Minor Thoughts - Sunday

1. The Mets claimed IF Angel Berroa from the Yankees, not the worst pickup for an AAA team… 29-yrs old… played six years with Kansas City (17-HRs in 2003), then one with the Dodgers (.230). Can play SS, #B, and 2B. Only had that one big year at the plate… never hit more than 11 home runs before or after 2003… hmm…

2. It’s good to see that SP Jonathan Niese has pitched another steady, dominating game. It’s vitally important to the immediate future of this team that this guy makes it, either for a trading chip or the future SP5 role. Most Mets fans went into this season thinking the team had a couple of holes; now they realize it’s much deeper than that. Past Johan Santana, there is no sure-fire SP on the team, and Niese must, at least, pitch as good (or as some may say, as inconsistent) as Mike Pelfrey.

3. It didn’t take 1B Nick Evans long to feel back home in Buffalo… he went hitless again at the AAA level and his BA there is down to 0.90…

4. Sal Aguillar pitched the 1st inning of the GCL Mets game tonight. Once thought of either not coming back for the rest of the season, or never being seen in a Met uniform again, the inning was scoreless. I have no idea what the Mets plan to do with Aguillar at this point in the season, or his career.

5. OF Kurt Steinhauer, who had hit .267 in 45 at bats with the GCL Mets, was bumped to Kingsport Friday night.

6. I took a peek over at the Mets box score… two early hits by Angel Pagan… 2-rbi single by Jeff Francoeur… not a bad start for the two new guys…

7. Boy, 1B Stefan Welsh is sure making the best of an opportunity. He started this season without a team, and then couldn’t get in the Savannah lineup. He was recently sent to St. Lucie, not because he earned it, but because it was the only place he could get some playing time. Well, he sure did and, by the end of the seventh inning on Saturday night, his batting average was .524. Add to that the best A+ outing Jeffrey Kaplan has ever had (7.0-IP, 2-ER, 6-K).

8. Saturday evening easily could have been the last time Robert Carson will pitch a game in Savannah. It was a 9-inning complete shutout, with eight strikeouts and only one walk. Carson’s ERA fell to 2.02 and keep an eye on the waiver wire… it was Carson’s first ever professional complete game.

9. RP Eric Turgeon pitched his first inning this season, for Brooklyn, It was scoreless. He was a 25th round draft pick in 2008.