7/10/09

Minor Thoughts - Friday Morning




Minor Thoughts - Friday:

1. I called Kingsport, both yesterday and today, to find out what the status was on OF Cesar Puello. In both cases, no one picked up the phone and it eventually went to a message machine. Last night’s call was during the third inning, today’s was around 1pm. So, far still no return call, nor have they responded to my email.

2. Rehabbing OF Angel Pagan continues to rake where no rake calls home, St. Lucie. Pagan doubled in the first run Thursday night in a 4-run first inning. I’ve sat many times next to Chicago Cubs’ scout Billy Blizer, who has always been proud of the fact that he was the guy responsible for convincing the Cubs to steal Angel in the Rule V draft a few years ago. I called Blizer, who lives in Brooklyn, the day Pagan came back to the Mets and we had a good laugh. Watch for Pagan to show up in Queens by the weekend.

3. I think it’s getting almost impossible for even the Mets brass to ignore Nelson Figueroa anymore this season. Once again, he pitches another gem (8.0-IP, 9-K, 1-ER, 2.50) and, if you take out his one bad game on May 28, he’s the top pitcher in the league. Okay, he got pissed when you demoted him and his wife wrote nasty stuff on her blog. Get over it and promote the guy.

4. Nice job by SP Dylan Owen for the B-Mets… 7.0-IP, 7-K, 0-ER… as I’ve mentioned before, Owen’s future with the Mets, if any, would be as a reliever, but as long as he pitches this well, why the rush… Roy Merritt and Connor Robertson each pitches in a scoreless inning.

5. Lucy had some fun… by the sixth inning, Palm Beach had their first baseman pitching… RP Brant Rustich, who hadn’t pitched since June 25, added a scoreless inning and lowered his ERA to 2.59. Here’s another guy that, early on, looked like a future rotational pitcher for the Mets, but maybe his brand of nastiness is best suited in the pen.

6. Regarding SP Jeurys Familia, who I have listed as the fourth SP in line (Niese, Holt, Mejia) for a a Mets rotation spot, tonight is the kind of game that no top prospect throws at the A-level. If you can’t dominate here, you certainly won’t at A+ or AA (just as Angel Calero, Mike Antonini, Dillon Gee, and a 1,000 other guys over the years). Tonight’s line: 4.2-IP, 6-ER, 7-K, 3.19. This comes after only two earned runs in his last 19 innings.

7. Regarding the Mets, it look’s like they have got the best out of Livan Hernandez. Add to this the wildness of Oliver Perez and even I have run out of suggestions here. John Maine is soft tossing but he won’t be back until well past the ASG. Trust me, if Jonanthan Niese throws up another good outing, both he and Nelson Figueroa could be on the way soon.

8. And while we’re on the Mets…. can we please end the Tim Redding era?

9. No roster moves today.

10. Write these names down… Kenny Moreland, Brian Sisk, Mick Mattaliano, Jacob Smith, Stephen Procner, Darin Gorski, Lance Hoge, and Brandon Sage. Why? Because there’s a good chance at least two of these will make it big some day, after combining to pitch 30 scoreless innings in Brooklyn Thursday night.

Mack

No comments: