7/30/09

Minors Stuff




The Herd:


The signing of pitcher Adam Pettyjohn this week and his assignment to the Bisons seemed pretty routine in a season that has seen 57 different players appear in a Buffalo uniform.
Pettyjohn made his Buffalo debut Wednesday night against the Pawtucket Red Sox and when he pitches, it's far from routine. You might call each game he pitches a personal triumph.
The 32-year-old left-hander came on in the fifth inning in relief of Ken Takahashi and threw three scoreless innings in a 3-0 Bisons victory before 7,598.


Pettyjohn got into difficulty right away, giving up a double to Jeff Natale and a single by Angel Chavez, but then he settled down. He struck out Gil Velazquez and got out of the inning by getting Brian Anderson to ground into a double play.


Another double play, the third of three in the game for the Bisons, and a strikeout got Pettyjohn out of trouble in the sixth. Good fielding plays by Wilson Valdez at short and Jesus Feliciano in center field helped Pettyjohn to a 1-2-3 seventh inning to finish his night's work.



Thursday, July 30 at Altoona 7:05 pm LHP Mike Antonini (5-3, 5.99) vs. LHP Kyle Bloom (4-5, 3.54)

Friday, July 31 Akron 7:05 pm RHP Jake Ruckle (1-2, 7.50) vs. LHP Bobby Livingston (1-4, 7.89)

Saturday, August 1 Akron 7:05 pm RHP Dylan Owen (3-6, 5.24) vs. LHP Ryan Edell (3-1, 2.48)

Sunday, August 12 Akron 6:35 pm RHP Brad Holt (2-4, 5.49) vs. RHP Jeanmar Gomez (8-3, 3.47)


Gnats:

While Robert Carson has been helped by a little luck (FIP is a run higher than his ERA), his one home run allowed in 92 1/3 inning of work, and 63% GB% are dominating statistics. In July, he has also shown the rates one would expect to see out of a top pitching prospect with a K% near 20% and a BB% just over 3%. While not a true top prospect yet, he's well on his way to becoming a top 10 player in the Mets organization and may already be there. As for most young pitchers, Carson needs to become more consistent to harness his potential and a strong third offering will determine whether Carson can become a 200+ inning, back of the rotation bulldog, or two pitch stalwart out of the pen. With a 0.40 ERA versus lefties, he could probably have some success now as a LOOGY.


http://www.scoutingthesally.com/2009/07/game-report-robert-carson-sp-mets.html

In each at-bat, Flores worked the count to his favor, and of the 15 pitches he saw in four at-bats, he swung and missed only once, at an 86 mph fastball on the inner half. He fouled off one other pitch, but in every instance he was working ahead of the pitcher—2-1, 3-1, 1-0 and 2-1. In the first inning, Flores lined a 89 mph fastball, middle-in, from righthander Tom Koehler over the center fielder’s head for a double. The defense had been playing him slightly to pull. As Flores fills out his lanky 6-foot-3, 175-pound frame, scouts will be looking for increased power production from the righthanded hitter. "I think learning when he gets his pitch to really attack it will help him (hit for more power)," the scout said. "But now, he just lays the barrel on the ball and throws it in the alley or in front of a outfielder for a single or double. I think as he gets more experience, he’ll learn to really attack it when he gets his pitch. "He’s a big leaguer, I think, but not a shortstop for sure. And the approach has to improve, and he has to develop a lot more power if he’s going to be everyday on a corner." But Flores is a unique case. Not many prospects, not even those from Latin America, compete in full-season minor leagues at age 17-18



Clones:


The Cyclones lost to the Staten Island Yankees on Wednesday night 3-2 in an unusual extra 8th inning. The game, the first of a doubleheader, was originally scheduled for seven innings. In the sixth inning, play was suspended due to weather for approximately two hours and 27 minutes.LHP Mark Cohoon took the ball for the Cyclones and pitched the first 6.0 innings of the game. Cohoon gave up three runs in a shaky first inning, but settled in and held the Yankees scoreless for the next five frames, giving his team a chance to get back in the game. He surrendered just one hit after the first inning. 3B Tyler Vaughn quickly answered Staten Islands' early start with an RBI single in the bottom of the first, scoring CF Justin Garber, who led off with a double. With the single, Vaughn extended his hit streak to eight consecutive games. In the Cyclones' half of the fourth, SS Robbie Shields heated things up with a lead off triple to the right-center gap, and C Juan Centeno's groundout scored Shields easily as the Cyclones slowly chipped away at Staten Island's lead. In the sixth, a wild pitch scored 2B Luis Nieves, who doubled to right-center. In the top of the seventh, the umpires called for the tarp. When play resumed, the Cyclones' Michael Powers pitched a scoreless inning in relief, but in the extra-inning eighth, LHP Matias Carillo surrendered a lone run that left him with the loss.

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