Still, the Ponies started off the
season pretty-well going 11-8 in April and 19-11 in May before going 37-54 the
rest of the way to finish with an overall 67-73 record (fourth out of six in
the Eastern League Eastern Division in the first half and dead last in the
second half).
Much of the season’s early hopes
were pinned on Top Met prospect SS Andres Gimenez.
Andres followed up a .282 average
in St. Lucie with a .250 average at Binghamton at 20 years of age. However, it was not just Andres. That .250 average was good enough for the
team lead in 2019! Andres also led the
team with 54 runs and 28 stolen bases while winning the Sterling Mets Minor
League Defender of the year award with a .973 fielding percentage. Hitting wise, Andres seemed to turn things
around when Upstate NY finally heated up in July hitting .295 but he fell back
down to his .250 average in August.
Recently, Andres has gone to the Arizona Fall League where his bat has so
far responded to the warmer weather.
Patrick Mazeika led the team with
69 RBIs (tied for second in the Eastern League). He gave Binghamton two of the best endings of
the year with a walk-off grand-slam with two outs on May 14th and a three-run
walk-off homer also with two outs on August 7th. Overall, Patrick was the best hitter on the
team with 16 homers to go with those 69 RBIs and .245 average (after a .194 in
the frigid/wet April).
Not rated as good a defensive
catcher as Tomas Nido or Ali Sanchez, Patrick still has thrown out 31% of would
be base stealers in his career. In 2019,
he also played first base 53 games to go with 55 games behind the plate. One other thing about Patrick, when
knuckle-baller Mickey Jannis takes to the mound, Patrick seems to always get
the call behind the plate. Mickey’s ball
moves a lot and catching him is no easy task.
At 31 years old, Mickey was once
again the overall ace of the staff throughout the year. In 20 games, Mickey went 7-5 with a 3.10 ERA
in 119 innings. Mickey can all of a
sudden lose control and have a bad inning only to find it again the next inning
and pitch lights out the rest of the game.
Mickey pitched well enough to get two different calls to Syracuse but
they did not go well. In two games in
‘Cuse he went 0-2 with a 22.95 ERA.
Anthony Kay was Binghamton’s best
pitcher in the first half going 7-3 with a 1.49 ERA and had the teams only
complete game shutout of 2019. He added
70Ks in 66.1 innings and .92 WHIP. Like
Mickey Jannis, Kay struggled at AAA Syracuse going 1-3 with a 6.61 ERA before
being dealt to the Blue Jays in the Marcus Stroman trade where he turned things
around in Buffalo going 2-2 with a 2.50 ERA before being called up to Toronto
where he has so far gone 1-0 with a 5.79 ERA.
Left hander Kevin Smith was the
best Ponies pitcher in the second half earning the Sterling Mets Minor League
Pitcher of the year award. After going
5-5 with 102 Ks in 85.2 innings in St. Lucie, Kevin was promoted to Binghamton
and went 3-2 in 6 starts allowing three runs or fewer in five of the six
outings. He added 28Ks in 31.1
innings with Binghamton to bring his annual total to 130 - leading all Mets minor
leaguers. Kevin could start 2020 in
Binghamton but is expected in Syracuse and maybe in Flushing sometime in
2020.
As discussed in the Syracuse
re-cap, Harol Gonzalez had a good year for Binghamton before heading up to
‘Cuse, 6-4 with a 3.14 ERA, 1.09 WHIP.
Another notable starting pitcher
was Lefty David Peterson. The Mets
number one pick in 2017, 20th overall, had an uneven season. He struck-out 122 in 116 innings with 119
hits, 1.34 WHIP, 3W-6L, and 4.19 ERA.
The Binghamton bullpen had 4
significant relivers, Stephen Villines, Joe Zanghi, Blake Taylor, and Adonis
Uceta.
Maybe it was the different ball
that was used this last year in MLB and AAA than the ball that was used in AA
and levels below or maybe it was the tougher competition but one recurring
theme in the Binghamton-Syracuse tale of 2019 was how a number of Binghamton
pitchers went to Syracuse and how they fared.
