7/28/09

Minors Stuff




Extended Camp:.


I want to get something straight.

Everything I wrote about Tony Bernazard - bombshell stories that appeared in the pages of the Daily News over the last week - is accurate.


My reporting was solid, met the journalistic standards of sourcing and beyond and was untainted by any personal agenda on my part.


Tuesday, July 28 at Altoona 7:05 pm LHP Eric Niesen (1-5, 7.36) vs. RHP Derek Hankins (2-3, 4.50)

Wednesday, July 29 at Altoona 7:05 pm RHP Brad Holt (2-3, 5.45) vs. LHP Daniel Moskos (7-8, 3.90)

Thursday, July 30 at Altoona 7:05 pm RHP Eric Brown (4-12, 6.73) vs. LHP Kyle Bloom (4-5, 3.54)

Friday, July 31 Akron 7:05 pm RHP Jake Ruckle (1-2, 7.50) vs. TBA


No. 13 IKE DAVIS, 1B - METS

Team: Double-A Binghamton (Eastern)
Age: 22
Why He's Here: .385/.467/.692 (10-for-26), 2 HR, 2 2B, 6 RBIs, 6 R, 4 BB, 4 SO
The Scoop: Davis has clubbed more home runs this season (12) and compiled a higher slugging percentage (.486) than any of the other four first-round first basemen from the '08 draft. That's a group that includes Yonder Alonso, Justin Smoak, David Cooper and Allan Dykstra. To be fair, Smoak began the year in Double-A and has moved up to Triple-A, unlike Davis who started in high Class A, but then Smoak has enjoyed much friendlier hitting environments along the way.
Winning may have proven elusive for the Kingsport Mets this season, but first baseman Jeff Flagg has learned to appreciate the simple pleasures of baseball.

Like making contact with the ball. Repeatedly and meaningfully.
Flagg went 3-for-5 with a home run and six RBIs in the K-Mets’ 10-9 Appalachian League loss to the Greeneville Astros on Monday night at Hunter Wright Stadium.

“You’ve got to keep playing,” said the 6-foot-6, 245 pound Flagg. “You can’t do anything else but keep playing.”

True to form, Kingsport blew an early four-run lead only to battle to the bitter end with tying and go-ahead runs stranded in scoring position at the last out.

The K-Mets (10-23) banged out 10 hits, with Alonzo Harris going 2-for-4, R.J. Harris going 2-for-5 with a dinger and an RBI, and Richard Lucas getting a double.

http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9015570


Queens:

Jose Reyes (8/10)Gary Sheffield (8/4)Carlos Beltran (8/20)Another change I considered, but decided against for now, was changing this column to "Under The Mets." It's probably not a good long-term decision, since the team that's perceived as being the most injury-prone changes from year to year. Call it luck if you want, but I'll keep looking for the real reason. Anyway, the Mets are getting a bit of good news with Reyes, who has only one hurdle to clear before he's ready to start playing in games: running the bases at full speed. The turns on the bases are the hardest element of this, and of course the most sport-specific, testing the hamstrings and knees with their unbalanced and often awkward steps around the diamond's 360 feet. Reyes is expected to do this "any day now," and then move quickly into rehab games. Sources tell me that there's a bit of a debate as to how to handle it from there. There are some who want to give Reyes a week's worth of rehab games to make sure that there's no problem, while the others wants to get him back to New York quickly.

The story on Sheffield is a bit more confusing. After a week of not being able to play, Sheffield had a good workout on Friday, but the Mets then made the decision on Saturday to DL him. Stories came out that Sheffield was frustrated to the point of asking for a trade, but the simple fact is that this was a roster decision. "Cautious" is the word that the Mets used in describing the retroactive move, but this is really about needing a pitcher now, and wanting to have Sheffield at 100 percent. Add in the slight progress that Carlos Beltran is making, and the middle of August is going to be huge for the Mets in terms of reinforcing their roster. The question now is whether mid-August is going to be too late as the team slides, since they're already 7½ back in the wild-card hunt. I'm getting reports that Beltran will shift from his non-weight-bearing work soon, so that the team can then figure out if he'll be back. I'm told that mid-August is when the team expects to know more, but I think they're going to be willing to see how Reyes' return affects the team before even considering shutting down Beltran.
No. 9 DEOLIS GUERRA, RHP
TWINS
Team: Double-A New Britain (Eastern)
Age: 20
Why He's Here: 2-0, 2.03, 13 1/3 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 15 SO
The Scoop: After spending parts of four long, tumultuous seasons in the high Class A Florida State League, Guerra was finally given a shot at Double-A in early July. It feels like he's been around forever, yet he's still young for Double-A at age 20, and he's gone 3-0, 3.52 in his first four starts with New Britain. Guerra has regained some his velocity, which had declined last year as he battled inconsistencies with his delivery after coming over from the Mets in the Johan Santana trade. He struck out 12 over seven shutout innings against Portland Thursday night, and has fanned 23 in 23 innings for the Rock Cats.
http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/prospect-hot-sheet/2009/268591.html

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