and night out will do for you. That and comedic ineptitude, inexplicable fielding blunders and downright putrid pitching at times. The season becomes surreal and the expectations recalibrate from World Championship to hopelessness.
But the season isn't even halfway concluded yet. Things could get inexorably worse and a longer losing streak than the Mets are currently spiraling down could see them fall too far behind to catch up in the NL East. But that would require a Phillies team who have lost with almost as much frequency as the Mets to suddenly getting hot. In a normal season, playing the kind of baseball the Mets have exhibited should see them out of divisional race by July and if they were playing in the NL West for example, they would already be at least a dozen games out of first, no hope in sight. Instead, although nestled comfortably in third, they are still only three games from first in the NL East. Not much to overcome.
http://www.flushinguniversity.com/moxie/columns/if-youre-looking-for-hope.shtml
Mets Alumni:
Brian Bannister was drafted by the New York Mets in the seventh round in 2003, out of Southern Cal. He was successful in college and well-known to scouts due to his family background, being the son of Floyd Bannister, the David Price of 1976. Floyd was a decent pitcher who never quite lived up to expectations. His son didn't have the same kind of arm strength, but Brian was considered extremely polished. He pitched well in the New York-Penn League after signing, posting a 2.15 ERA with a 42/18 K/BB in 46 innings and allowing just 27 hits. I gave him a Grade C+ in the 2004 book, noting his strong curveball and feel for pitching but also noting his mediocre fastball.
What is HITf/x and how can it help?
HITf/x uses the same camera-based technology and video footage that Sportvision uses with PITCHf/x to give accurate pitch speed and flight path information for MLB’s Gameday. As a result, the system is able to provide the same accuracy for the hit ball speed and the initial parameters of the ball’s flight path (the vertical and horizontal angles of the ball as it leaves the bat), as PITCHf/x provides for a pitched ball.I know that some of you are disappointed that HITf/x cannot also tell us accurately where the ball eventually lands and how long it takes to get there, but that would have required additional cameras to cover the entire field. Although coverage like that eventually will happen, the additional information that HITf/x can give us without additional cameras is very useful.Another benefit is that HITf/x can be calculated from the existing video already captured for PITCHf/x analysis over the last two and a half years, so we will have a usable database of information much more quickly. Now, we have HITf/x data only for most of the games in April of 2009, but that is enough to demonstrate its power.
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