While Harol Gonzalez and Matt Blackham did well, Anthony Kay, Mickey
Jannis, Stephen Villines, and Joe Zanghi (and to a lesser extent Adonis Uceta) did
not.
Stephen Villines, and Joe Zanghi
were stellar all year for Binghamton.
Stephen, the side arming right
hander, had progressed through the minors to land in Binghamton where he
pitched to a 2-1 record with a 1.20 ERA, 42 Ks, 45 innings in 28 games. When he was called up to Syracuse he pitched
to a 6.75 ERA in 13 games, 16 innings.
Joe Zanghi, 3-3, 2.34 ERA, 31
Games, 57.2 innings, 50 Ks, 1.21 WHIP in Binghamton; 6.35 ERA in 5 games with a
2,12 WHIP in Syracuse.
Adonis Uceta, 5-3, 1.44 ERA, 56.1 innings,
36 games, 55Ks, 1.03 WHIP. In 1.1
innings in Syracuse, he had a 33.75 ERA.
Lefty Blake Taylor, who came to
the Mets as the player to be named later in the Ike Davis to Pittsburgh trade,
followed up a 2-2, 2.63 ERA, 21 games, 27 innings record in 2019 for St. Lucie to go 0-1, 1.85 ERA, 18 games, 39 innings for Binghamton. He pitched .1 innings for Syracuse as well
getting out the only batter he faced.
Blake, Adonis, and Joe are all
Rule 5 draft eligible so we may hear more about them this winter.
On the hitting side, outside of
Andres Gimenez and Patrick Mazeika, there was not a lot.
Sam Haggerty played well enough to
be called up to Syracuse and eventually Flushing playing both the infield and
the outfield. Showing excellent base
stealing ability with 19 steals in 23 attempts, he hit .259 with a .370 OBP, 39
runs, 2 homers and 13 RBIs, in 247 at bats.
Luis Carpio, 2B, hit .263 after
his call up from St. Lucie, with .347 OBP, 3 HRs, 22 RBIs,
Will Toffey, the prize prospect in
the 2018 Familia trade with Oakland struggled in his second year at AA with
injuries hitting just .219 in 91 games with 5 HRs and 27 RBIs.
Ali Sanchez, the best defensive
catching prospect in the Mets system, Ali hit .278 in 71 games with 30 RBIs splitting
time with Mazeika before he was called up to Syracuse.
When Sanchez was called up, Austin
Bossart was acquired from the Phillies for Jason Vargas. At the time of the trade multiple outlets
said the only reason why the Mets traded for Austin despite his .195 average
for Reading was his relationship with Jeff Wilpon’s son. However, as Mack astutely pointed out, two weeks
prior, Austin hit 3 of his 7 season total HRs against Binghamton over the two-day
period between July 15th and 16th. For
Binghamton, Bossart hit .200 in 19 games with no HRs.
After hitting .285 in 53 games
with St. Lucie, Quinn, Brody was a mid-season callup going .251 with 5 homers
and 24 RBIs.
Finally, another former top Met
prospect coming back from injury, 1st and 3rd Baseman
David Thompson, after hitting .189 in 41 games in Syracuse was sent to
Binghamton where he hit .230, 6 HRs, 23 RBIs in 82 games.
Overall some good performances by
the Binghamton players but the losing and the weather doomed the season and the
attendance. However, I have an out of
the box idea for next year that may help (what a surprise – huh).
Since Syracuse and Binghamton are
only an hour apart from each other, and since when Syracuse is home, Binghamton
tends to be on the road and vice versa, next year, why not share Tim
Tebow? Tim can play in Syracuse one week
and Binghamton the next. It is a win for
Binghamton, Syracuse and Tim Tebow.
Tim won’t have to take those long
Pawtucket to Buffalo bus rides that Syracuse had to endure last year. Syracuse and Binghamton get the attendance
boost. I have an easier time convincing
friends and family to make the trip with me from Albany to Binghamton or Albany
to Syracuse.
What do you think?
