Minors Report - Kirk, First Base, Lucy and Gnat Rosters

 OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis checked in with reporters Tuesday morning and said he is feeling 100%. He is scheduled to start in centerfield for the Buffalo Bisons come opening day, which might be the only outfield position they have figured out so far. Naturally, Wally Backman must first wait to see who sticks with Queens, but candidates for the two other starting slots, and the reserve one, include Juan Lagares, Adam Loewen, Sean Ratliff, Mike Baxter, Vinnie Rottino, and Raul Reyes. 




We’re still unable to predict who’s going to be the Bisons first baseman, which affects the position throughout the system. Alan Dykstra (AA - .267/.389/.474/.864, 19-HR, 77-RBI) has earned the slot, but what do you do with Josh Satin if he isn’t picked for Queens? He never did get to play in the outfield, both Jordany Valdespin and Reese Havens are on second, and Zach Lutz is on third. Plus, you still have Val Pascucci and Eric Campbell on the roster. There’s nothing left for Dykstra to do in AA ball and it would allow for the progression of Travis Ozga (AA), Sam Honeck (A+) and Cole Frenzel (A) in the system. 




 ·        Toby Hyde, of SNY and MetsBlog fame, reported the following players got in St. Lucie and Savannah spring training games recently:

o   St. Lucie -  pitchers Domingo Tapia, Rafael Montero, Cory Mazzoni, Chase Huchingson, Yohan Almonte

Catchers - Jeffrey Glenn, Cam Maron, Nelfi Zapata, Xorge Carillo

o   Savannah – pitchers Steve Matz, Carlos Vazquez.  Marco Camerena.  Jacob deGrom.  Julian Hilario

Outfield:  - Brandon Nimmo, Gilbert Gomez, Joe Tuschak

Infield - Yucarybert De La Cruz, Justin Schaeffer, Alex Sanchez, Jonathan Clark

This does not mean all of these players will play here come April (Hyde uses a good example of the St. Lucie catcher situation which, in the long run, will most probably be Albert Cordero and Blake Forsythe)