8/6/18

From The Desk...



Good morning.


Yesterday’s results –

In Las Vegas:         RP Matt Purke continues to not live up to the hype: 0.1-IP, 4-ER, 7.14

In Binghamton:     AA Andres Gimenez went 1-3, and raised his AA batting average to .304. Gimenez is a 19-year old man-child.

In St. Lucie:           RP Stephen Villines continued his spectacular relief pitching at this level: 2.1-IP, 0-R, 4-K, 0.45

In Columbia:         LF Matt Winaker continued his improved hitting: 3-5, 2-R, 2-HR, 4-RBI

In Brooklyn:          2B Carlos Cortes’ bat is starting to heat up: 3-4, R, HR, 2-RBI

In Kingsport:         3B Mark Vientos continues to prove he was worth the draft pick: 2-4, R, HR, 2-RBI, .297

For the GCL-Mets:           no game on Sunday

For the DSL Mets teams:  no games on Sunday


Injury News – RP Anthony Swarzak (6.00-ERA) was placed on the 10-day DL with ‘right shoulder inflammation’. RP Jacob Rhame (8.00-ERA) was recalled to fill the slot… Columbia RHP, Chris Viall, was placed on the disabled list…


Roster Moves  RHSP Scott Copeland was promoted from AA-Binghamton to AAA-Las Vegas. He did start in two games for Vegas earlier in the season and posted a 1-1, 3.75-ERA record… The Rumble Ponies also announced that they have signed  former Siena 
College LHP Matt Gage. Gage was a 2014 10th round pick by the Giants that went 4-9, 5.47 for the combined Giants AA/AAA affiliates this season… the assumption is he will slot into the rotation spot left open by the Copeland promotion… Brooklyn’s OF, David Miranda, was promoted to A-Columbia. Miranda was a 25th round pick in this year’s draft. The 23-year old has only had 45 at-bats, hitting .200.


Projected Top 10 Pick - MLB Draft 2019   -

        Bobby Witt Jr., SS, Coleyville Heritage (Tex.) HS

As a rising junior a summer ago, Bobby Witt Jr. was one of the youngest players selected to participate in the Under Armour All-America Game at Wrigley Field. Though he went 0 for 2 in the contest with a strikeout, his performance that week in front of dozens of scouts left a deep impression, as the 6-1, 185-pound shortstop solidified himself as possibly the best position player in the prep class of 2019. He combines raw power from the right side of the plate with top-end speed in the field, which gives him spectacular range at short. His frame could easily support another 10-15 pounds, leading scouts to believe he could hit for above-average power at the big-league level. Witt also has great bloodlines, as his father, Bobby Witt Sr., played nearly 16 seasons in the big leagues for eight organizations. He’s committed to the University of Oklahoma, but should he be taken where most expect him to be, it’s likely he would forgo his time in Norman to begin his professional career.


Michael Baron - Zack Wheeler has a 2.91 ERA with 72 strikeouts and 24 walks in 77 1/3 IP over his last 12 starts. So happy for him and his re-birth. Been a real long road for him (and remember he didn’t even make the team out of camp!).
        Jeff McNeil - who went 4-for-4 last night - is the seventh Mets player to turn in a four-hit game within the first 10 games of his career...The last was T.J. Rivera, who turned in four hits on August 16, 2016.


Anthony DiComo - Mickey Callaway said Swarzak's MRI revealed "just a little bit of inflammation." He believes this will be just a short DL stint for the reliever. In Swarzak's absence, Robert Gsellman should continue to see the bulk of save chances.


Hey Tom… Joe Vasile - Through 5 games with AAA Buffalo, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is batting .364/.579/.455 with 7 walks and only 2 strikeouts.


1 (866) 800-1275 – number of MLB headquarters in NYC to call and demand that this team be sold

10 comments:

Tom Brennan said...

Vlad ain't bad - at all. We will have to settle for Man Child Gimenez - which ain't bad.

Vientos is smoking hot. Vientos, Kelenic, and Gimenez are 3 exciting teenagers.

Mack Ade said...

Tom -

The lower levels are getting really exciting.

This team should be very competitive in 2023

Tom Brennan said...

