I May Be Wrong, But… ‘Justified’, Rafael Montero, Pitching Count, Robert Carson, David Gershman

      1.      I now have to spend an awful lot of time on my ass, so one of new hobbies is renting, via mail, an entire season of a particular television season. I just finished ‘Justified’ , season one, starring Timothy Olyphant, and it comes highly recommended to fans of series like ‘Walking Dead’ and ‘Breaking Bad’. Trust me, the Marshall can kill some people. 

       2.      No one excited Sand Gnats pitching coach Frank Viola more the day we met than Rafael Montero. Sure, he had wonderful things to say about all his pitchers, but his eyes lit up when he talked about Rafael’s ‘fantastic fastball’. But, it was his control that he was most excited about. Viola also said that ‘da boys’ in St. Lucy were also thrilled with the A-level finished product Frank had passed on to them, the second promotion from the original 2012 Sand Gnats rotation. ETA: Montero turns 22 in October and tonight was his 20^th start for Savannah and St. Lucie. We assume he will finish the season in Florida and his advanced age may be an advantage for him next season. It seems he’ll start in Binghamton and, if he continues this kind of dominance, could find himself in the Flushing rotation by September 2013. 

     3.      Look, you have to respect that fact that the St. Lucie Mets pulled Rafael Montero out after 7.2 inning of no-hit ball. No-hitters mean nothing in the minor leagues. Pitching count is everything and the last thing you need is to rubber am a prospect so you can get a headline in a local newspaper with the readership of four retirees. He was at 110 pitches when he was pulled and there was nothing more that could be done. Good move, guys. 

      4.      Buffalo’s Robert Carson pitched two more scoreless innings last night for the Bisons. That’s now one earned run in 9.1-IP which translates to a 0.96 ERA. Carson’s been a difficult person to keep on the same page with, but he’d tell you the same about me. Regardless, there was uniform excitement when he first came into the system. He was going to be a big time lefty starter alongside the other top Mets pitching prospect, Brad Holt. It’s hard to describe his nasty delivery. Remember how Mohammed Ali was so graceful? And then there was Joe Frazier who stalked you? Carson was the Mets answer to Smokin’ Joe. The 6-4 23-year old will get first shot at the slot now left opened by the Tim Byrdak injury. Carson and Josh Edgin could be quite the formidable lefty portion of the 2013 pen. Johan Santana… Jon Niese… Edgin… Carson… not bad.

      5.      As some of might have noticed, my draft coverage is slightly increasing. I try and post every two hours, beginning at 8am EST, up to Midnight. I share a lot of information with a bunch of Minor League groupies, including David Gershman. David has been a contributor to ESPN and hosts his own blog site, ‘Penn League Report’  http://www.pennleaguereport.net/ . He’s also an independent scout and I value his opinion of the players on the Cyclones. Like most of us, he’s just trying to be helpful and I want to thank him for his thoughts lately.