Mack Ade – AM Report – 7-7-13

Considering where his career is at, I thought that the Zack Wheeler outing on Friday was just fine. This is a rookie getting his feet wet and he worked his way out a few jams like the pro he is advertised to be. Everybody is over-analyzing his delivery and I hope he tells the Mets the same thing he told San Francisco when they tried to ticker with him. This guy is going to be just fine. He may not be a Matt Harvey (which looks like a good thing after the last Harvey outing). Remember what Dillon Gee told me once… for every 10 outings, you have two great ones, two suck, and the rest are meh. That’s what it’s like for a pitcher. You get your first indication how the night is going to go when you’re warming up in the pen. Basically, it is there where you find out what pitch isn’t pounding the zone. From there, you and your catcher formulate your game plan. This kid will get a little better each game and should be a solid SP2 by the beginning of next season.

Michael Baron  - Zack Wheeler has held opponents to 3-for-25 with RISP, and 0-for-8 with two outs and RISP

Photo by Mack Ade 

The resurgence of Oliver Perez shouldn’t surprise baseball purists. There are only so many people on earth that are born with special skills and Perez is, when it comes to throwing a baseball, one of them. He was a wonderful pickup by the Mets, who stole him away from the Pirates because Perez’s game had gone into the mental crapper. That has always been his problem. It never was the talent in the arm, it was the confidence coming out of his head. And, please don’t confuse confidence with conceit or arrogance. That’s what Jordany Valdespin does when he tells you he’s a great baseball player. Perez is like Scott Kazmir. They were great, natural pitchers that fell to the wayside for a myriad amount of reasons. Most throw the towel in and take the money they have saved and move on in life, but, in the case of Perez and Kazmir, they were not ready to say to the world that the game had beaten them down. I hope you Mets fans are ready for this because you may see Perez play this year at CitiField in the All-Star game. And, if you do, give him his just reward and a standing ovation.

Ben Badler  - Carlos Rodon looks like he would dominate a Double-A lineup today. And that's being conservative.

Don’t spend any time feeling bad for Josh Satin. In fact, light a candle for the guy and hope that the Mets either trade him or drop him from the 40-man and then work out a deal with whatever team picks him up. Satin has no future with the Mets; however, he finally got the opportunity he deserved to show the baseball world that he can hit big league pitching. There are 29 other teams in this sport and someone is going to want him on their club. Trust me, if Mike Carp can find a job, Satin can. What you don’t want to do is put him in the outfield, a position he basically has never played. Baseball Cube lists the fact that Satin has played 286 games at 2B, 167 at 1B, 78 at 3B, 2 at SS, and 0 in the outfield. Zero. None. Zilch. This is not the time to make a complete ass out of a great minor league career by putting him out there on his own. Platoon him a little at first, send Valdespin down and let him be the backup infielder until Turner comes back, but DON’T make the guy look bad. I agree that first base is the home of Ike Davis, but I’m a big fan of Satin and would like to see him move on to continue his career, while, at the same time, get the Mets a proper return.

                                                                                                Josh Thole's OBP is .212.

There’s a report floating out there that both Justin Turner and Lucas Duda will not be back immediately after the all-start break, but Ruben Tejada will probably be ready. I also think that there is an outside chance that either Tim Byrdak or Scott Atchison (or both) could be ready to come back. The trading deadline in the end of the month and, frankly, I don’t expect to see anything different on this team. I just don’t. I think Sandy Alderson has a certain value for his players that are worth more than on paper and it only works sometimes (Wheeler and d’Arnaud deal) in the favor of the Mets. There really is no one right now on the Mets (that is available) that you have to have. Maybe Jeremy Hefner, but just maybe. For me, if you give Ike Davis a second chance, you have to give Tejada the same thing. We’ll see.

Manny Machado has 39 doubles on July 6.  That would have led or tied for AL lead for entire season in each year from 1966-74

Kyle Lojacono - LINK :

When John Michael Gant takes the pitching mound now, it feels the same as when he was at Wiregrass Ranch High. There's more pressure now that the 6-foot-4, 195-pounder is pitching for the Brooklyn Cyclones, a New York Mets Class-A affiliate. But being a professional baseball player hasn't taken away his enjoyment for the game. "This does not feel like a job at all," Gant said. "It's still as much fun as when I started playing when I was 5." The 2011 graduate admits it's been a pretty exciting transition into the workforce since the Mets picked him in the 21st round of the 2011 draft.

Gant was actually born in Savannah and, hopefully, this will be his next stop up the chain. Maybe he, his father, and I can break bread at Coach’s Corner.

It’s Sunday so it’s time to update the stats on our young, Latin bats. These are the kids that received international bonus money over the past three (or more) years and are currently playing for one of the short season team. All have a bright future in the organization:

                              (thru Saturday’s games)          

           18-yr. old RF Wuilmer Bucerra – GCL Mets - .295/.360/.341/.701

                              18-yr. old 3B Jhoan Urena – GCL Mets - .311/.354/.378/.732

                              19-yr. old LF Vincente Lupo – GCL Mets - .150/.261/.250/.511

                              21-yr. old 2B Leon Canelon – GCL Mets - .310/.313/.345/.657

                              18-yr. old C Jose Garcia – GCL Mets - .192/.250/.231/.481

                              19-y. old 3B Pedro Perez – K-Port – .244/.279/.439/.718

                              17-yr. old SS Amed Rosario – K-Port – .200/.254/.273/.527

                              22-yr. old C Adrian Abreu – K-Port – .231/.333/.346/.679

                              19-yr. old SS Alfredo Reyes – DSLMets2 - .306/.356/.444/.800