If a few more like Mauricio pan out too, absolutely agree

Mike Freire said...

Love the progress of the "guppies", for sure.

On a side note, Zack Wheeler has hit a groove and is finally pitching like
he is "supposed" to. I can freely admit when I am wrong and I hope he keeps it going.

Reese Kaplan said...

Now if only when Matz returns they will see the wisdom of keeping Oswalt in the rotation and slotting Vargas into the pen in mop up duty.

TP said...

Yup, ETA 2023. Mets will have a ton of hitting and no pitching.

bgreg98180 said...

By 2023 though, deGrom, Syndergaard, Wheeler, and Matz will most likely have moved on (reasons may vary)

Too bad the organization fails to prioritize creating a complete team at a given time.

Anonymous said...

Mack, If a maestro personnel director/GM were to come in and take command here soon, I for one do believe that the 2019 NY Mets team could be "very competitive" as early as next season. Maybe even Playoff Competitive, we will see.

So why?

Because right now, the Mets have one of the top three starting rotations in all of MLB, arguably maybe the very best one. They also have had a few good rookie players who have been added in this season who are honing their skills as we speak. The Mets also have possibly another solid starter in Peter Alonso who is getting it altogether right now. He went two for five last night against Reno, with another homerun and double game.

Yes, I realize that it will take a maestro personnel director/GM to get this accomplished. But I do not see this as impossible at all.

So yeah, I truly believe that there is hope here for 2019.

Anonymous said...

Down on the Farm Last Night

At Vegas...

OF Zach Borenstein: 3 for 5 at the plate. Double/HR
1B Peter Alonso: 2 for 5 at the plate. 13th HR
2B Christian Colon: 2 for 2, both singles

Notation: Reno veteran catcher Anthony Recker (remember him?)is batting .293 with 13 HR, 44 RBI's in 198 AB. The man is ageless.

At Binghamton...

The Rumbleponies infield really impresses me a lot. May be one of the very best in AA right now.

2B Levi Michael 1 for 5 Now batting .302
SS Andres Gimenez: 2 for 5 batting. Has a .305 BA
3B Will Toffey 2 for 4. Has a .321 BA

New pitcher Kilome on the mound tonight for Binghamton. And in last night's game righty reliever Josh Torres came in for 1.1 innings, did surrender three hits but in this 1.1 innings struck out 4 batters and now sports a 1.18 ERA.

Anonymous said...

Very good article on FOX Sports website today, an interview with Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo.

Brandon discusses his impressions of his first season up with the NY Mets, his performance thus far, and all that he has learned and continues to learn playing MLB for this team. It's a good read from a very good Mets player's point of view. Sky is the limit with this Mets player, and it is not hard to see why.

On MLB in General

Interesting season so far. I myself have learned a lot about the MLB game today, some good, some making me wonder some. It is a changing sport, as many of you have pointed out. But so are most sports changing and kind of morphing before all our eyes into something brand new. That is life I guess.

I like the automatic walk. I like the speed and tempo now of the game better, it's faster. I love all the new stadiums dotting MLB around the country. (My only criticism of them, is that I am not that crazy about seating fans right behind home plate. It seems distracting.)

What I don't necessarily like so much is the inconsistency in the home plate umpiring crews strike zones. It needs to be made consistent again, from one umpiring crew to the next. I know MLB will look at this soon. Just a hunch here.

On a larger point, I don't like how today's game has minimalized three aspects of baseball that were a lot more important in decades gone by. They are run manufacturing, base stealing, and bunting runners over into scoring position including those ultimate fun to watch squeeze plays. What can be more fun to watch than that?

But with time things do always change I realize. I get it. I realize that the homerun is king now with the younger fans. They are hard to beat on today's fun meter. But this 2018 NY Mets team isn't a big homerun hitting team right now, not like they once were. But to say that they cannot still win as many games playing "small ball", well, I just do not believe this. Certainly, one or two more homerun hitters mixed into this NY Mets equation here could conceivably change all that. But until then, I will continue to enjoy watching the small ball wins here accumulate.

Now if these NY Mets were to go out and acquire a catcher like a Wilson Ramos or a JT Realmuto (for instance), I can guarantee you that I will certainly not complain.