Daily Mets Minors Report – 8-3-12

Date: 8-3-12

                        33 years ago today, we lost Thurman Munson

MLB –

Phillies told teams they weren't willing to eat ANY of the $97m owed to Cliff Lee, plus wanted top prospects

Peter Gammons - Craig Breslow throws to Ryan Lavarnway, it will be the first Yale battery since the 19th century

MLB - Mets:

Five RBIs matches Ronny Cedeno's career high

CL Frank Francisco returns today.

Kevin Kiernan on the Mets outfield –

            The goal is to create an outfield of greener pastures. That will be quite the challenge for the Mets. While Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler brighten the pitching landscape, the outfield continues to be a wasteland in many ways. Provided the Mets cannot dump Jason Bay for someone else’s headache, Bay, at best, will wind up platooning in left field next season with Lucas Duda, if he is still a Met. In center, the Mets would love for young Matt den Dekker to take over next season, preferably around June, but he has a long way to go. Den Dekker is struggling at Triple-A Buffalo, hitting only .197, but that’s his history, it usually takes a little bit of time for him to get going, but once he gets his feet under him, he takes off.

Frank Francisco - “I was doing what I want to do, throwing my splitter. I knew everybody knows what I’m going to do. Everybody knows what I was working with. They were seeing the ball, but they weren’t hitting the ball in the air. It was more like a groundball or low line drive where we got a good chance. I can live with that.”

AAA – Buffalo:

Zack Wheeler‏ -  “Thanks everybody for the kind words. Much appreciated and I'm looking forward to playing with the Buffalo Bisons.”

Zack Wheeler - “It’s probably a little bit better talent, but I’ve got to get up there and just pitch and do what I’ve been doing down here. Keep the ball down. Pound the zone. Hopefully it will work out for me."

Thursday – Loss, 0-2

There was quite the pitching battle between Garrett Olson and Syracuse’s Yunesky Maya. Syracuse broke the ice in the 7^th.

Sure feels like Buffalo is playing out the string. Solidly in 5^th place. Nieuwenhius/Duda/den Dekker went 0-10.Only two Bison’s hits.

AA-Binghamton:  

Mike Newman –

    Q - What's your take on Mets' Adam Kolarek? It looks like he could be an MLB LOOGY today

    A - I've seen Kolarek a few times and wasn't overly impressed. Nothing about his arsenal stood out like Edgin did 

    Q - Thoughts on Juan Lagares?

    A - He was okay... Contact skills are fine and he has some athleticism, but profiles as more of a tweener 4th outfielder.

Thursday – Win, 4-3

SP Cory Mazzoni was not in command. He finished out: 7.0-IP, 10-H, 3-R, 4-K, 2-BB, ERA up to 3.12. This comes after four quality starts, so we’ll give him a pass on this one.

2B Reese Havens is now hitting .152 in his last 10 games.

Game was tied 3-3 after nine… RP C.J. Nitkowski (1.1-IP, 0.00) continued his run-less streak…

Dustin Martin singled in Raul Reyes for the walk-off in the 12^th.

A+ - St. Lucie: -  

Thursday – Loss, 2-5

Clearwater busted it open in the 8^th against RP Jack Leathersich… SP Angel Cuan had another quality start (6.0-IP, 0-ER, 4-K, 3-BB)… I still project him out going to the pen next season (sorry, Hobie)… not much to report here, but my man Blake Forsythe had two hits, raising his BA to .265.

A – Savannah: -

Jim Callis –

  Q - Is Rafael Montero a legit prospect?

  A - He is legit. He throws in the low 90s and touches 95, has a solid slider and shows some promise with his changeup

Thursday –

SP Luis Mateo had his 8^th start…

A-Low – Brooklyn:

Dave Gershman‏ -  My two cents: Luis Mateo's arm action has somehow improved significantly since the season started and his stuff hasn't gone anywhere at all.

Thursday – Loss, 3-11

The strikeouts came early for Luis Mateo, but three singles in a row, followed by a triple in the 5^th was his downfall.  He ended up with 10-Ks in 5.0-IP, but the 5-ERAs raised his ERA to 2.79. Strange outing. Remember, there is a lot of free swinging at this level so you don’t have to pound the zone to strike people out. Still, that’s 58-Ks in 48.1-IP. I asked Dave Gersham/ESPN who covered the game if the Ks pounded the zone or were free-swinging whiffs and he said: “some were, some weren't. Overall, his fastball had enough bite to where he was getting plenty of whiffs regardless.”

LF Stefan Sabol went 3-5, 2-R, double, .263

SS Phillip Evans -  2-5, 1-R, double, .233

Rookie – Kingsport:

Thursday – Win, 7-4

K-Port must have ‘got pissed’ at my comments yesterday… they scored in the 1^st on a triple and a wild pitch, but added four more in the 2^nd with all sorts of offense, including Jorge Rivero’s (.262) second triple of the game.

SP John Gant (2-2) had his second QS of the season: 5.2-IP, 4-H, 2-ER, 5-K. It sure helps when your teammates take the bats out of the lockers.