AM I THE ONLY ONE EXCITED? WEEKLY MINORS RECAP: Tom Brennan

AM I THE ONLY ONE EXCITED? WEEKLY MINORS RECAP: Tom Brennan

A quarter of the way through the season of 2016: the Mets' full season minors teams are at full throttle, with the short season leagues soon to follow.  Pretty soon, some guy named Zach Wheeler ought to be pitching in some rehab games.  How exciting!

Who's wowing us?  Not the overall win-loss record, which for the 4 teams hovers around .500.  Binghamton's punchless crew brings up the rear at 18-24 after a rough series against an Akron team playing over .700 ball.

I'll keep it short this week and focus only on this week's stars. 

I tend to cut some slack for starting pitchers who may only get in one game for the week, and accordingly look at both their last week and their season as a whole when considering stars of the week (Monday thru Sunday, May 22).

Besides Pat Mazelka, hitting excitement was confined to AAA. It is why Vegas has the best record at 24-19. Some strong starter and pen notables throughout.

 MY STARS OF THE WEEK: 

AAA: IF T J Rivera - RBI hitting machine: 19 for 33, 13 RBIs in 7 games, hitting .378 and leading the PCL with 40 RBIs.  Lumber Explosion. He was  passed over for promotion in favor of Ty Kelly, a bit puzzling to me since TJ has played more 1B, the position manned by DL Duda. Keep your head up, TJ.

AAA: OF Brandon Nimmo - finally! Ten hits, 5 walks, 6 RBIs this week, up to .289.  Still holding at one homer.  Queens fans add a star for long balls, so hopefully we'll see more of those, but quite a week. (AND - CHERRY ON THE CAKE: Besides the above, last night he started the new week in style and went 4-5 with 2 doubles and a triple to push above .300 to .305...FINALLY)

AAA: RHSP Gabe Ynoa -   He's getting the job done.  (Except last night - he had a weak outing last night to take his first loss and push his ERA up to 2.50)

AAA: RHRP Paul Sewald a bit more hittable of late, but Vegas' closer has not allowed an earned run in his last 12 outings.  ERA dropped to 1.71. (PS: Allowed 2 runs on a homer last night, so there goes the sub 2.00 ERA...3 straight one inning outings where Paul allowed 2 hits, so he is in fact human).

AAA OFs Travis Taijeron and Ty Kelly (*):  

How could a guy like Travis fan 11 Times and still be a star of the week? Ten RBIs, that's how.

And Ty Kelly garnered 9 hits in 6 games. Slipped to a robust .391/.476/.548. We should all slip like that.

* Kelly, who hit just .223 in AAA with another organization last year, showed not to ever give up, and got called up to the Mets Monday when Duda was placed on the DL. Good luck.

 

AA - only ray of sunshine for sputtering Binghamton Stud Muffins? Bullpen!

RHRP Logan Taylor has 30 Ks in 19.2 IP spanning his last 10 games.

RHRP Akeel Morris: zero earned in last 9 games. Getting back on an Akeel keel.

HIGH A:

2B Luis Guillorme: 9 hits and a handful of walks may indicate he is ramping his Offensive Game up again Still in search of his 1st professional triple and homer.

RHSP Ricky Knapp is 4-2, 1.96 after a 7 shutout inning performance. Just 22 Ks in 41 IP. (Make that 5-2, after another excellent start last night allowing just one unearned run).

RHSP Corey Oswalt had 2 fine starts (3 good ones in a row) and is 3-1, 4.29, with 43 Ks in 42 IP.

DAZZLING Relief Pitching Quartet, Tim Peterson, Al Baldonado, Corey Taylor and Kevin MgcGowan have nearly 50 outings between them and an ERA below 1.00.  Tim has the lowest, at 0.52.  WOW. (Plus, Tim had a fine 4 out save in a tight one run contest last night, with yet 2 more Ks)

THREE OVER.300 WHO HAD A QUIET WEEK: Wuilmer Becerra still leads the league at .360 (up to .369 after a 3 hit Monday night contest), but still lacks a homer.  Kevin Taylor at .327, Amed Rosario at .307. 

 

Lastly, A Ball, South Carolina Style:

LHSP P.J. Conlon remarkable 6-0, 1.04 ERA. Career ERA sub-1.00.  To make matters better, he allowed one earned run over 7 IP last night to jump to a stellar 7-0. Leapin' Leprechauns.. Chris Montgomery was strong in closing out the 2-1 win, too, and has been mostly strong of late.

RHSP Joe Shaw...he Shaw pitched real good, Paw...2 seven inning starts, 3 earned runs, 17 Ks.

3B David Thompson slowed up in RBIs but tied with TJ Rivera with 40...and it ain't June for a while yet.

C Pat Mazelka - dude is 8-17 with 4 walks since leaving the land of the injured.  Remarkable.

I was excited this week. 

I suspect I'll be excited next week too. 

What say you, reader?