The Keepers: - #74 - SP - Yohan Almonte

74.  Yohan Almonte:

Almonte was signed as an international unsigned free agent in 2007.

He pitched well in his first pro season for the DSL Mets (2008: 3-3, 2.95), and split time in 2009 with the GCL Mets and Kingsport… 4-1, 3.45, in 13-starts. Almonte also struck out 57 in 62.2-IP.

7-4-10: - Almonte pitched another good outing for Brooklyn Saturday night. The 20-year old righthander went 5.2 innings, gave up one earned run, and struck out four. His season ERA is down to 3.63 in four starts

7-19-10 from Pete Spiewak/Mack’s Mets: - Cyclones starter Yohan Almonte allowed seven hits in five innings on Monday, while the ValleyCats scored three unearned runs off of the 20-year-old righty. The Dominican Republic native lowered his ERA to 2.37 and now has a 24/8 K/BB ratio through 38 innings pitched for Brooklyn. He has only given up one earned run in his last three outings, and the last time he gave up more than one earned run was June 23 against Hudson Valley, when he gave up four runs over 6.2 innings in a loss to the Renegades.

7-31-10: - Almonte continues to elevate himelf, both as the ace of the Clones staff, and as a Mets prospect of the future. Last night, he went 7.0-IP, 0-ER, 3-H, 4-K, 0-BB. The 20-year old is now 4-3, 2.31, 1.04, with only 10-BB in 50.2-IP.

8-5-10: - We hate to write about somebody that we recently wrote about, but, at the same time, you have to recognize a player when he is accomplishing something special. This happened earlier this year when Mark Cohoon just kept throwing shutouts for St. Lucie. Well, in Brooklyn, right now, Yohan Almonte is all that. His stats last night:  7.0-IP, 0-R, 3-H, 5-K, 1-BB, 2.03.

8-9-10: - Almonte dealt up another great Cyclone outing, raising his record to 6-3. This time his stats were: 8.0-IP, 7-H, 1-ER, 9-K, 0-BB and his yearly ERA has fallen below two at 1.92. He’s going nowhere because the Mets want him to pitch game one in the Cyclones playoffs coming up at the end of the month.

8-28-10: - Stock Up: - A lot of people were questioning me earlier in the season why I had SP Yohan Almonte so high up my “Keepers” list. Well, after last night, nobody should be questiong it as the Cyclones head their way into the playoffs with the ace. Almonte went the distance with a six-hit, 9.0-IP shutout. He also struck out five, while walking one, and lowered his seasonal ERA to 2.00. I’m telling you, the only way this kid ever sees Savannah is if his plane to Port St. Lucie next spring gets diverted due to weather.

9-14-10 - 2011 Forecast: - 2010 was a magical year for Almonte, who has rocketed up the prospect lists all over Metland. The 21-year old went 8-4, 1.91, 0.93 in 15-starts. He led the league with the lowest ERA and the lowest WHIP, which is about the best you can do. Since this was the third professional year for Yohan, and his second stateside, I expect the Mets to bump him right past Savannah and start him off next spring in St. Lucie. Right now, one of the top three pitching prospects in the system.

1-17-11: - The Mets are overloaded with SPs at the AA, A+, and A level in 2011. Almonte could start off either in Savannah or St. Lucie, but, in both cases, there will be at least six pitches trying to win one of the five slots. Considering his result at Brooklyn in 2011, I expect Almonte to slot in on opening day at either the SP1/2 in Savannah or SP4 at Lucy.