7-6-10 from: - link - International League Offensive Player of the Week - Lucas Duda, Buffalo - .304/.433/1.000, 7-for-23, 1 2B, 0 3B, 5 HR, 11 RBI, 6 R, 6 BB, 2 K, 0 SB - After hitting one homer in his first 11 Triple-A games, Mets prospect Lucas Duda exploded for one in each of his next five games. The streak started on Monday in Charlotte, when Duda was 2-for-4 with four RBIs, and ended against Rochester in Buffalo on Friday, when he clubbed a double -- one of two hits for Duda this week that didn't land on the other side of a fence -- and plated three runs. Duda's week crumbled over Saturday and Sunday; he was 0-for-7 with one RBI between those two games. Despite all of his hard swings, the outfield prospect struck out just twice over the course of the week.
Old stuff on Duda:
Duda had a career .275 batting average at USC and hit .278 in 2007, with a team-high 6 home runs. He also performed very well last year with a wood bat in the Northwoods League.
From his college web site: 2007: In his 2007 junior season, Duda made 51 of 53 starts in left field...drafted in the seventh round by the New York Mets...led the team with seven home runs...on April 6 at No. 9 Oregon State, he hit two triples including a two-run hit to break a 1-1 tie in the eighth during USC's 4-1 victory...went 3-for-4 with two RBI on March 27 at UC Riverside... had a career day on March 25 against No. 17 Arizona State with two home runs and six RBI...hit a grand slam as part of an eight-run sixth inning against the Sun Devils and gave USC the 14-13 win with a walkoff, two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth...hit a three-run homer in USC's 6-4 win on Jan. 30 in the season opener against Cal Poly.
Duda was drafted in the 7th round of the 2007 draft by the Mets. He was signed and assigned to the 2007 Brooklyn Cyclones roster, where he batted .299/.398/.462 in 234 at bats, 4 HRs, 32 RBIs, 20 doubles, only 6 errors.
In late January 2007, Baseball America listed Lucas as the 29th top Mets prospect.
In February 2008, MiLB.com came out with their top 15 prospects out of the Hawaiian Winter League: 14. Lucas Duda, Waikiki BeachBoys, - Had Duda been entrenched in Waikiki's lineup from the get-go, instead of joining the squad midseason as an injury replacement, the slugging USC product would have competed for league all-star honors. In 15 games and a resulting 59 plate appearances, Duda notched a .340 batting average coupled with a .660 slugging percentage with six doubles, a triple, three home runs and 13 RBIs. While the Los Angeles native needs some time to smooth out a few rough edges of his game, including his defense at first base and possibly one of the corner outfield spots, Duda's raw power and size should allow him to move up the ladder quickly
Duda played the entire 2008 season for St. Lucie, hitting .263/.358/.398 in 483 at bats, 11 HRs, 66 RBIs.
In 2009, Duda made a great career move, giving up his first baseman’s glove and moving into the outfield. He finished the season on the disabled list, but produced stats of .281/.380/.428/.808, with 9-HR, 53-RBI in 395-AB.
1-1-10 Forecast: Things are actually starting to heat up a little when it comes to Mets minor league outfielders. The trio from St. Lucie, Brahiam Maldonado, Kurt Nieuwenhuis, and Carlos Guzman, were all ranked in the league’s top 6 home run hitters in 2009. Duda was dead in the water as the furutre Mets first baseman, and by switching to the outfield in 2009, he gets a one year jump of the Three Amigos. The only outfield prospect ahead of him is Fernando Martinez.
4-17-10: - Lucas Duda - OF/1B - AA-Binghamton - I remember some of the Sand Gnats reporting a couple of years ago that the sweetest bat on the cyclones roster was Duda's... Lucas was a 7th round pick in the 2007 draft, out of USC. Three year totals to date: .277/.374/.422/.796, with only 24 homeruns in 1,112 at bats. Duda was moved from first to the outfield and had a decent AA season last year, going .281/.380/.428/.808, with 53-RBIs in 395 ABs. So far this season, he leads all Mets organizational players with 14 ribbys in only 34 at bats.
