The Herd:
3. Jonathan Niese LHP - Another player that had an opportunity to pitch for the Mets because of injury. He got five decent starts where his ERA was 4.21 but a hamstring injury in August knocked him out for the year. He had 16 starts with the Mets AAA Buffalo team with a 3.82 ERA. He had thrown two complete game shutouts with Buffalo to earn the call with the Mets. He has good velocity for a left handed pitcher (88-93) but is better suited for the back end of a rotation. Compared to his 7.07 ERA in three starts in 2008, Niese showed he can pitch in the majors and should get an opportunity to make the starting rotation next year.
New York Mets: Catcher Josh Thole proved that last year's .300 batting average in the Florida State League was no fluke by improving to .328/.395/.422 at Double-A this season. Employing a patient approach while spraying line drives all over the field, he's being given a long look this September to see if he can become the favorite for the everyday job in the big leagues in 2010.Runner-up: A third-round pick last June, outfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis turned into a revelation in the outfield, as he was the most dangerous hitter in the Florida State League down the stretch, batting .345/.406/.647 in August and then finishing the year by going 13-for-32 (.406) at Double-A Binghamton.
Ike Davis has been tabbed as the Mets’ Sterling Minor-League Player of the Year and could unseat Murphy at first base sometime in 2010. Righthander Jeurys Familia, who was 10-6 with a 2.69 ERA at low-A Savannah, is the organization’s Minor-League Pitcher of the Year.
Manuel plans to head to the Arizona Fall League after the Mets’ season ends to watch Davis and top pitching prospect Jenrry Mejia play for the Surprise Rafters. The hard-throwing Mejia has a shot to sneak onto the Mets’ Opening Day roster next season as a reliever, while Davis more than likely will begin the year at Triple-A Buffalo.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/mets/#ixzz0RNdN6paA
4. Brad Holt RHP - Brad was the Mets first round supplemental pick in 2007. After a dominating performance for the Cyclones in 2008 Brad continued his success with the St Lucie Mets, finishing at 4-1, 3.12 in nine starts. It wasn’t the 1.87 ERA that he had with the Cyclones but it earned him a promotion to AA Binghamton. There he found pitching a little more of a challenge, finishing with a 6.21 ERA in eleven starts. Opponents batting average against him have gone from .171 to .215 to .270. He needs to find a way to reverse that. Expect him to repeat AA. He does control a high velocity fastball, but his secondary pitches need a lot of improvement.
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Gnats:
2. Wilmer Flores SS - It’s difficult to judge how good a player is based on his stats when he is considered one of the younger players in the league. Wilmer is 18 years old and playing at low A Savannah. Most kids drafted out of high school report to rookie ball and then if they are good enough may get an opportunity at low A the following year when they are 19. Wilmer is supposed to have some power, but it didn’t show this year. A .332 slugging and only three homeruns does not define power. Since many think he will be too thick to play shortstop as he ages, that power needs to come out if he wants to play in the show. He did hit .264 with a 22 to 72 walk to K ratio, which is not a lot of improvement from last year.
Thole batted in the No. 2 hole for the first time in his brief career as a Met. Manuel likes how Thole makes contact. The manager recalled ex-Met Paul LoDuca’s success in that slot, although Manuel wasn’t quite sure Thole has the same bat control. Meanwhile, while Thole is hitting .423 after Wednesday’s 2-for-4, two-RBI performance, scouts note his catching is definitely a work-in-progress. One scout timed him at 2.25 seconds from receiving a pitch to hitting the glove of the teammate covering second base on an attempted steal Sunday in Philadelphia. The observer noted it was a tough pitch to handle, but that’s a poor time. The raw Thole has a habit of dropping his arm while throwing to second, which causes the ball to tail and dive.
World Cup:
Canada 4 Mexico 2
Canada wins their first game of the second round, downing Mexico 4-2. Nick Bucci pitched four innings of shutout ball to allow Canada to jump out to a 3-0 lead. Shawn Bowman got two RBI singles that proved the difference for Canada. Saul Soto hit a 2-run homer in the eighth for Mexico to halve the lead 4-2. In the ninth Humberto Cota, who hit three homeruns in the opening game, came up as the winning run with runners on first and second. On a 1-2 pitch he took a mighty swing at a Robert Swindle pitch — and missed. Canada wins 4-2. Box score here:
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