7-3-10 from: - http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100703&content_id=11864996&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp - Duda tied a team record by homering for the fifth straight game, powering the Bisons to a 12-4 romp over the Rochester Red Wings at Coca-Cola Field. Wrapping up his first month at the Triple-A level, the former seventh-round pick drilled a 1-2 pitch from Anthony Swarzak in the third inning over the right-center field fence for his sixth homer in 16 games with Buffalo. The 24-year-old outfielder was promoted by the Mets after hitting .286 with six homers and 34 RBIs in 45 games at Double-A Binghamton. He batted .222 without a homer in his first seven games with the Bisons but is hitting .419 (13-for-31) with six homers and 12 RBIs in his last nine contests.
7-4-10: - As I have already posted, Duda is a home run machine this week and everyone is pulling out their computer, trying to find out some more info on this guy. I remember being in the Savannah lockerroomtwo seasons ago and a couple of pitchers just arrived from Brooklyn. I was yacking with them when one told me about what, in his opinion, was the best swing he had ever seen. It was Duda’s, playing for the Cyclones.
Stock Up: Cuan has found a second life this season with the Brooklyn Cyclones. After lackluster years in 2008 and 2009, Cuan has become the dean of the Brooklyn staff, going 1-0, 2.35, in his first four starts. This after an 0-0, 0.00 start this season with St. Lucie. Strikeouts are way down but NY-Penn batters only have a .235 BA against him so far this season.
Cuan was a 2007 International free agent signing.
In 2008, he pitched for the VSL Mets, where he led the league in strikeouts (74). He was also 10th in the league with the lowest WHIP (1.14), while going only 1-8.
In 2009, he pitched for both Kingsport (12 games, 11 starts, 1-3, 4.83) and Brooklyn (2 starts, 6.75). He had a total of 54-Ks in 67.2-IP.
1-1-09: Observation: Cuan was the top prospect out of the VSL team in 2008. I’m sure the Mets will send him stateside next spring.
Stock Up: The 18-year old Venezuealan is turning some heads in St. Lucie this month, for the GCL Mets. So far, after three starts, he is 0-1, 1.23, even though he only has 6-Ks in 14.2–IP.
Villasmil pitched in 2009 for both the VSL Mets (1-6, 4.27, in 15-G, 7-starts, 54-Ks, 59.0-IP) and the DSL Mets (0-1, 5.79, 4-G, 8-K, 4.0-IP).
Very little else is known about him at this point, including how to pronounce his name, but we’ll keep an eye on the kid to see how things develop. “Edi” stands 6-2 and throws right.
Jon Niese might yet challenge for the NL Rookie of the Year Award. R.A. Dickey has been perhaps the biggest pitching surprise in the majors. Entering his start Monday night against Cincinnati, Mike Pelfrey was 10-2 with a 2.93 ERA. The rotation would seem to be one of the Mets' greatest strengths, but there's a sense of tenuousness to it. Even the Mets' most effective and consistent starter, Mr. Pelfrey, had a 5.32 ERA over his previous four starts. General manager Omar Minaya and manager Jerry Manuel have acknowledged that the team's pitching staff needs more depth. A trade for another quality starter, if Mr. Minaya could pull one off, would be a great help to both the rotation and the bullpen.- link
All season, Mr. Manuel has tried to find a setup man for closer Francisco Rodriguez. Fernando Nieve, Jenrry Mejia, Ryota Igarashi, Pedro Feliciano, Elmer Dessens—Mr. Manuel has tried them all, and none has settled into the job. As the hardest throwers in the bullpen, Mr. Igarashi and Bobby Parnell would seem the best options for Mr. Manuel, and should the Mets acquire a starting pitcher, they could move Hisanori Takahashi back to the bullpen, which would give Mr. Manuel a left-handed option other than Mr. Feliciano. - link
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